Startin'/Born To Be... 1st week sales
 

Hamasaki Ayumi's 39th Single, 'Startin'/Born To Be...'
1st week stats+sales

Rank: 1
Sales: 116,034
sales link: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/15339/

-26th #1 single. (The most #1 singles for a female singer)
-14th consecutive #1 single since April 2002's 'Free & Easy'.
-37th TOP TEN single.
-Holds the #1 spot for female singer in 3 categories:
(1) most singles sold (19,777,000)
(2) number of top 10 singles (37)
(3) number of #1 singles (26)

article link: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/15343/

found 3 of the closest debut numbers i could find (gives an idea where the total sales would be headed towards)
1999/05/12 'TO BE' Debut: 109,860 Total: 324,500
2002/03/06 'Daybreak' Debut: 113,170 Total: 197,140 (Limited 300,000)
2006/03/08 'Startin'/Born To Be...' Debut: 116,034 Total: ???,???
2003/08/20 'forgiveness' Debut: 132,092 Total: 222,194

hix hix so little
tot she will be selling 160k ~~
so this single wont reach 300k iMo ~!!

Congrats to Ayu. First week sales looking pretty good.

Wow, that's good! \o/

Congrats! actually not bad...at least people are still buying her singles...^^

Oh my God,so little number.
It seems hard to reach 300k.

...the week isn't even done yet xD

kinda low :( did you guys see the sales for koda kumi? almost a million on the first week

i am sad about that

although Ayu is making records,but the selling is falling down all the time
first the album,than the single

what can i say? her music is so good ~~why people stop loving it?

btw: Kumi's ablum sells more than 900.000 in the 1st week,while ayu's still hasnt reach 900,000 after 10 weeks

i wanna cry

Remember.

Best album.

12 weeks of consecutive hype.

And sex PVs [majority!].

Obviously, avex has chosen someone who will sell a LOT. But what will happen after this? :\

i think it's quite low, even lower than forgiveness :O

anyways grats to Ayu for having the weekly number 1!

oricon gives out early numbers once monday in japan is over. margin of error btwn these numbers and final numbers: +/- 1,000 copies (so not that significant)

983k is still a lot. just admit that shes popular. this number is even better than hikki's BEST album. n o yea, name 7 of the 12 PVs that are 'sex PVs'.

And in Koda's case its probably like 20k >>

/cough ;_;

UMMMM....how about NO.

Omg KuMI !!!
no her sales are simillar to Ken Hirai Best album and Ketsumeishi 4th album
so it will prolly sales 1.8 k ~

no these are the final numbers their week begins/ends on mondays but they don't publish it until wednesdays that's all.

on the other hand, who cares about the sales?? Ayu is dominating every single category! It's going to be a looooooong time before anyone breaks her record, if ever.

Well to sell 980k in a week kind of says how many she sells in a day... :\

no. wut i meant in 'final' numbers is that this single wont sell bang on 116,000. it will be like 115,952 or 116,325. those r wut i call the 'final' numbers. the 116,000 wut i call 'early' numbers.

mostly cause all her lives seem the same and her image hardly has anything new

again dont compare Best album sales to original album sales as i see you doing that with M.U and koda kumi New Best album -_- why dont you try and compare this Best album to Ayumi A Best? yes i admit kumi is popular but will she ever break the Rocords that ayumi has set? the awnser mostly NO!!

she can always Fade away after this a good example orange range they outsold ayumi at a time but did they set records? the awnser is no

couldnt agreed better

Oh my god! I made the closest guess! I should have won something!!! :D Well not that close, but everyone else predicted above 150 000, so a difference of 10 000 copies isnt that much, although I could have swore I said 116 000 copies..

koda was so strong this day
but ayu sales still can growing..along with her tour...
hope it can sales more than 300k

ok. lets steer out of the koda kumi thing now. talk about 'Startin'/Born To Be...' sales again.

i was really hoping that this would break the 300k mark, but the 1st wk looks kinda week. so rite now if it can sell as much as 'forgiveness' then im happy with it.

my guess it will have a hard time selling 200K in a long Run but might be able to

could the low single sales due to ppl buying Koda Kumi's best album :S
i hope that is the reason
and im just hoping that the sales will remail stable ..
like the following

1st : 116.000
2nd : 75.000
3rd : 47.000
4th : 29.000
5th : 23.000
6th : 16.000
7th : 12.000
8th : 7.000
9th : 4.000

total :330.000
hahaha i wish !!

that would be great!!:luv2 :lech

since Koda is selling so well
i wouldn't be surprised if avex will release a DVD collection of her PV now !

true. maybe more ppl will buy the single after they hear how gd the songs r at her concerts?

lets not talk about KK in here now.

Hmm.. I see this..

1-116 000
2-*47 000
3-*29 000
4-*14 000
5-**6 000
6-**4 000
7-**2 000

Total sales: 208 000 copies

I'm just happy that Ayu is #1.

heres mine

week 1: 116,000
week 2: 61,000
week 3: 39,000
week 4: 26,000
week 5: 17,000
week 6: 10,000
week 7: *7,000
week 8: *4,000
week 9: *2,000
total: 287,000

i guess the sales would just be like any ordinary single despite it being so gd...:@...

maybe it is because of the Koda BEST album thingy...because of the first press probably...

Wow... Her sales made another dive this time. This is a regular single, not something close-to-album released, or aything like that. Musically I'm not so surprised though, I don't really ever liked Born To Be .. a lot. Perhaps her music simply is getting worse... :P

yeah i think this prediction is right, i mean i hope not though because i'd like the sales to be higher!

Me neither, I wanted it to like debut at 180 000 and then go on to sell 450 000... Oh well.. x__x Wish Avex did some extra promotion. At the rate singles are selling, if Kumi does another 12 singles limited edition, I doubt even first press ones with only 40 000 copies in print would sell out.

oh my god. Why would avex go and release the same day as another artist's BEST album in the first place???! They would never do that with someone else ;s I think they're trying to do this on purpose. These sales are OK, but compared to fairyland's 170 000 and STEP you's 160 000 .. this isn't very great. But at least those singles weren't released at the same time as another artist's BEST album. .. I know I should be talking abotu Koda Kumi but its obviously one of the main reasons why this single isnt selling as well as normal. >.>

wtf, Koda's latest album has sold nearly a million copies? Did she finally get her lady flower out or something!?

then which date do u think avex should've put it in?
02/22: hikki/mika/hyde/w-inds.
03/01: EXILE/Remioromen
03/08:
03/15: NEWS
03/22: KAT-TUN
03/29: maybe here? (but EXILE album release)
04/05: BoA
04/12: Otsuka Ai/(i think) B'z.

to me, 03/08 is the best possible date for her. 03/29 is ok too, but 'Born To Be...' was an olympic tv song, so if it was released later, then not too many ppl will remember it. 03/15; 03/22 r off bounds. avex is not going to risk another possibility of ayu not getting #1. (she was almost knocked off the #1 spot twice [HEAVEN;Bold & Delicious/Pride] by JE groups]. altho if she released it on 02/22, she wouldve gotten #1 with 116k sales, avex isnt going to take risks and put her up against a post-NANA mika, hyde, and hikki. also 03/01 isnt good cos EXILE is technically under part of avex.

Well, I'm one of the people who bought that album, and I can tell you that no, she does not "get her lady flower out". So hopefully you will no longer ask such uninformed questions.

i dun realli like this single much but still hope it will reach 300k! i will contribute to overseas sales! go ayu!!!

That's really good for Ayu to be #1 in so many categories. ^_^ But hopefully she'll be able to get a couple more sales. And since I've got nothing nice to say about Koda, I just won't say anything.

oh
I'm little bit disapointed
but still congratulations to ayu get NO.1

let's just wait for the second weeks sales.
it's too early to say that this single will sell so badly.
maybe this week everyone bought koda's best album, and then next week everyone will spend the money on ayu's single !

not bad, another number one. :)

While sure it would have been 'nice' for her to get more sales in her first week. I think we should look at the overall picture of Ayu here.
She just broke a record, 26 #1 singles for a female artist, this is her 14th consecutive #1 single, AND she's had 37 TOP TEN singles out of 39 singles??

Despite the 'low' numbers and all the talk about kumi and the competition that went on the day the single and album came out.. if you think about it..
Ayu did well, :)

and considering her tours are still sell outs.. I'd say Ayu is gonna be just fine.
Not gonna predict overall #'s for sales.. but I'm sure she'll do good :)

(the bold) isnt a record. the other 2 are, but that isnt. the 3rd record is she sold the most singles out of all female singers (19,777,000)

yeah um this isnt a very high number but its all gravy.

what i meant by the just broke a record was getting her 26th #1 single..
I should have put a period after it.. but I was trying to get the point that having 14 consecutive #1 singles is a good thing.. and so many people are focusing alot on the negativity and on the whole "why did avex put ayu's single out the SAME day as kumi's album" bla bla bla

Ooo, Ayu broke a record! Go Ayu!! :D :D

pretty good first week sales, not bad at all ^^

YAY!

i dont know why is ppl always talking and bashing koda kumi... .. but singles sales will NEVER compare to album sales... i think its mainly because alot of new artist are releasing a bunch of stuff this month and ppl should save money for it... and its not just music.. there are also videogames and stuff .. but one thing that most ayu fans should realize now is that ayu is not that popular anymore.. so deal with it.

Lol!... friki fan.

Thanks for the great news!

her latest album is selling 850 000 so far, and her singles last year alone sold over a million copies together.. o_O and you say she isn't popular anymore? ... you're weird.

its low, yes, compared to other singles from past years, but considering ayu is older (old=time in the business), and she is still getting #1's is great! and ayu is still avex's number 1 artist, considering the fact she has made them $$$$$$$$$$$$ lol

however avex is smart and they realize that they have sumthing new with koda kumi, and they will play her up until she gets old too, then find a new one, then a new one, etc etc. lol

i am wierd! .. anyway
.. im not saying she is not popular anymore... shes not THAT popular as she used to be... why the ayu fans get all freaky when someones says that ayu is not the queen of everything.. lol... anyway.. i'm not looking for trouble so please respect my point of view.

yup .. the real bad guy here is avex!!! whe should kill them! ^o^ :P

I'm happy she has another #1 single.

it'd be great if and WHEN ;o she reaches 300k sold, but let's all jump for joy at thefact that she's still #1 and on top :)

The fact Koda Kumi released a best album at the same day didn't affect sales! I mean, Koda Kumi releasing an awaited album = more people going to CD stores = more people buying releases from other artists. It's not like most Japanese people have to chose between an album and a single...

Yes, I think you're right. I mean, her last album only sold more than 900k in the first week :rolleyes

Good for Ayu.. I like it when she sets records <3

Oh okay... :eyebrow

Whats do you all mean, lady flower? What are you talking about? O__o

i think you don't want to know. :laugh and more importantly, it has nothing to do with this thread really.

seriously though, wouldn't it be better for everyone to just focus on the positive instead of freaking out because they think the sales are too low?

I agree. The sales are actually pretty good considering singles don't really sell more than half a million at the most anymore.

And what does Koda Kumi have to do with it? This is a thread about Ayu's single's first week sales. Plus, that's an album and this is a single. I understand your point of view, but you do not have to put down other artists to prove a point.

I think those sales are pretty good. And it kept #1 for every single day since it's release so far. That's great.

(lemme guess) Why bringing kuu to this thread? 01. She's under avex (rhythmzone is under avex). 02. She's releasing a cd on the same week. 03. Everyone's attention on her album in Japan (the ones into music). Conclusion: ayu's not getting attention... HEY WHO CARES ABOUT THAT??? LET KUU FANS CELEBRATE AND AYU FANS CELEBRATE!!

back to the topic. I actually think her single sale is not that bad. Just look at previous weeks' sales of the singles debuted at No. 1:

2006 年 02 月 06 日 付 - B'z - 202096 copies
2006 年 02 月 13 日 付 - ＥＮＤＬＩＣＨＥＲＩ☆ＥＮＤＬＩＣＨＥＲＩ - 120136 copies
2006 年 02 月 20 日 付 - TOKIO - 79299 copies
2006 年 02 月 27 日 付 - Asian Kung-Fu Generation - 49558 copies
2006 年 03 月 06 日 付 - HYDE - 73669 copies
2006 年 03 月 13 日 付 - EXILE - 65845 copies

Only B'z survived to 200K. General sales are pretty low (even that KinKi Kid guy could not go over 150K, consider their singles sales are always high). EXILE's last single sold over 250K on the first week but their new one got lower than 70K. Every artist is suffering the low figures. I was expecting ayu to get around 100K and she did it with 16K extra. So dun feel the numbers are very low. You just can't compare Startin' to the old ones like TO BE (man, 100K was super low in 1999), forgiveness (130K was not a good number in 2003), etc.

Remember... only hardcore fans buy singles nowadays (that's why those young boy bands sell a lot ON SINGLES). Normal people buy mp3s only. You should look at iTunes chart:

Today's Top Songs - no. 3 - Startin'; no. 6 - Born To Be...
Today's Top Albums - no. 2 - Startin'/Born To Be...

she's still selling.. just some sales are contributed from iTunes (which are not counted in oricon).

:\

Remember people do not have infinite stashes of money and have to make decisions based on value and etc. :]

And most likely, a best album will be chosen over a single :[

More power to Ayu though for being such a strong seller over these 8 years~:]

Tis' true though. Not about boy bands. Only exclusive-y bands or those boy bands that span the ages! [B'z] You know. I'm like freakin' serious xD Old, young.. all sorts of people seem to love and buy B'z. xD The only one who seems to be in the same 'league' as them saleswise in the first weeks, is Ayu~

yes!!I knew she can make it!!!congratulations to ayu!!!

Kinki Kids dont really have that high sales. their singles/albums sell ~300k, so the solo single was pratically like half of the total kinki sales in the end. n i think the reason y EXILE did bad was cos their album is releasing at the end of this month.
dont get me wrong, im NOT trying to 'compare' sales with TO BE/Daybreak/forgiveness. im just trying to find out how the total single sales will turn out in the end (using similar debut numbers) sorry if i led u the wrong way...

this single must reach 300k! i thought daybreak sold 290k?

Not in Japan, really. Japanese people always buy TONS of CDs and DVDs once they are in a HMV or Tsutaya. Not everybody, of course, but that's the usual, I mean, they are compulsive shoppers after all.

wow, koda kumi is selling so good compared to ayu...

It was a good sales week for avex. I think ayu did very well considering the single is not that great.

lets hope that the next week's sales wouldnt be a big drop, although its very unlikely. ayu's releases doesnt really have much staying power. it just seems like the hardcore fans buy the first week, and the rest is the random ppl who thought the song is good or whatever. im not much surprised with koda kumi's success. the album is much anticipated, it seems like a deal for most ppl considering not all bought the singles and such. also, the marketing is great and stuff. people should stop the kumi bashing. its all cuz of jealousy that shes doing better than ayu at this moment. the bashing doesnt do much for ayu either cuz it makes the ayu fans look stupid and ignorant by calling kumi ****ty or what not. kumi is smart actually...she knows that her image sells...so why not milk it for all its worth? also, ayu needs a breakout song. the songs she has been releasing has been mediocre. and her pv's....man wtf is she thinking. dont get me wrong...im still an ayu fan and to be honest i've never even heard any of kumi's songs from her 12 single release...are they that good? all i know is that the covers looks so cool.

^ Koda Kumi's 12 singles were incredible. They were better than any other of her singles~

O_O so low sales O_O :thud
but never mind, she has just set a new record and is in the first position for being the female artist with the most #1 singles, #1 in the number of singles in top ten, and the most sales generated from singles :D
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/15343/

Very cool,Yay on number 1.

anyone got (m)u 11th week sales?

if ayu is selling in itunes?...she doesnt get the money does she?

I think it's not proper to compare Ayu's single and Koda's album because singles usually sell slower than albums. Though it's true that Ayu's single (or album) no longer reach high sales, it just shows that Japanese's market is shrinking.

Isn't it great news that Ayu has finally broken the record for most number of #1 and top 10 singles? Just another reminder of how wonderful she actually is, even if her sales are starting to wane.

This calls for a celebration! :D

OH. MY. GOD.

How come Koda Kumi outsold (miss)understood's total sales in a week? *dies of unfairness*

Well it's a best album. Best albums sell well plus Kumi's on her peak right now.

But its unfair!!! If Ayu did the same what would happen I wonder.. :( Did A Best debut like that too or more? I hope Ayu also comes up with a best album soon. She's had too many singles/airplay songs already.

Angel's Song
Greatful Days
Because Of You
Ourselves
Hanabi ~Episode II~
No Way To Say
Forgiveness
Moments
Inspire
Game
Carols
Step You
Is This Love
Fairyland
Alterna
Heaven
Will
Bold & Delicious
Pride
Ladies Night
Rainy Day
Startin
Born To Be

There's 23 songs here already.. :dead2 Maybe she's planning a 2 disc set? But don't 2 disc sets cost more and sell less? I think (miss)understood sold little because people would rather get the full greatest hits than that album, since (miss)understood was 75 percent promotional songs.

I donno.. I don't keep count of sales. However I know that Hikki's Single Collection sold better in the first week.

if i'm not wrong A best sold over 2 million copies on its debut week even Rainbow sold over a million on its debut week :P


it sold 1.4 million on its debut week. what kumi did this week isnt something ayu/hikaru havent done few times already :innocent and with albums that arent "BEST" :innocent

i really think its Time for a new A best and specialy now that she over took seiko matsuda

I suppose Ayu's and Hikki's peaks were certainly better than Kumi's.

^ Rainbow didnt.. Its total sales was a little over a million..

ppl, remember that selling (almost) 1m in a week now is AS BIG of a deal as it was to sell 2m in a week back then (late 90s/early 00s). not many ppl can do it. i can only name 4 ppl that have sold 900k+/wk in the past 3 years: hikki/ketsumeishi/hirai ken/koda kumi

no. RAINBOW's sales were ~1.8m

ku's BEST~first things~ had 2CDs. it has so far sold 1.66m

where can I read the iTunes chart?

rainbow almost sold 2million


out of the 4 hikki/ketsumeishi/hirai ken/koda kumi. 3 are Compilation Albums from what i know LOL...

------------------------------
i would like to comment that Miss understood is
still the highest selling original album for 2006.. ;) :D

SECOND THINGS isn't exactly a best album, is it? And being a compilation album or not, Koda Kumi sales are VERY high, so we shouldn't make it seems like it's usual for an artist to sell 900k with a compilation in the first week because it isn't at all.

Of course she does.

from what i know it is Compilation Album like it or not.. we may laugh at it that it isn't but it was label as one and that's what counts here not what we think.. Edit i guess it is really an original album

and what's the problem now? i remember b4 it was release koda kumi fans were saying it was a Compilation Album,and that they didn't care what others thought. if it was a cheap strategy as she had already release "best of things" koda kumi fans should make up their minds.. and its a Fact Compilation Album do double or triple the sales of their original album. what more fact do you want Hikaru utada outsold koda kumi BEST -second session with her Compilation Album yet what happen to exodus and all her release after that? i'm not here to put down neither koda kumi nor utada hikaru..

Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1 1.4 million debut Week
koda kumi BEST -second session 983,000 debut Week

and i think we all know koda kumi is really popular at the moment in japan. i dont think anyone has said she isn't


yes i agreed with you on this but no one has said its easy for just anyone to release a Best album and sell 900K on the debut week.. atleast not me. lets stop it here as this thread has nothing to do with koda kumi but Startin/born to be 1st week sales :)

here the link startin is at no.3 born to be is at no.7

http://www.apple.com/jp/itunes/music/

Best~Second Session~ IS NOT a best album nor a compilation album. It is an original album featuring her 12 recent singles. If the sales are high, it reflects the sales of a original album, and it means koda kumi is selling pretty well indeed. People should look at facts instead of hiding on excuses.

wut is ur point? it is rare now for artists to debut with 900k+ sales just like it was rare for artists to have 2m+ debut sales.

and unfortunately, (m)u mite not be able to hold any much longer, as Otsuka Ai/Kobukuro are still picking up sales while (m)u is falling. and also, EXILE is releasing their album, n it mite break the million.

i honestly havent seen ku fans saying that this was a 'real' best album. all ive seen is antis saying in the beginning that it doesnt deserve to be called a best album. but after they saw 900k+, these antis now say it sold well cos it was a best album.

This is crazy. Everywhere i go, people are fighting over Ayu and Koda. It's like UTADA-AYUMI war all over again, just that it's KODA-AYUMI now.

if this the case than i'm sorry but like i said b4 it was release some fans of her were saying it was really a "BEST" Album at that time i also ask them how da hell was it a "Best album" when it was going to be her 12 recent singles and who better to know than her Fans that also said it was official what kind of album it was going to be?

i will try to dig you up some links of the times that was said by them

Actually, it's Kumi-Ayumi AND Kumi-Utada. LOL. :headache People are just getting insecure, that's all. And like ImpactBreaker, all of these excuses are pretty lame and just a way to make people feel better and less threatened, that's all. :rolleyes