i agree with your thoughts.. i bet this really sets the bomb to wake up ~90% ayu fans at this stage. and I guess if the hardcore fans spread the teamayu message around Japan, other not-so-hardcore fans may have interest on this album as well.. :P

There's also the fact that it'll (most likely) make it to the morning news. I don't know what kind of programs you have in the US, but in Sweden we have something pretty similar to what exists in Japan. The morning news handle or discuss all possible kinds of things that have happened that might interest people, instead of just the important ones, say, for example, that Ayu is releasing a new album. Announcing that Secret is a full album instead of a mini album will make it to those news as a second apperance for Ayu, after the first announcement of the album.

Just curious though, how many per centage of her sales do you think come from fans that keep as updated as that? I know that the japanese fans are better at keeping up with their artist, but surely some must come from outside fan sources.

I believe that in the end, this is going to be an album of material that was meant to be dispersed throughout this entire year [sort of like how the BLUE BIRD third-a-side went missing, but was in need of refinement]~ It's not like Ayu hasn't been doing anything since BLUE BIRD released back in June. It's been 4 months+ since then, and I think that's enough time for her to have come up with quality lyrics for some quality songs <3

People who say this album is going to be rushed... it really shouldn't matter if it was or not. What if people were to tell you [not true, actually I don't know] that MY STORY's album tracks were all recorded in the span of a month? Would you then suddenly change your opinion of the entire album just because they were recorded in a small timeframe? This isn't America, where you can record in and out of the studio for a period of a year/s only to release an album every year if you're lucky. I think that this whole mini-album -> full album situation has morphed the issue of having not enough songs to satisfy fans to an issue where people don't want songs if they're going to be made in such a short time.

Suck it up people, seriously. You're not gonna be very happy with the album if you keep on thinking "This was recorded in 20 days! Nasty." I think the announcement of any album at all should've just been kept until now, with no unveiling of Secret till they were actually sure >> But then again, the mini-album looks like it was seriously meant to be what it was.. I don't think this has really happened in the history of avex until now [a mini -> full album even after official announcements..]..

I think the percentage might actually be noticeable, considering that TeamAyu is supposed to be pretty big... yeah, you get it. However, in general, no, we forum dwellers are a one of a kind breed, bathing in a luxurious mess of information... yeah, you get me again, lol.

Indeed, she's had plenty of time for all of it.

Cookies.

Blunt words there at the start, but neat all the same :).

Well, it would appear that Yesasia is a savior! <3

Instead of having people reorder, the preorder price from before didn't change! So those who ordered early are privileged.. I guess.

[QUOTE]

^ Yay for those who preordered earlier!

Rushed or not, what matters is that the songs are good. :yes

What matters is whether or not she makes a kickass interlude.

I WANT A KICKASS INTERLUDE.

Can you say RANDOM?

Haha, yes, the interlude is the key :).

A good introduction to the album will put you in the right mood to like the rest of it.

Probably, I could have erased that piece completely or skipped quoting Anthony, but I decided to just include it anyway, I said what I wanted to say to *petit* already :).

ayu's introductions never disappoint me. from LOVEppears --> MY STORY, all her intro are excellent :D.

YAY! w00t!

I am so excited that it is going to be a full length album.

>_< My post was a bit unclear. Eh, YOU as in anyone. =P But thanks for replying immel. ;)

Also by out side of fan base I ment people who may have attended a concert, bought one record because they liked it, but not hardcore fans. I can't believe that every japanese is a hardcore music fan of some artist and never buys "outside" fandom. I would guess at least most of the first week sales are hardcore fans, but the rest I'm not sure of. If that's the case then fan sales would be about 50 - 60 % and the rest "people" or interested people sales. The fans will buy almost anyways, so to me the most important people to reach are the others, some of which may become fans of course. Like people are asying, the cover might be very important to attract these people.

You're not saying that you get news about Ayu on your Swedish morning news program, right? ;)
Wouldn't that be cool? There's a cable program here in the US (not sure what chanel) that broadcasts new from Japan in English, but unfortunately they rarely talk about pop-culture. :no I gotta get all my Ayu news from here.

I think that Ayu's 'fans' make up about 30% of her total sales.. the rest are probably individuals who found Ayu's music alluring in some way for that album..

On a side note: From this one online poll, it appears that the Japanese public really dislikes A Song for XX and RAINBOW.. as well as I am..

And they really like MY STORY..
http://vote3.ziyu.net/html/ayuippo2.html

that's awesome, thanks for sharing

Yeah, I understood that, but I ended up deciding that I was an as good anyone as anyone else, so I took the opportunity to reply :).

Cute, haha :D.

Indeed, although, I don't think you have to be a hardcore fan in order to buy an album of your favourite artist. Piracy isn't that wide-spread, there's still people who buy CDs because they want good music, and because they know Ayu provides that. Then, there's ofcourse the question about what the definition of a hardcore fan is... reminds me of the "are you a true Ayu fan"-thread, lol.

No, lol :D... but the same kind, the essence, nice to see you around reading random stuff :). NEAT signature!

That's definitely very interesting. Huh. Of course, it's a very small percentage of her overall buyers, obviously, but...

wow..that's interesting..I thought I am.. sold the most? o.O

Awesome that MY STORY, my favourite album, is on the top.

Rock is the way to rock :D.

Weirds me out a lot that LOVEppears is so high in that votation.