Why are Namie Amuros sales so high?
 

Hi you guys!

Im wondering why namies sales are still SO HIGH?
i think its in another ligue she's playing. ayu can barely reach with an album 54.000 copies and namies single brighter day is already over 50.000 copies.. i mean why? what did amuro do that she is THAT popular? i don't get it and im an amuro fan since 2014 so i cant really talk about her because i havent seen so much from her.
for example koda kumi is also loosing sales. as ayu. but why not namie?

Namie had a popularity drip around 2000-2004. She started to gain new fans around 2005/6 and PLAY (being her first no.1 album in 7 years) pretty much put her back in the spotlight. She completely changed her image and her sound from her original stuff and I think thats what has caught people's attention again. I recently read something I agree with about ayu: her audience has grown up but ayu hasn't. She still writes like its 2001/2 but her fans have moved on and gotten bored. Kumi is something similar, the erotic-cool image that propelled her is tired and dated now. I love ayu and Ku but unless they relaunch with matured images and sounds they'll never achieve what Namie has again.

To put it simply, Namie's music is much more interesting and evolving than other female solo artists out there, hence people are willing to buy her CDs...

I'm just going to reference Ayu's latest single. So this whole post is going to talk about her winter ballads cause it's the best example.

Ayu does something that turns out amazing, and then she (for some reason) thinks it's the ticket to success and keeps the same formula. The latest single she released was just three typical songs. No way to say was great, it was one of the first "grand winter songs", but then she did it again with momentum, and together when, and you were, Moon, and blah blah blah. The rest is history.

Since she never changes her music, if you dislike that type of winter song, you're generally going to dislike every winter song she subsequently releases. I mean, not just that, but how many times has she performed surreal~evolution~surreal? How many times has she had a tissue dance at her performances? It's great the first time, but then she keeps on doing it.

When you release something, it's to sell well. Producers release singles with questions in mind like "What's Trending? What's popular right now? What's going to sell well? What are consumers interested in listening to right now?" Music changes through time, 70's music does not sound like 80's music. 90's music does not sound like 00's music. It constantly evolves so you have to change with it. Ayu's songs were great in the beginning, but since she's still releasing "ballads" that sound like something she could have slapped onto Memorial Address, people are bored.

To the stans who buy all 9 versions of her releases and never take them out of the plastic, and to people who really love her (everyone on this forum lol) everything she releases is great. However when you release a song as the next single that's going to be played on the radio, you're supposed to think of the general consumers. You're not making a song with stans in mind (besides eminem). To the general people when Ayu releases yet another generic winter ballad, they're rolling their eyes like "doesn't she already have a hundred of these songs?"

With Namie, I don't think anything is typical. I really don't think she has a "typical" ballad or a "typical" dance song. Wild, In the spotlight, Alive, Black out, Want me want me, etc. They're all hot dance tracks that don't sound anything alike. It doesn't sound like she's reusing the same formula for further releases. Everyone is going to have a few songs that sound similar. Namie has Beautiful, Let me let you go, Contrail ~ballad version~, arigatou. Pretty much anything that's piano driven by Namie but they don't sound typical and they're few and far in between compared to Ayu's. Namie had a huge overhaul in her image, and music style back when it wasn't working. She started making relevant songs, and kept up with what's currently popular. Whereas Ayu is releasing generic winter ballad #17.


I mean this is all my speculation. Please no one tear me apart because of this post.

I agree.
Namie's voice is nice and fits dance and ballad songs a lot.
Ayu's voice is so annoying sometimes, she sounds like a big idol girl sometimes.

In my opinion.

I think Namie's ~mystique~ is another huge reason for her popularity, if not her sales. She goes to extreme pains to keep herself and her private life out of the tabloids, and there's an air of mystery about her that makes her seem untouchable. She's SO shy and reserved in person and then she gets on stage and her confidence, stage presence, etc. is just through the roof. It blows my mind every time.

Namie is still a fashion icon in Japan, she gets more mainstream magazine coverage than Ayu, who lost that status long ago and now it's only a fashion icon for old gyarus. As opposed to Ayu, Namie is a recognized icon by younger and newer generations.

Also, Namie already hit the very bottom in 2003-2004 when she hardly could sell 50,000 copies a single

That seems really similar as to why Beyonce's continued to be so popular in the US lately, actually. I'm glad the both of them have a successful marketing strategy lol

Her releases are consistently high-quality and she's done an excellent job at following current trends and reinventing her sound. FEEL sounds nothing like Queen of Hip-Hop which sounded nothing like Sweet 19 Blues.

I have a different take on things, though. If you'll notice, female artists are expected to constantly reinvent themselves (Madonna, Namie Amuro, Taylor Swift) to maintain their success and relevance, with very few exceptions. Otherwise, they become lost in the dialogue (Barbra Streisand, Mika Nakashima, Mariah Carey). However, male artists are expected to remain true to their musical aesthetic (Bob Dylan, Eminem, Mr. Children). Personally, I believe it's a function of old, deep-rooted and unconscious sexism (men are expected to be stable providers and women are expected to be exciting partners). Personally, I prefer artists, male or female, who stay true to their musical personas, and that's why even though I agree Namie Amuro is more exciting and relevant, I always return to Ayumi regardless of the good or bad because she's stayed true to who she is. I'm just waiting for her to take the next step and mature as an artist instead of reinventing herself.

^interesting point.

I'm just going to say that Namie is just more popular and well liked. Sales aren't great for any solo female artists right now, but Namie still grabs the casuals with her ~albums~ because of her popularity.

Those same casuals aren't likely to buy anyone else's stuff except for maybe Utada Hikaru, and she's MIA. That's just the market. It has to do with the culture.


I will also point out that Japan has multiple platforms, even more than other places, that let's people download or stream music, and even rent music. Being mobile is huge. All of those things impact physical sales.

It was a nice reading and I agree with the male/woman comparision. But please, can someone explain me how does Namie reinvents herself? It's not like Namie released a hip hop album and then she got into rock music. So comparing herself with Madonna is a bit off. I mean, I like Namie but Madonna was always ahead of her time with releases like Erotica or Ray Of Light. Plus, she always changed her style from new swing jazz on Erotica, to r&b on Bedtime Stories, electronica ambient on Ray of Light, experimental stuff on Music, folk on American Life, retro dance on Confessions and so on. Namie's discography is made of three big parts : the TK era (1995-1998), r&b/hip hop era (1999-2007) and her dance pop/ electronic stuff (2008-2014). Namie has great albums and songs but I don't really see that she always reinvents herself. Sure, there were moments of transition into her music (from Concentration 20 to Genius 2000 or from Play to Past Future) but not anything groundbreaking. In jpop, I always considered Ayu to be rechanging constantly. The thing with ayu is that she always have all kind of genres into one album so it's a bit hard to describe an album of hers (for example Next Level is electropop but at the same time is rock). So maybe that's why people are sometimes confused about her music. But she definitely changed more often than Namie. I mean, when you play Uncontrolled and than FEEL, you can say its one big album of dance pop tracks. On the other hand, ayu always seem to incorporate new elements into her music : for example lets take Colours - we have Hello New Me and Pray which doesn't really bring something new to the table, but than she comes with Terminal, Angel, Lelio, XOXO, Merry Go Round etx. and you know for sure that she experimented again.

I did not wrote this to diss Namie because I'm a fan of hers too. This is just a personal opinion.

Namie's song isn't evolving from the look of her past albums. From 2004 onwards, they stick to the same genre and catchy type of songs. It's very hard for ayu to reinvent herself when she had done almost all of the different genre in her whole career. I've not yet seen another artist who steps into that many genre and kept experimenting with her music. The only winning factor that she have is a positive image which keeps people interested in her.
Ayu on the other hand have many negativity that made ppl have a bad image of her and thus kept away from her news, songs. Even if ayu have a really nice hit song, they wouldn't care much about it. Ayu didn't even did much exposure to promote her songs she just stick to her usual fan base to promote and this is not enough if you wanna attract new/old fans.

I think it has to do with her image. Ayu did party queen and Dr. Kumi said shit about amniotic fluids so their image just shattered like broken glass & Mazel Tov.
Namie's been in repair mode for years and her image just hasn't changed for the worse in any way. Her music has become more western but it does not mean it has evolved. She's no bjork. She's just doing what has been done a billion times but better overall. Alive was a damn good song. So was stardurst in my eyes. Carbon copies of some songs but still damn good. In the end it is her image. You'll never see Dr. Namie bitching about amniotic fluids or do provocative photo shoots.

I also think that it's mostly because of "image" and "keeping up with what's currently trending" reasons. Japanese people don't care if her pvs are always the same (= total lack of creativity) and that she doesn't write her own lyrics, she just knows how to make good wertern-like music, look fashionable for the magazines and doesn't let us know anything about her private life. Boom.

I like her though, it's just that she doesn't really interest me that much because i feel her work isn't personal enough

Namie makes fun music, she can dance her ass off, and she doesn't have any negative press about her. That's literally it lol.

She was smart enough to reinvent herself and introduce herself to a new audience. It also allowed her old audience to be reinvigorated. That, and she had the luck of being part of a wildly popular Vidal Sassoon campaign. Her decline after her second peak has been so slow because she regularly releases songs that transcends just her audience, like Love Story and TSUKI.

Most importantly, I think it's because it's Namie. There is something to admire about a woman that fell down through public image issues and was able to build herself back up again. It resonates with a lot of people.

Answer is pretty simple: her releases are good enough to keep old fans satisfied and bring new fans at the same time.

Namie fitting herself pretty well in different music styles. Her first works (with Monkeys, than solo) were catchy, dance tracks in typical 90' style, than evoluated to something more modern, than she had her "hip-hop" era and than she comes into direction of releasing old style songs in modern version. Now since 2 albums she's doing great with electro-pop in US-style.

orangeakira gave you a good example with Ayu who just started repeat the same formula like "winter single" with some ballads and "summer single" with happy, catchy songs EVERY YEAR. She started to be predictable and all her songs started to sound the same. What she did? Tried experiment with something "modern" but she failed, so she returned to old success formula and released boring album dominated by ballads wrote by her old music composers (those from her debut). It was good and bad for her, because old fans were happy that she's doing something in style which fit to her but on the other hand THEY HEARD IT ALL BEFORE (so no chance to really get new fans). Than another experiments trying to turn her into american PARTY QUEEN (doing some US-pop style tracks etc.) - FAIL. Now she's returning to ballads again but she can't really decide in which direction to go. She's trying to keep all fans satisfied and doing everything at the same time: in one song she's rocker, in other half-naked party girl, in another sweet kawaii girl singing Hello!Project style song (with cute, childish voice), than she's filling her albums with ballads. No constancy at all. Namie by all time keeping good level in what she's doing - she's developing herself as artist, not turning back and not trying to always do things which are popular in music industry.

Good point

..... Or shove her boyfriends in our faces on her music videos. Or date her back up dancer, or release a full length album full of recycled material from mini albums released in the same year. Or playing homosexual foreplay on a music video. Name's reserve which is a good thing. She also delivers better quality performances and music most of the time.

As few people mentioned above she hasn't change her image drastically trying to be sexy, half naked slut etc. Koda Kumi lost a lot when she started to copy obscene behavior of popular western singers. Ayu did the same, because in the past she was seen as someone with class but later swap to wearing corsets and doing show with group of gay-acting dancers and clows touching her bum. Namie's image is always stylish.

And let's keep in mind, during that time, selling 50k was worse than today selling 500 copies. Artists like KOKIA, who have consistently undersold their entire career, are now charting higher with the same sales year after year.

In Namie's defense though, Queen of Hip-Pop was one hell of a record. I think she did an amazing job of transitioning her sound rather than releasing GENIUS 2000 then coming out with something like PLAY the following year.

Note about Koda: The sexual stuff was present on TAKE BACK. She just got more scandalous over time rather than more sexual. But let's be honest here, I think Koda is the only person who could pull off outfits like the one she wore for ECSTACY. So, in a way, I'm glad she got risqué enough to not make a video like ECSTACY seem jarring for fans.

lol.

are u the same user here who said Namie did "avant-garde pop music"?

Namie has zero charisma and her "music" is clanky, sloppy, and gimmick-driven. I'm far from a Kuu stan, but I can totally understand why people like her and feel a strong connection to her. At least you get the sense that she stands for something. Namie doesn't stand for anything and really has no personality from what I can gather. But you're right, at least she is consistent in that respect.

I rarely see Namie's work or career ever attract any sort of divisive discussion either, which in many ways makes her the perfect pop music puppet for mass consumption.

"Avant-garde pop music"? LOL No, I haven't said that.

You're right about lack of charisma. I have to also say that during the concerts her singing is monotonous and boring. She's just singing properly but something is missing in it.

I'm really surprised at how different opinions of humans can be. I'm posting it on this thread but it is like this in every other one. Seriously, it is amazing how diverse they are lol Some people tend to think their opinion is always the right one and the way they express it is sometimes rude, I don't really like that. It is funny though.

Why do I think namie's sales are good? I think a well managed image is 90%, the rest is good quality and up to date music that appeal to her public, including myself.

Music has nothing to do with it ... Japaneses are all about image and appearance ! You can check every Japanese forum about music the main argument about Ayu is her age ! She is seen as an old thing and unlike Namie she was on TV non stop from 1998 to 2010 !! They were tired of seeing her head all year for so long ! In a society where a women above 30 years is seen as an old person it's really not surprising ...in addition to that she make a lot of bad choice in her life and unfortunately for her she fell in love with western men twice (sarcasm) XD.

We should give props to her songwriters and producers. Without them she would be nothing. That and those who help decide her image behind closed doors.

Er... Nope. The sexual thing is what made Koda go from nobody to superstar, and a lot of her sexual stuff post her sales went down aren't as sexual as the stuff she did at her peak... The problem with her is that the had been stuck on that image since it worked for the first time.

Ayu was never really considered as asexual as she is the west either... A lot of her "kawaii" stuff goes hard on japanese fetishism.

These truths...

Namie just seems like the blandest, most boring, most generic, most uninvolved one out of these women. It's like a 30-something AKB48 member who got lucky.

That's true, artists with a safer and cleaner image are usually very popular, like aiko.

It takes years to regain some of the popularity after scandals or anything controversial. People still talk about Kumi as the rude woman who made comments about amniotic fluids.

Got lucky??? She ruled Japan in the 90's, had a short fall-out, then made an amazing comeback. But I guess she's just "lucky"? LMAO

Would that had happened though if she hadn't linked up with Tetsuya Komuro? He really ruled the 90s in Japan and she was but once of his many acts who had notable success.

Look at all the artists that were famous because of TK in the 90's. All of them are no longer relevant or known in the industry anymore right now except for one. TK can push any artists into fame and success back then but whether are they good enough to last the next 20 years, well history proves itself:yes

TK produced for Ami Suzuki and she was insanely popular in the 90s but look what happened to her.

TK helps a lot of artists propel into stardom but it's up to the artist to remain relevant. Just because Namie doesn't write her music doesn't mean she worked really hard to get to where she is today. And even then, Namie has some say in what she wants to do with her career. She wouldn't sing a song named Put 'Em Up at first because she felt the Japanese lyrics didn't match the melody till the songwriter changed it; or something like that.

Idk why people discredit Namie so much. It almost sounds like people are bitter she's doing better than their faves but idk.

^I just find her to be boring and overly safe, even if I'm pretty aware this is a huge part of her appeal.

She started to get really interesting during the time she was about to have her 2nd peak, and somewhere between the Play Tour and Live Style 2011 she almost got me as a fan, and them she started being overly safe again and releasing generic music and feeling like a robot on the stage, and I gave up.

See, I actually adore the STYLE album and all the cheesy Dallas Austin American R&B, as well as what she did as SUITE CHIC... also White Light, Girl Talk...

then all of a sudden her music just started to get very clanky and production-driven. and this is my problem with most popular music after, I'd say, 2005... you can have a "sick beat" (or what you think is a "sick beat," when it's just a random assortment of noise) but if there's no melody, you already lost me.

I think she's boring too but she has some hot jams. She can definitely pick out good songs to sing.

Yet, she's still be able to win Japanese's people heart.
My Japanese teacher loves to talk about Namie, she said that Namie was always on top of mind of any Japanese women as a fashion icon and music legend.

I guess that Jpanese just simple love their "blandest, most boring, most generic, most uninvolved" queen for being who she is. Reputation and success never comes from LUCKINESS, but in case you're always based on that, you must be frustrated.

How is Namie overly safe?? she is the one who risk the most comparing with Ayu, Koda and Utada hands down.

Like for example, how is releasing an english album in Japan "overly safe"??

Because nearly everything she does sounds the same.

I listen to Namie but there's no denying that most of it blends.

I think for the most part, yes, she is lucky. Tie ups that work for her and tracks that are very radio friendly.

She released an album almost on english because it has a larger international appeal, what, again, isn't really that risky... And even so, most of her music since Uncontrolled sounds +- the same, and the same as a lot of American artists that aren't really known for playing it safe.

I will ignore what you said about Ayu and (even worst) Utada and (I don't believe I will say it) even Koda, as you clearly doesn't listen to them.

Funny story... I can't sing Go Round without my brain mixing it up with Yeah-oh...

^^ Not to me!! Namie sticks to her style yes, but each namie album is totally different from the next. Feel sounds nothing like ballads or uncontrolled. lucky?? Namie practically reinvented her entire career and hit rock bottom because of it, 2004-2006. NAmie took risks and worked hard to be where she's at. While other jpop Queens over played their own styles to death. At least that's how I see it :D

I find it ironic that most of Namie's music "blends" when you could say that for 30% of Ayu's ballads as well. It's a tired argument, even Kuu has a tendency to recycle the same type of tracks with each album so i don't see the particular problem.

It's not science, she obviously got lucky with 60s 70s 80s but there's no denying the quality of those tracks and the risk they took. Namie might not be as involved with her music as Ayu and Utada, but her delivery is great and she manages to "sell" the songs she's singing. She has a cool, mysterious vibe to her that personally is what appeals so much to me.

With that being said, i can see why she might not be your thing. She tends to look death, some of us think it looks fierce and some see it as if she's detached.
But it's sad that we have to underestimate her success and talent based on that, she obviously wouldn't be where she is now if she didn't have something unique to offer.

^Well, I can only speak for myself, and I don't think she doesn't deserve her success or that she just remained relevant by accident... Namie is, in some ways, the ultimate idol, her public image being the perfect empty vessel so who watch her can project anything they wish into her... And her public image is carefully constructed around this.

She is an idealized woman, and in order to be indealized she must avoid anything that makes her too human... The fact that media made a feast with her personal tragedies probably makes it even easier and confortable for her to keep an unpersonal image like that... But every market needs someone to fill the role she is filling, and she does it well.

Lol just realized that Namie's LIVE STYLE 2014 sold (155,024) almost 10 times of ayumi's PREMIUM SHOWCASE 2014 (16,318)!!

People must love watching dead, boring person performs..!

Lol y'all wanna talk about how Namie's music sounds "same-y" when Ayu 'bout to drop the most basic album of the year bye

Yet she went on a direction totally different for her with Colours, and try something different every two years... Namie is doing more of the same, and only that, since Uncontrolled...

If numbers define quality, is AKB48 better than Namie? And was her production from 2000 to 2006 shit?

Flawless Forehead is doing something right if she's been around forever and outselling most singers. Then again, every singer goes through cycles where they sell really well.

As for her personality being compared to sushi, I feel she's just an intensely private person, especially growing up in the light during the 90's. Would it kill her to crack a joke every now and again ? It actually might, and then I'll be sad.

^Some people don't really know how cruel media was during the whole incident with her mother, her marriage, the custody battle for her son... I would be really private about my personal life on her place too.

Wait someone compared her personality to sushi? She's gotta be very yummy then.
http://i.minus.com/iFXq5zvACw0z1.gif

Queen namie took back her throne. :yes . Apparently, some are having a hard time dealing with it, resulting in juvenile name calling. Sushi??? Wow :rolleyes

Exactly. They turned on her like sharks smell blood. If that means she's boring, I'm ok by that lol.

Apparently, people didn't get the sushi comment was poking fun at Namie and her critics. Relax. Namie is flawfree.

Namie has good production. Music that keeps up with fun trends and doesn't stray far from the mainstream if at all honestly. She's also well respected and doesn't have any scandals in recent years. She's simple. Easy to handle and take in. Doesn't have any aspects to herself or her music that would cause controversy, or repell some people. She's like the perfect pop-star. Like a more mature idol. She doesn't polarize people like ayu and many American pop singers do. And you can see it in her sales since her second peak. And the sales before second peak are to me an influence of not having as positive of an image, or as palatable of a sound sometimes too.

A better example is Utada Hikaru...of someone who is perfect to the public, since I think Utada has much better respect because her image is even more acceptable and she's very down to earth seeming and likable, with a focus on her music. So when she drops her new album I'm confident she will destroy.

Namie has that appeal, just in a lesser and more pop diva way.
Idk, that's just how it works. Some people have more public appeal than others. I think ayu and other j-pop singers have better music than Namie but does that really matter? No. I also think her music when she had lower sales was better than what she releases now. But that also doesn't matter. I also think she should be selling better than acts like AKB? But what the public prefers is what the public prefers.

Artists can try to cater to it more, but I think there's a point where it just doesn't work. I think ayu can release stuff that would appeal to people but her general image and widespread feelings about her will never let that happen. Same with Kuu.


I also think it's hard for people to talk about their favorite artists and why they sell well. Everyone wants to say that their favorite artist who is selling well is selling well because they're just the best. And then the people with favorite artists who they think are better end up often being bitter. There are always a lot of factors in sales.

Anyway, I'm glad Namie is doing so well. She works pretty hard. She's not Utada but she's not trying to be. She's just playing the pop star game and winning with going in the right directions production and image wise lol. And unless she does something stupid, she should stay that way.

Pretty much what everyone says. She releases mostly radio friendly tracks, knows how to keep her private life truly private, and leaves things like marketing, covers and Pvs to pros who know what they are doing.

Number do tell something, especially when you put 2 solo 30s+ female artists side by side, not a group of 48 Idol Girls.

The truth is Namie's LIVE STYLE 2014 sold (155,024) almost 10 times of ayumi's PREMIUM SHOWCASE 2014 (16,318), so did Namie's previous live concerts (you can check it yourself). Japanese people are not that crazy when they did come to her concert more than once and then buy the concert disc once again just to enjoy her her dead boring non-quality concert.

Sales show popularity, and pretty much just that. Other than that, I'm pretty aware of Ayu sales (and that she still one of the biggest touring acts in Japan, only behind Namie among the female soloists), bringing the numbers over and over again will convince me of nothing regarding Namie's quality as a pop star.

Other than that, I pretty much agree with everything Primavera said.

Radio friendly hits and such will cause people to buy things, especially nowadays. Love Story-type tracks among others.

Sales do matter a little bit, but I think there's something to be said about artists that never stay within their comfort zone and still perform well sales-wise/ticket-wise.

There are tracks on FEEL that are reminiscent of what she has done before. Yes, there are collaborations in there that are completely out there from her sound and some stuff that is generally out of her "sound's" range but most of those tracks are not why people ~love~ Namie. The ones I like from FEEL are the ones that are a little less Namie from what she tends to deliver.

Her music is okay, not horrible, but catchy enough to appeal to a lot of people.
With Ayumi and Kumi they're hit or miss. With Namie it's like.. a constant flow of okay music so she doesn't really ruffle many people's feathers and have them leaving the fandom.

I think this is crucial.

Most astute post in this thread. I agree: Namie and Hikki are probably the most media-savvy of the female artists. They know the proper way to exercise control over image.

Of course, I admire Namie for what she has achieved and how she's able to stay on top of things. I do like quite a few of her songs very much; she's radio-friendly and an easy listen. On the other hand, because of these same qualities, she won't be provoking the same kind of passion that other artists inspire.

She's just like the ideal pop star: Okay image, okay music, okay pvs but nothing to offer as an artist or talk about something interesting in her music.

i think is all about her image
i love dance music, (even dubious quality songs like Xoxo or lelio)
but i have to say that her FEEL album is veeeeery boring!
maybe 1 or 2 songs sounds interesting,..the rest sounds like EDM for childrens.

maybe that's the formula, put only one interesting and innovative track as the main theme of your album, and the peoples gonna buy it even when the rest is crap xd

lol :D This means that those albums that doesn't sell well are full of crap ya? :yes:yes

I bet you shared this formula with ayu this year. That explains a lot. :yes

:shakehead nop, "album that doesnt sell well is because they are not proposing an attractive main theme" ... people these days are not buying new albums because the full track list, but because one or two Catchy Songs.

well...there is no "innovative or catchy main theme" in the new ayu's album, and her sells are worst than ever, so i think she ignore my theory. :no

Everything that Namie's put out in the last 5 years is more interesting or the very least better executed than what Ayu has done. She isn't afraid to reinvent herself and doesn't really half-arse anything. Starting from the Style era when she started to move into a more urban sort of sound, to her 60s/70s/80s single trio where she started to claim the 'fashion' space, to releasing Uncontrolled with English versions of her singles, to FEEL which placed her solidly in EDM with even MORE English songs.

It certainly helps that her her sound is also very on trend now and is more appealing to what you might listen to in clubs, but it's worth noting that whatever she does, she occupies the sound with such an effortless casual ease it's like she was made to do that song. This is certainly in part due to taste in selecting songs, but I also really believe that a large part of this is in her investment in producers who really make or choose songs that are suited for her. And the icing on the cake is the fact that every one of her albums sound expensive in terms of production values. I just listened to previews from her new album on YouTube and it's already sounded better, crisper, clearer than anything Ayu has put out in the last 5 years. When a frigging YouTube preview sounds better produced than A ONE on its actual CD you know something is terribly wrong.

I've always been an Ayu fan first and foremost, but honestly, Namie is in a different league. I'm not saying that Ayu needs to go and do a 180, but she needs to really sit down, think carefully about what she wants to do as a MUSICIAN, and commit to it, rather than rehashing herself ad nauseum.

On that comment regarding reinvention - yeahh......nah, not really. It depends. If you're a musician with rock roots with an emphasis on songwriting and all that, chances are you can get away with just doing the same thing visually over and over again (Mr Children), and if you're one with a POP image and fanbase then you'd feel obliged to conform to shifting tastes (Coldplay -- first album versus latest album). I don't think it's a gender thing. One of the most 'reinvented' musicians of all times, David Bowie, is very very male. And then you have someone like aiko who doesn't give a fuck and has released the same song since day 1.

js_surrealism: Wow, great post! I totally agree with every word you you've just written. Nothing to add.

I also love Ayu, but I have a feeling she is kinda lost in her music for last 5 years. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that something is gonna change soon :-/

Trendier and radio-friendlier I totally agree...

But I'm fail on seeing any reinvention of her part since either Past>Future (2009) or Checkmate (2011). You may like Namie better (fair enough), but Ayumi takes far more risks... On the space of time Namie has been releasing pretty much only EDM and pop ballads, Ayu released electropop, jazz swing, dance-rock, barroque rock, show-tunes, EDM, Trance and some stuff I don't even know what to call like Brillante.

If any of the 2 is actually getting out of their confort zones and trying making something new out of their sound, that's Ayu. But I confess I'm really curious about genic...

With that I agree, ayu might not be consistent releasing a full up beat album with electronic, trance or swing jazz stuff, or full albums with EDM ballads like Angel or accentric stuff like BRILLANTE or Don't look back but she still does them and in some of these styles non of the other jdivas touched like ayu did. Even in songs that are her style, she sometimes get hints of these. A ONE was a case of doing what she usually does but I think that the whole idea of it was "that's it" that it might be the last time (Last minute/WARNING ya'll).

Namie is the most trendy though and have a cohesive main style for an album. Which is not bad. I love them for different reasons.

I am a die hard fan of Ayu but her music is dated and her lyrics aren`t as good as it used to be. I simply stop following her after she released Love again. I think she needs to take a break like Namie did and figure it out that working with the same people is not taking her anywhere creatively speaking and sales-wise.

totally :yes, One of my reasons is TK. Why is ayu still working with him. TK's so last week.

It's kinda funny because I feel some of Namie's TK work is her best. Dreaming I Was Dreaming, Love 2000, How To Be A Girl, and Please Smile Again. Classics.

Classics of back in the day... Even though I did enjoy love again. I wasn't a fan of his later works especially feel the love. I just feel like ayu needs new composers. Even though I would prob complain later if she does. Haha God knows i dislike her new dancers.

All of ayu's music sound the same these days... I haven't loved an ayu song for many years. Namie's music on the other hand, is hot, fresh and current. Also, when was the last time an ayu album cover was not just a close-up of her face?

I believe that some of Ayus downfall is how she kinda has lost her connection with her Japanese fans.
Videos like WARNING and albums like Party Queen is basically a big fuck you to the japanese industry and in that category; her japanese fans.
She acts like she wants to be american (which the japanese fans feel too), and that turns off a lot of her japanese fans.

Namie on the other hand keeps her image and focus on the japanese fans, even though she explores into english songs.

Utada has literally given Namie her career back. Bless her.

You say the girl who is releasing albums mostly in english with american radio-friendly inspired music isn't the one trying to be american?

This is as bad as a base of comparation as is the close up photos...

I feel that the amount of effort that went into ayu's album covers for her recent albums is reflective of the quality of the album. I found A One and Colours to be boring for the most part, and their covers, well... don't feature much except her pretty face. If you look at the covers for her older albums (and Namie's covers), you can see that the covers tell stories, through fashion and backgrounds. What stories do the covers for Colours and A One tell besides "I'm lookin' fabulous"?

I think kimmeh is somehow right. Kimmeh said Ayu is acting as if she wants to be american. It's more about Ayu's actions what pisses japanese fans off. Most things Ayu has done the last few years in her private life let a lot of japanese people think Ayu betrayed their culture. Ayu does "american" things in her private life while releasing typical japanese pop music most of the time. Namie on the contrary is the idealised japanese woman who is releasing american inspired music. So Namie is, for some japanese people, true to her cultural roots but at the same time cool because of her american sounding releases. It's somehow paradox but it's like japanese people do everything to look as european (or to be more precisely as white skinned) as they can but are at the same time proud to be japanese.
Of course there is a lot of racism behind all of this.

Well I think something important concerning Namie is that YES she evolves with her time but at the same time she's cohesive... when you listen to a best of yes you know that some songs are from 90's or 00's but everything is cohesive because she keeps the same direction. She got some typical type of songs as Ayu but she don't have a typical formula !

Her look is also cohesive, especially on stage the same mini skirt, boots, long hair...

Everything is cohesive even if it changes through the time obviously

Some of the comments and comparisons between ayuXnamie are a bit:rolleyes.I'm starting to feel like the whole point of this thread is just to argue and discuss about why namie's sales 1000 times better than ayu right now. Like.. i don't see any threads on why exile's sales are so high?? Or akab48, or even may j's. Gosh just cause namie's finally in the lead?, how unfair :shakehead

Namie is consistent enough. She's current, trendy, and not too artsy-fartsy.

Thats exactly what I wanted to say! Thanks :)