^^good point.

The mere fact that anyone in America will never reach Ayu status is exactly why I don't like to give Ayu these names.

You just can't compare them.

About japan being faster: it's true...it baffles me when they say how many #1 hits, say Mariah Carey has had, and then I think...wow...ayu's had like a million...

I agree. ;)

Personally I don't think anyone makes a good comparisment, so don't get me wrong, I don't htink ayu is like madonna. But I don't think it would be totally off to use that description to people who knows nothing of japanese market.

Well, another curiosity is that the number one hit wonders probably is a lot smaller in japan (i have no statistics) than in the west, because the artists usually have to build a fanbase first before hitting big. This is also due to the concept of the industry, artists of japan are often mor eclosely tied to the companies and are singed for a longer period of time (it seems), but it the west it's quite possible to have one huge hit single and then disappear completely. In japan it seems that if you have one hit single your next stuff will at least sell decently. (examples are yuna ito, ai otsuka, mai kuraki, maki goto, def tech.. etc). Who ever heard of O-ZOne afer dragostea din tei? not to mention all the one hitters in the 90s, I'm thinking of the eurodance bands mostly.

Scandalous was perhaps a strong word. =P But the A BEST issue, and the fact that she wrote critical lyrics right from the start, she broke boundraries like that. Also there was 2004 scandal. Probably other people could tell you more, because Im mostly into her music, not tabloid stuff. hehe :P

You speak my thoughts.

The market in Japan can never come close to the size of the US/EU one, a good selling album get over 50 million sales while Japans highest selling album ever(?) is Hikkis BEST album with 8.5 million sales, don't remember its name. In size the two markets can impossibly be compared.

The contracts you sign in Japan does indeed seem to tie you a lot closer to your "talent agency", I don't know much about this though. On the whole I think that singes seem to have had a longer career before their breakthrough, but there are instantly famous artists in Japan aswell, lets say a new sub group is formed from MO MU - that's instant fame - or a new member join MO MU - instant fame. Well, it's a bit different, but anyway.

Yeah, it's awfully common, that's one of the big differences in the two markets I think. You get a quick contract with a company, release the single/album, then you're dropped of immediately because the company will start looking for the next person that will have this sort of breakthrough.

The markets really works differently. In Japan, when artists finaly break through, the companies doesn't want to drop them, but instead tie them up together with as many other big companies as possible that pay for advertising with the certain artist. This in return puts that certain artists face all over Japan and makes the fame last. Uhh, I might just be rambling complete nonsense, but I've actually been thinking some about this and it's my current theory.

Ah, I understand :yes.

50 million? I thought nowadays good selling US albums sell maybe 10 million worldwide? But to me, it's still amazing how Japan is still the 2nd largest in the world. And the highest selling Japanese album ISN'T Hikki's BEST album, it was her DEBUT album "First Love".

^Ok, I was a bit unsure about that, thankts for correcting me about the album :).

On the numbers on selling albums, maybe those 50 million ones was some of the best selling and not good selling, ah well, I talk too much. :x

madonna and britney were such biggest phenomenon during their times when they totally rockkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkked the world for one time..
for one time, madonna hit the world with the material girl stuff..
people were kinda influenced with that..almost all people around, i guess..

we know ayu is still too far away to reach madonna's level..
but it's still an honour and pride, for ayu to get the predicate as "japanese's madonna" even though she has not reached that part yet, right?
(now i know, why ayu put the name material girl for her clothing line products)

it's not a big deal i guess..
i think for the name "japanese's madonna"... people outside japan may start to look at this japanese artist internationally in their own way, even though ayu's not intending to spread her wings to outside Japan.. and even though, she has not that BIG like madonna, at least people may think,
"wow..so this is the japanese's madonna? i wanna know how great she is.."
then people try to listen to her songs. it's kinda like a promotion tool for marketing i think~ and see...
and with this, ayu can get more known by foreign people, isn't it good for ayu???

I would say they call Ayumi the Japanese Madonna because both are succesful woman in that area of work.

^^but she did sing on a cross...

lol i dunno why, maybe because Madonna has a better reputation than Britney? IMO

ayumi hasn't been around that long, she's no madonna. when ayumi becomes an international artist we'll see

i think ayu's quite famous outside japan even though she's not going international....
look on how many western and asian people like her~
*well..thanks to some anime which used her songs as the OST...*

we don't compare both of them..
but seem them both due to their popularity..

It's not that people WANT to compare her to Madonna or like doing it, it's that if Ayu HAD to be compared to an American artist, I would say Madonna is much more comparable than Britney.

You are waaay overestimating US record sales, lol. :) Only a few albums have sold that much and that is worldwide sales, not just US sales. I don't know if there is a single album released that has sold over 50 million in the US alone.(except maybe the Beatles or Elvis, but even that is doubtful) To give a good example, Guns N' Roses have the best selling debut album of all time in the US, which came out in 1987 - but even after 20 years, has not sold 20 million copies.(it's somewhere between 15-20 million)

And nowadays, album sales in Japan are getting more and more comporable to those in the states and singles in Japan have always outsold US singles by a lot. And when you take into account that Japan has half the population of the US, it's actually Japan that has the stronger music industry overall.(especially within the last ten years.)

^^ i don't know if we can compare singles because in America they really don't release singles.

I mean, britney or madonna or beyonce don't release singles like Ayu do...

I do think that money-making in Japan definitely rivals America. I mean, if, like you say, sales in Japan are becoming more comparable to America, think about selling the exact same amount except with everything costing twice as much. You make waaaay more money. AND THEN, as with Ayu, there are hundreds of people who buy all the versions...they're just racking in the dough...

I mean, a single is Japan is as much as an album in America! My dad was like, "it only has 6 songs and it was $30..."

Yes, they do actually. But as has been stated before, the focus is always on the albums in the America and the singles are released just before or after the album - most people just end up buying the album. Still, the fact remains that Japan has massive single sales when compared to the US. For example, Britney's best selling single is Baby One More Time - it went 2x platinum. (platinum for a single in the US is 200,000 copies) Compare that to Ayu's best selling single of over 1.3 million copies.

Well, it all kind of evens out. The reason why Japanese albums and singles cost more, is because people in Japan are paid more, so therefore the cost of living is higher. Everything in Japan is more expensive than in the US, not just the music. :)

i think Ayu and Madonna are in different style~~!!

alrite why people tend to say ayu as the japanese's madonna..
because madonna is like a Queen of Pop in US..
and Ayu as the Queen of J-Pop in Japan..
so that's the same thing right?

and i think that both of them have lots of in common..
like the changing styles of music..changing hairstyles..changing fashion styles.
and both of their PVs are full of mysterious stuff inside...
(not like i'm saying they're copying each other..but just inspiration..)

the ONLY way I find suitible that Ayu is like Madonna is

a) They both re-invent themselves often
b) they both had gaps in their two front teeth

^^and soon...they'll both be british!

that's what i was thinking, cost of living.