Well I'm sure most people couldn't afford buying both albums.

o nononononononononononononononono!!! second position already... plz go to your closest cd shop and buy all 4 cds!

LOL, this is crazy the cd is selling so don't get in hissy fits lol its AVEX Trax fault that it isn't selling it should have been on one cd i bet they won't do this again!

seriously? I bet Avex is really happy that they managed to sell 900,000+ CDs in a single week. Any idea how much money they get from that? xD

lol....exactly :D

btw...abest2.com updated with like a screensaver thing with the A logo from best of cdl that you could get....dunno how to get it though...but I want it!!

:rolleyes Why? Did this album sell 2k or something? Be realistic.

^ no people are getting mad each album didnt sell one million each! that era is over digital downloading is at an all time high cds won't sell like that unless they have excellent some sort of out of the world material on them that goes for any singer! i am just wondering how artist over here in the US sell millions in one week?

^Isn't it really really good to sell over a million in one week in the US?

yeah it is! but digital downloading is huge over here too there is no reason an album cant sell one million in japan if it can sell a million here LOL

Well at 130K this week, we'll probably get a 500K+ album for each, which is good. Kinda. I guess.

there are millions more people here.

Apart from the fact USA has 300 million people while Japan has "only" ~126 million people, I think it might be becouse there's more and more artists in Japan recently... people buy different things than just by Ayu and by Hikki... or do in fact download more than they buy... I dunno. I'd like to know myself :unsure: Maybe they got bored with all the idol/music popculture XD

You can't compare sales between the US and Japan. The main reason for this, other than population, is that Billboard/Soundscan (those responsible for sales data in the US) include digital downloads that are purchased towards the sales. In Japan, Oricon does not include itunes sales and such.

^ i know i would get tired quickly lol there are so many good singers there! i guess thats why many dream of going to the US and making it, it would be awesome!

Last year Justin Timberlake's album had first week sales of 684,000 (iTunes 66,698) and Beyonce had 541,000. I remember both being discussed as excellent numbers at the time.

As of now, Ayu made 4.252 billion yen with the bests [if you average the prices a bit..]

That's only the first week sales of each..

Japan has half the population of the US. And very few artists these days sell a million in one week in the US - it is very rare even for the biggest artists. The US has the largest music industry in the world, but if you take the population difference into account, it is actually Japan that has the most successful music industry.

To put the numbers in perspective a bit, Ayu's bests both made around $35,437,500USD with their first week sales..

I heard artists only get about 10 cents from every album they sell.

That's the American industry.

I think that the Japanese industry pays a salary, rather than per-album or w/e..

Ayu probably gets quite a large sum a month, as well as the fact that she has composing and songwriting credits on the albums..

These sales are awesome. I don't understand why some people are being so upset over the sales; selling near 1 million physical copies in just one week is really good, if you ask me. I'm glad the compilation is doing so well. :)

Ayu had her contract negotiated when Avex found out when she was a house hold name! i think she makes more than ten dollars per album sold! i know she gets alot because an entire stock of AVEX is hers!

^I doubt she makes that much (from specifically CD sales). She might have some avex stocks though...

I wouldn't be surprised if she purchased AVEX stocks (actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she purchased non-avex stocks either). But yeah, I do hear that in Japan the artist have a regular payroll, but I think I read someone that they get one dollar (or the Japanese equivalent of one dollar) for every album they sell or something.

only 10cents?! :irked :headache :grumpy

That's usually based on if the artist bought their songs. Artists who write their own compose and etc make the most money.

Yeah, it's kind of like how the old Hollywood studio system used to work. Actors would be contracted to only work for one studio and they would get a fixed salary from the studio based on how important they were to the company.

drop...?? >.<

who's no. 1 ???

EXILE- EXILE EVOLUTION

don't know much about them..

ooooo ic ^^"

thx

I'll already be happy if these 2nd week sales can pass 100k each.

Hm..

Technically that'd mean that she'd have sold a million physical CDs in two weeks, which is quite good. [So what if it's not for each album :<]

usually exile can sales about 250-300k for their original album..i'm really sure they will take a number one spot..
hope this week both of A best can sales about 150k-200k

I kinda doubt A BEST 2 will be selling over 150K each this week. Just look at the indicator for the past three days and multiply it either 1.67 or 1.81 (which ever number is true).. 100K is the safest guess for this week :P.

I guess the promotion alone comes in at like at least 4.000 billion yen, maybe they even made some profit already? :laugh.

^
Probably..

I don't think promotion costs that much..

Maybe half that?

exile is an extremely popular group their music i1 really urban and upbeat so theirs no surprise at least Abest 2 is in the top 5

^ That's true plus urban is getting quite popular in Japan so it's no surprise it grabbed the first spot.

now that i think about it, ayu is doing an excellent job, the music in japan is changing drastically its a huge surprise a-best 2 is selling well. Ayumi is kicking butt, i think her new single is gonna shock everyone i cant wait

I don't think most artists nowadays could pull off more than 500k for a dual-album release date..


IMO, Ayu's doing VERY well for someone who has done this for 9 years [and fdid even better before..]

Ayu = love. Basically. I wonder when she'll hit that "weird idol status" where she only sells 50k of her singles...

I really hope she's doing fine and she can keep this pattern for some weeks to come. The sales are pretty good for almost-a-decade recording artist like her.

About US market and Japan music market, untill now, I still don't get it though. In the US, sales for an album in the first week, especially for No.1 album of the week, are pretty low, but the sales are very consistent for weeks. While in Japan, sales for a No.1 album of the week can be extremely staggering (Hikki's Distance for example and Ayu's first A BEST which hit No.2 on that week). But for the second week, sales drop pretty miserably. In the end, they will only manage to sell like 4-5 million copies only. And US album still selling well.

dont think that will happen shes too well known

I think it's because in the US, the promotion for singles are done after the album release; but in Japan, the promotion for singles are done before the album.

Similiar to Namie-A, eh?

yep

That and the fact that Japanese artists release at a much faster pace than US artists do.

omg....1st week already 800k...gambateh ne....

keep it up ayu, i know ayu can totally do it.

I, personally, hope that she does a 'Momoe Yamaguchi' when sales are inevitably starting to fall.

Well... we dun really know... Momoe did retire with her glory.. At the same time she sacraficed a lot to let this happened. I'm not sure if ayu willing to leave at this point.. and mostly, will avex let her go at this moment. Even tho her sales decreases, she's still making lots of profits for avex (e.g., concerts, goods, etc). If she keeps on singing, we'll support her no matter what :D.

I wonder if A BEST 2 will ever climb back up to #2..

^You mean A BEST 2 -BLACK-?

weehee!! 1st week and over 470 thousand copies sold!! :D so happy. hope the sales improve!

the albums are probably gonna chart for the entire year.

ayu is gonna milk this album till its dry, im not expecting a single too soon

I expect the release pattern that A BALLADS had.

She had her album in December the year before and released A BALLADs in March.

There was a whiiillee before anything happened, but we eventually got & in July..

So maybe we'll get a 3A/4A single this year?

Probably.

I place my bets on a 4A.
Since they feel bad for letting down fans last year, and they need to make up for the lack of spring single this year.

Quoting myself..
I meant to say if A BEST 2 will ever climb back up to #1~:yes

now you talk about it... the release pattern does look like RAINBOW --> A BALLADS era..

Voyage as the last single --> RAINBOW album (3 months apart)
RAINBOW --> A BALLADS (~3 months apart)
Voyage --> & (around 6 months apart.. rare in ayu's history)

so this time..
BLUE BIRD --> Secret (5 months apart)
Secret --> A BEST 2 (3 months apart)

If she's gonna release a new single around May... that will be like almost a year apart from BLUE BIRD... I hope it's a multi-A single as well :D.

Off-topic: When is summer in Japan? :)

^unofficially I think June to late August/early September?

I have a feeling she might release a new single in mid may or maybe april?...just because there is no tour dates for the week of may 16th except for the newly added may 19th on saturday...april is only the 3 overseas concerts...unless she will be too busy rehearsing and stuff. Ayu usually releases a new single during the tour right?

Maybe a new single in may, august, november and new album early next year?

She'll stick to her December album-schedule..

Hopefully anyway.

Last year was the first year she's deviated from her usual sales-month since LOVEppears and Duty.

If Ayu release a 4A-side single this year, I hope all the songs are waaay out there and completely different from eachother. Ayu needs to do something really unexpected. :]

I personally don't really care what she does as long as it sounds like she'd release it.

I don't want any of that "Not sounding like Ayu" stuff. Too much risk involved.

I kind of like the idea of Ayu taking a risk, risk is part of the growth as an artist.

I don't want Ayu to take a risk again =__=

Bold & Delicious is one enough, and that prove her that fans won't support everyhting she'll release just to 'change' ot to 'take a risk', so I think Ayu learned something from B&D/Pride and she'll think more about some good thing to release =)

IMO, she's grown enough as an artist.

She's evolved past needing to reinvent herself constantly, I think anyway.
[Like, she hasn't changed her "image" since what, August?]

you're rite... she has been using this hair style since august (the last day of a-nation rite??).

I'm OK if she's release something similar... but I hope that she will ask someone new to arrange the songs. I guess having a band really limits the arrangement of the songs somehow. Her band needs to work rite..? Sometimes tho she can just escape from her band (such as JEWEL... I'm so happy that all of them aren't there.. even Peko and Princess...).

Let's wait for a month and see what will be happened.. Usually ayu will perform her new song(s) during the last few concerts (?) during AT.. So my guess is that we'll hear something new around May or June.. a year after BLUE BIRD... :P

4A will be awesome!

I personally wouldn't be too keen on a 4A.
If she were to do that, and release 2 more doubleA singles, there wouldn't really be much to look forward to on the album, you know what I mean?
A triple A would be nice, as we were supposed to get one but we got BB/BF instead :p And she has kept us waiting oh so long... 9 months since her last single was released :(

A quadruple A-side released in the summer would be nice. I'd like to draw parallels as to what it did to Koda Kumi, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

I think I'd rather want a singel A side. But preferably remix albums of the bests..

I guess ayu would release 4A single, which has 4 songs with different new styles

Ayu's doing very well I think, especially at a time where the Koda Kumis and Ai Otsukas have won over a lot of Ayu's fanbase. Hopefully A Best 2 will continue to do well.

Hopefully sales of each A BEST 2 will surpass a million by the end of the month. :o

A BEST 2 ~ WHITE & BLACK
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2...63bcnm7gc8.jpghttp://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5...65bcbd9bh5.jpg

[Daily ~ Not exact sales]

DATE - BLACK | WHITE
[27/02] - #1 [~83401] | #2 [~83130]
[28/02] - #2 [~83596] | #1 [~84526]
[01/03] - #2 [~37415] | #1 [~38467]
[02/03] - #2 [~22515] | #1 [~22701]
[03/03] - #2 [~24648] | #1 [~25416]
[04/03] - #2 [~27161] | #1 [~27725]
[05/03] - #2 [~12259] | #1 [~12756]
[06/03] - #3 [~9505] | #2 [~9940]
[07/03] - #3 [~8417] | #2 [~8709]
[08/03] - #3 [~6246] | #2 [~6481]
[09/03] - #3 [~5016] | #2 [~5158]
[10/03] - #3 [~7853] | #2 [~8314]

[Weekly]

DATE - BLACK | WHITE
[27/02] - #2 [470,057] | #1 [475,284]

TOTAL :
¤ A BEST 2 -WHITE- : [~513,886] [~Not Exact sales]
¤ A BEST 2 -BLACK- : [~507,094] [~Not Exact sales]
¤ A BEST 2 -WHITE & BLACK- : [~1,020,980] [~Not Exact sales]

Source : ORICON

ridiculous sales....:rolleyes....oh well, whatever LOL

Daily sales are just Indicator results, not the Actual results =)

Means that they already sold AT LEAST 1,020,980 until now =)
[1st Week + Indicator for each day]

Remember;

So BLACK was #1 only on the first day. Having more A-sides/big singles and the CountDown helps WHITE.

Eh.

I wouldn't make too big of a deal out of this, since dual-albums usually go through this sort of progression.

Same goes for album+single sales. The single sells waaayy less than usual.

Does anyone think they should've released one of the Best 2's at a later date? 'Cause Ayumi has 13 #1 Daily albums, but not 13 #1 weeklys...

I think they should've done it like 2/21 then 2/28, but.. meh.

Same here. But someone had mentioned that they think Avex regrets doing a double album release now and should have packaged the album into one. I really don't think so and I don't think Avex cares now. If you think about it, what if that hadn't helped? Then they would have only sold half as much. I think this way they could be sure to draw in her hardcore fans as they would be sure to pick up both albums!

Putting the albums into one set wouldn't have boosted sales if you asked me. Look at the sales figures, they're so close for both albums. That means that most people bought both. So if they were both in 1 set, then those people only would have had to buy 1 copy instead of 2

Then again, one album with 2 CDs + 2 DVD (let's say they didn't make the documentary if it's only one package) would have been more attractive. I assume over 600K would be sold on the first week if that's the case. Also, it should have a longer leg compared to now 2 albums. On the other hand, 2 albums' combined sales should be greater than 1 album only.

But I dun think avex regrets somehow. I think they kinda expect what the sales should be. Judging how fast the first presses are gone, it implies they never expect the cd would be selling like crazy.


You have to include a portion of people thinking that "A BEST 2 -BLACK- and -WHITE- suck... they're expensive and the songs I love are separated into 2 different albums... I dun wanna spend so much on them..." Putting all 31 songs into a package would let people think that it's more worthy. (let's use Kuu's ~first things~ as an example. Imagine avex separated them into 2 packages. I dun think ~first things~ would have been that successful then.)

Again, in ayu's case it's a different story.. so we can't really analyze whether method is better. :P

They're still making quite a bit of money. Probably not a trillion yen, but in the high billions..

i dun really think so... it only applies when all the people who bought her albums are super hard core fans that buy both the albums... the figures are almost the same doesnt really mean that everyone who purchase A BEST 2 bought the two versions, and it may be abit too expansive to combine both the albums, its my opinion. For in my case, since i've all her songs already, i'll only buy the Black version because of the new song. its just personal... :o :yes

I also think that a whole package of the 2 CDs + DVD (- the documentary) would be wayyyyy better than releasing 2 albums. Releasing 2 albums in the same day sounds quite useless. They would have made 700,000-800,000 copies sold in the first week. They should have made a version with the CDs only and the other one with the COUNTDOWN. Not divided into 2. And for the PVs, they should have released a A CLIP or nothing at all.

Anyway, the sales of last week seemed quite low... I don't think both A BEST 2 will be able to reach 1,000,000 copies. At least the indicator number went up today!

Well I will be buying both asap once they arrive sg... I wonder why is White's sales better? Due to the cdl?

Most probably. If I would have to pick just one, it would be the white one.

Yeah, probably. BLACK has "part of Me". WHITE has "COUNTDOWN". A concert is more worth it than a single new song and a documentary in my opinion.

if the covers are more "creative" and "attractive",i'm sure it will sell more...

Maybe... one of the covers is quite scary in a way... but it's ok once you got used to it..

i'm it happened the way it did really.
and i wouldn't change 4 dvd's for a package of 2 in a million years, can you imagine that 90 minutes documentary being cut from the release?
they released both so it would be something memorable, it sold over a million in less than 2 weeks, you ain't gonna see me complaining

Somehow I think BLACK and WHITE concept will make it into history. If avex just released A BEST 2, probly people will forget about it later on.. On the other hand, people will still remember BLACK and WHITE a few years later I believe.

I think they knew what they were doing with this.

She's had so many singles/songs in general since A BEST, that a bunch of ideas were probably pitched about the release...

So we probably got one of the better deals [seeing as probably, it was Ayu's idea to include a documentary in the first place..]