This is so true and so sad :(
the actual integrity and beauty of the music isnt as valued as before.
Oh well as long as ayu releases music ill be happy :)

Think about it in the eyes of the industry though. If Ayumi said that she had no control over her music and her image, what would she be? Maybe she is saying it this way because there is no other way to say it?

Her sales are lower this week, i hope better sales tomorrow ^_^

If you pay attention to what other Avex artists are doing, and the stuff Ayu does...

It's pretty noticeable the aspects of her career that might be influenced more by them than by her.

I don't think people really understand what it means for an artist to have no control, and similarly for an artist to have full control...especially for people who only know Ayu.

I personally believe, that Ayu has a great deal more control over her own image and music than many other artists, and I think that when Avex has suggestions, she takes them.

I think she's created a nice balance, and I really doubt that, at this point in her career, Avex has to "tell" her to do anything.

Ayu is a very special artist, and honestly, I don't see the rules applying to her as much as they do for other people. In any case, I think Ayu knows by now what needs to be done, and that she doesn't have to be led or told what to do.

In any case, if you know anything about Ayu, you know that she isn't going to be jerked around or made to do anything she doesn't want to without a fight lol Stubborn, she is :P

/endlongpost

me too, I want so much that this single reaches 100k

I agree with this, Ayu is far too powerful within Avex to have no control over anything to do with her image but in some areas she would take Avex's advice if it's given to her. After all, she's no marketing executive and despite her experiences in the industry, she has a worse idea of what would be popular and accepted within Japan than, say, someone who's studied popular culture and marketing at university for 5 years and has that as their career.

I agree that S/S was a photographic disaster but people getting fired over them? Let's take a step back. Ayu posed for those photographs. Do you think that if she thought they were that ugly she would have continued the shooting? I think she would have posted in her TA diary if the shoot didn't go well and dumped the staff way before S/S was allowed to happen.

Ayu liked the S/S shots, no matter how horrible we think they are. You can suggest that she had no choice because it was too late to change the covers but movies, albums, books....they get release dates pushed back all the time for all kinds of reasons. Ayu would have changed them if she had wanted to.

Ehh, back onto the topic of this thread, I want sales updates, darn it! xD I want L to sell over 100k in the first month~~~~~~

5th Day
Position: #6
Sales: Later
Total Saler: Later

I don't even frequently read news about Ayu but I do know she changed her creative team.
There are other possible reason for firing people maybe she wanted something new, and personally I think it's a good change because you can't work with the same people without being redundant.

ohh she hasnt able to hit the top 5 yet?

5th Day
Position: #6
Sales: 1,195
Total Saler: 78,644

It deserves loooot more...

Sory to quote a post so back but i havent been keeping up with this thread and when I came in, i was lost haha.

Yes, I think Japanese LOVE their form of happy-sounding jpop and generally, kawaii, feel-good, radio-friendly music which can go along way. Personally, I've never really felt that any pop song in Ayu's single discography as something not pop..it feels like, yes like what others have sad "Power pop" because they are definitely stronger than the general JPOP. I mean, as long as singles are being sold, we can expect something not too strange and beyond the Japanese audience's type of music. it NEEDS to be sold.

While for albums, I definitely see Ayu being very creative. songs like until that Day..., 1 LOVE, Marionette, Microphone, LOVE'n'HATE...these are songs that I wont see them being huge radio hits and common favs among the GENERAL audience. But Ayu releases them.

She could really just release a whole of "You were..." and "MOON" and "M" and "Days"...because its a safe zone of music coming from Ayu herself. I still think her ballads like MOON and M are something that is unique from Ayu and no other artiste honestly.

Yes I definitely agree. Ayu HAS the power. I mean, being a kpop fan as well, some songs are just plain ridiculous but they can be huge hits...and I really wonder if the idols themselves singing these songs truly...have any say over what they want to sing.

leaving kpop aside, some jpop artistes as well seem to be overpowered by their company...esp those currently being sidecased. And seeing Ayu participate in the production of her material thru documentaries convinces me that she has a Direction.

=========

on the side note, im actually really happy with L's sales...it's much more stable compared to her other recent singles. it just goes to show that there is still a main fanbase :)
of course, being a 50th single, i wished it would hit 100k at least but well, i blame it for the lack of promotion really

some random news from taiwan...
L is #1 on the g-music j-pop/k-pop chart with 14.64% of total sales from that week

crossroad only got #2 with 12.46% on its week, but it was up against SNSD's GENIE and taiwan is experiencing a huge hallyu wave right now just like japan, so its still good

6th Day
Position: #8
Sales: 1,286
Total Sales: 79,930

i agree..considering her long career she needed to change an renew or she could repeat herself

so around 80k sales total after second week,
not so bad >.< still deserves more

80k in the 2nd week and had an increase today *-*

lol This sounds VERY familiar, this is also a common occurrence in the fandom of a certain westerner pop diva that I love. The fans are always raving over the control she has but whenever something goes awry or they dislike something, the blame automatically goes to her label and they'll try their darn hardest to argue that she's dumb as a rock and "didn't realize what was happening" though all signs point the other way. It pisses me off but it's hilarious at the same time how people contradict themselves seamlessly to fit their own POV. :roflmao

^Curious... who? xD

she should try working with producers/directors she has never worked with before.