Startin'/Born To Be... 1st week sales

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by andre2907

WaT don't sell that well, they're just really popular. And Orange Range don't sell anymore. And AVEX isn't the king of Japan, Toshiba EMI Japan, for example, is bigger. Plus, there are LOTS of other japanese artists who sells a lot, lot more than Utada (right now); WaT or Orange Range..

Well, Avex seems to be the one selling a lot each year from some artist. Count Asia in and they're also king. Since a lot of successful Chinese artistes are also under Avex..

[naka88]

Ppl are freaking out when ayu sell low and make all kinds of illogical comparisons. Comparing single sale and album sale is a mistake and moreover when it is compared to a best album from kumi. ALbum sales tend to sell higher than single usually.

Comparing ABEST with KUMI's best is still wrong y? cos sales are higher way back few years. Its evident that ayu sales drop. I have to say ayu songs still are way bettter than kumi. I am a singaporean and not stay in japan so i dunno y suddenly kumi becomes the tok of the town in japan. All i know that is AYU is still the best known japanese artist and utada is the next best known next is BOA in sinagapore
Ayu is way too establisehed to the extent that she no longer give us surprises or that 'freshness'. i am a die hard fan for ayu cos her song still make a lot of impact on mi.

PPl u got to know that an artist cant be on top of the first positon all the time. Look at stephanie sun, her sales are dropping also. but her songs are still maintaining good quality.

PLs dun blame anyone else for ayu's low sales. Its kind of a natural cycle. If anyone that can catch up with ayu, she must have that capability too. Learn to accept reality k.

[truehappiness]

I think that it is a sort of progression to just decrease in sales as time goes on after a peak in popularity.

But in general, the music industry has been doing really bad lately in Japan. People haven't been selling as much and etc. I wonder if it'll ever get to the point that Ayu is not releasing any more... [About Koda, I think the thing about her case is that she never got that popularity boom.. I guess its her time now, as this looks to be the peak of her popularity. Seems quite rushed if you ask me.. in 4 -5 short months, she was boosted to the top of the industry]

[miracleofsuzaku]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

But in general, the music industry has been doing really bad lately in Japan. People haven't been selling as much and etc. I wonder if it'll ever get to the point that Ayu is not releasing any more..

Just because Ayu isn't selling as much doesn't mean the Japanese music industry is going downhill. There are other Japanese artists out there too. People are fickle and are always having swaying thoughts when it comes to music. They're just spending their money on some other artists besides Ayu.
It's been 6 years since Koda Kumi's debut. She's been waiting for six years. So only Ayu can stand in the spotlight and not Kumi?
And why should Ayu quit? Look at hitomi. Her singles usually don't sell as well as other Avex artists but she's still producing music because she knows there are fans out there who would support her.

[truehappiness]

Well~ I didn't say she would stop releasing because of this one instance... but in the near future like.. five years.


Truthfully, I think Ayu will last for a long time doing the things she loves to do, and she'll watch the new talent rise up to where she once was...

~_~ I know that Ayu is not the center of the industry, but it really has sort of gone down quite a bit if you think about it :]

[naka88]

WE support ayu and hope ayu will do well doesn;t mean we can stop other artist from rising...after all this is all part and parcel of competition and survival...and i agree wat ayu needs is another super-hit song to bounce back...

[darkswordz]

i would like to ask something: do you all think this low sales is a sign of a shrinking market for singles? cause singles sales later are soooo low!

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by darkswordz

i would like to ask something: do you all think this low sales is a sign of a shrinking market for singles? cause singles sales later are soooo low!

Yes it is. Its only some time more until digital downloads take over singles. I hate digital format though. We dont even get to touch and feel the stuff. Only see and hear. Bodiless. Just the soul. In the US, singles have died, now Japan is probably going to follow suit.

[miracleofsuzaku]

Maybe the availability of the single on the internet even before the release plays a part in this? It's normal to have lower single sales because the tracks on it will eventually end up in an incoming album, assuming that both tracks are A-sides.


And discalimer: any more Ku-dissing won't boost Ayu's sales.

[SheFliesHigher]

Whether some of you folks think Ayu is the only one entitled to big sales or not, your opinion is not going to affect the reality. You should just be satisfied in your own appreciation for Ayu and not crap on everyone else's success.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by miracleofsuzaku

Maybe the availability of the single on the internet even before the release plays a part in this? It's normal to have lower single sales because the tracks on it will eventually end up in an incoming album, assuming that both tracks are A-sides.

Yes true, that's why albums sell more than singles. Unfortunately though, the availability of a single before release is often due to illegal filesharing and broken rules.

[hallelujah_united]

In fact, even albums are being leaked onto the net days before release (remember (m)u?). Because they're so easy to get, it makes some people find it illogical to get an album of which they probably have all the songs in mp3 format already. You might think it's only you doing it, but 783264823746 others think this way too, causing sales to dip significantly. And it's happening to everybody. Heck, if this was 2002 when downloads weren't that fashionable yet, Kumi would have probably broken the 2 million mark with this album, given the massive amount of hype surrounding it.

Gah, I just had to use Kumi as an example now didn't I?

[ayu_fan929]

well yeah, i think that singles will go down, but not to the point where its dead in the US. i think singles will still have a place in the industry but just not as big as before. maybe in the future, we will see less of the 1xA-side single and more of the 2/3/4-A side singles instead. since many japanese r still very supportive of their artists, i dont see singles being completely dead.

[naka88]

Originally Posted by SheFliesHigher

Whether some of you folks think Ayu is the only one entitled to big sales or not, your opinion is not going to affect the reality. You should just be satisfied in your own appreciation for Ayu and not crap on everyone else's success.

I will predict the phasing out of single in the future...to the extent where its no longer profitable anymore to sell singles...sad isn't it...

BTW, is that utada in the keep trying pv? she looked so darn fat lol...obasan!
sry, off track....

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by hallelujah_united

In fact, even albums are being leaked onto the net days before release (remember (m)u?). Because they're so easy to get, it makes some people find it illogical to get an album of which they probably have all the songs in mp3 format already. You might think it's only you doing it, but 783264823746 others think this way too, causing sales to dip significantly. And it's happening to everybody. Heck, if this was 2002 when downloads weren't that fashionable yet, Kumi would have probably broken the 2 million mark with this album, given the massive amount of hype surrounding it.

Gah, I just had to use Kumi as an example now didn't I?

TRUE! Some people get the CDs just to rip the songs for their mp3 players. With illegal downloads, everything is already done and served on a plate for you. Why bother with an album then? (m)U suffered from it possibly, it was leaked a few days beforehand right?

[ayu_fan929]

Originally Posted by MC Tatsujin

TRUE! Some people get the CDs just to rip the songs for their mp3 players. With illegal downloads, everything is already done and served on a plate for you. Why bother with an album then? (m)U suffered from it possibly, it was leaked a few days beforehand right?

well that happens to all artists, not just ayu.

as for the leakage, it possibly could help the album sales. i mean, if ppl hear it and like it they mite buy it. (of course it could the reverse. if ppl dont like it they dont buy it).

as for the internet DL thing, personally, i think that the japanese have a different attitude towards internet DLs. for one thing, its not as rampant as lets say, korea. albums are still selling well, singles are still selling well. that shows that DL isnt taking a significant chunk of sales away like many of us believe it is. it mite be happening in other parts of the world, but i truely think that this factor isnt as big as it is in japan.

[andre2907]

Originally Posted by ayu_fan929

well that happens to all artists, not just ayu.

as for the leakage, it possibly could help the album sales. i mean, if ppl hear it and like it they mite buy it. (of course it could the reverse. if ppl dont like it they dont buy it).

as for the internet DL thing, personally, i think that the japanese have a different attitude towards internet DLs. for one thing, its not as rampant as lets say, korea. albums are still selling well, singles are still selling well. that shows that DL isnt taking a significant chunk of sales away like many of us believe it is. it mite be happening in other parts of the world, but i truely think that this factor isnt as big as it is in japan.

I agree. Japan market is still, by far, the 2nd biggest and some artists are still selling very well, like Koda Kumi, Mr. Children, etc.

Plus, file sharing isn't as big in Japan as it is in the rest of the world. Most people rent the album from a rental CD store and they burn it or upload the song on their iPods. And the fact her CD leaked several days before the release didn't affect that sale as much, I think, because every Koda Kumi song was already released and on the internet and the sales were amazing and downloading music from the internet isn't as big there...

[hallelujah_united]

^ So I guess it works both ways then, boosting the sales of good singles/albums and bringing down those not up to par.

Anyway, isn't this thread supposed to be on Startin's sales? We're going off tangent again...

[Mad_Cactuar]

^ Yes, we're off. xD That's happening a lot.

Anyway, if they do count downloads in official rankings too, then it would be so much better and fairer. Maybe they should make an oricon chart for songs and not singles also. So the songs that get downloaded the most will get number 1 with the total of 984725 downloads and 295872 single sales, blah blah.

[hallelujah_united]

It'd be hard to track down the number of downloads though if you want it to be accurate. There are just so many file hosting and sharing services around these days.