Ayu & Avex

[Larien]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

I think listening that much into the lyrics of "FIVE" is a bit of a stretch (to me, for example, BRILLANTE just screams "last time I'm ever gonna write about Tomoya Nagase, I need to freaking get over it"),

Slightly off-topic, but I thought BRILLANTE really was about Manny (and yes, her career)...(unless none of her songs actually were?) But I'm pretty sure she's still singing about Nagase. "You & Me" is still talking about "that summer day" that she's been singing about for a decade.

But anyway, back to marketing.

I don't think avex necessarily took a stance of, "it will sell anyway, so let's not try," because I don't think any business in its right mind would take such a lazy approach, especially with one of its top sellers. That said, we really have no idea of the complicated things going on back-stage, so to speak. A friend of mine in Japan did complain before Party queen came out that she never seemed to see Ayu performing on TV anymore - which is a valid point. Ayu performed at least ten numbers on top music stations and so forth for GUILTY. Zero for Party queen. Love songs and FIVE also had live promotion. I think that's an important part of promoting music in Japan.

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by Larien

Slightly off-topic, but I thought BRILLANTE really was about Manny (and yes, her career)

You're not the only one with those theories, but I just don't see that. I feel like those theories are coming from people knowing the "goodbye" part of the lyrics but not any more of the details.

Just so everyone else here understands where I'm coming from...

"I'm writing this with you in my heart...
For the last time, I've decided."

"For just a little too long, I've remained in the darkness, but
now it's time to go."

"What had been two became one.
And then became two again. That's all there is to it.
All we've done is return to where we started, right?"

"The road that continues from here is too narrow,
so I can't walk down it aligned with you anymore."

The protagonist here is an insecure, introspective woman trying to stop herself from overanalyzing what could have possibly gone wrong in a past long-term relationship that ended. She's been at it for years, writing and thinking and trying to sort out her feelings and figure it all out in the hopes that it would be cathartic or therapeutic and would stop the pain. But it never did. So in this song, she's saying "fine, I'm done thinking about it." Whether or not her resolution holds remains to be seen.

For the record, I don't think "You & Me" is about anyone we know of. It sounds like it was a fling, one of the "night of fun, morning of loneliness" situations she was probably referring to in "Last angel," albeit a particularly affecting one that's really stuck with her. That's if it's even about HER, and not about an experience of one of her friends. I don't think the "far off summer" in "You & Me" is the same one talked about in past songs like "fairyland."

ANYWAY back on topic! So sorry for the long post.

As for avex and how it's run. I don't know how many of you guys remember the leadership shift & scandal in 2004. Former CEO Tom Yoda was trying to branch avex out into movies, anime, and games to a greater degree. Well Max Matsuura said "screw that" and quit Avex - he'd founded a company that existed to market MUSIC, and he was concerned the company under Yoda's leadership wasn't focused enough on the love of music. He didn't LIKE the blind pursuit of profit. Ayu and several other artists said they were following Max wherever he went, and effectively left avex as well. Avex's stock plummeted as a result, Tom Yoda was fired (he works for Rakuten now), and Max Matsuura came back to the company so none of the artists had to find new labels. So now Max is CEO, president, and chief shareholder.

In any case, a man who fought for the label's love of music can't really be blamed for the business procedures. He wants what's best for the company too (he DOES own 4.8% of the company too, so yeah of course he wants it to be profitable). That said, this is a 20 year old company. When you work for the same place for 20 years, and that place is your life, it's VERY easy to lose touch with the outside world. Older tech companies of all types have died out due to age, because when you're inside a company like that, you don't realize how fast things are going for other, newer companies, or companies where the leadership constantly changes. At other labels, new businesspeople & marketing people are cycled in & out all the time. Avex feels like a gigantic mom & pop operation, where the people working there are a family & all know each other. There isn't much outside influence coming in, which means avex takes longer embracing new trends (like blu-ray and youtube) compared to other labels. The VAST majority of the other labels are also owned by one of the US Big 4 labels (Sony, Warner, Universal, EMI... big 3 if Universal is allowed to acquire EMI, dunno what the status is on that), which means a ton of west-to-east conversation, trading, and business travel. Not so with Avex. They're, by the traditional definition, an independent label (which is to say, not owned by any of the big three/four).

Anyway, Max, right now, is probably doing more A&R and oversight as CEO of the company. One of the first things he did was sign Ami Suzuki, giving her a second chance when no one else did for nearly five years after her blacklisting. Lately he's probably focused more on working with SM and YG to bring Kpop acts to Japan, since they're extremely profitable right now. Max has a business life outside of Ayu, and he trusts her to do her own thing after knowing her as long as he has. I wouldn't be shocked to find out he's VERY hands-off with her and in fact speaks to her relatively rarely. (I have my theory that the song "Letter," which seems to be a letter to Ayu, may be a summary of things he's said to her in letters recently.)

I, like many of you, am hoping for a very, very big 15th Anniversary. Ayu's 10th Anniversary was FUN. A COMPLETE, ayu-mi-x 6, the long-box singles, the limited edition postage stamps, the TeamAyu stuff, and oh man Ayu10th.com. That site was fun. At least in its first version. But yeah that whole year was great. I'm really hoping for the 15th anniversary to be a real event. And after the last few years, a big 15th Anniversary would definitely do her some good. I don't really think it was the plan from the beginning for that to happen (it would be WAY too huge a risk to lower her sales on purpose beforehand, the market is extremely momentum-based), but it would be nice if things went on an upswing next year.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

You're not the only one with those theories, but I just don't see that. I feel like those theories are coming from people knowing the "goodbye" part of the lyrics but not any more of the details.

Just so everyone else here understands where I'm coming from...

"I'm writing this with you in my heart...
For the last time, I've decided."

"For just a little too long, I've remained in the darkness, but
now it's time to go."

"What had been two became one.
And then became two again. That's all there is to it.
All we've done is return to where we started, right?"

"The road that continues from here is too narrow,
so I can't walk down it aligned with you anymore."

The protagonist here is an insecure, introspective woman trying to stop herself from overanalyzing what could have possibly gone wrong in a past long-term relationship that ended. She's been at it for years, writing and thinking and trying to sort out her feelings and figure it all out in the hopes that it would be cathartic or therapeutic and would stop the pain. But it never did. So in this song, she's saying "fine, I'm done thinking about it." Whether or not her resolution holds remains to be seen.

Her relationship with her fandom is far longer than her relationship with Nagase, it also lasted longer (when BRILLANTE was composed she was already married and had broken up with Nagase for 4 years already) and 2010 and 2011 were years filled with what she wants/what her fandom wants kind of shock, also, all the twitter related problems...

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

I, like many of you, am hoping for a very, very big 15th Anniversary. Ayu's 10th Anniversary was FUN. A COMPLETE, ayu-mi-x 6, the long-box singles, the limited edition postage stamps, the TeamAyu stuff, and oh man Ayu10th.com. That site was fun. At least in its first version. But yeah that whole year was great. I'm really hoping for the 15th anniversary to be a real event. And after the last few years, a big 15th Anniversary would definitely do her some good. I don't really think it was the plan from the beginning for that to happen (it would be WAY too huge a risk to lower her sales on purpose beforehand, the market is extremely momentum-based), but it would be nice if things went on an upswing next year.

I don't think she was expecting sales drops, only to be a little more low-profile... FIVE sold well and she barely appeared on TV last year, for example... While PQ had low sales even with a good tie-in for example... Appearing less IMO was a plan, lowering sales a consequence of a risky creative choice (the whole PQ project)

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Her relationship with her fandom is far longer than her relationship with Nagase, it also lasted longer (when BRILLANTE was composed she was already married and had broken up with Nagase for 4 years already)

And sure, that could fit for MOST of the song, but not for the third lyric I quoted above. This is someone she has absolutely, no screwing around, broken up with. Two became one and became two again. Ayu single, ayu in relationship, ayu single again. She has in no way shape or form broken up with her fans, the way she tweets, updates TA, and used everyone's photos during Power of Music. And the "but she broke up with him 4 years ago" is the EXACT problem addressed in the song, which has a very "Enough is enough, I have to stop thinking about this tragedy already" message.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

And sure, that could fit for MOST of the song, but not for the third lyric I quoted above. This is someone she has absolutely, no screwing around, broken up with. Two became one and became two again. Ayu single, ayu in relationship, ayu single again. She has in no way shape or form broken up with her fans, the way she tweets, updates TA, and used everyone's photos during Power of Music. And the "but she broke up with him 4 years ago" is the EXACT problem addressed in the song, which has a very "Enough is enough, I have to stop thinking about this tragedy already" message.

Ayu is alone in the world -> Ayu finds herself on her fans -> Ayu decides she can't live according to her fans expectations.

When she sings something to her fandom, she always address to them as individuals instead as addressing as a group, so, her fan lyrics always are kinda like a one x one talking. On a sense, avoiding some formulaic decisions she made all over her career since her peak to please her fans and keep sales steady is a break up, is walking the road by herself again, pretty much like she did before she was so aware of her work personal impact on part of her fandom. When she sings something to her fandom, she always address to them as individuals instead as addressing as a group, so, her fan lyrics always are kinda like a one x one talking.

I also don't believe all of her love songs are about her, as that would mean she and Nagase were breaking up in almost every winter since Dearest