Two years since Ayu's last single
 

I'm making this thread with the assumption Ayu isn't going to announce and release a single in the next 3 weeks.

Time has flown since L, right? Do you think Ayu should continue to ignore the single market and just focus on continuing to exhaust her voice touring with the occasional album release?

I wish she could release singles. It's so weird that she doesn't and I wonder if it's Avex's decision or Ayu's not to release. I also think that they're thinking Ayu will sell because she is who she is. Personally I think that it's a stupid way to think because her sales just keep declining (which is normal, of course), and if she released singles her sales might be better, I believe. :)

So no, I think she shouldn't isolate herself from single market and just release albums because it will only make everyone forget her completely, and personally I really don't want that to happen to her. :<

i think they should stop fearing that she might lost her no.1 streak if she will to release a single. She should return back to the thread of releasing 2-3 singles before each album release. with more tv performances n promotion..

i want my singles!!!

Well, she is still releasing music. Counts for me.

Why do you let this sound so ignorant? My curiousity kills me.

as long as she continues to release music on a regular basis , I don't see why's there any cause for alarm :shrug

For me since I don't buy her singles & I only buy her albums , this doesn't really affect me so much

She still releases promotional songs... It's the same **** as singles, they just don't have physycal copies...

I rather prefer Ayu focusing on the album as a whole rather than singles.

For the record, I do think this is Ayu's decision. She hit 50 singles, she's broken every record, and so much of what Ayu's done lately has felt like a "screw this" to avex's system... you know, the whole "it's winter so release a ballad, it's summer so release an upbeat song" thing.

"A SUMMER BEST" exists because Ayu decided not to release a summer single. That's why You & Me kinda sucks - she put NO work into it, and only did it because the higher-ups told her to. You can tell when Ayu's doing something she really wants to do - the attitude behind it is completely different.

"Party Queen" was an album - a single, cohesive work of art - rather than just a collection of songs, and putting out singles before an album forces that album to be "just a collection of songs." The result is often messy - Secret and Guilty were these weird frankenstein fusions of pandering, simplistic pop and real artistic triumphs. "Party Queen," and future no-single albums, won't suffer from that.

I'd MUCH rather ayu put out the kind of music she wants to, the kind of music that says what she wants to say, rather than forcing out thematic singles because the suits told her to. If that means no singles, fine by me.

huh?

I've thought that avex was scared of her losing her #1 streak by releasing singles, too, though I swear I got my head bitten off for posting it. But, as long as they continue to play around with her release dates it shouldn't matter, unless every single person who bought a single only did so to help her streak.

She could easily maintain her streak with some aggressive marketing from Avex and careful selection of dates. Also I think the selection of songs to be singles has been poor.

^ Yes, but it also depends on the music. Record labels often won't back up singles/albums which they feel won't sell as well. Kelly Clarkson's My December (2007) and Ciara's Basic Instinct (2010) for example. Ayu's music just isn't as marketable anymore to put a lot of money behind single releases and such.

More singles means more releases which means more money. The streak officially doesn't matter to Avex anymore - Ayu's way out in first place, continuing the streak benefits no one aside from fans who want it to happen. Avex would want Ayu to release more singles simply because that would be more revenue for them. Ayu gets money from touring & merchandise if her contract is a typical one. Ayu touring means more money for AYU. Ayu releasing singles would mean more money for AVEX. They'd rather see a single released & a streak broken than no new singles released at all.

it makes no sense to say that... Koka Kumi barely reaches 45 K by single but has released 4 singles last year, Kana Nishino too and a lot of popular singer ! Today if you're not an idole or a boysband you can't expect amazing sales !
If you look at the Oricon yearly top 100 for 2012 for find a female singer you must go to the 58th position but it's an Enka singer so go to the 60th position with Nana Mizuki ... solo singer are not really the main actors in the single chart.

This is kinda scary because at this point we don't know how she'll do with new singles anymore, it's been 2 years and that in the jpop industry is like 50 years :thud

It could go both ways really, still exciting to see! :yes

Also, 2 years since I saw ayu live for the first time!!!! :love :love :love

Koda is behind Ayu in profitable but she still releases load. Japonesque had loads of PV and singles but pretty much matched Party Queen in sales. Ayu is way down in Avex's list of piorties. EXILE, TVXQ, Namie Amuro and even Super Junior all come before her.

But Party Queen is probably her worst received album yet. IMO it's kinda mess, it starts with three arguable "Party" songs and then descends into two typical Guilty/Secret/RnRc filler and then three great rocky tracks (Reminds me, Return Road and Tell me Why). And then there's two baffling show numbers, a interlude and then ends on a Disney ballad. The album feels like it's made up of songs from not just four different albums but four different artists.

Kuu is more carefree along with her image, like the vast majority of singles have never reached first unlike Ayu

I think Ayu doesn't want to break her streak and yes getting first in 2011,2012 has become harder with AKB and JE monopoly and maybe might show her continuing road to irrelevance

even tho PQ did bad, the tour was a success I guess they don't care for physical sales especially nowadays where the returns aren't as high anymore

Ayu should release under a new name "Ayu" so it doesn't ruin her streak x

Party Queen was poorly received among her western fanbase... The japanese reviews of the album (the most I could find ever to any of her releases) were pretty favorable...

In the end of the day, it's a very lyric-driven album.

I love singles and I want singles!!! It feels so strange that we don't get one.

Same. :yes I would like for her to release singles again, but it's not a big deal for me as long as she is still releasing albums.

While I wouldn't say Party Queen was poorly received, I do agree that it is kinda a mess. Secret and Guilty were great albums, and I felt that had a great flow. Party Queen was everywhere, especially the show tunes. Lyrically, I don't think it flowed as well either, not like NEXT LEVEL, which flowed really well lyrically even if the instrumentals was a bit messy.

She can make albums around the singles, and "lately" it seems the singles are released with a similar theme. (Love Songs, anyone?)

But answering the main question of this thread, no, I don't really think Ayu should release more singles if she doesn't want to. Her tours are what bring in the big money, and you can really feel that she loves singing live. Also, it's a really good way to promote her yearly albums.

^Guilty and Secret are two of her messiest and worst albums IMO...

I think we were just used to that flow though...back then. So it wasn't weird or messy.


Anyways. I think I honestly don't care anymore what she releases or does. I just want her to be comfy.

I don't really see any possible redeeming factors between me and her potential music, or even lyrics, as far as listening goes. So it really doesn't matter.

I always feel so alone in my position that Party Queen is her most cohensive album yet...mainly cohensive because every song has the same high level of production + composition and flows lyrically and musically, not because they sound similar.
Ayumi's albums always had far above average flow for a Japanese album(let's face it, most Japanese albums are single collections with a few added new songs randomly thrown in), but Party Queen felt like a revolution in itself to me.

You're not alone - I agree with you entirely. Ayu's albums have all been genre-hoppers (in my opinion, her BEST albums were). Some did it better than others. I think "Party Queen" has the same genre-hopping-but-still-all-one-album feel that "I am..." had.

That and the progression of sound to sound on "Party Queen," admittedly, makes MUCH more sense if you know the lyrics. It has the personal, heart-wrenching, relatable lyrics of "A Song for XX," the unity/disunity in sound of "I am...," and the storytelling nature of albums like Tori Amos' "Boys for Pele." It's a very very very very good album artistically, but it's not a good pop album by sound alone - you have to know the words.

The album really does tell a good fall-from-grace-then-redemption story about an alcoholic with self-esteem issues who has to reevaluate her life after a divorce and a friend's near-death experience. Listen to the album with THAT summary in mind and you'll enjoy it much more.

IMO MY STORY is probably her most cohesive sound wise, problem is Ayu always has too many cooks in the kitchen (except Love Songs and I would have to say that's probably my fave post-peak album).

MY STORY is actually another very good one, but I still often forget that more polished-sounding single tracks like "INSPIRE" and "CAROLS" are on it, they still stick out like a sore thumb for the most part. "Moments" and "Game" fit in nicely with it, however.

Yeah, I even sometimes make the mistake of thinking CAROLS is on Memorial Address. INSPIRE could easily be on Memorial Address or Memorial Address. Where as all the other songs really could only be on MY STORY except HAPPY ENDING which kinda I've always thought to be some sort of Close to you/Dolls and HANABI love child.

aww.. the greatness that is... everyone has their own opinion on what makes a good album or not...
I find secret a very good album, but include it in the bottom of album list (along with the horror that was guilty), because its something completely different from what ayumi had done before... Both albums (secret and guilty) were pretty much rock albums, and they didn't have a very good variety.
I love having crazy mixed up albums. Screw cohesive! I want good music.

It feels like Ayu's bored with the whole single-idea, but I really dislike her digital-releases how beautiful you are and Happening Here. They got now attention, nothing. I completley missed them and yeah, find them quite useless. I like Ayu trying new stuff, but she's too focused in touring, I feel even her albums are suffering from it. She's a workaholic, I know, but I would want her to put as much of her energy into her CD's like she doesn on the touring.

I don't think that'll happen until the CD release profit margin is higher for performing artists. I think Ayu is trying to make a living now, rather than trying to break records or make a splash in the media, which is all CD releases do. She'll write & record new material, but I think her musical releases from now on will be focused more on whatever message she wants to convey, rather than pleasing the general public. I think we've officially reached the point in Ayu's career where her CD releases will get further & further apart, because she won't force material like she has in the past.

^Everyone (that was successful enough) gets to this point sometime... She will release more comercial albums from times to times... But I have to say Love songs started the best part of her career so far IMO

^^ I dont know if she was ever forced to make material..
Now, avex could/did force her to release stuff, but I think she is at the point in her career where she can basically say what and when she wants to release.
Also, at the same time, avex does has some input...
She wanted to release to CD's for party Queen but wound up only doing one... anyone know why?

I imagine she probably wanted to save the songs for later or didn't fit her ~vision~, originally the album started with Call so something changed somewhere...

L was such a flawless song to end her singles (apart from sweet season obviously)
1. Last Angel
2. Do It Again
3. Virgin Road
:love

^ yeah... i knew about that, but I wonder what changed at the last minute...
and yes, L was a perfect way to end a record breaking single run.
All three songs are amazing... a that album is... I just love it so much!

^This is fine, imo.

TeamAyu2004 - I dont know if she was ever forced to make material. Really? How about the whole A BEST -situatuion? Of course she's been forced, it makes perfectly clear, to avex she's a product and that what products do! Pity for avex, Ayu's got her own mind and losing Ayu is not an option for avex. Didn't songs like alterna tell about her anxiety towards her label?


Oh, and I love Sweet Season, hhihi ^^

Yeah, alterna's PV is directed at AVEX though I always had a sense that the lyrics are directed at critics and even fans. (miss)understood is also similarly themed against certain kinds of fans, and alot of her singles from I am... are themed against AVEX and/or her lack of freedom as a product.

To answer the TC, I do wish we had more singles if only because I loved watching her TV lives.

I said new material. They never forced her to make new songs for A Best, she did that so that people would have reason to buy the album, because she didn't want a best album. The album itself was put together by avex, Ayumi really had nothing to do with it.
It goes with her singles as well. She made the songs (NEVER EVER and unite!) but she didn't want it released as singles, avex did. They forced the songs as singles, but not the actually songs.

And the entire Dearest, MY STORY, stuff is about her not being a product (which is arguable). She still choose to make those songs... I hardly doubt that avex told/forced her to write songs about how badly they treat her.

Does it really matter if she never releases another single again? We'll get albums with more new songs (all of them lol) which was a major complaint on this forum for years. The albums will be more cohesive, if not musically then lyrically. And she no longer has an album streak therefore she will have less pressure on her and can truly experiment with her music as much as she wants. Love it or hate it, do you think we would get showtunes or jazz inspired tracks if she had a bunch of singles to fit in into an album? Or even Tell Me Why?

I don't care one way or the other if she continues or discontinues singles because I love her singles. But I cherish her album tracks so much more because, to me, they are the signature tracks that make her albums stand out. So I hope those never suffer.

^Of course it matters. Singles have been a HUGE part of her discography.

PLEASE nothing EVER again like E, S, M and the next LOVE. You've tried it ayu, now let's never go back lol

Yeah but there's 50+ now... is it so bad if she tries a different release pattern?

stop hating on songs just cause you hate the style :P

^ no no no... those songs are just horrible. lol

And I hope She has singles again... I dont need a lot... 1 a year is even good...

^Format has nothing to do with it Sabrina....if those songs were released as a single I'd be mortified!

Singles are important because it keeps her visible through out the year and it's good for us because we get new music frequently.

I meant style, like genre :laugh

but for the record...I hate the songs too lol

*death at all this jazz music hate


I think that, if ayu doesn't release by the end of next year, she never will again. I mean, going from I-dont-even-know-how-many single releases per year to zero is just.. whoa

good, don't make me backhand you lol

Maybe avex want to focus on digital releases, rather than physical ones.
I think just hardcore fans buy CDs nowadays.

^Maybe, but I think more importantly, it has to do with profits, sales figures, adn the like.

Well, if some musical artist only sell 10-15k and make money for companies, then Ayumi only selling 90K still makes a good amount of money.

Besides, i think (hope) that the fact that they waited so long means that more people will buy it, because although she did release an album, a big portion of the population might not know she is still doing music.

You wouldn't believe the amount of people I talk to that dont know she is still active..

I'm kind of like meh who cares. I really don't like the people she's working with right now,
Cover wise and music wise.

What was her friend's near death experience? o-o

I still want a single like Endless sorrow with lots of mixes and great promotion. No matter how little the chances, I'll never give up hope

^ Im right there with yoU!!

One way or another, we'll find out soon~!

Exactly. Duty has a lot of singles as well but they all contribute instead of just being there. Then again, that was another time. Still, I think singles are a good thing.

Blah, REALLY I just want new music, but I think a single would generate more buzz.

Time really flies. I can't believe it's already been 2 years.

This is why I have been lacking interest with Ayu - lack of single releases... It has been almost two years, and sure time flies - at that time I was only getting started with my final year in high school...

I have been waiting for Ayu's new single for a very long time!!!
Ayu definitely should release it. Dun the Japanese love singles? That will help in her sales, not just based on albums alone.

^Oh, I must have (miss)understood you! see hat I did there? hheheh...
I just count a new CD and a new single to be new material. But no worries, no harm done :D

^Agree. And I love the songs. TRhey're not single materials. Singles are supposed to get people's attention, right? I mean positive attention... These are songs like Dolls, Close to you, teddy bear and Beautiful Day - songs for an audience that knows her, or at least that's what I think...

iTunes is in. Digital is in. Apple and all fancy stuff you can get to it is in. I get that, but I'm a simple country girl - I like a certain pattern.
Single - Single - Cm's for ex. Kosé with the single song in it - PV - CD
Something like that. I just feel it's getting really old and mainstream.

I figured, giving it a thought or two, that it's been two years b/c first she got married and was all busy with that and then she got divorced and was all busy with that. I mean... is it just me or could that be a reason?
What I'm done with are the thousand of remixes since I never listen to them (unless being acoustic/acoustic orchestra) but I get why peapole like them so I don't complain :) Honestly, I'd choose a single like that any day over a new A, H, &, L single since we have too many of those. She should take a break from that pattern and do another trilogy in like three years or so.

I'm not crying over not having new material (since PQ is still growing and new to me) but yeah, a single is deffinately the way to go next. But I guess Ayu doesn't need the sales unless the demand is coming from avex (th way TeamAyu2004 pointed it out earlier).

I should not be allowed to write anything after 2 A.M. It's 2:35 A.M where I live, I think it's bed time now...

Delirium-Zero, you're awesome.