Quote:
Originally Posted by Corvina
That may be a reason.
Shifting away the focus for the public from physical sales to download. Singles aren't that much of an seller anymore in general physically.
As I said, I doubt popularity has much to do with it.
Look at artists like Mika Nakashima or Ai Otsuka - they're barely selling anything physically, especially singles, but they're releasing normally nevertheless.
Even JUJU, who is really popular, barely sells anything for singles (but she's strong with album and digital sales).
Maybe they're even prefering to do that with artists still selling a bit better in the physical departement?
They do get more profit out of it releasing like that.
Though I'm sure, if Kuu would be still highly popular like Namie, everything would be released normally.
Kuu's selling audience nowadays is likely mainly her core fanbase. Selling mu-mo only makes sense for her, I guess.
It's going to be interesting, where avex and the market is heading in the 10 years to come.
Maybe albums will become mu-mo only for more artists as well in the future... Like Kuu...
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You're right. I would love to see Kuu keep up her output, shift styles, stay trendsetting. She's such a chameleon in Japanese music. The only aspect of Kuu's career that I wish we had more of is her dance-style tracks like TABOO and Driving and Be My Baby. That felt so short-lived, but is a genre she does so damn well.
Let's just hope her core fanbase holds and hopefully grows over time. I don't know if you're like me in this way, but I have been struggling for the last six years or so to cope with artists like Ayu, Kuu, Ai, MIKA, and others losing popularity and not releasing as often or not always having the big releases. For years, I was up and down and happy and sad with every single and album and tour. With Namie retiring, Ayu losing her hearing in her right ear, and Kuu doing more and more limited or mu-mo only stuff, I feel like a hugely important part of my love life with music is dying by a thousand cuts.