[Official Message] 『A SUMMER BEST』8. August 2012

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by SummonerXI

The promotion I was referring to is actually from 2009, but okay

Her peak is over? Then why do all of her releases always hit top 5 if not #1? Sure, she's not selling million-sellers anymore because nobody is. We're in a global recession. I'll agree that her peek is over when her releases stop charting that high.

She is hitting top 5 (or #1) both because she has a pretty big core fanbase who will buy enough copies of her stuff to put her on charts during a era physical sales are declining (she wouldn't be even top 10 with her sales 10 years ago) and because her marketing team always pics days with no actual competition... So, when she is released against people who will sell 20k copies of a single, she easily gets a good position.

And we can't forget Ayu actually hold a lot of events during Party Queen promotion... She didn't appear on national TV but showed a lot in public (and you needed to buy a copie in order to sit close to her), had a lot of radio/web/local tv interviews) and is having a 30+ dates tour for the album. Considering Oricon only counts 1/3 of the total event sales, Party Queen sold better than we know (Not saying it sold 100k more or something like that, but it probably already crossed the 150k mark). As most of us don't live in Japan, this kind of promotion and nothing to us is the same... What doesn't mean it means nothing to people who were actually affected by it.

There are a lot of ways of promoting an artist, they all work on a different way, and different moments ask for different promotions... Promoting herself now like she did 5, 10 years ago wouldn't bring the same results, it actually could kill her career faster... Being overexposed when people care about you is far different than being overexposed when people don't care about you... And guess what? Right now people don't care about Ayu enough to find it cool and nice seeing her face everywhere...

You have to promote your stuff on the pace it is demanded... Promotion don't magically makes your sales increase and it isn't a science... Promotion may or may not work and you only know if the millions you invested will show results after they show results. People over here are praising Namie's strategies, but her big blockbuster promotion only started once the public started caring about her again (Best Fiction, I guess)... Before that, everything was pretty modest and simple.

[Jennie Mae]

How about this? If you don't like the tracklist or the fact that it's another Best Of and not a new single, just don't buy it. If you do like this concept, preorder it. I don't think AVEX would put this out if they didn't think people would buy it. And if the sales aren't great, they will change their method and probably start putting out singles again.
Even though I love this idea and I love her summer songs, I'm probably not going to buy it, simply because I'm saving money for school and I would rather not own all those a-nation performances and have money in my pocket. To each their own.
(Not meaning to start any kind of flame war about my post. If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all.)

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

She is hitting top 5 (or #1) both because she has a pretty big core fanbase who will buy enough copies of her stuff to put her on charts during a era physical sales are declining (she wouldn't be even top 10 with her sales 10 years ago) and because her marketing team always pics days with no actual competition... So, when she is released against people who will sell 20k copies of a single, she easily gets a good position.

This is about as practical as it gets. Party Queen, for example, was placed against ABC because it didn't seem likely ABC would get a #1 and Avex wasn't interested in pushing marketing for PQ. Had she been up in a week against Koda or someone else, Ayumi would have been guaranteed a lower position on the charts because her sales are skydiving at this point.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

And we can't forget Ayu actually hold a lot of events during Party Queen promotion... She didn't appear on national TV but showed a lot in public (and you needed to buy a copie in order to sit close to her), had a lot of radio/web/local tv interviews) and is having a 30+ dates tour for the album. Considering Oricon only counts 1/3 of the total event sales, Party Queen sold better than we know (Not saying it sold 100k more or something like that, but it probably already crossed the 150k mark). As most of us don't live in Japan, this kind of promotion and nothing to us is the same... What doesn't mean it means nothing to people who were actually affected by it.

PQ's promotion efforts were definitely not up to par with prior releases. But, like you're implying, the sales drop cannot be attributed as much to a lack of promotion as it can to the fact that Ayumi really didn't have much on the release calendar for 2011. When an artist is out of the spotlight for awhile, their sales are definitely affected unless a massive amount of promotion is done or fans are really demanding a major comeback for the artist. The amount for PQ simply wasn't enough to curve low sales. And that happens. But it's more of an Avex problem and not an Ayumi problem.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

There are a lot of ways of promoting an artist, they all work on a different way, and different moments ask for different promotions... Promoting herself now like she did 5, 10 years ago wouldn't bring the same results, it actually could kill her career faster... Being overexposed when people care about you is far different than being overexposed when people don't care about you... And guess what? Right now people don't care about Ayu enough to find it cool and nice seeing her face everywhere...

Overexposed is overexposed. It harms whether you're popular or not. This is really why, for example, Justin Bieber isn't selling 20 million copies of every record. It's not that fans wouldn't buy it, it's that the people who would otherwise be interested in Bieber are tired of seeing him everywhere and grow to resent him and everything related to him. I agree that promotion on par with I am... and Duty would actually kill her career at this point, but promotion on par with MY STORY or (miss)understood would help revive it. This is still a question of Avex though, not something Ayumi can really change herself.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

You have to promote your stuff on the pace it is demanded... Promotion don't magically makes your sales increase and it isn't a science... Promotion may or may not work and you only know if the millions you invested will show results after they show results. People over here are praising Namie's strategies, but her big blockbuster promotion only started once the public started caring about her again (Best Fiction, I guess)... Before that, everything was pretty modest and simple.

Part of BEST FICTION's success is that Namie had not released an actual Best Compilation in almost 10 years. So, having gone through this huge shift in music style, fans ate it up because the album truly was a demanded comeback for Namie. Just look at 60s 70s 80s. The fact that Namie found a way to integrate her earlier pop leanings with her new R&B style is what fans wanted from her, and the public practically ate then regurgitated that single then ate it again.

Really good points.

Originally Posted by Jennie Mae

How about this? If you don't like the tracklist or the fact that it's another Best Of and not a new single, just don't buy it. If you do like this concept, preorder it. I don't think AVEX would put this out if they didn't think people would buy it. And if the sales aren't great, they will change their method and probably start putting out singles again.
Even though I love this idea and I love her summer songs, I'm probably not going to buy it, simply because I'm saving money for school and I would rather not own all those a-nation performances and have money in my pocket. To each their own.
(Not meaning to start any kind of flame war about my post. If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all.)

I agree with the first point. But I think people have valid feelings about this being a bad idea. First, it's a whole lot of fat just to get the one good cut from the album—"You & Me." And while I'm definitely not buying this record, and think it's a bit risky to do, there is a point where we should all sit back and really analyze what's happening: There are way too many compilation releases coming from Ayumi in the last 5 years. And the problem isn't that they're solid efforts, but that, like A COMPLETE, they are being pushed with the intent of cashing in on older songs.

Personally, I'm glad any release is coming right now, but I want to see Ayumi get back on a regular release schedule. She's tapered things too much in the last several years, and I'm sure fans are tired of seeing her music go in 8 different directions at once. A SUMMER BEST is probably not the best thing to see, but let's hope "You & Me" is a sign that she isn't losing a sense of direction with her career. She still has a long career ahead of her if she makes every song count.

[relmy]

Originally Posted by kinix

Because A COMPLETE is the compilation of all her singles. Regardless of whether it's a hit song or not. (Not all ayu's single is a hit. Fact.)
And since you've own A BEST and A BEST 2, why would you grumble dislike this summer hit? kinda contradicting IMO...

A BEST was worth it, and A BEST 2 were gifts (I didn't buy them as I didn't think they were worth it! :O). This release is not worth it, so guess what? I won't buy it, and I won't download anything beyond the new song either. Are we done policing purchasing habits in this thread? And we'll agree to disagree about A COMPLETE. "Best" is a title, nothing more, and in the end, it's no different to a single collection.

I hope the new song is upbeat nostalgic, I would have like a real upbeat summer track, but based on the disk, we're in for a sad song. Definitely in the mood for something in the fairyland vein, rather than HANABI.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

This is about as practical as it gets. Party Queen, for example, was placed against ABC because it didn't seem likely ABC would get a #1 and Avex wasn't interested in pushing marketing for PQ. Had she been up in a week against Koda or someone else, Ayumi would have been guaranteed a lower position on the charts because her sales are skydiving at this point.

Ayu was put against Koda not to long ago, during the 50th singles project, and even so, it's not like she was all that promoted... The only song on the series with TV during it's release was Crossoroad. Koda and Ayumi sales are more or less the same these days, even with different promotional aproaches, and it's hard to know who will sell 10k more than the other until it happens...

PQ's promotion efforts were definitely not up to par with prior releases. But, like you're implying, the sales drop cannot be attributed as much to a lack of promotion as it can to the fact that Ayumi really didn't have much on the release calendar for 2011. When an artist is out of the spotlight for awhile, their sales are definitely affected unless a massive amount of promotion is done or fans are really demanding a major comeback for the artist. The amount for PQ simply wasn't enough to curve low sales. And that happens. But it's more of an Avex problem and not an Ayumi problem.

I don't think it's about how much she is on the spotlight, but about people don't really caring enough to buying her stuff... In other words, she is depending on her core fanbase for a while now. And again, we can't forget PQ was promoted mostly on meeting events, that were meant to sell albums as fans who wanted to get closer needed to buy copies. Oricon doesn't count 100% of those sales, so, the album probably done a little better than we expect.

Overexposed is overexposed. It harms whether you're popular or not. This is really why, for example, Justin Bieber isn't selling 20 million copies of every record. It's not that fans wouldn't buy it, it's that the people who would otherwise be interested in Bieber are tired of seeing him everywhere and grow to resent him and everything related to him. I agree that promotion on par with I am... and Duty would actually kill her career at this point, but promotion on par with MY STORY or (miss)understood would help revive it. This is still a question of Avex though, not something Ayumi can really change herself.

If people are pretty much tired of your face, being on TV everytime is superexposition... During My Story or (miss)understood eras Ayu was performing around 20~30 times on TV every year. The most I can agree having 2 or 3 lives per single wouldn't hurt, 5, 6 lives per single as she was used to do is A LOT. She never really gave her image a rest until now, unlike Namie or Utada who always took some time to themselves.

Part of BEST FICTION's success is that Namie had not released an actual Best Compilation in almost 10 years. So, having gone through this huge shift in music style, fans ate it up because the album truly was a demanded comeback for Namie. Just look at 60s 70s 80s. The fact that Namie found a way to integrate her earlier pop leanings with her new R&B style is what fans wanted from her, and the public practically ate then regurgitated that single then ate it again.

Namie's 2nd peak wasn't a promotional strategy miracle, her popularity was giving signals of reviving for a while before she exploded, and once she started slowly gaining more and more attention, her promotions started to increase. Even so, they never really got Ayu-like level... She did one or another live for her singles unless they got big, and still, no overload. She as been touring since forever and I can't even remember her last TV live. It's not like she had a mystical solution to her low popularity, she just kept trying new stuff and eventually things started paying off.

Some overpromoted releases sold poorly, some underpromoted releases sold great... there are far more things involved than just what her marketing team did.

There's no step-by-step guide to revive your popularity, and if there were one, people wouldn't eventually get lower sales... She is releasing a compilation now... I don't think it's good timing for a "career reviving best" either, but I also don't think this is the plan... They seen to be trying get money from older songs, maybe keep her streak of years with #1 albums, or even measuring the reception on the public to plan what to do with her anniversary... Maybe it will sell bad... But it's not like the public care about her enough right now for a bad selling album hurting her image or anything.

Very good points too^^

[BlackSilence]

didn't avex do that little survey on this? asking people to list their FAVOURITE summer songs? I mean the favorites for all of us are the BESTs for us, so i think at some point it is A BEST album, for fans...

as for promotion, I think it pays back for them more to do concerts than promote releases which in general are low these days, so doubtfully that would help much. I kinda think that peole rather go see her live than get an album.

[Andrenekoi]

^I know I would!

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

I only mentioned BF because people were all anti best albums, when Namies best was the thing that brought her back. Yes, she was doing well prior, but the success of releasing a best album definitely helped her cause. It also allowed her to use the P<F concept.

Obviously the release timing is completely different and I do not expect such miracles to happen for Ayu. It's a completely different situation.

But technically speaking, while Namie was in fact doing well, it's generally recognized that her second peak began with BF.

[Yumsushi]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Namie's 2nd peak wasn't a promotional strategy miracle, her popularity was giving signals of reviving for a while before she exploded, and once she started slowly gaining more and more attention, her promotions started to increase. Even so, they never really got Ayu-like level... She did one or another live for her singles unless they got big, and still, no overload. She as been touring since forever and I can't even remember her last TV live. It's not like she had a mystical solution to her low popularity, she just kept trying new stuff and eventually things started paying off.

I disagree and I think the difference in sales between Style and Queen of HipPop reflects successful marketing (There wasn't a huge difference in the musical style between the two); she had atleast 3 drama and commercial tie-ins for the singles and comissioned an espicially created pink panther-likeness for the album, a very unique marketing approach. The tie-ins increased for Play and so on. And when her sales were low, she went on an Asian tour. Namie also continues to present herself in a very attractive way; look at the cover for Play or Best Fiction. I think anyone, a Namie fan or not, would want to pick up the album just based on the cover alone. Look at her Youtube channel or her facebook, of course Ayumi has her twitter and weibo but thats not for the casual fan. One can market themselves in alot of ways.

I understand that Tie-ins or beautiful cover art isn't the cookie cutter solution to sales, but I don't think completely giving up on these options is either.

I'm just convinced that whatever Ayu's current vision is, it doesn't maintain the high standard she had for herself in the past and I wish her team would just pick up the slack in any way. Photoshoping yourself till you are unrecognizable doesn't count, lol.

And just for future reference, Namie did some Tv promos for one of the songs off Uncontrolled; I think it was Break it (maybe someone can correct me.)

[[_jo_]]

I Think I'll wait for the 15th Anniversary Releases, I suppose they will have high costs , but I'm dying to see monochrome at a-nation

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Yumsushi

I disagree and I think the difference in sales between Style and Queen of HipPop reflects successful marketing (There wasn't a huge difference in the musical style between the two); she had atleast 3 drama and commercial tie-ins for the singles and comissioned an espicially created pink panther-likeness for the album, a very unique marketing approach. The tie-ins increased for Play and so on. And when her sales were low, she went on an Asian tour. Namie also continues to present herself in a very attractive way; look at the cover for Play or Best Fiction. I think anyone, a Namie fan or not, would want to pick up the album just based on the cover alone. Look at her Youtube channel or her facebook, of course Ayumi has her twitter and weibo but thats not for the casual fan. One can market themselves in alot of ways.

I understand that Tie-ins or beautiful cover art isn't the cookie cutter solution to sales, but I don't think completely giving up on these options is either.

I'm just convinced that whatever Ayu's current vision is, it doesn't maintain the high standard she had for herself in the past and I wish her team would just pick up the slack in any way. Photoshoping yourself till you are unrecognizable doesn't count, lol.

And just for future reference, Namie did some Tv promos for one of the songs off Uncontrolled; I think it was Break it (maybe someone can correct me.)

Break it was releases 2 years ago... I highly doubt that lives would help the album promotion.

Unfortunatelly, tie-ins aren't 100% up to the singer (or the label or their team), as the other part needs to agree on having a song from the artist on their material, what doesn't always happen. Still, Ayu had around 2 drama themes, 1 movie theme, 1 game theme and 8 cm themes since Rock n Roll Circus era... Her movies and drama tie-ins being or not being successful having little to nothing to do with her (as we can't know if the movie/game/cm/drama/etc will be a hit until it is). She is also having another major movie tie-in and a major game tie-in this year.

I agree Ayu's facebook is forgoten, but her youtube channel isn't, Namie's don't have full videos but some selected from time to time, and Ayu still is among the japanese youtube users with the most followers and views... She also is one of the most followed japanese people on twitter (where Namie is absent). Namie's covers being prettier than Ayu's falls into personal opinion... IMO they are both at the same pace, with one being better sometimes, and them the other being better than the first.

I just don't get what you guys think Namie is doing and Ayu isn't promotion wise.

[Yumsushi]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Break it was releases 2 years ago... I highly doubt that lives would help the album promotion.

I only mentioned it since you said that Namie doesn't do any TV promos thats all.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Unfortunatelly, tie-ins aren't 100% up to the singer (or the label or their team), as the other part needs to agree on having a song from the artist on their material, what doesn't always happen. Still, Ayu had around 2 drama themes, 1 movie theme, 1 game theme and 8 cm themes since Rock n Roll Circus era... Her movies and drama tie-ins being or not being successful having little to nothing to do with her (as we can't know if the movie/game/cm/drama/etc will be a hit until it is). She is also having another major movie tie-in and a major game tie-in this year.

I agree Ayu's facebook is forgoten, but her youtube channel isn't, Namie's don't have full videos but some selected from time to time, and Ayu still is among the japanese youtube users with the most followers and views... She also is one of the most followed japanese people on twitter (where Namie is absent). Namie's covers being prettier than Ayu's falls into personal opinion... IMO they are both at the same pace, with one being better sometimes, and them the other being better than the first.

I just don't get what you guys think Namie is doing and Ayu isn't promotion wise.

I thought the artist has a say in the tie-ins. For eg Namie contacted the studio that produced Sin City to promote Violet Sauce to them. Maybe its not always like that?

I agree that the covers are a personal taste issue, but we can both agree that you won't find Namie photoshopped beyond recognition on any DVD, album or single cover.

Look at how Namie is celebrating her 20th anniversary and look at how Ayu celebrated her 50th single for example. That is what I am referring to. I could compare Koda Kumi and her crazy promos instead but I think I made my point.

Anyhow, I only brought up the marketing issue because I thought this release could be much better than it is. I thought the least she could've done is rerecord something, make it special somehow. Maybe I'm still pissed off for having to buy the A best 2s to get part of me lol.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Perhaps she'll release a winter best. And then for her 15th anniversary we'll see some singles. Build the hype of your career with two best albums spaced out and divided into two of the most prominent seasons for releasing material, and follow up with new releases post-best albums tied into ones 15th anniversary.

If this is the strategy, I guess I wouldn't say it's a bad idea.

Just might not be too fun in the meanwhile. If she would do some damn tv lives, it'd be more worth it to me. Seeing older songs performed again is always fun for me.

[KillTime111]

yEiii, the two songs I wanted to see on the album are there ))))))))

[Delicious n Bold]

Originally Posted by Yumsushi

I only mentioned it since you said that Namie doesn't do any TV promos thats all.



I thought the artist has a say in the tie-ins. For eg Namie contacted the studio that produced Sin City to promote Violet Sauce to them. Maybe its not always like that?

I agree that the covers are a personal taste issue, but we can both agree that you won't find Namie photoshopped beyond recognition on any DVD, album or single cover.

Look at how Namie is celebrating her 20th anniversary and look at how Ayu celebrated her 50th single for example. That is what I am referring to. I could compare Koda Kumi and her crazy promos instead but I think I made my point.

Anyhow, I only brought up the marketing issue because I thought this release could be much better than it is. I thought the least she could've done is rerecord something, make it special somehow. Maybe I'm still pissed off for having to buy the A best 2s to get part of me lol.

LOL you could have just bought the black one

[TeamAyu2004]

I like the best albums
I know i can do it myself, but I think its just me owning something that Ayumi thinks is her best work.
This release was picked by the fans, which I like.
But I just saw that evolution was on there... wasnt it released in January?

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Yumsushi

I only mentioned it since you said that Namie doesn't do any TV promos thats all.

I didn't say Namie never does TV promos, just that she hasn't done them for quite some time now...

And the Sin City team accepted doing a Sin City tie-in... They could pretty much refuse it too. It's not just giving a call, they have to discuss price, schedule, production and aprove the final result. Also, a lot of movies/dramas/etc already invite the artists to sing the themes before the production is openly announced.

About being photoshoped beyond recognization... I strongly believe people over here tend to be overdramatic about it. She is very edited on advertising and fashion magazines, but ignoring Sunrise/Sunset covers I always find Ayu easily recognizible on her releases...

On the same way, Namie is very edited on Best Fiction (ok, it was part of the concept) and Break It single cover (where I can't really recognize her)

[adantatu2]

This best is really unnecesary, but i'm excited for the new song. I love this article (it says what i think):

http://www.jpopasia.com/news/editori...ki::11541.html

And talking about her 15th anniversary, i think a special single project could be better than A BEST 3 (or maybe both)

[Luvia]

wah.... =O

speechless ... over here....

[ayumisrael]

Maybe it's a part of her contract?