same, hope sales will improve

I just wanna say I agree with Neil a lot. Christmas isn't the same in Japan as the US. Lots of things are open and people do go shopping. And yeah, 70k might be bad if you compare it to her old sales, but please remember that things are different. Japan's music industry is different; different things are popular, like Koda Kumi and EXILE are more popular than they were a few years back. Ayumi still has a huge fan base and is still a highly respected artist. People have been saying Morning Musume is going to come to an end for the last 5 years because their sales keep going lower, but they still get many releases and tv appearances. Sales do not exactly equal the number of fans an artist has. They still sell out concerts and do fan club events.

Think of how music is in the US. Are artists that were popular 10 years ago still popular now?? Probably some are, but not many. Times are changing, you can't really make it stop.

"Official" release dates are on the Wednesday, but stores release it on the Tuesday.

Totally agree with you, truehappiness!
Ayu is already a legend in Japan, even if the sales don't represent the "legendary" state, that's because..vvv

Well, I'm happy. =) I think for the long term we should just see how the next couple of days go. The industry really is strange and anything could happen. She may sell half that tomorrow or double.

I dun think so. Normally the first day sales on oricon (Tuesday) is the preorder sales, not the in store sales. GUILTY is different that it was in store on Tuesday because of the "Christmas" release.

We really have to see tonight (wed) oricon index to discuss the further album sales. Right now we're just speculating :headache

Is anyone really surprised though? I mean this album is not exactly full of things the Japanese like from Ayu. It's got a very rock theme to it. You saw talkin' 2 myself an extremely extremely awesome single, with a great B-Side and it sold really poorly. The Japanese don't exactly prefer "dark" Ayu it seems. Look at the sales of A Best -Black- compared to the sales of A Best -White-. From the beginning when I heard the previews and the songs that were being used to promote the album I knew sales wise this would not be good at all. But who cares!

If Ayu is happy with this album (which I know she is from what she has said in interviews) then I am happy as well. But the fact is that this album is not very commercial if you know what I mean. I am not expecting high sales or longevity in the charts. Sorry guys, but we have to be realistic! =(

I agree with this. :yes

I don't think sales matter anymore. What if this album doesnt sell as well, it is still a great album, her best work since for a long time.

I hope her #1 streak doesn't go down. I mean Mariah Carey still gets #1s and she's been around since the 1990s. She has 17 I think right?

I'm glad she reached #1 yet again --- it will be very sad when her unbroken streak of #1 albums comes to a close.

That said, if GUILTY had ended it, I'd still be proud of her for making this album. The quality of her music hasn't gone down over time, and she still sounds just as driven as she did in the early days. GUILTY is a great album, and I'd think so even if it sold only a few hundred copies and debuted at the bottom of Oricon. :)

How sad :(

the actual release day is a national holiday boo. it's the most important holiday in japanese culture actually

i think A BEST 2 -WHITE- sold more because it was coupled with the live DVD compared to that boring documentary whatever with the -BLACK-. And her highest selling album (Duty) is all made up of songs that would've hypothetically appeared on the -BLACK- version e.g. SEASONS

No, preorder sales come from the x1.7/x1.75 factor that's used at the end of the week. Most releases start their in-store sales on the Tuesday.

^ nevertheless, the arguement is still there sales may still considered bad as some said people in jp has already been familarised with the system...and so the 2nd day sales will bring us more truth.

Well, today a successful album in Japan is one that sells over 200.000, according to Max. The industry is different, with the whole digital thing. And with first day sales like this, it's easily on it's way over 200.000.

Yeah a lot of people need to relax. Its not even OFFICIALLY released yet. <.<

Is it me or do fans worry more about sales rather than the music? Hey, I have in the past but I'm worrying about it less and less. Once you are a part of ayu's team and need to calculate all the money she makes and have to hear it from avex and possibly ayu herself, THEN you can complain! Sheesh! @.@

I think it's a bit silly for people to get uppity about sales--as if it's a competition or Ayu will "win" or something. Really, you guys, it's not about that in the slightest: if Ayu doesn't sell insane amounts on the first day that's not indicative that she's going to be snuffed out in like, two days and gone forever. A BALLADS was probably one of the worst selling things she's done, yes? And hey, how many years ago did that come out? I feel like we've had a few albums, tours, DVDs and singles since then... hmm...

Maybe it's just a "thing" with some Ayu fans, that the sales for some reason is a staple of Ayu being "better than" her other artists, but I think it's foolish to think that way. Most importantly large sales is not an indicative of an artist's worth, talent or the beauty of the music.

For example: Avril Lavigne was one of Japan's top sellers. And Britney Spears' "Blackout" sold well in it's first week (nevermind that it since dropped like an effin' stone....). Ayu's talent is based on so much more than just figures.

^ I've got to agree with you on those points. Personally, I want to see this album sell well because it's a fantastic package and it'd be great if Japan acknowledged it. But of course, album sales internationally have declined for years now, so I won't be surprised if it has really low sales. And the Japanese haven't been known for acknowledging good music when it's released (points to figures of Hitomi Shimatani's Destiny-Taiyou no Hana-)...

I agree.
I'm not going to complain since (I think) it's not even the official release yet.
No offense, but I think that people should chill out about the sales. :no

I don't like EXILE so much, but they and Kobukuro deserved all the sales and much more. Kobukuro album was awesome <3

Not in Japan. New Years is the big national holiday there. Not Christmas. If anything people would be out buying stuff on Christmas to give for gifts on New Years.

No shops were open here on Christmas and Boxing Day.

Anyway, just wait a few more days before jumping to conclusions xD!

wow.. too low, real low.. no good..

but

I DONT CARE THAT MUCH..
her latest album doesn't impress me since 'Rainbow'

THX 4 the info..

im worry XC

Hmmn... isn't that the index comes from like only a portion of stores? Not all the stores submit the sales until the end of the week, that is why the 1.75 factor plays the rule when estimating the actual sales?

When does the 2nd day sales update?

Weird since I read that a lot of Japanese families celebrate Christmas with a special meal.

Sales up till now really don't matter to me. It's the quality of the music that matters to me now. :) But if she happens to get another #1 weekly, then I'll be glad.

I estimate less than 400-500k. Unless a miracle happens.

The fall of ayu empire

Ummmm? The Ayu Empire is way more than just high album sales, really this woman is a legend in the Japanese Music Industry, some of you people are so over dramatic :rolleyes

That's true, but the original poster was right. New Years' far eclipses Christmas in Japan (and in a lot of Asian countries for that matter). On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being very few people celebrating and 10 being everyone celebrating, Christmas is like a 5 and New Years' is a definite 10.

You're under no authority to determine what makes a person a true fan or not.

^he was making an assumption. calm down.

this forum needs to lose the unnecessary drama.

I agree, what if someone doesn't have the money to afford her music? They still want to hear it. And they still like it. Thats what a fan is to me, someone who likes the artist and their music, not if they buy it or not.


Okay, no more drama :), anyways will someone answer my question :O, when will the sales update?

^probably the end of the day

I see what guilty_me is trying to say though, it's really hypocritical to complain and moan about Ayu not selling and then not buying her music. If sales are really that important to you then maybe you should be supporting the artist monetarily.

I have the album and I love it. It's just superbly magnificent. Ayu has never disappointed me, even slightly. So frankly, sales don't mean anything to me. Yes, it'd be nice if the opening numbers were of a larger number but that's not what is most important.

Thanks for telling me. So around 2-3 o' clock PST for me :(.

Lol, I agree, if you want it to go higher buy it. But not all the places we buy it from actually counts on the Oricon charts. For instance, if you download it from iTunes it won't count, I'm not sure about this but I think mu-mo downloading also doesn't count. YA doesn't count either. So they could be buying it but its just not being counted.

not all that surprising, she didnt have a strong hit single for this album.

I don't have to calm down. I wasn't angry when I was making the post.

So don't.. contribute to it? :innocent

:irked

Out of two singles. Yeah. :|

Oh I know hehe I am just like so sick and tired of hearing people complain about how the CD or the Singles have low sales but yet they don't go out there and support Ayu monetarily. I don't really care for sales I buy her singles and cds because I genuinely enjoy her music. But it just irks me when someone who is just sitting at home comfortably clicking the "download button" complains about people not buying the album hellooooo u are doing the same thing :tipsy!!! lol

Yeah that's got a lot of truth in it...

bro, im praying 4 ayu
X3

then why the hell they suddenly start selling now? It'll confuse the people and won't result in higher sales.

And everyone's paranoia makes me crazy :headache

ps. Ayu's big selling time is OVER. It's over. The peak is over. It's so obvious. I mean it's sad but true. Even I'm a little over Ayu. Her stuff isn't so nice as it was before anymore.

I prefer the good music which sells not very well they than kitsch which will buy millions :P
This album will not sell as well as we wish but I not really care because Guilty is really good album :P

[SECOND DAY OF ORICON] Sales of GUILTY
 

Here's the Oricon's update about the Sales of GUILTY... :

Second day : 24256 (x1.7) => 41 235

Not very strong sales. But should be enough for weekly #1, unless of course it keeps dropping a lot more. Let's hope for the best :)

is it necessary to make a new thread o_O

I suggest the mods sticky these kind of threads.. then just need to edit the post can le..

Ugh, these are really bad numbers, come on GUILTY.

I shall agree with you

Aye, her company is giving her an extra week for her 1st week sales so she secures her #1 streak. Is it just me but isnt that ...a tad sad?

It could be true, but we still support her, coz we're her fans. Right when she needed us most you're gonna drop her??

i don't think the second week is a bonus..probably she will drop at number 2 in the second week 'cause o kobukuro

It will sell well :) as always... don't worry , be happy :D

I was hoping her last #1 was going to be next year's, but s'okay I guess. There's still a good chance it can reach the top spot. But if it doesn't, I'm fine with it. :]

That maybe true in some cases, but Christmas day in general isn't like it is here. People still go to work, all stores are open as usual, the day is treated fairly normally. New Years day is a much much bigger holiday.

2008.12.26

Position: #1
Index: 24,256
Estimate total Sales (after 2nd Day): (39,292 + 24,256) X 1.75 = 111,209

thank you for the update

as my prediction..
the sales will decrese in 2nd day..
i hope at least 1st week sales is better than secret..
but i think the sales 1st week will lower than 1st week sales secret

join to the 1st thread..
its not necessary to make new thread..
but thanks for update info

im still quite optimistic about the sales..

Just some calculations:

after one day, the rate of decrease of GUILTY's sales (26313) is higher than EXILE's (6368) and kobukuro's (8577)..thus it's not reflecting good on GUILTY's sales in the long run...

*pray for Ayu

that is terrible..
ahh why the sales very weak...
c'mon japanese..dont they know ayu realese new album? :P
the rate of decrese very high..
im sure tomorrow the sales become weaker

very disappointed with the sales...cuz usually those die heart ayu fans in japan had already ordered n received it on the 25th...hope in the next few days n weeks to come,the sale will get better...pray hard

OMG!!! its declining so much!!!
i spend my 7000th post in this thread, hopefully i can make a wish for it...hahaha
pray to God that this album can get a better sales...i want to see 750k in the end and more

why is there a need for a second thread when the sales is already getting so low...its just making us more sadder...ganbatte ayu!

hope it will break 50k after 1/1/08

^ do u mean 500k?

Well... Release the album on 25th wasn't a good idea, I think... You know, X'mas in Japan ain't like X'mas here ! In Japan there's not really X'mas presents so why did they release it on X'mas day ?
It would be better to release it on 1/1 'cause students/children receive money ("otoshidama") from their parents.
Well.. maybe the sales will increase on January 1st =) wait & see .. lol

^yeah there is a lot of kodomo (child) that love ayu, we can see from the best artist graphic, a lot of people around 10-20 years old love ayu, maybe their running out of the money, hopefully during new year it can rise again, and hopefully her CDL can help it too

I think CDL will help, because most likely there will be stuff in magazines about it Well if someone has somehow made it in Japan without seeing any of GUILTY promo before...... Or something.Though I highly doubt.
I can't understand why Ayu's sales have been worse lately, since I think the guality of her music is still awesome. :(

Hope it will get better after 1/1/08

Calm down people. Soon it will get a little bit better. GUILTY is in the flop way, lmao.

^No way to go but up :D

^ hope so =))

I think hiroshi_ben meant the index will increase to 50000 per day after the new year (probly for a day or 2?), not the total sales.

Ayu's only hope now is that people will be more in the shopping mode once the New Year's holidays kick in. (And that maybe some fans are waiting to buy the album at the CDL...)

People need to stop thinking that Avex is cheating or doing the 1/1 release date on purpose to guarantee a #1. It doesn't work like that. All the albums' totals will be added together for the two weeks. It's not like Ayu's having two weeks counted and that other artists will only count one week or something.

Oricon (12/24~12/26)
Kobukuro: 71,967
Ayu: 63,548
Exile: 51,385

Kobu is too high for her and currently she can be beaten by Exile.

For the 2 weeks, i see:
1. Kobu
2. Ayu (or Exile if they win the Records Taisho)
3. Exile

Okay, she have a chance to be #1. But her sales aren't gonna be impressive. As long as she's #1 in the weekly chart, I'm happy. :yes

Same feelings :yes

If she's selling ok I don't care about the sales number. GUILTY was an amazing album and nothing will change my opinion about it, not because of the sales or opinion of others around.

btw asongforXX, where you found those awesome brushes (or textures) of your amazing set? *_*

I got them from here:
http://honeymellow.livejournal.com/

Before they became invite-only... As for the flowers, I can't remember! XD

[EDIT] Here's some that are similiar. From the same person, but not the same as the one I used on my sig:
http://community.livejournal.com/coloredskies/

QFT.

The smart people of JPM have provided this list.

01->02->02 - Kobukuro - 33384 + 21742 + 16841 (x1.7) = 122,344
xx->01->01 - Ayumi Hamasaki - 39292 + 24256 (x1.7) = 108,032
02->03->03 - EXILE - 24610 + 15207 + 11568 (x1.7) = 87,355

As you can see, Ayumi passed EXILE and is gaining on Kobukuro. There's still a chance to reach the weekly #1.

Oh and btw, it's one thing to be realistic, but I think that you're in the wrong forum once you start bashing the record label or the person themself who this forum is dedicated to. [ I know this sentence is grammatically incorrect, but I needed to express myself with fancy words. D: ]

go ayu
i hope she can sell more than Kobukuro does

Thanks criminal. Glad to see that Ayu has a chance on getting yet another #1. Also I'm glad to see some hint of sanity. Some of you people seem to be waiting to celebrate on what you consider to be Ayu's failure or something and it's getting really annoying listening to these comments. It's an Ayu forum and I don't come here to see this kind of junk.

It's both that and pre-order sales.

I don't think it confuses people because it happens every year with releases (and not to mention this is her 4th 1.1 release)

I have a little question...

How come Ayu only has 2 days of sales and Kobukuro and EXILE has 3 days?

And I was reading this thread and some talked about the first sales of GUILTY would be the 2 first weeks combined? How come?

The Oricon week starts on Monday, ends on Sunday which means old releases get the extra day "advantage" every week.

1st week sales would be the 2 first weeks combined because Oricon stops reporting (for holidays) for 1 week - they combine sales from the last week of each year with the first week of each year to form a 2-week period.

I see, thanks for explaining this!

this is just a pre release u.u!
There is no reason to be sad.

actually I don't really care about the sales, all I care is that she gets #1 weekly, that's all.

I know right! The negativity is amusing...:no

i am surprised to see lotsa people are shocked with the sales of this album.

like some already said, this album isn't a normal commercial ayu album. it is loaded with stuff that isn't really japanese favourites. we all know that those heavy rock tunes are not favoured by the japanese. they only know that the album consist of:

1) talkin 2 myself, decision, dont leave me alone, marionette - which are all very rockish and from the sales of talkin 2 myself single we know that they dont really like it. hence they dont much prefer dont leave me alone n marionette

2) glitter - okay this song is a typical tune japanese love but this is the only one in it?

3) together when - alrite nice ballad with so so pv..

even though theres commercial stuff like MY ALL and untitled for her in the album (which supposedly japan will love), they are not even promoted for the album.
So the japanese can conclude that okay this is a omg so rockish album thus not much buying it. does that make sense? O.o

personally i dont care bout the sales. ayu is over tryin to make music that people all love (mainstream ones). shes gotten one of the highest selling album b4, shes gotten tonnes of no 1 albums n singles b4, shes made millions of people happy with her music b4. shes just doin what she loves now. so as long as she keep producing good stuff and keep feedin us with lovely music, all the other bulls dont matter anymore ;_)

QFT times 2.

I honestly have never seen this kind of behavior anywhere else but an Ayu forum. Can't we just appreciate that Ayu's still around at all? That doesn't seem like an easy feat, especially with the competition in her genre. :(

I'm happy to see that it's gaining on EXILE, though sales and numbers honestly don't mean much to me.

How about today sales? 27/12?