[Koda Kumi] The 193rd Thread - Fanclub Live Tour ～AND～

[lovethatkuu&ayu]

Originally Posted by KuuXAyu-fan

Let's not get too carried away lol. If Seiko Matsuda can land all her studio albums since 2010 into the Top 10 (mostly Top 5) then I think Kuu can certainly continue to rank in the Top 10 for quite some time as well.

That's if her numbers hold. Depends on what happens with her 2019 album(s). Given the industry climate, Koda has had a stable decline post-2014. She hasn't had to deal with the same setbacks as Ai Otsuka for example.

I didn't mean to jump on you, Corvina expressed my feelings in a softer way.

[kaled kalil]

Her sales are pretty stable at this point. It's not like Kana's drop of Just Love selling 305k to Love It 135k. This is a pretty good indication of how the physical sales are going down year by year.

[lastminute]

It sucks that Kumi's not getting much attention nowadays, but, as it has been mentioned, pretty much all female solos struggle with the same issue so it doesn't bother me that much. However, personally I haven't connected with her music the past few releases, the last album I enjoyed was WOML. I feel like she's having fun with her music and she's doing what makes her happy (which I 100% support), I just don't like the style of music she's been delivering. With a few exceptions tho, I really liked Bangerang from W FACE and WHO from AND, but that's about it lol
I haven't given up on her just yet, here's hoping that DNA will incinerate my wig.

[melissalove]

Seems like kuu will join misono very soon. I don’t want to see the day when her albums decline to 10k or even worse.

[KarenPang]

I'm not worried about Kuu's current status in the industry cos she has been around for so long & the music climate now is such that it's very difficult for solos to sustain themselves

The only artistes that frankly can still sell considerable amount of physical CD copies are Johnnys (whom do not list their music online for streaming and/or for sale , for now) , girl groups , idol groups & to an extent groups who're under LDH

For solo acts now , selling physical CD copies of their releases is not the only form of revenue that they're are getting from , now it's digital sales of their material , concerts , selling of concert goods & products they come up with which they draw $ from

lovethatkuu&ayu mentioned Hirai Ken also faces this problem which's true & he has been around since 1995 . Ken's physical CD sales ain't as great as before but he still can sell out Arena venues be it his Ken's Bar concept tours and/or standalone tours to promote his releases

So yeah I'm not worried . Kuu is doing just fine despite all this & I will still continue supporting her no matter what

[NintendoHTF1242]

It’s a digital era as well and Kuu puts her music on streaming sites which will contribute to low physical sales but higher digital sales. Physical just isn’t the way to go anymore tbh. As much of a collector that I am.

[Corvina]

It also applies to digital sales. They're lower than their used to be in general for most artists.

On another note avex seems to be satisfied with Kenji's work for Kuu.
Back-On wrote two songs for the band lol from their latest single, one of them being a main song.

And now that LISA is back and active again, I really want her to write songs for Kuu again!
I love one and Pearl Moon and both are by her! ;_;

Btw. cause I think it wasn't mentioned here yet.
From the entries of the new PARTY campaign they're going to do a special PARTY MV.
Hence the name of the campaign.
I have a feeling, they're probably going to use that special MV for the FC tour.

[ilovekodaa]

Kumi is so cuteeee *___* !!!!!!!

[Corvina]

From her Instagram.
Kuu is shooting something today.
She doesn't say for what, just that we should look forward to it.



Some are speculating it might be for a summer single, but Idk. We didn't get the results of the black and white shooting from the end of December yet as well.
She did record song(s) in February/March, but I'm pretty sure that at least the concept for DNA is already done.

She also showed the full FC Tour pullover on the FC blog:

[lovethatkuu&ayu]

Thanks for posting. I saw that on her Instagram and was excited. DNA is probably mostly done by this point. I'm thinking a mid-summer release date. The thing I'm most curious about is the hall tour. When will it start and how long will it go on? Will be really interesting if it rolls into 2019.

[kaled kalil]

One thing that hurts the "general" sales is the FC releases. The drop from JAPONESQUE to Bon Voyage was one of the indications of that (besides the quality of the content, but thats for another day). I think most of her fans would just buy the regular version from the stores, since the FC goodies were usually not that impressive. Only in Bon Voyage she started to do exclusively versions with different content for the FC.

If she cared that much about the sales, she would do what she did during Go to the top release: a tour bundle with album+concert ticket. As far as I remember from SoundScan numbers, Gttt sold less than 10k for the first week (in regular versions), but the Premium Night ~Love & Songs~ version was the one selling and getting the +50k numbers we know. This is what Namie did with FINALLY (a ballot ticket, but it's not that different since it's for a chance to see her last tour) and look what it did for the numbers.

DNA will probably sell more than AND, if its an album for the regular audience, and not like AND, which was something more for the FC.

------------

I'm sad to say but I'm already over AND... I was expecting songs more like HUSH, with a good mix between singing parts and rap, but I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth. I just feel like I didn't connect with AND as much as I would like. For the first listen of the album I was like "okay, it's kinda okay but I might like later on", but as the time goes by I feel more and more like this is not the direction that I was hoping for. I don't know.

As far as to expect for DNA: so far HAIRCUT wasn't that different from an AND song, so I don't know how things will turns out. Hoping for more IT'S MY LIFE kind of songs, for sure.

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by lovethatkuu&ayu

Thanks for posting. I saw that on her Instagram and was excited. DNA is probably mostly done by this point. I'm thinking a mid-summer release date. The thing I'm most curious about is the hall tour. When will it start and how long will it go on? Will be really interesting if it rolls into 2019.

As Kuu and her team are usually way ahead, the hall tour is probably all planned and booked since last year already. I expect it to start in Autumn and go till the first months of 2019. I suppose 2019 is going to be a pretty different year in terms of schedule, also because 2020 her 20th Anniversary is coming up.
I'm still jamming to both W FACE and AND and just have my thoughts on the coming FC tour though.

_______________

The FC calender design for April is really pretty!

[lovethatkuu&ayu]

^Oh, I'm always excited about a Koda concert, I should've been more clear. With me, it's having to remember that this is an actual tour for an album and not just "Lets Party 3". It will be interesting how she interprets AND into a live performance. W FACE as a tour was brilliant. How she and her staff captured the essence of the W FACE project was amazing. Definitely one of her best tours hands down.

[Corvina]

Definitely agree about W FACE TOUR!
As far as concepts and concert flows are concerned it was pretty brilliantly done.
So yeah, considering she never had a new album for a FC tour, I am intrigued about the concept as well!

Concerning her schedule this year ... a-nation dates are aleady announced. They have 6 this year in Mie, Nagasaki, Osaka and Tokyo in late July and August.
I guess she's going to have a small pause in July after the FC tour, attending a-nation in August and then starts her 2nd tour/album cycle.

EDIT:
The new FC magazine is out.
The black and white photo shooting from the end of December is for her Loveil contactlenses:

[mi|kshake]

Hoping for more IT'S MY LIFE kind of songs, for sure.

Just popped in here to say It's My Life is my favourite! Still gathering my thoughts on the album but I am finding DNA to be a step up from W Face for sure but still not hitting the highs of Japonesque, Colour the Cover and Bon Voyage for me, which was my last favourite era from her.

[Corvina]

Driving Hit's 8 first week:
#40 - 2,534

For comparison Driving Hit's 7 first week:
#18 - 3,473

[pheonixflame15]

Yikes

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by pheonixflame15

Yikes

What? Those numbers are alright for a remix album.
Driving Hit's 8 sold more in its first week than Miliyah Kato's new EP...

[lovethatkuu&ayu]

Originally Posted by Corvina

What? Those numbers are alright for a remix album.
Driving Hit's 8 sold more in its first week than Miliyah Kato's new EP...

Isn't that a higher first week than the last Ai Otsuka studio album too? Considering how the last couple of DH albums have just been tossed out there, those are solid numbers.

[sitara]

i just hope she keeps releasing remix albums, even though I don't enjoy many songs off the last 2 compilations. I'm just glad to get remixes and wish other artists would do the same!