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.