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Originally Posted by truehappiness
Utada Hikaru has one of those things that the legendary artists/groups in Japan tend to have... a very large and ever-growing casual fan base. I'm not exactly sure why it's so resilient... she could probably release an album in 2011/2012 and still sell a million copies / sell millions of ringtones. I don't quite understand Utada Hikaru's appeal, even though she does make some great tracks... there are plenty of artists who do great work and don't even have a tiny sliver of the fame that Utada Hikaru does.
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Yeah, the Utada thing is a bit of a puzzler for me too. I'm not quite sure what accounts exactly for her longevity and high sales. And I was actually an Utada fan before I became an Ayumi fan and even I can't really pinpoint what it is exactly. Even her very first appearance on Music Station was one of their highest rated episodes ever and that is before she became legendary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by truehappiness
Yes, Ayu has always released a lot every year since then, but I still don't think that necessarily makes the fact that she's at the top 2 each year any less outstanding. It'd be like Tohoshinki fans talking about how they always get #1 only because their fan club has over a million members in Korea/around the world. I'm not saying that we should ignore the fact that she has so many releases each year, but it's like... isn't she just releasing at a similar rate to most other major label Japanese acts? A few singles, an album, and a DVD (or two)? Sure, ayaka had two singles and a best album, and that was all that she needed to get to the #10 / #2 female spot, but she's on hiatus now, so there's that too...
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I know.
The analytical side of me though feels like it has to play devil's advocate. Basic point though boils down to the fact that Ayu does release a lot; less than before but that just shows how crazy she was before.
Last year she released more than all but 3 artists on that list, even though to us it didn't seem like that much. I wish someone who is good at mathematics (meaning not me, haha) could come up with a yearly list of the top sellers taking the number of releases into account to get an average (or whatever it is that you do in math). If I had to pick the most impressive looking artists on the list, it would have to be Mr. Children and Namie - both only had 2 releases, none of which were best albums (that's certainly refreshing for a change!).