Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - Why not in Europe?

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Why not in Europe?

OK, this question has been on my mind for quite some time:

Why don't they sell Ayumi Hamasaki CD's & DVD's & other stuff in Europe?
And when I mean Europe I especially mean Holland

And why aren't there any MV's of Ayu on the Dutch television? :popcorn

IT'S A SAME!!!! :weep

So if you know the answer, please tell me...

Owyeah and if you also have HAPPY ENDING from the Arena Tour 2005 in a video file (WMV, MPG, AVI) please let me know... :grouphug

THANKS!!: thank you guys for responding... but I know that i can go to neighbour lands... but still, Gas is really expencive in Holland.... and I you want to go to belgium or germany (from where I live), well you're still like 1 hour on your way, but you're right i can but them on internet still its not same ...............

So guess I have to buy them on internet or in Belgium or somewhere!!!!!

And thanks to Armin van Buuren for making remixes of some of Ayu's songs, he's a DJ, I think

Well.. I dont know about Holland, but they sell Ayu's CD's, DVD's etc in Finland, although only in one shop in Helsinki but still.. It's a part of Europe :b

I wan`t that too!!
Btw, I have AT 2005 but I can`t rip what you want cuz theres some error for the file :(

It's very rare, but you can probably find at least one store somewhere in Holland that sells them.

The reason her PVs/MVs are not aired a lot outside asia is because Ayumi, or any other Japanese artist, is not very well known outside Japan/some parts of Asia.

avex trax (the recording label she is signed to) is very careful with their money and they do not dare promoting their artists abroad, they don't even send their artists for tours through the rest of Asia. Japan is a huge market, huge enough, the second largest after USA, I believe they are pretty satisfied.

So... the main reason why Ayumi Hamasaki is not broadcasted madly on TV outside Japan is that she is very unknown in the rest of the world, she might seem pretty popular having a huge forum like this, but no, in general no-one know who "Ayumi Hamasaki" is.

Why, did I say something wrong :D ?

Your post was perfect, it stated every part of the question.

It's definetly getting better though. Especially after games like kingdom hearts I've heard lots of non jpop fans listening to Utada's music, right next to scissor sisters and Britney Spears (examples.. =P). Some of those ayu-remixes also gaine her some popularity, espcially the M remix and depend on you. The person "AYumi hamasaki" is not known though, and not idolized like f.ex kylie.

Ayu had LOTSA stuff released in europe.. The UK, Spain, Belgium, and.. of course Germany (the infamous german singles)... But yeah, in the netherlands; I can't find Ayu CDs anywhere. But when I went to belgium, there it is... in the first CD-store I entered I saw 5 ayu CDs :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by immel (Post 898064)

So... the main reason why Ayumi Hamasaki is not broadcasted madly on TV outside Japan is that she is very unknown in the rest of the world, she might seem pretty popular having a huge forum like this, but no, in general no-one know who "Ayumi Hamasaki" is.

...Well, that again, is because she still hasn't been promoed here, which is what the first post in this thread is about...

^He asked the question and I tried to explain the best I could, out of my view :).

Quote:

Originally Posted by immel (Post 898183)

^He asked the question and I tried to explain the best I could, out of my view :).

Yeah, and it was a good explanation:)
Just too bad about Avex not concidering Europe.. And for the record, Europe would probably be a much more "safe" market til promote her in, than US. The American music market is very tough, and alot of artits that enter the American market, fails or just pass by un-noted. Robbie Williams for instance, Europe loves him, but he totally failed when he tried USA.

you should be happy that at least she sell's it in Europe so you can go the neighboring countries that have the CD's , there is nothing in Australia and there is no country that that share our land borders so we can't get it anywhere but the downloads from the internet.

^ You may not be able to buy the CDs in a store, but you can still buy them online, at least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuNsTyLe (Post 898273)

The U.S music market is not hard to break if you have good music, like Kylie's fever album that went platinum in the states. She did no promotion for the album or single (can't get you out of my head), she did'nt even lift a finger for the US but the states went Kylie crazy in 2002. Can't get you out of my head was played like crazy in Europe so American radio stations got ahold of the song, started playing it on american radio, americans loved it and Kylie was a hit. I'm saying Ayumi should just try the American market and see what happens. If the queen of Euro pop can do it, so can the queen of J-pop

Kylie sings in English though, and her songs sort of fit in with the music market. In my opinion, Ayumi's songs just wouldn't have a target audience and she'd have terrible sales, promoted or not. Just think... what radio station would play her music? And can you think of an artist that doesn't sing in English that has made it big in the US (Shakira has broken down so many boundries, but she still wouldn't have gained as much recognition if it weren't for her English singles)? I can see Ayumi having moderate success in Europe, where it's more common to listen to music of a language you don't speak, but it's not very common in North America.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingofpop (Post 898308)

I'm saying Ayumi should just try the American market and see what happens. If the queen of Euro pop can do it, so can the queen of J-pop

Not necessarily. The language barrier is a BIG one; your typical everyday 12 to 18 year old americans who listen to pop music are pretty closed-minded. They need to be able to relate to just about everything. If the lyrics are in english without a thick accent then americans can relate more. If the lyrics aren't in english, or if they are but with a thick accent like Puffy AmiYumi, it's hard for americans to take it seriously. It becomes a novelty act. (The only exception I can think of is Rammstein, but the techno-rock sound of that plus the vocal style basically makes it the type of music you wouldn't be able to understand too well even if it WAS in english. Ayu, on the other hand, has a very clear voice and the vocals & lyrics are a big part of her music, so it wouldn't do too well here.)

That said, if ayu was promoted ONLY in a niche market (the anime fans, japanese culture fiends, RPGers, etc) she'd do alright. Tokyopop, Tofu Records, etc. have done the right thing in only selling music to people they know will buy it. Their function is only to make the music available here so we don't have to spend 30+ dollars on some of the music we like. SHOULD mainstream radio pick up on any of the music (Heck, my dad LOVES HandMC, anything's possible), then that'd be a really cool bonus, but it shouldn't be expected, and the US labels releasing the music won't spend any money for promotion.

You see, despite the fact that it's technically illegal, the big 5 record labels in the states pay radio stations & MTV to play the music they want us to hear. The number of songs on the radio is very small, because we're literally spoon-fed the songs that the record labels believe will sell most. It's not a gamble since not all of our options are shown to us. Americans are settling for what's very safe but uncreative and not at all groundbreaking music, because they can't tell that there IS anything else. Since they've become more than accustomed to this, only a few real music fans are hearing how music is progressing outside of mainstream radio. THESE fans can handle music that's really different (i.e. genre-crossovers, music in other languages, etc), but most people are used to the same-old thing and would immediately be turned off to anything drastically new.

Which is why ayu wouldn't be a hugely popular artist here.

What even wonders, common Americans listen to Rap & Metal Rock music, in which their lyrics are mosty gibberish or just simple random screaming throught out the songs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keishi (Post 898783)

What even wonders, common Americans listen to Rap & Metal Rock music, in which their lyrics are mosty gibberish or just simple random screaming throught out the songs.

I agree but you forgot to include Hip-Hop (e.g 50 cent)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corybobory (Post 898517)

Maybe Juanes :yes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanes