[10/4 ORICON] Current Yearly TOP 40

[immel]

Originally Posted by MC Tatsujin

immel: I don't think KAT-TUN are very talented or that hot. They're just well promoted and catchy.

Never heard anything from them, only seen, hehe.

That's debatable.

Agreed.

[Uemarasan]

Am I the only one not surprised about Ayu's sales? After all, it's her eighth year in the business. It's only natural in Japanese pop culture, especially with female artists, for popularity to decrease. It's been happening since the 70s. That her latest album manages to make it into the top 10 is an amazing feat, in my opinion. The only other female J-pop artist to have as much staying power is Yumi Matsutoya (in the 80s and early 90s) and perhaps Hikki (though she hasn't released an album every year).

It's also the digital age. People in Japan prefer to download music via i-pods and cellular phones. This is only physical sales. There is so much sales unaccounted for by the Oricon chart: http://www.riaj.or.jp/whatsnew/w060920_3.html.

Anyway, sales is not equal to quality. I did not like Startin', but I think Blue Bird (it's not so much conventional as it is nostalgic) is one of the best A-sides I've heard this year. And last year's best single release from Ayu was her lowest selling (Bold & Delicious), in my opinion.

I don't think there's anything wrong with criticizing artists. Don't we all have the freedom to speak here? If Kingofpop wants to criticize Koda Kumi, then so be it. Ayu is criticized A LOT in this forum. Maybe he shouldn't have used tabloids to reinforce his opinion. He should have just said plainly "I think Koda Kumi is vulgar and disgusting".

Personally, though I don't agree. I think it's Koda Kumi's sexiness that distinguishes her. (But she's far from a pioneer. Silva - who seems to have disappeared - was the first to mix sexiness and J-pop with an R&B flavor. And Namie Amuro was the first to make it popular).

[truehappiness]

I don't think there's anything wrong with criticizing artists. Don't we all have the freedom to speak here? If Kingofpop wants to criticize Koda Kumi, then so be it. Ayu is criticized A LOT in this forum. Maybe he shouldn't have used tabloids to reinforce his opinion. He should have just said plainly "I think Koda Kumi is vulgar and disgusting".

I don't think that we can say those things really. :\ There are fans present who lash out at any negative form of opinion against her.. x.x

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I don't think that we can say those things really. :\ There are fans present who lash out at any negative form of opinion against her.. x.x

I like to believe that dialogue can only serve to enrich one's appreciation of an artist, be there positive or negative things said. I've heard so many negative comment made about Ayu, but five years later I am still as much a fan as I was when I first heard her music. And my love has only gone deeper.

Fans can simply disagree than go off on some heated diatribe. It says more about them than about their idol.

[..:Hot:Like:Wow:..]

I believe everyone is entitled to there own opinion.. I'm not going to pipe down just because a few people can't hack it.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

Am I the only one not surprised about Ayu's sales?

Well, we're new to JPOP. So yeah, it's surprising. Most of us would expect her to go on selling like Madonna. But the Japanese industry is fickle, so...

ayu_fan929 is the smartest person on this forum!

I agree. He's awesome.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by MC Tatsujin

Well, we're new to JPOP. So yeah, it's surprising. Most of us would expect her to go on selling like Madonna. But the Japanese industry is fickle, so...

IMO, Ayu's one of the only ones of her time still selling at a steady rate..
Is anyone else still selling albums AND singles like Ayu does?

[immel]

Anyone female artist?

YouKnowWho is.

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by immel

Anyone female artist?

YouKnowWho is.

I think truehappiness meant for as long as Ayu's been around Koda Kumi has been big for only a little more than a year. Female artist? Hikki still sells well. Yumi Matsutoya was the most popular for the longest.

Bands are more successful in Japan than solo artists. Southern All Stars has been around for thirty years, and they're still selling like crazy.

[immel]

Ah, I understand now, misinterpreted his post a bit.

Yeah, hikki still sells really well, her album is probably going to pass (m)u, or has it already? I do not know about her singles, but I don't think any of them made it very far?

That Ayu is the highest selling female artist in Japan, ever, speaks for itself and is the answer to Anthonys question: No.

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by immel

Ah, I understand now, misinterpreted his post a bit.

Yeah, hikki still sells really well, her album is probably going to pass (m)u, or has it already? I do not know about her singles, but I don't think any of them made it very far?

That Ayu is the highest selling female artist in Japan, ever, speaks for itself and is the answer to Anthonys question: No.

Yeah, Ayu has been (is) a one-of-a-kind phenomenon

From what I know, Hikki singles sell better as digital music (Keep Tryin', apparently, has sold more than a million downloads). Probably because they're cheaper to buy and make more sense than a CD with a measly number of tracks.

[immel]

It will make such a huge change as soon as oricon gets their online sales charts up, I think that, with the few numbers I've heard about, Ayu is way below Koda and Utada.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see ... I hope it'll be up before the release of the new album, but I think they'll wait with putting it up until the new oricon year starts, and I forgot which date that is. Should be around that time?

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by immel

It will make such a huge change as soon as oricon gets their online sales charts up, I think that, with the few numbers I've heard about, Ayu is way below Koda and Utada.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see ... I hope it'll be up before the release of the new album, but I think they'll wait with putting it up until the new oricon year starts, and I forgot which date that is. Should be around that time?

The new Oricon year starts around the last week of November, I think. Well, everyone else in J-pop is behind Koda Kumi But I think Ayu's and Hikki's sales aren't that far from each other, relatively speaking. Plus Hikki's music is available in more formats. Ayu's songs aren't found in the popular chaka-uta download service, for instance.

[immel]

That they can't be found, do you mean at all, or that you can only find her newer songs?

Maybe they're limited to like... mu-mo?

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by immel

That they can't be found, do you mean at all, or that you can only find her newer songs?

Maybe they're limited to like... mu-mo?

D'oh, my bad! I meant OnGen, not Chaka-Uta. As far as I know, there aren't any Ayu songs (new or old) available for download there. Here's the website:

http://www.ongen.net/

I'm not really sure how digital music works in Japan. There are so many services! For cellphones, for mp3 players, and then there's i-tunes. It makes me wonder how Oricon can pull off a digital music chart

[immel]

They'll probably have direct connections to each page, maybe even counting the sales live. Or the pages in question will report to ORICON after certain marks have been reached, something like every 100 songs sold.

They might go for the same "weight" system as they do for the physical stores, and only count the largest pages' sales.

I did 1 search on that page, and got this:
http://www.ongen.net/search_detail_a.../at0000000308/

By the way, what sucks about the coming oricon charts is that they will combine cellphone and other digital downloads. I think those two should be split categories, even though both is being paid for.

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by immel

They'll probably have direct connections to each page, maybe even counting the sales live. Or the pages in question will report to ORICON after certain marks have been reached, something like every 100 songs sold.

They might go for the same "weight" system as they do for the physical stores, and only count the largest pages' sales.

I did 1 search on that page, and got this:
http://www.ongen.net/search_detail_a.../at0000000308/

By the way, what sucks about the coming oricon charts is that they will combine cellphone and other digital downloads. I think those two should be split categories, even though both is being paid for.

Whoops, sorry. It's been a while since I looked over the site. Okay, Ayu's songs are available, but it's strange that they're sold in some weird "Orgel" format compared to, say, Hikki's music, which is sold in the same format as her CDs:

http://www.ongen.net/search_detail_a.../at0000000175/

It's the same with all the other artists. I think Avex has had a hand in this...

I guess that explains why Hikki's all over the OnGen charts, and not a single Ayu song in sight. I think they only count "non-Orgel" sales.

[immel]

Or Orgel sales simply does not make it hight enough on the charts, because it's not the "real" songs.

avex most definately has a hand in this, maybe they limit selling Ayus music as much as possible only to their own Chaka-Uta store? But that'd be ... stupid.

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by immel

Or Orgel sales simply does not make it hight enough on the charts, because it's not the "real" songs.

avex most definately has a hand in this, maybe they limit selling Ayus music as much as possible only to their own Chaka-Uta store? But that'd be ... stupid.

You can always smell Avex's presence a mile away. The scent of money gives them away Hehe.

Maybe it has to do with copyright issues and purchasing the right to sell an artist's music. Like how some artists still aren't available at the i-tunes store. I guess Avex is pretty confident about its business that it feels like it doesn't have to tap into all the markets. Ah, hubris still exists in the modern corporate world! I wonder when their downfall will begin...

Economics always makes my head spin anyway The Oricon chart says Evolution isn't a million-seller. The Planet Chart (RIP) says it is. I don't know what to believe anymore!

[immel]

What is evolution stated to be on ORICON? And what is/was The Planet Chart?

I wonder if we'll ever see avex's downfall, they're skilled at what they do, even if we, here, think they make retarded choices. They are careful and go for what they KNOW will sell, they don't have to push out money to explore new corners of the market as it works fine going on as they do right now ... I guess they're pretty settled. They couldn't really grow much more, being the second largest recording label in Japan.