Quote:
Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer
...not enough to totally discount a female fronted bands sales at least. Also, to me, just in general I don't like separating one type of artists sales from another no matter how big the difference might be. Say like comparing Ayu to Johnnys or something - if the public likes something, it will sell regardless of factors like a band, or a solo artist, or a pop group, or male, or female. That's why I never like the argument, "Ayu's doing well(or insert any female artists name) considering there are only men in front of her." Well, so? Just because she is female, that's a good reason to not sell higher? huh? Doesn't make sense to me. What happened to gender equality here? Women artists shouldn't be given a lower sales handicap excuse just because they are women.(If I'm making any sense, lol) It's definitely possible for Ayu and other female artists to sell higher levels (and some still do, though its become rare). That's why I use Dreams Come True as a positive example of that.
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I do agree about the sales handicap, as you so aptly put it. It's a trend in fan forums that I've never really subscribed to, and it seems to have come about when J-pop music began to be dominated by male acts versus female acts (I think this was around the time Koda Kumi was at her peak). Fans would come up with "musical recognitions" such as "highest selling female single of the year" or "highest first week sales numbers of the year for a female artist" or something as ridiculous as "highest selling female single of the year released under her original name without a dorama tie-in". I think fans are stretching so that their favorite artists accumulate recognitions and they would feel better knowing that they have accomplished that at least. It's a defense mechanism against waning popularity.
I will have to stick to my guns, though. The makeup of Ayu as an artist is very different from female-fronted bands like DCT. The constancy of collaboration is a critical element to being defined as a band. Ayu is the only constant in all of her music. Composers, arrangers, band members have changed time and again. For me, that makes her a solo artist. DCT, on the other hand, has Miwa Yoshida AND Masato Nakamura as constants in all of DCT's music. That's more than one person. For me, that makes them a band.
Also, I would like to think men and women are equal in the world of J-pop, but I can't deny that gender difference still plays an important role in sales and popularity, even if its influence is almost imperceptible. Just to cite an example: SMAP may recover from the recent scandal, but I don't think a Hello Project! girl will be granted the same leniency. As much as I hate to think so, being a man and being a woman, it still accounts for something.