The Official Oricon Thread ~again~
 

Oricon Year of 2012 Overall Sales


Oricon Year of 2013 Overall Sales


http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2867/cddvdaj.jpg

2012 Yearly Rankings
#38 Party Queen
#42 A SUMMER BEST

Recochoku


1st Week


2nd Week


3rd Week

1st Day
Position: #15

2nd Day
Position: #29

3rd Day
Position: #36

4th Day
Position: #31

5th Day
Position: #38

6th Day
Position: #44

7th Day
Out of the top 50

3rd Week
Position: #41
Official Sales: 3,504
Official Total Sales: 47,918

All these releases and she probably won't pass 500k...i don't know if i should laugh or cry tbh

(⊙ ,⊙)
is this for real
Ayumi Hamasaki sold under 10k
is the end coming soon?

are maro thingy is the main reason?
still i can't believe my own eyes

I would wait a few days first =P Maybe it's the release date dunno. Maybe simply a big decline.

let's see tomorrow!
i hope it'll sell more than LOVE first day~

Besides, it's not the official release date. Dont worry.

If these numbers are the same tomorrow, you should worry LOL

LOVE's sales started unofficially on the 7th as well didnt it? and it didnt have a peak in the following day right?

OMG, she sold less than 12K on the 1st day? shocking face*

isn`t her official first day tomorrow?

well, should I sing the RIP Ayu psalms or not
seems like she's ruined

^^yes it is

so if today has started to sell less than 12K, then we can expect that the sales won't be bad.

Does it matter anymore?

Ya'll ought to be deeply ashamed for casting doubts upon Ms Hamasaki ;_;

She's not statistics, numbers, sales and her success not your personal profit. If her sales'd deteriorate to an extent, far worse than it's situated as of now, would it make any difference?

Whatever the position she get tomorrow, she'll always be my Queen~~so Ayu, Promote your album properly.

so she is going to be in the oricon during the middle of the week, thats bad news for numbers...
Hopefully she'll be int he top 10 for the week!

I beg to differ. Those interested in her music will find out about her new works, either way. Promotion might attract people through fancy advertisements, alas this sort of consumers is likely to lose motivation to follow a singer after a limited period of time.

Less than 12k on the first day... I guess she did lose many hardcore fans due to recent events... Let's hope for tomorrow

No, it doesn't matter. Ayu's obviously releasing this without any concern of sales or getting to #1, so people on here need to calm their tits and do the same.

This really hurts somehow. I thought her 15th anniversary lead up was going to be a revival of sorts for her. Like how Best Fiction was a revival for Namie Amuro.

At this rate, I'll be surprised if this album can even hit 50k. I wonder if this will hurt the budget and quality of her 15th anniversary events next year.

^ She'll need to do a BEST album to bring back interest really, with 2 or 3 hot tracks.

Oh no, the excuses and meltdowns will happen soon.
Why do they have to happen during exam season?

^ I know, the hate is already starting to spread... but its no surprise really, It was release 3 days after everything else.

Already? Dang. a 9 hour sleep later and this hate is already spreading faster than the plague I made in that iPad game where you have to kill humanity.

what what?

The releasing day is not common...i believe a lot of Japanese not use to buy new release in this day...hoping for stable number...

Those are friday numbers right??

3rd Day
Position: #4
Sales: 9,087

Yes.

haha, no surprises she's sold only 9k! I'm in Japan now and even me, a big ayu fan, I was hesitating if "again" is already available in stores. people are just confused with the releasing date. I think I'll go buy it tomorrow or so. I predict tomorrow's sales will be like 15-20k.

Wow, we are looking at about 30-40K debut...
LOL... man.

you don't know about those games where the main goal is to make a virus and kill all humans?
I killed the human race like 10 times yesterday. So easy XD

But I thought the exact number was never revealed for #4?

Are you referring to "Pandemic"?

I have never heard of this game!! Sounds like fun!!

i don't think hardcore fans would be so fickle as to abandon her over such silly things.

i think the sales will pick up tomorrow. :yes

and even if they don't, i still like her music, so who cares.

She sold 9,000 and got #4? Not too bad if you think that with those sales she would be out of Top 10 if this was 2006 or so. :)

a different version of that, yes. Love that game
blew 2 hours playing it.

so, 9k first day? but it hasn't even been officially released yet...

^ then what is the name?!

It seems like people just don't know when again was/is coming out, haha.

Im still confusing... its not supposed to come out till the 8th, but it came out friday? which is the 7th... lol
maybe before the weekend rush?

Well, usually CDs hit stores a day before release anyway. (Wednesday releases are on shelves on Tuesday, and in this case the Saturday release was on shelves on Friday)

I wonder if a lot of people thought it was going to be like LOVE and come out with everything else?

It seems some TA members are in fact boycotting this release because of all the Maro stuff going on but I don't know if that'll have much of an effect on anything in the long run.

Is it has a affectation from the earthquake in Japan?

So I think people are interested in news more than music release I guess.

it might boost a little over the weekend because it just came out, but im looking at 30-40K release.

lol GET A FREAKIN LIFE JFC THESE PEOPLE

Wow, I love how there are so many people on this board saying "Get a life."

Instead of condemning, why doesn't anyone try to understand? LOL.

I don't understand, honestly. You guys are so sad.

You guys complain "Oh I want her to sell so many millions again, I want her to be the best, I want her to be number one."

But when the cause of her not getting number one is revealed, "LOL GET A LIFE." Don't be so ignorant.

The earthquake lasted for 5 seconds, and we barely talked about it after the Earthquake happened in the office. So that's not a factor, unfortunately... =/ Wish it was!

Well, I do think that this Maro thing probably shouldn't be affecting people as much as it is. Oh well.

Maro, Maro, Maro, Maro... he is her boyfriend. THE END.
He is in her MVs and so what? T-T Stop it please.
Japanese people is stupid?

I always loved Japan, japanese people and japanese culture and i still do. But really... enough with this Maro thing!! I don't give a ****** ABOUT IT! It's her life, she can do whatever she wants, all that should matter to us and those stupid TA members (the ones who get pissed of Ayu every time she tries to have a life of her own) is HER MUSIC. She's making great releases and yes, she deserves the best, but that's life. At the end we should like and listen music just because we enjoy it, not because it has sold millions or it has been number one or the artist doesn't have a *******ing life just because we don't have one and we own her.

I don't care how much this release sells. I still bought it and I love the new songs. Yes huge sales and number ones would be nice but top ten is still really good in my opinion.

I'm not complaining about wanting her to sell millions. Nowhere in this thread or in previous threads of an Oricon charting have I ever said that I want Ayu to go back to her old sales. Because I don't care about sales. Ranking doesn't mean crap to me.

And yes, people who refuse to buy work from an artist because of who they are dating need a life. Of all the things to boycott an artist over lol.

Your words, my words.
I totally agree T-T

you are actually just as condemning in your post,. (just sayin :innocent )
and I didn't realize your office encompassed all of the areas that were effected by the earthquake, glad you could clear that up for us.
(not that I agree with earthquake effecting sales at all, because it doesn't, nor do pathetic fans that want to 'boycott' )

I still say it's a stunt and a stupid one. Too bad for you if you disagree with 99% of her fans who live in a different culture and have a different opinion than you. I hope this stupid stunt brings her career with Avex to a crashing halt so they no longer call the shots in her life. And every dancer including the so called boyfriend will lose their job and no one will have to see her walk hand in hand with a fake boyfriend again.

and how PATHETIC has to be your life to write those words... take a hard look of yourself and then decide if you are worth living or not.

The pathetic ones are those among her managers who have her promote herself in such a way. Actually it's debatable that it may be more pathetic of the fans who constantly buy it because they've been told they're never lied to. I choose not to believe a liar because they tell me they're honest.

like I give a crap about being her honest, I don't want her to explain herself for every move she makes. I want her music. WHO THE **** ARE WE?

^^ actually I dont think she has ever said that she has never lied to us, so it is fair game.
:yes

and honestly if you think she is nothing but a lair, why even be a fan. I just dont understand this at all.

Give her a break!

All these years have been a constant bashing to her. She uses Shuya, complaints. She marries Mannie without making a poll on TA asking her fans to decide if she can or not, complaints She collaborates with Urata, complaints. She shows Timmy on her PVs, complaints. She is half naked on Party Queen cover, complaints because she's the ****ing Virgin Mary. She dates Maro and puts him in her covers, complaints.

Ayu needs to pee. Can she go to the toilet? Please vote:

Yes
No

^ lol... its SO over dramatic, but SO true, lol.
:thumbsup

And if she wanted, or I should say if Avex would allow her to, she could have had another million selling album instead of losing fans over ridiculous stunts. Her music used to sell based on her talents not on her clothes being removed, fake boyfriend and fake husband love stories and being the all. around **** they've been turning her into through images and interviews.

Now they have taken her career to new lows and even departing from Avex will not salvage her career entirely. But if the sales of AGAIN stay so low that she can end her contract with Avex, maybe she can return with higher sales under another label at a later date. What she could have had without the publicity stunts was much greater, but those chances are gone. And fans who don't care or just believe everything used to publicize her career have helped Avex in bringing her to a new low.

I want her to be happy and release music. I don't care if she doesn't sell a million ever again. She's losing the stupid fans anyways. I see it as a cleaning of rubbish.

I'm sorry.. But, are you so ****ing ignorant that you go as far as to call ayu's relationship a fake??? Who the **** are you to judge what she can and can't do? As far as I'm concerned, she's a human being, not some prized possession on a pedestal! :irked Ugh... =_=;

P.S. I agree with this statement. :thumbsup

I would be surprised if another company even takes her, who wants high maintenance damaged goods on their hands?

high maintenance damaged goods?


AHS is becoming an anti-ayu forum. This is nonsense. If you stopped liking ayu, I don't know what the **** are you doing posting here.

I dont see how she is damaged...
I mean look at the way she sells when people hate her... lol
she is still doing pretty good if you ask me.

I love the mini-album but I'm realistic~ Ayu's lifestyle, PVs, tours, etc don't come cheap so why bother if it's not going to sell.

Damn, guys, chill the eff out.

at least a secure place at top 5 in weekly chart

who says she's loosing money on her tours, if she didn't make money then, she wouldn't be doing what she does. She may not sell like before, but that doesn't mean she's not profitable for Avex.

She'll probably end up 6th since she also has less days to sell than everyone else.

Oh okay~

well, to be fair, ayumi's lifestyle and her tour comes right out of her pocket. She pays for all that, not avex.
Im pretty sure if she was as bad as you say she is avex would have dumped her a while ago because she's been doing worse and worse year after year (in terms of sales)

Source? I don't think Ayu has ever talked really indepth into money and the whole relationship between her and ayu regarding that~

After reading recent threads in the Ayu Music News section, and I'm really sad about the attitudes. Really, guys, bashing and putting down of Japanese fans is really unnecessary. Our cultures are completely different, and these kinds of forums are here for us to understand what different fans feel around the world.

This is not a religious cult for Ayumi Hamasaki, this is a forum for us to express our approval and disappointment. She is human, and she makes mistakes. And obviously, as a product manager, she has made a mistake right now. She is not an Opera Singer or a folk singer. She makes pop music for the popular opinion, and she sells it to the general public, hoping for sales. Unfortunately she is a product first and foremost, as all pop stars are. There is a lot more criticism about the way she conducts her personal life with her professional life, and although it's sad it's reality.

If we try to understand each other, we'll have a better understanding of just how rotten this music industry is. Of course I want her to do good, but on the other hand I still have feelings taught to me by society - personal and professional lives should be completely separate. You don't see a CEO marrying an employee and then placing him on the board of directors. That's just bad business, as is this.

I feel I need to be entirely frank with you.

You are truly a sad, sad individual. I tried reasoning with you and talking to you, but there's no point. All you care about is what you think, and what other people who think like you think. You attack those who have different opinions than you, and it's just not helping the conversation. Do you have fun attacking people like this? I honestly don't get it. What is the point of being on a forum them? To make yourself feel like you know it all?

wut why would she leave avex. if she truly wanted to leave she could have years ago...this isn't south korea ayu isn't under like a 18 year slave contract. avex would also never drop ayu unless she did something really awful

source? is it not common knowledge that artist make most of their money touring and paying for it out of their own pocket?
Also if you watch a DVD from her concert youll see at the very end it says all produced by hamasaki ayumi.

@maikaru just take a good hard look at yourself please.

well, this is something your culture needs to change. it's still stupid whether it's cultural or not. As a spaniard, we have "cultural" stuff which is not right. Then we need to improve our societies, culture is not the excuse.

Can't you guys discuss stuff without having to turn it to personal attacks?? It gets really old and is quickly escalating to the point where we'll have another damn page in the trash bin of this crap.

AGREE TO DISAGREE AND WALK AWAY. You're not going to change each other's opinions, so resorting to attacking each other does no good.

CONSIDER THIS YOUR WARNING.

Okay thanks for letting me know~
But what you're talking about is something that varies from artist to artist, it's not a black and white issue. I seriously doubt the stage and other such stuff is paid directly by Ayu. All that stuff is likely budgeted and handled by Avex Live Creative.
That doesn't mean anything, that only started appearing from CDL06-07 and only happened because Max suggested Ayu took the full credit for envisioning her shows IIRC. Doesn't have anything to do with money. For example her albums are personally produced by Max Matsuura, doesn't mean the instruments are directly paid for out of his pocket.

I don't know what she pays or what Avex pays. Avex is the record label so it has to invest money and infrastructure on Ayu. If she was a black hole of money, they would cancel her shows and tours. She pays back with ticket sales, album and single sales, DVDs, goods, publicity...

Agreed!

^ producer credits means thats who is paying for it to happen, or at least finds a way to pay for it; a better definition from wiki:
I'm trying to find the article I read about how concert venues work however and I cant seem to find it, but an artist (or company) buys out the place and then sells the tickets themselves. When it says that it's produced by Ayumi I would think that means she does it herself... if avex puts in some money then they would get a cut as well, but I don't see why she would do this.

EDIT: but I did forget to mention that you are right, it varies from artist to artist... a relative unknown could not do this alone and would need help, but when you are ayumi hamasaki, lol... you get it.

The term "producer" is so ambiguous in Jpop lol. Before she was credited as "Visualised by" then produced with Max and then just Ayu as the producer though her role probably didn't change that much as she's always been involved with everything from the start.
The "Executive producer" is the one typically in charge of money/business/etc while a "producer" is creatively involved in a project. Ayu has never been credited as an "executive producer", the Executive Producer on Power of Music for example is Max Matsuura.

It's different for Avex and Japanese stuff, US acts tours are handled by an outside company like Live Nation or a sponsor who have a contract/deal with the artist and not the record company. All of Ayu's tours are managed/handled inside Avex by Avex Live Creative. What I imagine is that Avex fiances the concert. Ayumi gets a nice percentage, Avex takes a percentage and a percentage is used to pay crew/dancers/etc. But this is all guess work, no one can know for sure unless they've seen Ayu's contract. Even elements from Ayu's staging and such have been reused in A-nation and other Avex acts like Koda Kumi's disco ball thing from the dome tour from the top of my head.

LOL MTE!!!
i think for whatever she does, ppl will just complain.

pleaseee... at least 1st day sales good.

^But yesterday was the first day and I don't think the Japanese pple r so uninitiated to be confused about the release date despite it being a little odd. I think this is the true measure of her popularity now.. I predict 4-5k today.

what a mess.


I hope someone on my twitter talks about her first week sales when they come out so I can know what they are lol

I like it when she does well, but for the most part i really don't care how she sells, I like the songs and PV's on this album and that's good enough for me (though i really think it should be called a single.)

I agree these aren't great numbers by comparison to her other albums, but wouldn't vast majority of artists love to have her "awful" sales?

I just want her to keep releasing music, if every now and then there is something that I don't like fine I'll just wait for the next one, it's happened before, and that's fine with me. The only reason I really care about sales because I worry there won't be a next one. I have no idea how the music industry works so I never really know if I should worry about this. I just kinda hope she'll keep releasing music forever

Im sorry but there's more to it, its not just a product. Product when in hands of people has its value. It means something to them or it represents their beliefs. You cant separate image and music. You cant look at the painting and close your eyes on some wrong details.

Image -the persona- represents the music. If -the persona- is doing something I feel its wrong/stupid/embarassing/bad I think its legit not to support the person, cause you dont think about background people and just music. You can simply download music for free or you can dislike -the persona- that much that you start to ignore it. She's a pop star, not a classical artist or some indie person we dont know face nor real name. And Im not even supportin' anybody's decision. I didnt even make a decision. Its more about music to me, but if she did something like rihanna did, basically supporting domestic violence Im sorry but I would never ever want to remember that I ever liked her. I would sell her cds and woudnt care anymore. And its not about 'oh I want to dictate Ayu's or anyone's life'. NO. Its just I have a right to decide whether I'll support somethin' or not, same as Ayu has or anyone else. So you should start respecting anyone's decision, like everyone else in the thread.

Well, even fans who follow Ayu weren't sure when it was finally going to pop up on shelves. I mean remember most of AHS a few days ago? People were wondering when it was going to leak (which it did eventually) since it was a bit later than we normally get downloads.

totally agreed :yes

For me, as long as her music is good, i'm satisfied.
Ayu has already redeemed herself with LOVE and again imo :luv2

honestly i hope this flops LOL its a dam single for crying out loud.. maybe avex will realize that they cant make akward releases

I totally agree with you. Although I'm not Japanese nor can I possibly speak for everyone, as a Taiwanese person with a decent sized amount of Asian connections, I'd say that I have a sound understanding of the Asian entertainment industry in general.

Although Ayu's relationship with Maro may be real (or it could really be a publicity stunt), to the general public it's just a cry for attention. As innovative as Ayu may be, the reality is that most people in Asia consider her as an icon from back in the day, and are generally not interested in her new works anymore. The fact that her marriage to Mannie coincided with Love songs, and she announced her relationship with Maro while again was about to be released just makes it seem like a cry for attention to the general public. I think what makes it worse is that the whole "single-in-disguise" is overloaded with Maro overtones, whether it be the positive covers or negative snowy kiss PV.

Speaking of which, consumers in general are not dumb either. I think that Ayu's sales for again would be an indication of how many die-hard fans would purchase a single release, rather than an indication of general album sales. I do believe that Ayu is definitely an artist who focuses on expression, but I think domestic fans are also fed up with her promotional antics. Without a clear indication for her path of releases up to her 15th anniversary, why would anyone other than die-hard fans want to buy these singles-in-disguise when they might have the chance to purchase all of the promotional main material (original mixes and videos) in a single set four months down the road?

I love that Ayu is still active in the music industry as an artist. I am slightly irritated that Maro is being pushed in my face with this release.

with fans like this, I really would prefer to have NO FANS. Haters have more respect to her than many of her fans.

today she's at 2nd place with 12,764 copies sold... I was expecting a few more... but, well, is fine :thud

Oo, a bit more. I wonder if the adjustment at the end of the week is going to be wildly high.

today sales go up
#2 .12k
yatta~~

4th Day
Position: #2
Sales: 12,764
Total Sales: 21,851

YAY!! :D
how much was first??

YAYYYY IT GOES UP !!!!!!!!!

Don't care about the sales,she' still the best singer with the level that no one in Japan music industries can reach her. I mean come on..15th years she's still can make my heartbeat run so faster everytime I heard her new song. For me LOVE and again mini album Is the best work she ever made in her career.