@Joshua: I just have a question though. Is having J-Pop too "Americanized" a bad thing? I mean, Namie Amuro's music is really Americanized, especially in the recent releases, and she's doing extremely well for a female solo artiste.
Also, I've noticed that besides boybands dominating the physical CD charts, in the digital charts, what is dominating seems to be R&B J-Pop artistes. I don't know how relevant is this, but Shimizu Shota has quite a few hits in the digital charts (sorry I can't really remember their names but it was a duet with Ayolma Thelma iirc).
So... in a way, the young people in Japan DO like Americanized music, especially R&B... seeing that and how Ayu's sales have been falling... I would like to say that instead of Ayu's music becoming more Americanized, I actually think her music has been very J-Pop in nature.
I mean, heck, songs like Sunrise, You were..., BALLAD, EnergizE, Days, Together When... JEWEL... these aren't songs that will ever be popular in America. If anything, Ayu is one of the J-Pop artistes who has a very "Japanese" sound to her songs; no offense. Because to me, "Americanized" simply means a song that WILL do well in the Western market, as well as having elements of R*B. Artistes like Namie Amuro and Shimizu Shota certainly have such elements, which explains their success (to whatever extent it is).
But seriously, Ayu is a product of avex and she knows it the best herself. A product has a shelf life, and unfortunately never a shelf life of eternity. She reached her peak too soon, and fell too soon... but I like the way she's pacing her releases now. No more spam-of-singles ala the I am... era... no more overexposure that makes the general public sick of her...
