Why is Ayu never mentioned in American magazines?
 

I have read plenty anime magazines that talk a lot about JPOP and japanese music and mention plenty of other JPOP/JROCK artists that are def. not as popular as Ayu... I was really excited when Animerica added a Jpop section to their magazine but then they mainly focused on JROCK. I wrote a letter entitled "Where is the Ayu At?" and was hoping to see it in the fan letter section but they never showed it, and worse yet, never did an article on Ayu. How can this be? I have never heard of NEWTYPE mentioning her either and I mean why? Of course she isn't selling like she used to anymore but she still is like the #1 female Jpop artist! I was reading through ANIME INSIDER in the book store the other day and they were talking about online japanese mp3 sites where you purchase music (like iTunes) and they mentioned avex's website and mentioned BoA and Koda Kumi but no AYU! I mean come on; how can you know about JPOP and not know who Ayumi Hamasaki is! It angers me a lot!

Well she was in TIME :D

not just ayu I think they should mention alot more people I get tired of hearing about the "no talent" such as britney spears and paris hilton

it would be nice if they did use ayu more but I guess some things might never change

But wasn't that like some TIME Asia and not some global version of TIME?

maybe it's because Japanese Pop and other J-genre aren't as popular in the US as the good ol' American music? i mean, prolly less that 1/3 listens to J-Pop, J-Rock, etc.

It was TIME Asia, didnt Isaac Hiew do the article?


American magazines don't care about Ayu. I think a lot more people know of BOA because, well, where I live, there are many Korean people, and they like her. Koda Kumi, probably because of Final FAntasy?maybe?

Americans couldnt care less about Ayu, its sad, but its true. They're too wrapped up in their own music (especially their voices) and celebrities.
J-Pop isnt popular at all, unless you watch anime...but then again, they watch it for the anime and the whole Japanese themes...J-Pop could never be popular...language barrier. And Style...who in america is going to listen to a band/singer called "Mr.Children" ?? there will be references to Micheal Jackson all over the place...

(not that theres anything wrong with Mr.Children)

perhaps ayu is not the mainstream singer in US?

Americans don't know the meaning of foreign music, yea..that's a general comment, and i know a lot of us here are from the united states and canada, but other than us, the people who love language, anime, anything non-American, I'm very sure that there are so many more who wouldn't give a care.

woah...post-midnight rants..haha

Wow! That would be the coolest thing :)

He translated it.

Some evil woman made the article. xD

its a conspiracy.

In Anime Insider they had a little game in their J-POP edition: Who's What?

The pictures I remember seeing were Ayu's, Gackts, Miyavi and some others....the object was to pick who you thought was a girl & who you thought was a guy...but other than that Ayu wasn't mentioned b/c the J-POP issue was about Puffy Ami Yumi...*shudderz*

America is really, seriously blind when it comes to Asians in the music industry. I guess they don't want to see that other people can perform, sing & dance better than them now. But yeah, don't let it bother you. if Ayu is meant to be known in the US it'll be her destiny to be known.

& if she is; I'm gonna beat everybody 2 the punch & buy a whole punch of front row tickets to see her do anything...even a fifteen minute show on, "Ayu makes a Bologna Sandwich...with Martha Stewart" or something like that (& if I can't; I'll just record it on TV and watch it at home! ^^ )

No one translated it. The article was originally written in english. I don't understand where you got that the author was evil :shrug

I don't really know the answer to the first poster's question. Maybe it's because anime fans tend to be more into visual kei and seiyuu than jpop.

Ayu also had a very brief mention in Forbes magazine once.

psssh, i bet ayu prefers ham sandwiches to bologna.

yeah that's unfair~! they scared Ayu is a threat and will take over America's music industry~ :D

She has been mentioned in some magazines that cater to the anime/manga crowd. I couldn't give you issue numbers or mag titles because this is from years ago, during her A BEST period.

Also, people, please read the first post. The person is specifically asking about Ayumi's appearance in anime/manga/j-pop magazines. If you think those mags conspire against Asian artists, please rethink your position.

It's not that American's don't appreciate her.. I mean I know a lot of people who have heard of her all because 'Dearest' was the ending theme for InuYasha at some point a while ago. Utada was in one of my magazines when her Exodus CD was being released, and she's also known in America for her Kingdom Hearts theme songs, as well as Koda Kumi for her Final Fantasy songs.

And wasn't there also talk about how Ayumi promoted a lot more in America when she was filming her music videos for Bold&Delicious / Pride, etc.? It's not a matter of people not appreciating her. I know, personally, that some of my friends don't like listening to her music just because they 'don't know what she's saying' and I think that's a big issue on why Japanese artists are not that popular in America.

In my own personal opinion, I would have though Ayu would be mentioned in some American magazine by now since she's done so much 'promoting' for certain singles in America ( Like in New York, Hawaii, LA? ... ) but maybe people just don't know how others would react to it all. Would they take it as a good thing or a bad thing? Or maybe some people are just afraid it would take her stardom to another level where it doesn't really need to be. Shrugs.

Ayu was mentioned in "Entertainment Weekly" about...4 or 5 years ago. Just a short lil blurb but I think I made a big deal outta it on some Ayu forum, lol.

(And no, they didn't call her "Japan's Britney Spears"...thank God :P)

Just like free_n_easy_cher said, a big issue of Ayumi not being popular in the US is probobly about people not wanting to hear something they can't understand.

We'll go together and scream for Ayu while she makes sandwiches XD

maybe she'll be mentioned (God forbids - knock on wood) when she dies.

Because America only cares about what is going on in their own continent.

She didn't do any promotion in the USA. She made no public appearances at the time she was recording and filming the PVs. :yconfused

On the other hand artists like Kumi Koda, Utada, Hyde, etc have actually held concerts and released CDs in the USA. I guess that's another part of the equation.

Thank you for realizing this. Basically everyone who had posted a reply didn't catch that I was asking why she wasn't mentioned in anime mags and other artists were - not in like "Seventeen" or mainstream mags, lol...

Exactly!! Most people here don't want to listen to music that's not on TRL or MTV. I think it's because they either don't want to be looked at as 'weird' cuz they don't listen to the music everyone else listens to, or they don't like change. I think Ayu deserves a place in American magazines somewhere. I'd be happy with just a little mention of her in like, Entertainment Weekly or something like that.

I have never seen Ayumi mentioned in the Australian press either.

Not everyone is going to read all of what you said? I mean your thread title doesn’t match what you're talking [it does, but it isn't specific]. I guess the magazines are trying to be more “hard core,” It’s like a magazine aimed for an alternative crowd posting things about Britney Spears [who would probably be more aimed at a pop crowd or a mainstream crowd]. It’s the stigma of being associated with that I guess? I think that most Jpop fans already know about Hamasaki so they might not feel the need to bring her up more.

It may be because you ended your question in a preposition.

Possibly.
I had to reread that statement several times before I understood exactly what she was referring to.

mmm, im sure had to be mentioned in some anime mags around the time of Dearest, but if you think about it, she doesnt really do theme songs for anime's, i dont think...so her not being mentioned in anime magazines is...logical XP

AND, yeah, shes never, EVER, gonna be in a mainstream mag unless theres something relevant, like, if she released a CD here or they're doing a column on jpop or any of that. shes not just gonna be in a mag for being a superstar in japan. she needs to be a superstar HERE to be in magazines HERE.

funny thing is, american artists can cross into japan and appear in magazines in japan, cuz they're cool like that XD

EDIT: OOH OOH, someone said Britney & Paris arent talented. Britney MUST have talent, or else she wouldnt be where she is :P

...Paris, yeah, shes famous for absolutely nothing though....maybe thats her talent!

I think because she isn't as well known among the "animated" world as much as other artist. I only have heard of "Thousand Arms" and "Onimusha" tie-ins. And "Inuyasha" for anime. Nothing else.

I think she does sdeserve more attention though. 26(?)/39 singles in the number 1 position, 3*/39 in the top 10, that's something to be REALLY proud of. ALL her studio albums having a number 1 debut, yet even more boasting. Name me one American artist in her timespan that was able to do that. Plus, name me ANY artist to win THE award to win THREE times in a row.

So typical of your so-called Asian magazines not even mentioning THE Asian to know. I think they're scared that they'll lose American fans to the up and coming Japanese rage now.

thank you mr. morbid.

most certainly cause she has got no intention of getting international recognition.

I've only once seen an article about Ayu in a german Anime magazine and it was in no way linked to any theme song or soundtrack.
that was quite good

if i'm not mistaken, ayu actually said a while back that she had no interest in an international career. :(

Err...Ayu has no intentions of going international at all. So I think that might be the first reason. Another is that her music doesn't really tie in to animes or games, unlike...Koda Kumi, who's known for Real Emotions (and isn't that still her most selling single?) and performed in the states. And as nmskalmn said, she had never released a single in the states.

Also I agree with HELVENEUE. U.S doesn't care about how well she does in Japan, they care about how well she do in the states. And seeing she hadn't really done anything in the states, well, no recognition.

And also keep in mind with the anime magazines that not all anime fans are jpop fans, and vice versa. So that's why the jpop artists they mention are associated closely with anime, not just as "jpop".

That really defeats the purpose of a message board, doesn't it? I don't see why some people have to be in such a huge hurry to post a response that they only read one sentence and then jettison their unrelated ideas into the conversation. If you're too lazy / dumb to read an entire post, at least SKIM it for major points.

As for the main topic, I have also wondered the same myself. Ayu never seems to get any mention at all in magazines that run sections dealing with J-pop. As other posters have suggested, I wonder if it's because she's too well-known, and therefore potentially uninteresting? Or maybe Ayu really is disliked that much.

I agree with those who've said that people don't like to listen to songs in other languages -- I know my friends are like that. Perhaps if ayu wasn't so pop based (because the basis of the pop fan base is the teenies who like to sing along) she would gain more popularity from those who are willing to embrace songs in other languages...

But then again, Americans are very narrow-minded -- they don't even embrace European/English/Australian artists such as the Sugababes, Kylie Minogue or Delta Goodrem *grumbles*

The only thing I've seen of Ayu was in an Manga magazine (I forgot the name I'm sorry, I was looking at it in the library) and it was an article about the iTunes Japan that opened, and it gave a screenshot of it, and iTunes had a picture of Ayu's "fairyland" single. That's it, nothing special at all.

These are off topic but I wanted to comment on them.

I agree, I'm tired of people saying Britney has no talent or that she cant sing. I'm not a fan of hers but it's kind of lame to pick on her.

I think people skim to get the jist and save time? Sometimes people just want to comment to get a higher post count. I'm one of the people who skims to save time, I want to see what people have to say and exchange ideas, but I'm always busy. Also, sometimes it gets so hard to read a post when people can't use good sentence structure. I understand because I'm awful at grammar and sentences, but sometimes peoples posts are hard to read.

Yeah, im not a fan of britney either, actually, i dont like her. but i dont hate on her talent XP cuz its undenyable that she has it.
&I know right? I personally have the bad tendency to skim through the first few pages XD but if always notice it and i edit my post really fast XD

and also, people, i dont think you should be worrying about your post count, because *knock on wood* forums crash, and then your post count goes to ****. so yeah. :innocent

i've thought about that too. i think part of it is very likely that she's so well known that people don't take her seriously. i think she just gets written off as a crappy pop act or something. i guess if you didn't know anything about her, it would be easy to write her off. :shrug