Ayumi loses to Hikaru Utada (top 10 CD sales)
 

Combined album and single sales for last year:

Artist, Number of CDs sold, Proceeds in yen

1. Hikaru Utada...........5,730,000.....13,350,500,000
2. Ayumi Hamasaki.....5,320,000.....11,580,000,000
3. MISIA.....................3,430,000......9,550,000,000
4. Kazumasa Oda........2,050,000......5,680,000,000
5. Mongol 800.............2,600,000......5,440,000,000
6. Mr. Children............2,630,000......5,430,000,000
7. GLAY......................2,350,000......4,900,000,000
8. Mika Nakashima......1,880,000......4,220,000,000
9. B'z.........................1,630,000......4,080,000, 000
10. hitomi...................1,400,000......3,980,000,000

http://www.zakzak.co.jp/top-xus/top2002121202.html

Question, how many albums+singles did Hikki release? what about Ayu? That makes a difference if Hikki released more than Ayu.

Ashley

That sort of sucks.. but in our hearts we still no ayu is the best lol ^^ Maybe aftter 2003 passes she will be back on top again!

aww this does stink, but it doesnt bother me that much, because the year's not over. lol. As soon as Raibow is released Ayu is bound to decimate Hikki's numbers.

Some more info from the article:

Ayumi CD sales amounted to 11,580,000,000 yen this year, but last year it was 24,400,000,000 yen. That is a very dramatic decrease. Avex really must be hurting.

Ayu was number one in single sales, but they didn't provide any numbers. I suppose Hikaru Utada's "Deep River" must have sold much better than "I am...".

That's really sad....I think "I am..." has a better proportion of good songs than deep river......
woa hitomi is in the top ten :thumbsup

whoa...from what nmskalmn said, that's over a 1/2 loss in sales!! Even with the success of CDs like Voyage, I'm surprised Ayu did so poorly (relatively speaking). This year saw the releases of such CDs as I am... , Ayumix 4, CT2, H, and others, so I was expecting a bit bigger sales....

Well "H" and "Voyage" are still selling, and "Rainbow" hasn't come out yet. And with Avex doing that pirating protection on all singles/albums, it may be a bit harder to download and copy songs. I think she'll sell more next year.

but haven't some people been boycotting ayu cd copy protected releases?

But what makes me worried is because Ayu releases much more singles and albums than Utada and even with that she did sell less......

Again, I ask how many singles+albums did Hikki relase this year compared to how many ayu released? The number of singles+albums could account for the differences in the sales numbers.

Ashley

well, it would, but the problem is that we know ayu released more singles and albums. technically she should have better sales. I guess fans didn't approve of the rereleased singles. or maybe ayu is hitting what most big hit performers face- the end of her peak. It happens to everyone eventually- well, except Madonna, and for some messed up reason, all the crap boy bands and pop princesses. of course the latter groups are going to hit it too.
I just hope that isn't so- after all, ayu constantly reinvents her music.

Hmm.....Ayu released Iam..., Daybreak, Free&Easy, Ayu-mi-x IV NSMM, Ayu-mi-x IV AOV, CT2, }{ and voyage...I think Utada released less stuff: Hikari, Deep River, Sakura Drops.....

well the two figures are awfully close. it's no biggie that the she's selling less than she did last year cuz you could say that about any J-POP star, the Japanese industry is going down. i blame AVEX's SILLY CD CONTROL.

besides, if you counted worldwide sales (why dont they ever do that?) Ayu would prolly win. confirmation anyone?

NOOOOOO AYU LOST!!!! BUT AYU IS STILL THE BEST!!!

Hmm... it all doesn't make a lot of sense. "I am..." was definitely better than "Deep River." Ayu released a lot more stuff....and even had a million selling single. Oh well, I'm sure "Rainbow" will do very well.

aWwwwww.... this is kinda sad..... but it's ookay.... both of them are sugoii!!! :D :D anyway... boa is not in the list?!?!?!

Ayu releases I know that sold this year (in order of release date):
a song is born (single w/Keiko)
I am... (album)
Daybreak (single)
ayu-mi-x IV - megamix (compilation)
ayu-mi-x IV - acoustic (compilation)
Free & Easy (single)
H (EP)
ayu-trance 2 (compilation)
Voyage (single)

Hikki:
Travelling (single)
Hikari (single)
SAKURA Drops (single)
Deep river (album)

Comment:
a song is born and travelling were both released last year but managed to stay in the chart into this year. And ms Utada released a LOT less than Ayumi...
But then "Rainbow" is out soon and will change that.
It's possible that Ayu's releasing too much :(
If her releases per year were fewer they would sell more.
But then again "Daybreak" was a limited edition single (sold badly still, it's possible there is tens of thousands of copies left, even seen the JAPANESE version on sale on Yesasia) and her compilations can't really be expected to sell as much as a regular album

Mika's #8, yay :D

Note:
Both artists' back catalogue would also count towards the total, but it doesn't count as much as the current releases for the year.

i have a feeling that rainbow will do well