[gakkun]

Originally Posted by Paper Bear

Why do people think this is the end of the world? "OMG! No one in Japan likes her anymore! She's not popular anymore! Waaah!"

First of all, she's still very popular in Japan. No, she's not as popular as she used to be years ago, but yes, she's still one of the highest selling artists. She's been around for a long time, and to still be selling as well as she has been is pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

Second, people keep complaining about her sales. So, her sales aren't as high as they used to be. Times have changed in Japan. More people are buying music online through iTunes etc. Yes, sales have decreased, including Ayu's, but it's not just for her sales... It's everyone's. Even Utada Hikaru isn't selling as much as she used to. Does this mean she's not popular anymore? No. It just means people are finding other means of getting the music they want.

And since we're talking about sales, I'd like to point out that Ayu has been doing extremely well. Her singles have done very very well. 300,000 consistent sales is great. B&D didn't sell 300,000 sales, but it did pretty good. 100,000 isn't bad! There are a lot of popular singers who don't reach 100,000 single sales every time they release a single, including BoA for example. Her last two singles had about 55,000 each if I'm not mistaken.

Koda Kumi may be gaining popularity, but her sales are nothing compared to Ayu's. (miss)understood sold more than Secret in its second week. If I'm not mistaken, Koda Kumi's only number one album was her Best album, and that was also her only album to sell over 1,000,000 copies. So before anyone freaks out anymore about that matter, I hope you'll realize Ayu is still a huge icon in Japan. She's still very popular and she still has high sales.

And about the weekly sales, I was pretty surprised at the sales. Not just at Ayu's though, but everyone's. Usually the #1 album of the week sells really well, but he didn't even sale over 100,000 copies.

I actually think it was just a slow week because no one's sales were anything but outstanding. But I'm pretty confident Ayu will reach 1,000,000 sales soon. Maybe next week will be better.


edit: found a typo @_@
oops, and another... I really should proofread :/

yeah no one's saying Ayu's not popular but right now Koda Kumi's definitely MORE popular and talked about than Ayu. We are talking about declining sales for Ayu and increasing sales for Koda and Otsuka so there's always a risk that one day they eclipse Ayu's popularity.

Plus, I think the only reason Ayu's still up there in the charts is because of her hardcore fanbase. She's not gaining new fans; why? she's too old to be an idol singer so teens won't start to like her; 30+ something probably listens to their B'z and Southern All Stars, not Ayu. So the only people buying her cds are her fans and very very few casual listeners. Her single sales are consistent because of her fanbase - she no longer makes hits like M or Seasons like she used to, and those hits are important to attract new fans.

Anyway personally I wouldn't feel a thing if Ayu's no longer as popular as before I mean no one's popular forever, I'll be happy as long as she still makes music.