[sugoione]

i really think that the lower sales are really due to ayu losing her popularity and how kumi koda is rising to the top. i was in japan this winter right before around (miss) understood was released and i would say that the album was promoted very well. i heard 'heaven' a couple of times while walking down shibuya, while each major spots has atleast a couple of (miss) understood billboards. in tokyo dome they played ayu's (miss) understood cm on the giant outdoor tv repeatedly. also shops like hmv, tsutaya, etc has a huge (miss) understood section which you couldnt miss. i dont think ayu performing 'bold and delicious' alot is doing much damage too. ayu did promote her albums in tv live performances by mixing in her older singles like 'step you', 'fairyland', and 'heaven' along with 'bold and delicious'. also, even though you cant ignore the music piracy in the internet, the album is still very capable of selling over a million. just look at ken hirai's album and shuji and akira's single...they sold a massive amount of cds despite downloads through the internet. let's face it, ayu's not as big as she used to be. this day is bound to happen. im still a huge ayu's fan and honestly i dont think shes doing too bad. shes still having a no.1 streak, her music is still up to par, and shes still as georgeous as ever. also, shes still one of the most selling female artists and she's been on the business for about 7 years already. what she'll need in the future is a huge hit single. something that will make the typical non-ayu buyers buy the song just for the sake of them liking the song and not necessarily ayu. also, her tie ins needs to be other than panasonic. hopefully she'll get one with a hit drama or something.