Singles are not big to-dos as they are in Japan — they tend to be much simpler and different than anything found in the actual album art. Just look at Easy Breezy. YMMWTBAM was related to the video, and Devil Inside was formed off the promo pic.
Yet, you could certainly argue for a different type of cover in terms of concept (something more colorful, etc.) and a better font. Sure. Fine.

Please, crawl around Wiki and do some American single (or singles outside the J-Music World) research. You'd all save yourselves the pain.

But I forgot Hikki fans/a lot of j-pop fans were some of the biggest complainers ever (IMHO). Just remember that this is not the J-Music Industry.

And yes, Sundae, it's quite sad. Yet hilarious. I didn't know we could see single covers while listening to the radio! (This post will probably be buried, but whatever...)

^ I've seen American single covers look better than what's being provided.

Her album covers better not be close to single cover's cheapness :O Are 6th graders on her production staff?
I seriously hope this is one of the few mistakes IDJ will make and learn to put a winning image out there. Hikki isn't really known and the chance do better is now but they keep on messing up.

LOL, I remember the Devil Inside Cover, her hair was so cool in that pic!! ^^

sure, but it doesn't mean they have to look like unprofessional crap.

There are a lot of American artists that have bad single covers, but at least they try to be stylish.

Which is actually something that would seriously help her, and she needs every last bit.

The album probably will be better. Let's hope at least.


btw...dreamcrushed, random question do you live in Wellesley? or do you go to the university?

OH... MY... GOD....

WORST COVER EVER!!!

Please Hikki, where have you gone? (cries like a girl xD)

Sure, that's your opinion. And I've actually seen worse. And it probably would help her if it were "stylish" (whatever that means to anyone). I think people should save their outrage for the cover... Knowing the "j-pop community", it'll be a complete crapstorm anyway (as it always is when covers are revealed). EDIT: :yes Like the post above mine. :rolleyes

But I don't see what's so horrible about it that someone would decide not to buy any of her upcoming English releases because they have concluded that this one single cover is supposedly demonstrative of how not seriously IDJ is taking this. :thud

I don't have any ideas on what it should look like... What do other people think?

And yeah, I go to the college. I'm going back in a week... End of Vacation = :dead2

:roflmao

somehow the colour of the hoodie she's wearing scares me :dead2

I'm not totally spazzing over the cover, because I agree with dreamcrushed. American single covers are usually fugly. The only way they look good is if whoever made it got lucky by choosing a random font or something.

David Archuleta's "Crush" single had a horrid cover. And it was his debut single. Katy Perry's "Hot N' Cold" had a really bad cover for the US, same with Kevin Rudolf and Lil' Wayne's "Let It Rock." Both of those songs got pretty decent - good covers when they were physically released in the UK though.

No one ever sees single covers in the US, unless they download it off iTunes. And, I, for one... If I heard a song and was interested in it enough to run over to iTunes and buy it, the single cover isn't going to make or break my decision. XD

American singles are a whole different ballgame than Japanese ones. I'll admit, the covers are whether or not I decide to buy a single most of the time with Japanese ones, cause I'll physically own it. But with American ones? Not at all.

Also, if you guys really want them to change the font/the entire cover, go over to her MySpace and leave a message (other people have -- they even complained about the font and the song itself. :P). She'll be writing there soon, so she'll probably see it. Or go to one of IDJ's pages for her (I'm sure there's one titled "upcoming single/album") and leave a message. Or e-mail the artist herself (RJ over at U.Blog has instructions here: http://blog.utada2.net/?p=37 (the Japanese text does not show up in my browser, Firefox. Maybe it'll show up in yours. Or maybe RJ translated the fields in order so there won't be a problem) and leave a message. If you really care and feel that IDJ is not getting it right, complain! Take a page from the crazed BoA fans: if they see that many people think they are going down the wrong road, they will probably respond. Copy this down on other forums where there are other people who don't like the cover. Tell them to do the same thing. If you won't/don't write to them and still complain, you are tacitly telling them that you approve. This is a chance to influence the promotion. The Internet is a wonderful thing -- use it! :yes

frankly Utada doesn't have some of the nicest singles/album covers around but she still can sell so I don't think it matters so much is it not ?

I've probably posted too much already, but ^^THIS^^. Seriously.

YEAH.

Have you seen First Love's cover? Or even HS's? But still Utada sells like crazy even though almost all her album/single covers are boring.

So chill down people. I'd also prefer to see smth interesting and beautiful, but i've realized Utada will stay Utada.

And maybe she even will suprise us :lech

Yes, but where people don't care is IN JAPAN, where her debut album was the highest selling in Japan's history. :innocent People don't care in Japan because she has a long history of selling well and making awesome music. In America, no one knows who she is.

Though I don't really think people here generally care about CD covers... But the cover IS really ugly.

yeah that's the unfortunate thing :(

Why did they try to make her look so stereotypically Asian?

In what way is that cover stereotypically Asian?? I have an idea of what an Asian stereotype is but what is yours?

Thank you, dreamcrushed and others for changing the mood of this thread. :luv2 The direction of this thread so wasn't making any sense. Bad covers=Bad sales conclusion just didn't make sense. Not logical at all.:no

^ I was thinking the same thing too, about how the cover is stereotypically asian?

It's just her eyes, they just look so American Asian it's not even funny. They shouldn't play it up, yes she's Asian, but they don't have make her eyes into a billboard for that, people'd see it anyway, they didn't need to be done up so much.

At least the clothing she is wearing in the pic is very American - Urbanish (a little bit).

Her eyes? I guess me and you have different ideas of typical asian eyes.

:thud

Are you serious? I really don't understand this... :shakehead

Others have also asked, but what is your idea of a stereotypical Asian? I'm beyond curious.

It's just what I said, her eyes look like they've been played WAY up, and they shouldn't have been. Her selling point should be "Hey, I have good music" not "Hey I'm a minority, buy my CD"

I don't like the expression she has on her face. It's like a blank stare. :|

She excels at the blank look.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ablue01ko1.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...passioniv7.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...edtoyouea8.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...epriverxr4.jpg

^ Has she ever had a cover where she is smiling? I can't think of any right now in my mind.

Also, did they like photoshop her eyes in the Come Back to me cover? I swear to god one of them is further away from her nose than the other...

Wait and See had her smiling.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...waitandsee.jpg

She looks like she's trying to go second from the right xD;...

I think they fixed her eyes. I've seen pictures where one of her eyes is larger than the other.

Yeah... She sometimes has this weird thing going with her lids (when she's tired/overworked.) She blogged about it.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...g?t=1232158794

It looks like maybe they tried to photoshop it out (and failed.) Maybe she busted in while they were doing it and was like: "Nooooo~ That's not a bad memory! It's just my eyes!" XD

LOL, she looks like that girl from Final Fantasy in the Wait & See cover... the clothes she's wearing.

LOL rikku? i forgot her name. i'm just thinking of the one from FFX-2 :laugh

Yep I think a Flavor of Love promo picture had the same thing. The one where she's leaning down into the picture.

Ermm... nope, I don't think that's her. Oh wait, it's Yuna! Yeah, that's her.

Her mouth is open :o

lol...yeah it seems that a lot of artists have that problem when taking pictures.

In that last pic she looks so different....

Yeah because they're not models lol

At least Hikki's open mouth isn't like Ayu portions.

But does anyone notice that the left side of her mouth (right if you're facing her) is kind of opened more than the right... It's evident in other pictures too.. kind of like she's smirking only not...

The profile/promo pic of Passion is SO MUCH better than the actual single cover.

The problem with the Passion cover is the lighting. :/

Most of her covers are ALWAYS
-titled head, mouth slightly open-

and just a change of hair and makeup xD

If Utada did a cover like... GUILTY or RAINBOW or any of Ayu's covers (besides A Song for xx XD) I don't know what I'd do! I can't even imagine it.

I wish she had different facial expression, or something different.

By the way, does anyone else get this "AHS is currently unavailable. Check back later" message a lot?

I just did a few minutes ago...

Well I guess I'll be in the minority and say aside from the text and that weird thing she did with her lips I think the picture is cute. Plain but cute. I like the styling and make-up they did.

The cover still doesn't change the fact that I think this song is boring as hell.

I get that messsage about five or six times a day. It can get annoying when I want to post, and get that message. Hmm... could be server problems/issues.

LOL....fussing over a cover? Hello, ever seen the For You/Time Limit Cover? A cover wont change my opinion about hikki's music sorry....

Ewww... that cover was just, terrible. :/

look at the 'Womanizer' cover (without Britney) -- that just looks so AWESOME! And the Circus (single) cover!

if there's one thing American singles tend to have, it's awesome font, seriously. Katy Perry's, Lady Gaga's Christmas Tree, etc.

Umm, honestly this is the dumbest thing I think I've ever read on AHS in my life. Not caring about an artist because of a bad font choice? :rolleyes

Font choice is obviously a serious issue here on AHS :roflmao

Like I said-- No one sees single covers in the US. Take the text off of them and show them around to people and they wouldn't recognize them as anything more than just another picture of whichever artist.

And I don't know about you, but I think the US cover for "Hot N' Cold" by Katy Perry looks a lot stupider than the "Come Back To Me" cover. The UK versions hot though. xD

I'm looking forward to seeing how she will respond to this.(If she does) She said that she was going to respond to her 'peeps'.

Exactly. The fact that people are freaking out and saying that they're not going to support Hikki because they don't like the single cover is just ridiculous. Nobody in the States ever sees single covers because nobody releases physical singles anymore.http://i41.tinypic.com/2ijgnj9.gif

^Ikr! It's like they think IDJ is going to promote the pic instead of Hikki. Please get outta that mind set ok. This is not Japan. http://i41.tinypic.com/2ijgnj9.gif I'm so grossed out by people who don't like Hikki's sexy open mouth pics too. She pulls it so well. :yes

Kewt cover! <3

True Cori but seriously, no one is really going to care about it. =/ Too many people are put emphasis on the cover....well covers period. Yes, the font is ugly but the pic isn't bad at all.

The average American does not go on iTunes to browse for new music... They go there to buy a song that they heard on the radio/TV and they have already decided to purchase. A cover isn't going to change their decision.

^ This is true! I bought a song (off amazon, not itunes) and I haven't the slightest clue what the cover is xD;

I hope her company shows commitment to promoting her to their fullest extent, that's all. This font seems like an early sign of that.

I see some people "complaining" about Utadas eyes and mouth.
If you didn't realize until now, I think Uta-chan has what they call a "lazy eye". She has also small hips, pretty big shoulders, is very small, has thick lids under her eyes, looks not that good with brown make-up (see Exodus cover.....), her lips aren't even formed.
She has two little dots in her face (which I actually think are very cute! but some people don't like those kind f things) and sometimes she does have a plain look.
She doesn't even like to wear make-up at all, and doesn't dress up as Miss-Mention-Me-Ahm-Sexay.


THEN WHAT. That's just what I like about her. She's not a high-up celebrity that you could never meet in your life, she looks like a cute girl from around the corner who you run into at the bakery's.
She's down-to-earth, philosophic, writes damn good songs and weird (~kumaaaa/rolling on the floor to get the fire I'm in out/I love that bottle of Sahara sands I got from a fan/...)
I think she's way more interesting than all those boring artists that show of as much from their bode as legal, sell a lot but aren't interesting one bit and are more known for their personal issues than for their music. (Britney...)


Utada hasn't got very good covers for some albums and singles, but she stays simple - isn't that refreshing in these times where all kinds of visual stunning things are thrown into you when you even take a quick walk to the mall?
I think of her Wait&See ~Risk as one of the best I've ever seen from an artist, LOVE the Distance and Deep River and Ultra Blue pictures because of their genuine simplicity.
Not to forget the quality of music she's giving.

So for this single. I agree that the font could have been chosen better, but I adore the picture. It makes me think of a '90- Utada Hikaru (think it's the clothes - they look a little hippie-ish), like it's from the start of her carreer.
It's stylish, except for the front that looks a bit out of place, she look decent (much more decent than on First Love cover) and I think this cover will give a good image of her. Heck, I imagine her there coming from the studio where's she's been working on some music with Kuma XD

^ Lmfao. Love the rant. I am shocked to even see how amazing she looks on the Wait & See ~Risk~ single cover. So cute! I wish she did more things like that!

EDIT: So with all this talk about covers, I decided to remake the Passion cover ~

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...passioniv7.jpg
That's for if you wanted to stick with the original, just improve on it.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...traver/p04.jpg
But I love this one!

It just goes to show you that they don't have to try that hard. They just have to try.

Srsly certain ppl need to get a clue. 99% of Americans who like pop music don't even know what a single's cover looks like. Get over it.

^ Lol. I could care less but I'm just having fun making photoshop art.
I just think people are afraid that the album cover will be garbage. I'm just not gonna expect anything. I mean, if her Japanese album/single covers aren't all that great, then why should we believe the US one(s) will be any better? I just hope for some good music. After making those covers, I turned on Passion and now I really miss Hikki music. :(

all.night.raver I guess me and you had the same idea in mind. I was also fooling around in PS:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13...mebacktome.png

I think I did a good job :)
I also agree with kang daesung and similar things that others have said in this thread about people in America mostly not giving a frack about covers. People care more about the music; shaking their ass to a good beat on the dance floor as hard as that is to believe to some of you people. I'd love to know if people in Japan care about covers as much as the online Western J-pop Community do.

^ Lol. I literally just saved the Come Back To Me Cover so I could fix that up in photoshop as well. Ha ha. You did a really nice job!

And on a side-note, I really think Hikki looks gorgeous on the Exodus '04 CD single.

Haha, that's pretty interesting. I'm one who is always interested what a single's cover is like. ^^

^ Same here! IT doesn't effect whether I'll by the single , that's the song's job!

It's like HS meets FOL... The cover is ok, nothing special.. The font is terrible tho.. very terrible..:shakehead

Well here's what I finalized on:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...acktomenew.jpg

I could not figure out what to change the background to. Anyone have any good ideas?

^ Cool.

horrible cover art... who's the art director for it?

give me other photoshoots of it and i can make one better than THAT...

I did 3 slightly different versions:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13...ktomesmile.png

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13...mebacktome.png:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13...mebacktome.png

Those would be some pretty cool covers. They should hire me to do her cd art, lol

^ The third one looks the best! ^^

omg HonMaru, your covers are amazing compared to the real thing, LOL.

HonMaru!
Those are AMAZING! Damn, you win. Lol. They are all really good but my favorite has to be the first one. It really fits the whole photo and it blends in nicely. Seriously, it's perfect!

^ Thanks for the compliments guys. :) My favorite is the last one.

Ahh, these fanmade things are so much better than the real thing. XD You guys are doing a great job! :D

And to agree with what kang daesung said-- I don't think 99% of American teens would even know what you meant if you said 'single.' Only the people old enough to remember the '70s, '80s, and very early '90s can remember the US industry releasing these now fabled singles. XD

I'll admit, when I bought my first JPop CD, which was COLORS, I was stunned to find out it only had 4 tracks! I was expecting a full length CD. XD

P.S.
Go vote in the final round of the HEART STATION survivor!
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85150

I don't like the font of those, HonMaru. The coloring is nice, but I don't like that foggy, haze effect.

^ Uh okay? Fair enough I guess.

I like the last one best. But, unlike a lot of people, I don't think she needs any extra makeup.

The thing about the cover is that it can show how lazy her team is or isn't being. I agree that tons of people don't even see covers, but it's definitely a big part of what people want to see on their iPods or iPhones.

It probably won't make a difference in terms of someone buying it online (it won't for me definitely), especially since you can even delete album artwork if you want. But as for seeing how serious Island Records is being... it's a bad sign.

People just want to see something professional, and some take it more seriously than others.

Maybe it'll look better on iTunes, hm.

Well, the cover of Exodus '04 was very simple too...

I remember one time calling into the radio and asking "Can you please play (so-and-so's) new single, ***" - I forgot the artist but the radio guy was surprised that I called it a single and I just said that I read up on the internet a lot. He said most people just would have said "the new song by (so-and-so)".

Yes and it was gorgeous!

To be honest, when i saw for the first time Come Back To Me cover, i wasn't disappointed very much. Because i was afraid she's gonna make smth awful like HS/Stay Gold.

I like the US/Japan EXODUS cover more than the UK version. ^^

yeah I understand.

It's just a little disappointing.


And that's awesome you go to Wellesley. I was thinking of applying there last year, but I decided to stay in state.

Congratulations on getting in! That's quite a feat.

um i'm not so sure that's true, mostly.

almost every time i say "oh yeah, my favorite artist has a new single coming out!", people are generally like "wtf is a single?"

they just say 'new song', not 'new single'. at least over here (tri-state area) that tends to be like case about 95% of the time.

My peeps don't know the difference between an album and a CD... :thud

They usually say, "Oh so&so is coming out with a new CD!"

But when I say, "Ayu's coming out with a new album," they give me these blank stares and say, "You mean a CD?" xD;

It's so weird.....

Singles have less importance in America anyway. It doesn't matter who sees it. It's like how most single covers for major artists are just extras from the album photoshoot. XD

^ yeah, look at all the singles from Britney's 'Blackout'

It's not that they're ignorant. It's something that's lost in the American music culture. If an American isn't old enough to remember when singles are physically released, why would they know what one is? Where do you hear about singles other than iTunes.

I don't know about you or where your located in the states, but I sure as hell know that no one here will understand immediately what you mean if you say 'single.' I wouldn't even know if it wasn't for Japanese music.

^Exactly, music is just different here...

although, I remember singles when I was younger...I don't know if any of my friends do.


What I really hope...is that they don't use the cover for promotion.

What really disappoints me the most, I think, is that it kind of gives the impression that Utada is sort of a newb, which she is, here in the US. But I don't think they should market her that way.

Hikki is huge, and I think they should give her just a little more credit...and maybe invest a little more in her.

but you know...she did say she wants her US music to be different...so whatever.

I doubt they will use the cover for promotion.... unless (god smite me for even considering this XD) it is from the same photoshoot the album cover is from.

A little offtopic: But how does a new artist, such as Utada, go about promoting correctly in the US? The city I live in is very small. I never see any promotion for an artist except for an occasional poster in a record store or commercial on TV. It's not like Japan with the countless music shows and giant billboards and stuff. xD

Maybe they are trying to distance themselves from Exodus. With BoA, they are always talking about her previous sales. But can you do that with Utada without mentioning Exodus? They should be able to, but they don't seem to want to work that angle.

They talked a bunch about her amazing Japanese sales when EXODUS was released. Didn't seem to do anything. They mentioned her sales on MTV's "You Hear It First" and the EXODUS press kit thing.

I haven't heard anything about BoA really outside of the JPop fan forums. I did see "Eat You Up" on TheN though.