very well said :yes

What's really sad is that this thread is going on 10 pages, while other news [such as lyric translations, mag scans, live appearances] can barely make 2 pages. Some of y'all need to really get your priorities in order. Most of you don't live in Japan, it's not like you have to deal with the "embarrassment" of having a favorite 'idol' with declining sales. The unnecessary shallowness of the international J-pop community makes me sick to my stomach, it really does. Moreso in the "Diva sphere" [Ayu, Koda, Utada]. I'm ashamed to be associated with it.

Maybe I'm just in a different boat than most of you. I'm not into the whole 'Queen of J-pop' thing. I'm just saying that from my point of view, it seems that some of you are extremely shallow beings.

but ppl think
if ayu doesnt sell well,,,
how is she going to support herself .. she wont have the money to spend again :(

second day-less sales!!!

:no

The PV's of fairyland, JEWEL, and my name's WOMEN were all made like 4-6 years after her peak. They were some of the most expensive PV's in Japanese music history.

I thought two of the three PV's sucked major balls and were a complete waste of money. Avex wouldn't just blow money like this if they didn't consider Ayu a valuable asset to their company. I think Avex has a lot of faith in Ayu's music too.

And have y'all seen the sales of the new B'z album? They have got to be, hands down, one of the most highly respected acts in Japan [plus the highest selling with over 70 million records sold!] Total sales [so far, as its only been out for three weeks] = 382,377. If Ayu can get close to that, then she's really not doing that bad... If she can exceed that, then I think she's doing pretty damn well...

To put it simply, it doesn't matter whether she has some millions sales with this album or reaches #1, but as long as she is supported and happy with the sales and results herself (as all the songs are straight from her heart) everything's fine. It's not like her career or her contract with avex is in danger, since she's still one of the most successful singers in the whole Asia. But of course, as a fan, I, and all the others too who claim to be her fans wish for her to sell well. Please no arguing about this.

Did you see how much money she made this year alone? That lady isn't gonna go wanting for cash for a long time. Don't worry. :)

Selling well.. sure it's an added bonus, but I don't think it will ever directly affect the quality of the music. So I'm just whatever about it.

B'z album isn't doing bad since they've been hovering around the 500k album sales mark with their last 2 albums. Given the natural decline, they're still pretty much selling the same since 2005.

I think all of these pvs are amazing! my name's WOMEN is the best pv of ayu for me..


anyway the sales are :no:no

Me neither. Shouldn't that really be for Japan to decide?

I think you made a lot of valid points here. In the end most artists in Japan cannot maintain their high sales if they've been around for a very long time. We can see how artists like Ami Suzuki (who competed with Ayu back in her Sony days) now has to struggle to surpass 10k with an album. Namie too was a legend at her time but now it's impossible for her to reach the same figures even if her new album is probably one of her best works.

In the end an artists' hype can only last for so long. And unless the album isn't jam packed with something that really appeals to people (Like Kumi's pv overload and concert extra) only the normal fanbase is bound to purchase an album from an artist who's been around for so long. I'd say Ayumi's fanbase who occasionally purchase her stuff is probably around 300-400k.

Personally as long as her music has high quality I will be happy. Usually her highest selling singles are her summer releases and that's because it's got this happy and mainstream feeling that Japan loves so much, but the summer singles end up my least favourite ones. I liked her post t2m releases because they sounded more personal and reflected more her emotions. I'd take that any day over the typical overproduced, shallow and commercial music.

Exactly!

I agree. I understand that songs like glitter and BLUE BIRD are Ayu staples, and I do enjoy them sometimes. However, I prefer.. I don't want to say darker music.. but music that comes from the heart. B&D is such a tacky song, and I guess I can understand why people hate on it. But Ayu's presence in that song is so great, I can't help but love it.

I enjoy them too but not as much as her "more honest" stuff. Like her summer singles are usually about happy feelings, lost innocence or love. They're fun for summer and summer wouldn't be summer without them. However I also love her heartfelt songs where she puts an effort to display her own true feelings.

With B&D you either love it or hate it, especially since the style is quite different from anything she has released. I liked it too because it has a lot of attitude and had its' own unique charm.

LOL Ayu can retire and she won't ever have to move a finger, she is loaded with money ^^ So as long as she releases stuff we like, another 10 pages like these posted here are SOO UNNEEDED ^^

it sells better in 2nd days X)

that's pretty much what i have in mind (about the "clicking download button" thing)!:innocent:innocent

like some of us said : let the Japan decide about the sales number and chart on Oricon!:cool

the only thing we can do now is keep supporting ayu no matter what happening with the sales in Japan as long as ayu still CREAte wonderful songs and music, keep buying her original stuffs (for them who has the money), and hopefully attend her concert in the future(my wildest dream!!) :love

Rinoa, you've always got good points ^_^ And we all know that Ayu would rather die than live without music. So there isn't anything to worry about, because Ayu isn't going anywhere, low sales or not. So us fans are good to go for quite a while.