Quote:
Originally Posted by orbitalaspect
I've always wondered how much of a role Utada's status as the daughter of a famous producer and a former idol singer from the 70s played in her success. Hearing stories about people like Taylor Swift, whose father had some connections to Big Machine financially, and knowing that played a massive role in launching her career, I've always wondered about Utada.
And I think it's also a testament to Utada playing her cards right. She's never done anything scandalous or shameful to the public. And she evolved. I think because every release is "fresh", it's been hard to fall out with Utada. She won't be selling 3X Platinum forever, but that's a pretty big feat for a comeback these days.
And Ayu, well... I mean, she was just massive. She blew up and became so big, so quickly that I think she honestly thought she was going to be a 2- or 3-album music wonder. Luckily, she evolved enough to keep it going for another decade, but just keep in mind that by 2008, Ayu was selling half as many records as Utada. And she had ended up behind the curve on things like digital singles. Utada launched Flavor of Life and pretty much made the case for a digital music market with that single. Ayu followed it up with Together When... a year later, which is still her best-selling song in numbers ever.
But still, I wonder so hard whether Utada's parents had a lot to do with connecting her to the right people and practically guaranteeing her the successful career...?
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I do think their parents connections and know how had a huge influence on her longevity. Not to dismiss her talent or hard work, but a lot of what make a popstar career is meeting te right people and doing the right moves, and she had experient people to make sure she would do it right. Her music being fucking good didn't hurt either, so she had the artistic and the business side of her stuff done right
About Ayu... I do think her ballsy choices is an integral part of her charm, and this may be a unpopular opinion, but I do think this lead her to have a kind of cultural impact none of her peers did. IMO Ayu"s presence will be way more felt on the jpop world through other artists than Namie's for example. I still feel in the end of the day the girls are still kinda trying to sound like Hikki, but also to look like Ayu.
I also believe people go hard on her because she is too compared to Hikki or Namie who have completely strange runs during their careers. For someone who peaked more than 15 years ago in the jpop world she actually sells pretty well, has a back catalogue that keeps her selling digital songs yearly and has a impressive ability to sell concert tickets.