Quote:
Originally Posted by Coelacanth
Selling well.. sure it's an added bonus, but I don't think it will ever directly affect the quality of the music. So I'm just whatever about it.
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I think you made a lot of valid points here. In the end most artists in Japan cannot maintain their high sales if they've been around for a very long time. We can see how artists like Ami Suzuki (who competed with Ayu back in her Sony days) now has to struggle to surpass 10k with an album. Namie too was a legend at her time but now it's impossible for her to reach the same figures even if her new album is probably one of her best works.
In the end an artists' hype can only last for so long. And unless the album isn't jam packed with something that really appeals to people (Like Kumi's pv overload and concert extra) only the normal fanbase is bound to purchase an album from an artist who's been around for so long. I'd say Ayumi's fanbase who occasionally purchase her stuff is probably around 300-400k.
Personally as long as her music has high quality I will be happy. Usually her highest selling singles are her summer releases and that's because it's got this happy and mainstream feeling that Japan loves so much, but the summer singles end up my least favourite ones. I liked her post t2m releases because they sounded more personal and reflected more her emotions. I'd take that any day over the typical overproduced, shallow and commercial music.