I also love that sound. It was the thing that stood out to me lol

I think the thing is that it LOOKS like a mistake. People are talking about it because it looks sort of strange when you line it up with everything else. And as far as news goes, I don't really know if they are reporting on it that much. If anything since it came out, only one place has really mentioned it from what I've seen, with most other news articles in the last few days focusing on her Instagram posts being sexy (positively and negatively).

http://dailynewsonline.jp/article/1474461/

This is the only article which kinda just regurgitates things found online. They also update nearly every time she puts something up on IG. I wonder if any other articles are being suppressed since this is sort of a really bizarre happening.

I believe this whole thing only shows how Ayu is already wrong no matter what she does to a part of the fandom.

Some people just made their mind up about her being this lazy, unprofessional, careless has been and it doesn't really matter what she is actually doing.

^ Not at all, I've been standing by her side as a fan since I became one years ago and praised her work countless times when people complained. This situation is simply very new so it can't be compared to anything from the past and all I do is express my disapproval of such practices. Instead of releasing some really good music and promote it we get well...this.

People talk and will talk, true. But I don't think it's gonna be anything of relevant scale but will remain in the memory of fans and others. Fans in the majority will be happy but at the same time, it's an amazing fuel to those who say how irrelevant she is. I am already imagining some people going "So since she can't sing anymore she will release karaoke tracks". This is a lousy promotion that can cause more harm than good stuff - in my opinion.

I think it can be a nice song, one of those summer/album fillers but just serve it properly.

tbh this all looks like a mistake and when they realised it they were ''well let's see where this goes''

but yeah ahs has to do a drama over it rofl

If this was followed by something else, like removing something else, a new mysterious instagram or twitter account, something to give the idea of a whole project, I'd like it. But like this it looks like a mistake (being intentional or not it *looks like* a mistake to me), and by that I totally agree with maxikot.

For a track to be accidentally uploaded on streaming services and a playlist it would have to be the a hell of an accident, because it's something that take several steps to happen. They would also have to cut out the final chorus by accident.

You have this person who picks up a music file that isn't named as a finished track, upload it, give it a cover, keep the file's unfinished track name after uploading it and after all that picks the same unnamed file and put it on a playlist that already existed. And even if the person has done all that, they never notice anything unnusual about it.

Seens very likely.

At least had the track a proper title it would be kinda dubious.

I know stuff don't get there easily, that's why I said it "looks like" three times on my post

I don't think this is something to worru about.
If she does everything the safest way people say she is over because she can't reinvent herself. Like A One.

If she does something different, people say she is a try-hard, and so, over. Like Party Queen.

If she does what's current and closely follows trends, people say she is desperate, and over. Like Colours.

We shouldn't expect her to try pleasing people who will look up for reasons to diss her. Namie is on the top of the world and her haters are still hating.

I don't think this is "Ayu" being lazy or anything but the way that this sort of this comes across is a little weird. Looking at her discography now there is this weird studio-session title that doesn't fit with things like MOON, blossom, RAINBOW, then this AX_WAT_615 title. The lack of comment is also concerning. Given that 'official' news sources like Oricon or the usual suspects that cover whenever Ayu does anything not counting social media posts haven't really mentioned anything about it, I think this is gonna just get ignored by her and the team till they put out whatever the more final version is.

Ofcourse Ayu has betrayed her fans by accidentally releasing this lazy demo track online. Jeeezuz. lol Just enjoy it. Its not everyday we get demos first before the real thing. And don't mind her haters, they have their own point of view and we have ours.

are we really talking about how it is TITLED??

ITS A DEMO. ITS A DEMO WITH NO LYRICS. IT IS JUST THE UNPOLISHED INSTRUMENTAL.

This isn't even an official track/interlude for her discography. An official song is going to be released LATER. Isn't this what a "Teaser" is known for? Why should there be a title when the lyrics arnt even part of it yet? It's there, and placed right after SEASONS for a reason. Because imagine listening through the playlist and this unpolished unfamiliar tune pops up, you are BOUND to listen through it and maybe even a few more times because its so bizarre and sudden. AND THATS THE WHOLE POINT. The final chorus being cut generates even more "omg what..wait...u cant do that...i need completion" feels and thats supposed to be the point. You'd think they "accidentally" uploaded a demo with a beautiful cut part right when the final chorus is cutting in? Yea right.

Fair enough that mainstream media aint talking about it. Ayu doesnt seem to be known for her MUSIC anymore. People talk about her, her life, her personality, her divaness (whatever), she is seen more like a celebrity figure than an artiste. But again thats also because she has been so open about her life, lovelife for a while now, instead of actually promoting her music.

We've had plenty of teasers before, but usually they're snippets of the final track or near-final track with vocals. A recent example is probably the melody of Sayonara being shown off for a short bit, or the "Yes, we are the queens" from a-nation a while ago.

This is not the same kind of thing at all.

It looks like some Japanese fans were curious and wondered what it was when it first popped up with the name "Spotify" in their tweet and Spotify support replied after seeing how strange it looked, lol. "Does it display like that for you still? Please let us know your specs!"

https://twitter.com/A_world_ayu/stat...72840476442625

Regardless of the release being intentional or not, the whole thing looks extremely sloppy. I do enjoy this instrumental, though, so as a fan I'm very excited for the full song. However, I sure could have waited until they released it in a more... "traditional" way.

Totally offtopic, but I am glad to see that Pieces_of_SEVEN is still a fan. I miss him around on AHS. He was so fanatic about Ayu with his mindblowing collection.

+1. People who jump on every little details in her career to say she is irrelevant are mainly haters nowadays and the essence of haters is to hate everything that the artist does. Ordinary people or casual listeners won't have a view about the release of demo, they might just be curious about its title but they won't dis her surely. Only person who cares (positively or negatively) would say something about it.
+1. The release of that demo is a part of her promotion for the new album. She is teasing us with it since day 1 when she said that a new album was in preparation. Since May we got regularly an update about it: photos of the recording (even if it shows more her outfits than Ayu behind the microphone XD), the humming videos with Timmy, the composers and arrangers she is working with, the photoshoot, etc. and now the demo. She keeps the hype going by saying things without saying too much explanation to make us impatient about the album. And it works well because even people who said it’s a mess complete by saying they want the finished song actually.

Regardless of what the title was, the song still sounds pretty good. The content stands on its own but the delivery is what makes people question it.

absolutely agreed! im glad she released something at all because i was worried of us not getting music at all because of her health problems... :(

Also it’s nice to see more ayu fans from Serbia on AHS!

Promotional mess or not, let's be factual. Spotify: Currently 3,070 plays (200k monthly listeners); Awa: 5,616, added to favourites by 163 people (out of 76k subscribers). Somebody mentioned it was occupying number 6 in terms of popularity on this platform. Honestly, the only thing it proves then how weak awa is. Also, as somebody else mentioned, barely any media noticed it (1 portal?), only users who subscribe saw that something weird appeared but those numbers clearly show that even they didn't show much interest.

Let me add one thing. I am trying to provide a constructive criticism of the "promo" I don't like. Even if it's an accident or not, neither one of these options forbids anyone from enjoying it. Like I said, I think I would enjoy it if I got a proper release of the song.

Gosh those numbers are so poor. How do people in Japan consume music nowdays?

I think it's a lot of YouTube if they can. Or via Apple sources? When I saw anyone listening to July 1st, it was on old iPods or using iTunes somehow.

The chart that the song got on for AWA was "recently added songs total plays" or something and has gone up to no.4 on there but it doesn't seem like there's a ton of plays to begin with on AWA.

How can they do that though? Japanese official channels never upload music videos entirely lol Short versions are still a thing there it seems.

Physical sales overall are decreasing, streaming isn't very common either, seems like japanese people don't really care for music anymore?

That's just true for certain companies/artists, not for the whole market.
Even within avex it depends on the artist.
Especially artists being popular with the younger generations are uploading full videos and doing YouTube lives and so on.

YouTube is not an option for some artists, but some bigger artists have full videos out especially nowadays. In the cases where there isn't a YouTube option people probably either rip them from rentals or buy.

I think CD rentals (then ripping files from them) are probably the big thing that is not as common anywhere else that Japan has access to. Streaming isn't nearly as big as physical in Japan still but it's growing, same for downloads... but people are still able to get their music somehow, lol.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/201...outube-report/
http://musically.com/2017/09/25/riaj...reaming-japan/

Here's a somewhat recent report. Basically it says physical CDs + CD rips + YouTube are what people use but the amount polled wasn't too large. Still, it's something. The numbers may add up a bit strangely due to allowing multiple answers from the participants.

Here is a good list for YouTube channels, if you wanna have a look:
http://minuskakugo.blogspot.com/p/ja...resources.html

If you look at avex' official channel alone, you'll see that the majority of uploaded PVs are full ones.

I always thought these full videos were blocked for japanese users (like Ayu ones).

^often that's the case

^in ayu's case, all these full songs (e.g. if someone uploads "Heartplace") and videos on avex's channel are blocked in Japan. Thus, the 'small' amount of views. They can watch all the stuff on ayu's channel though and those few full PV's there (like Last Minute).

I've just checked the restrictions for a bunch of videos on their channel - none of them have one.
And when I lived in Japan last year, I've never had problems accessing YouTube videos.
So this might be a thing of the past, except for a few artists.

I don't have access to Ayu videos in full, so there's still restrictions in play here.

Japan doesn't really have a radio culture either, so streaming probably won't take off.

You can literally rent CDs for 1 dollar, not to mention buy them for dirt cheap at book off.

Sales, in terms of physical releases, still sees Japan at or near the top. If Oricon properly counted digital sales as well, I doubt artists would pale that much in comparison to western countries.

It takes Japan like 10 years to finally start adapting to changes. I do think that eventually sales will be counted...

I thought they used LINE Music?

I think LINE Music is counted along with the services like Spotify and so on. LINE Music also doesn't have a free option, it's subscription only.

Am I the only one who doesn't use any streaming service? I hate streaming services with passion. :laugh I'm still using my sony walkman mp3 player (which I noticed a lot of Japanese people also use) and for me streaming services would take away a lot of my music listening experience.

^ no, you're not the only one.

I wouldn't say it's something to brag about though - streaming is the future.

Same. I really don't feel the need of getting streaming apps, I get my music from Jpopsuki or Pirate Bay, sometimes from here and YouTube using conversion softwares.

I'm not going to start that debate again but it makes me happy to see Japan keep physical media alive. I use both physical music and streaming (youtube, spotify ect.) We have the best of both worlds and the freedom to choose.
For now, anyway.

Looks like the third arrangement has been released.

AX_WAT_516 SMZ-ATS_arr#3

whatever this song is meant to be, I want it already! this arrangement has minor changes but I like it. and now the song has an ending, the previous one cut in the end

^ Yea high five! I am in love with the demo, it sounds promising. A mix of Summer Diary and TODAY. The melody is really sweet!
Hopefully she will sing this song on a'nation. I need it already... what title will it get...
I don't know about you guys but I have become very very excited about the new album because of the demos. New material is coming soooooooon and I am literally checking any spare time on AHS hoping there is news!

!!!!!
Ieeeee it sounds great! I guess it's been about a week between the releases? So perhaps the next (final) version (released next week?) will have vocals?

I am also so excited for the new album!!!

I'm not really fond of that demo. It sounds like a leftover from Sixxxxxx.

Still really like the song but I really hope these two things don't stay on her digital catalogs.

Same here, I love it! I don't care if it's not "experimental", it still sounds classic/nostalgic and beautiful while still sounding different than her other songs :). I can already tell this song will be one of my favorites as long as she doesn't do anything bad vocally.

Definitely !! not that is bad I think I will like it but nothing groundbreaking lol

I like it. :cool

I hope there will be some rock songs on the album. I don't want A ONE 2.

We know there's this, a girl power song, and maybe that song she was producing with Timmy with the backup vocals that were in the works so that's three tracks. I wonder what the 'weird' song(s) will be since she seems to usually have one or two that are not typical Ayu.

Wasnt expecting that. I wished she just dropped the track and not add the last 41s because now its COMPLETED..interest is so gonna just plummet. Coz humans.

She raised the key and the arrangement sounds so polished now. I hear this electric guitar in the background in the distance. We're getting closerrrr. But the last 41s really doesnt add much..LOL we could have just copied and pasted the same chorus into the end. REGARDLESS, would be a nice summer bob :)

I hope her team deletes all these demos from Spotify after everything haha. imagine she released 5 different demos across different platform (Spotify, KKBOX, LINE music, AWA, Apple)

I think that next week or so we might get the finalized version with her vocals and everything, to me that's a great way to get us excited for a new song!

She may perform this new song at PoM now

I really like that she dropped the demos. To let us understand the process and the improvement of the songs is a great idea. It would be so interesting to get a documentary focused on her making two or three songs of the album and to see each step.

somebody can rip it?
Can't play it on spotify

^Yeah I can't hear it either, only the one in the download section that cuts off. I'd love the hear the one that doesn't, can anyone kindly upload it?

There you go. I played with spotify and recorded with another software so it's not a direct rip, but a good one. I don't think you can tell the difference on normal speakers or headphones:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xcN...ew?usp=sharing

I'm sort of the same! I do use Spotify sometimes (free version!) but I'm kinda conflicted about it!

Cool, didn't realise there was a new arrangement released. I will check it out.

Thanks maxikot!

Thank you!

Thanks a lot, maxikot.

THANK YOU!

Thank you! Sounds great :D

You're welcome ^^ I also think it sounds nice.

I had a dream last night that I was listening to the finished song and thought it was nice after all!

I like the new version slightly more, but I still can't see this song become one of my favourite on the next album!

^ You should have recorded the song and shared! Meeeaaan and selfish .... :grumpy :P

I got a similar dream when the first demo was out. It seems Ayu's Fans are linked in the dream world

^I tend to have Ayu dreams whenever things start to move in terms of new releases, I guess my brain is too excited already!

^
^Believe me I was gutted when I woke up because I wanted to listen to it again :D

Is it safe to assume that we will get news fairly soon now? It feels that if she recorded the song for a TV program we should at least have a release window!

^ I expect a release date announced during Osaka shows!

I like the demo, but it does sound like WORDS in parts.

I would be surprised if she doesn’t do the new song during the encore of the Osaka shows and I am also expecting an announcement. They might even put in the release details in the pamphlets they are giving out when you enter the arena.

I hope you guys are right! My body is so ready for a new album!

The song got a new 'version', same name as last one arr#3 but Rough mix minus one at the end of the title.

it's not there for me yet

It'll likely show up later but the Japanese sites have it at the moment.

It's on the italian spotify. It's basically the instrumental. The midi-like piano that there was before now is tuned down and there is the "choir" (in other words Ayu's background voice). The song is shaping up and in a different way I expected while listening the other versions. It's more emotional and sad thn the happy song I was expecting. Because of the back voice we can hear part of the lyrics as well. Unfortunately is just the first couple of minutes though...

I'm really looking forward for the full version now!

INSTRUMENTAL OMG..its coming its coming!!!

===

SIDENOTE:

I had a dream last night about an Ayu outdoor concert. She was amongst the audience (somehow) and then it rained so hard..the encore dragged and she sang WORDS and petal. And there was an overrun but she was really determined to sing the last song, which was A song is born.

And she announced her new album called [LILAC]. LOL and prior to it, there would be a teaser single called [Purple]. But this is kinda like the TRACK 0 to the album which will act a show case to the album's overall theme. I dunno why I had the idea of this Purple-LILAC

Could someone record it maybe? Would be much appreciated. ♡

It's in the Downloads thread. Aderianu posted it.

Only 1:44 was posted on sites.

It was also added not too long ago to Spotify finally.

Why generasia listing them as digital singles?

:spew

Probably because all these places list them as separate singles in her discography.

It was interesting to see the different stages of production. The instrumental sounds a lot more polished than the previous demos, as expected ^^

Top Spotify songs as of July 16, 2018
(last updated in March 2018)

1. SEASONS - 1,208,828
2. Boys & Girls - 1,102,408
3. M - 967,296
4. Dearest - 809,302
5. BLUE BIRD - 752,361
6. Voyage - 473,304
7. A Song for xx - 461,165
8. Movin' on without you - 415,837
9. Moments - 332,911
10. SURREAL - 295,284
11. evolution - 295,229
12. appears - 269,412
13. CAROLS - 249,191
14. Fly High - 195,877
15. Mad World - 195,117
16. STEP you - 189,138
17. TO BE - 189,014
18. Story - 177,022
19. Fly High - 175,754
20. Last Minute - 170,117
21. Who... - 168,540
22. Love song - 162,453
23. Zutto.. - 161,768
24. JEWEL - 150,732
25. HEAVEN - 150,124
26. momentum - 144,456
27. Days - 142,984
28. No way to say - 140,813
29. Feel the love - 136,556
30. NO FUTURE - 135,778
31. vogue - 134,957
32. WARNING - 129,594
33. Because of you - 129,088
34. Out of control - 127,945
35. is this LOVE? - 124,237
36. HANABI - 119,325
37. Merry-go-round - 117,194
38. Song 4 U - 114,977
39. Far Away - 114,674
40. fairyland - 112,122
41. MY ALL - 110,351
42. glitter - 107,295
43. Free & Easy - 107,164
44. You & Me - 103,013

All her songs that have been listened over 100k.

I can't believe people still listen to Boys & Girls so much.

The feeling is totally different from the first demo we got. I like to hear how Ayu changed the mood of the song step by step to fit the emotion she want to share.

well it's a bop!

Wow i’m surprised for “Movin’ on without you”

I was hoping to see more songs from Duty and I am...

I am happy to see there's a lot of songs from after 2005 on there.

In Japan young people (about 20yo) remember Ayu for BLUE BIRD lol

'AX_WAT_516 poetry reading' now exists on Spotify. What in the world Ayu!!!!

that is the most weird promo I ever heard

I hope someone translates it soon. As a creative writing major I personally love poetry, but I'm so confused as to everything that's happening surrounding this release right now lol Are those just the lyrics of the song? It's so weird that it's just a random guy reading it.

Lol poetry reading!? So random but am loving it - both for the randomness and as a different type of promo.

I thought "poetry reading" was sarcasm/trolling? I don't see it on spotify lol

Me neither :/

Oh goodness, it's real, I found it on AWA loool

What the fuck is she doing

Hahaha, I love the "AX_WAT_" promo XD It's weird and entertaining.

what is it about?!?! im quite amazed to have woken up to this LOL

is he just reading the lyrics?

People are saying that they think it’s the guy from Trendy Angel who’s doing the reading

Actually, the lyrics on "poetry reading" track is from the first demo. I recognized it because of the "kurikaeshi kurikaeshi" part.

Oh, I didn't know where to post it, but I found a way to listen to AWA! Since it's not available in Google Play Store for non-Japanese users, I downloaded the apk from another source in the internet and installed normally in my Android phone (the option for installing apps from other sources than Google Play Store should be enabled) and logged in. They offer a three-month free of charges subscription and I'm listening to all catalogue, including Ayu's new tracks.

I downloaded the apk here: https://m.apkpure.com/br/awa-%E9%9F%....awa.liverpool

I also recognised a line from those tower records posters in that poetry reading audio