This track has over 1.4 million plays and counting.

Users of Soundcloud for the past few years have probably recognized a trend among its creators: the use of anime screenshots as album artwork. If one were to log onto Soundcloud and do a slight dive into some non-mainstream artist’s profiles, they’d be sure to find some recognizable album artwork with scenes, landscapes, and characters from anime.

There are many critics of this practice. Some art directors find it extremely uncreative, considering the history of album artwork. You are given a square to express what exactly your song or album is about. For decades graphics designers and artists have collaborated to create some incredibly iconic pieces of artwork. This aforementioned practice is simply the action of Google Image searching any anime from the past 30 years, taking a screenshot and attaching it to a song. The results are astounding.

A few artists who have found success using this tactic include [ bsd.u ], DJ YUNG VAMP, e e v e e, nueboy, JASON RICH, and frumhere. All of these artists have used anime screenshots for their album artwork on multiple occasions, resulting in some of their most most popular tracks. Some anime that they have pulled artwork from include Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop, Pokemon, and more.

The past few uploads of producer e e v e e

Many of these screenshots come from popular anime from the 1980’s through early 2000’s. It was at this time that anime came to the United States and saw a spike in cult popularity on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and Toonami blocks, Kid’s WB, and Fox Saturday Mornings. People who would have been in their more formative years at this point, would now be in their late teens to mid thirties and are currently the main user demographic for Soundcloud.

The anime exhibited are some of this generation’s most beloved television programs. With the accessibility of streaming, they can relive the shows they enjoyed so much at any time. Streaming has also given new life to these previously niche shows. Mainstream services like Netflix and Hulu have large anime catalogs. More anime focused services like Crunchyroll and Funimation have seen a spike in usage as well. According to Similar Web, Crunchyroll is ranked 24th in Arts and Entertainment streaming websites, seeing their largest growth in the United States regionally.

The familiarity of these anime screenshot images is one reason why songs with this artwork ssucceeds. Soundcloud users are in the right demographic sweet spot of old and new anime viewers. The older viewers were the original audience of these shows on the aforementioned channels. Their nostalgia and interest in hip hop intersects, creating a connection as soon as they see it. This makes them more likely to click the song, even if it has a very nondescript song title.

Younger viewers of anime have watched for the first time on streaming platforms. Watching anime used to be a rarer occasion due to the unpredictability of live television scheduling. Anime was generally on early in the morning on Fox and WB’s case or late at night in Adult Swim’s case. Cartoon Network’s Toonami and Miguzi blocks were seminal in bringing anime to to a wider audience, popularizing shows like Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and more.

Toonami and its mascot/host T.O.M.

Sometimes anime felt like a cool secret you and your friends were in on. You had to know the specific times that it was on to understand the long and intertwining storylines. Missing one episode made it difficult to understand what was going on if you tried to catch up. Soundcloud can deliver this same feeling, as users can find artists and collectives that their friends might not know about. Music exploration has never been more exciting than now.

Anime’s strong visual aesthetic value is another reason why Soundcloud artists choose to use this artwork. It’s no secret that a lot of anime is visually gorgeous and ranks among some of the most beautiful pieces of animation ever made. In the 1980’s Japan was in the middle of an economic boom, which led to vast improvements in the technology and artistry of animation in the country. We can thank this period for classics like Akira, My Neighbor Totoro, and Macross. In short: cool visuals + song = click!

A screenshot from Akira (1988) that could very easily be used as album artwork.

It’s no secret that the most popular genre on Soundcloud is hip-hop which has been linked to anime for over 30 years. The first anime references in hip-hop can be traced back to Wu Tang Clan, who made what some have called “nerdy” allusions to anime and video games in their hard as nails tracks. Genius has a great video here, that shows more references to anime from across hip-hop to further drive home this point.

If you want to look into anime within the frame of race, this article by Gita Jackson of Kotaku called “Why Black Men Love Dragonball Z” brings up some very relevant points that also significantly links anime and hip-hop.

There are several reasons why anime screenshots allow songs on Soundcloud to flourish when the two are paired. Each of these topics including race, television, visuals, generational gaps, and streaming could lead to a much deeper dive if necessary. Ask yourself now, if the song was right, would you attach an anime screenshot to your song?

-Dan