^ but none of those artist still sell like Ayumi. also, some dont even make music anymore...

as for utada... her last album sold over a million copies, while her last best only sold about 440K... i would say thats a HUGE decline.

but she she were to come back I could see her outselling everyone on the list... something like namie is doing now.

Yes yes I totally agee ^^

I think the difference is that Utada releases much less frequently than Ayu, has had huge periods of no releases (especially by Japanese pop standards), takes more time with her music. Utada generates a buzz with any new release.

Ayu has been very active in 2012, possibly one of her most active in recent memory (by the time again is released, 22 original songs) and casual listeners can't keep up with what she is releasing and when. This is enhanced when there is little to no promotion.

Granted, FIVE to Party Queen was a pretty big gap for Ayu's standards, and she wouldn't be doing this campaign if it wasn't her 15th anniversary. The fans have been spoiled, but constant releases won't generate higher sales for someone like Ayu who is in a decline. This worked in her prime (2001), but not now.

These releases are for her fans - not for sales.

The only way I see Ayu coming out of a sales decline is to do what Utada does - disappear for at least a year, then come back with a huge song. Ayu needs that buzz again to drive her sales up. Aggressive promotion is not going to do much.

^ im sorry, but I dont understand what that has to do with the original comment ?

:yes

That's why I think Five sold well because it was her first releases since 7 month so fan was on the lookout for new musics ^^

...

We're discussing the sales longetivity of some popular Japanese artists. I'm explaining why I think Utada has kept hers intact, and why Ayu's continues to decline.

oh... okay, I see... I dont think we were really talking about that. (I had at first said that ayumi is still selling incredibly well even though she has been in the business for 15 years, compared to some other female artist that have been in the business for the same amount of time.).

although we will have to see about Utada. Just comparing her last studio album and her last best album, again she decline by about 60%

Beside Utada, I don't find any female artist can be like ayu who can stand for the Japanese music industry that long and active in these 20 years.

Utada always used to outsell Ayumi (with some exceptions).
It's true that her sales declined 60% from HEART STATION till her 2010 2nd greatest hits album. I thought that this best could sell a lot more.
It's a pitty for her she used to release cds so less frequently than Ayu cause she could even be a bigger seller than her in terms of total sales. Just think that her debut album sold 7,600,000 copies and is the best-selling album ever in Japan.
Anyway, I'm still glad that Ayu rules the game in overall sales! :love

As for our beloved Namie, she might sell a lot better than Ayu now but just think that before Ayu released her debut cd, Namie had already sold 20,000,000 cds. And now their total sales are like that: Ayu - 50+ million / Namie - 30+
That means that after Ayu's debut, Ayu sold 50 and Namie just 10 millions.
Namie rules the game now but Ayu was far ahead of her for SO LONG!

I'm kinda worried about again's sales...
Is it gonna sell less than LOVE?
Oh god if it does it'll be the first nail in the coffin.
I need to listen to fairyland and cleanse myself

^im thinking its gonna sell about the same in the first week...

really i think most people buying these albums now are her fan base, lol.

I think a little more, given its Christmas time. The winter ballad will help her out, seems the Japanese love those types of seasonal songs.

^ I wish she would do that song on MS or one of those music stations...
she needs to have a live or 2 to make this thing sell moderately.

I'm still proud of ayu, but wish it sold more. I wonder if again will follow in these footsteps.

This so much! :yes

Yeah, with a winter ballad, and being released in December, I'm hoping that 'again' will outsell 'LOVE' by like 50k.

100% agree.

I think she should take a break for about a year.... For me, it's too much releasing and not enough promo the last time. So none of her songs stays in my mind since Surreal or MW for example.... I don't want the old Ayu back, but please her old kind of promotion!

^I think that could also worsen her status, if she were to do that...

If I remember correctly she said in a 2004 interview she knew that her era was over
8 years after her era ended and she's still releasing in the top 5?
That's beyond fantastic

^ I would liek to read that interview...
I would like her some of the stuff that was going on during My Story era...

It was in the NTV 2004 documentary.

Woow ! this week Love took the first position in Taiwan Charts !! the first time since RnRc ^^ it's so cool last week she was 2nd !


http://www.g-music.com.tw/GMusicBillboard3.aspx

She wrote "vogue" back in 2000 because she thought her era is over. When A BEST was released she thought her career was over, too.

^
so pessimistic lol

She was just always scared of her era being over xD And it turns out she was wrong every single time.

3rd Day
Position: #15

4th Day
Position: #13

poor LOVE...
nobody loves it, lol.

Im confused... the list sales its been there for 2 weeks? and it was number 2 last week...
So it actually went up in its second week?

Come on mori, move up! We need a 2nd week in top 10!
Though it seems almost impossible!

G-music Taiwan

Week 2
Position: #4
Estimated sales: 1,948
Total: 2,901

Yeah I feel so relieved that Ayu is doing fine in Taiwan again ^_^

is 3K good?

I dont know how album sells go in taiwan...

glad that LOVE was #1 in Taiwan & HK chart ^^

^ Is it #1 in HK too?

A japanese album is considered to be successful if it sells over 10k, but now all the attention is on kpop so it's really hard to reach that number. I think over 5k is pretty decent.

5th Day
Position: #11

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2012-11-16/more/3/

dropping fast.. :( but its ok.. every artist have their peak and lowest moment. this is not her moment anymore..

the news about her romance are helping a bit, XD

as a solo artist, she is still doing great.

6th Day
Position: #12

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2012-11-17/more/3/

Personally, for a 3 track "album" to be in the top 5 and being able to beat out other full length albums (at least in the first week) is pretty darn good.

Sales are generally lackluster all around. I think some people's standards need to change for what is considered good or bad in terms of sales right now...

Still ayumi the best for me even she's not get number 1 anymore.

I think the 3 original song thing has a lot to do with how it is selling. It looks worse because it is "masked" as an extensive release by having all those remixes and instrumentals. As a single and at a single price, it would have been more successful.

FIVE didn't pretend to be anything but a mini album - 5 songs, 5 PVs, a hell of a lot more marketable than this.

I think the 4 tracks (and 3 PVs) for again actually make it looks like a mini album, and should sell somewhat better. This release is just not value for money. I don't see anyone but fans and collectors buying it. The Japanese don't just throw their money away - CDs are expensive, and they choose carefully what to buy compared to downloading.

A SUMMER BEST was plagued with the same problem.

As a fan, I wouldn't even buy LOVE at the Japanese price point. I'm sure a lot of other fans are saying the same thing.

Well, again is more of a mini album than LOVE ever will be.
Maybe the next one will be a legitimate mini.

sad it hasn't sold 100k. at least now she knows how many people follows her nowadays. I hope again will cross 50k mark :rolleyes

13 ＬＯＶＥ 12,386 77,227 浜崎あゆみ

3rd week
1st day position: 9#

It sold more in the 2nd week than i thought! judging on the positions, i thought i'd end up selling under 10k!^^!

coolness!
And now 9! Wait till tomorrow... late teens... lol 18, 19...

13k 2nd week?
Better than I expected.

I wish this had done better. Hopefully some are waiting because they know there are multipul weekends.

What makes me sad is that LOVE isnt even on the itunes charts at all. The only thing is Song 4 u which is number 53 on the hit list and missing is number 103. So depressing :(

Adding more insult to injury... :(

^That's IT?! Well, the tie-in isn't a great one...it's just a video game, and I'd bet more of ayu's fans are not gamers than are. Don't at least one of the songs from the upcoming 'again' have a good tie-in?

recochoku 2nd Week
chaku uta: #17 Missing
chaku uta: #40 Song 4 u
chaku uta FULL: #22 Song 4 u
chaku uta FULL: #23 Missing

A big drop...
Usually the second week is like the half of first week..

I think the minis may help each other. When 'again' comes out, people may pick up both.

2nd Day
Position: #25

Not so bad. I thought it would drop more positions.

it beat my prediction... I thought 18 or 19... man 25...
how the mighty fall... :*(

In my opinion the Tales of Xillia is a really really BIG tie-in. Maybe the problem was the bonus for the game, seriously who cares that pendant

It's not even that! It's a stupid earring, lol.. I think the content her for the speical edition... But besides that, this mini could have done better.. but the albums that were being released that week hurt it too. Over all i hope for 100k

3rd Day
Position: #23

4th Day
Position: #23

totally agree :)

In G-music Japan Chart, LOVE fall to #8 in its third week.

G-music Taiwan

Week 3
Position: out of top 20
Estimated sales: 388
Total: 3,289

- - - - - - - - - - -

Love songs estimated sales total: 4,278
FIVE estimated sales total: 3,853
Party Queen estimated sales total: 2,461
A SUMMER BEST estimated sales total: 1,109

This is the first time I've been to this thread since LOVE was released. I thought it would sell 100K. Oh, well. Still love Ayu.

5th Day
Position: #27

6th Day
Position: #21
_____________

Bye bye certification

im thinking she can do about another 20K for the gold.

Hopefully...
But I won't hold my breath.
I definitely don't want to see the orison thread for A CLASSICAL. I want to start the new year on a happy note.

lol... that thread will be about 5 post... (of official numbers) the rest of the 1 million + will be...
It was so much better!!! It deserves number 1!!!! AYU FOREVER!!! :rambo

100k looks pretty far from what im seeing here.... i mean, its dropping like hell =\

The 3rd week sales should be in soon...

7th Day
Position: #30

thanks for these numbers!! it looks like it did better then party queen and a summber best.... not bad at all!
Do you have any idea about the other albums?

Weekly
27 ＬＯＶＥ 5,697 82,924 浜崎あゆみ

Hopefully her sales can stay more consistent as again is released. Of course, it could also have the opposite effect...

Also, she is number 19 on the Daily Charts for today.

Pray that this release can pass 90k! and then it can die!~~! such a pain in the ass seeing the masterpiece "Missing" is neglected by the Japanese public!~~!

^ I know. I had my hopes up considering how well it was doing the first week on Chaku Uta and Chaku Uta full, but it seemed to just fall in a landslide.

@Honestly I dont much care about the sales, and I don't care if ayumi doesn't get number 1. Ayumi still the best for me and no one can change that. I'm glad ayumi still can make a good music even the public in Japan not to much like her music nowadays. I believe someday in the future ayumi will get her crown as queen of jpop again. Maybe this year is the hardest time for her as a singer, but I believe there is always good thing behind this phase.

5k is more than I expected tbh :P

2nd Day
Position: #45

still wish this had done loads better...
Im still hoping for a small boost with the release of again.

me too! hope both mini albums will at least cross the 100,000 sales mark

3rd Day
Position: #44

I think in the long run, the CDs will help each other out. Whenever a new release comes out, they will stock her last release next to it in stores with five releases in five months, anything's possible I think. We'll see when again comes out.

^ Im sure some fans are also waiting so they dont have to spend small amounts of money every time.

Does Oricon take into consideration mobile and other kinds of downloads? I don't know if Ayu is a strong digital seller, but I wonder if they were considered would her sales seem a bit higher?

Also, do people place more importance on digital downloads these days as being a better selling power indicator?

oricorn has nothing to do with digital sales.

as for japan I dont know about them and digital downloads... it seems they have more types (cell phones and what not)... but Japan is a very traditional country, it might take them years before they consider digital downloads as successful?

Preach it. :yes :weep :heart

recochoku 3rd Week
chaku uta: #41 Missing
chaku uta: #69 Song 4 u
chaku uta FULL: #47 Song 4 u
chaku uta FULL: #60 Missing

4th Day
Position: #38

thats a huge jump up.
great numbers.

5th Day
Position: #40

6th Day
Position: #37

7th Day
Position: #49

Weekly

45 ＬＯＶＥ 3,171 86,095 浜崎あゆみ

Well, it's not a big difference from last week. I wonder if we'll see an improvement with again's release?

i wonder if one of this 5 releases will sell over 100k..

^ each one will sell lower than the before one, im sure :(

^ if anything these releases should help each other.
I think there will be a slight boost and that this should reach 100K

5th Week

1st Day
Position: #33