[2007] Can Ayu Really Make A Comeback?

[DerrickRocks]

Well these past years, Ayu's sales have not been really good at all. She is constantly getting beat by other artist and her work as of late seems too repetitive to me and others. A-BEST 2 sales are lower than expectation. What does Ayu, really have to do in order to get back her crown of the queen of jpop? because surely now its known it defantly isnt her anymore? do you fans have any ideas here are mine.

1.Image change, cut the hair short and die it black : example

2. Fire all the producers hire fresh new faces and start composing as Crea again and work with HAL and DAI they defantly did great work on her stuff.

3.Change up to different styles and be daring. Ayu in electronica was awesome look at I AM.

4. Rock!!! Every one seems to love Ayu's rockier and edgier songs. Duty was explosive

5.constantly promote! promote! promote! advertise more products, new songs.
6. Surprise fans with a hip hop or R&B song!

those are my ideas what are yours?

6. No more ballads don't sound similar or the same

[shippo]

Yeah... part of Me is just similar with many songs... It will turn out bad if she produce any more songs like that...

I think u have a great idea... If only there is any Avex staff here...

[DerrickRocks]

What would you do to help her out. The thing is Ayu has controll over everything she states why do you think she is not changing her style and what not?

[criminal]

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

Well these past years, Ayu's sales have not been really good at all.

They've been great compared to other female artists and music sales in general haven't been what they used to.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

She is constantly getting beat by other artist

Has there ever been a time when she was the one and only musician people loved? I don't think so.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

her work as of late seems too repetitive to me and others.

I assure you, there are still plenty of people who love her recent stuff.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

A-BEST 2 sales are lower than expectation.

We all knew it won't sell like A BEST, but the thing is - you don't even know the sales. No one does. The week is not over yet. That indicator which has been messing with our minds does not show the sales.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

What does Ayu, really have to do in order to get back her crown of the queen of jpop? because surely now its known it defantly isnt her anymore?

She has secured the position of biggest-selling female artist for a while. That makes her the queen.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

2. start composing as Crea again

Maybe she doesn't want to do that anymore.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

4. Rock!!! Every one seems to love Ayu's rockier and edgier songs.

Have you listened to Secret? If most of that album isn't rock, please tell me what it is.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

5.constantly promote! promote! promote! advertise more products, new songs.

She's been through that phase already.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

6. Surprise fans with a hip hop or R&B song!

What was this talk about rock then? And if she would only surprise fans with that song, what would the rest of the people do?

[DerrickRocks]

Originally Posted by criminal

They've been great compared to other female artists and music sales in general haven't been what they used to.



Has there ever been a time when she was the one and only musician people loved? I don't think so.



I assure you, there are still plenty of people who love her recent stuff.



We all knew it won't sell like A BEST, but the thing is - you don't even know the sales. No one does. The week is not over yet. That indicator which has been messing with our minds does not show the sales.




She has secured the position of biggest-selling female artist for a while. That makes her the queen.



Maybe she doesn't want to do that anymore.



Have you listened to Secret? If most of that album isn't rock, please tell me what it is.



She's been through that phase already.



What was this talk about rock then? And if she would only surprise fans with that song, what would the rest of the people do?

The question was what would you do, to ensure Ayu of a comeback.... which you didnt answer to at all.

I heard Secret i own it. Album is not very good full of filler songs and upgraded versions of others. That is why it didnt' sell.

Ayu's fan base went down alot. It's true! in this day and age there is somthing we call competition which she has now and it isnt flowing too well with her sales Kumi Koda has taken alot away because she is younger and more fresher and takes risk her songs arent always sad or soapy and complicated they are fun and meaningful. Utada's lyrics are so lovable and can be complicated. Mika Nakashima is just a well rounded singer. They all take risk.

No one has Ayu advertising anymore really. Because she is not selling as much as she used to. People get tired of seeing her everywhere, they already know who she is and want somthing new. Yeah Ayu was a goddess back then but now that day is long and gone sad as it may seem she may not be back to that status.

Ayu was around when downloading was just in the early works so of course her cds and stuff would sell because technology was not that advanced yet and capable of what it does today.

These are all opinions of mine my ideas. Ayu needs to go back to writing and composing herself. Rethink the music she is putting out. Because everything is sounding the same and is not tasteful.

And its sad that fans knew A-BEST 2 would sell so low... and it was expected "Black Cherry" has surpassed SECRET by thousands and so has "Ultra Blue"

now to reinstate the question...
"How can Ayumi Hamasaki secure a come back?

[criminal]

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

The question was what would you do, to ensure Ayu of a comeback.... which you didnt answer to at all.

I didn't, since I don't think Ayumi has been gone in order for her to have a comeback.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

I heard Secret i own it. Album is not very good full of filler songs and upgraded versions of others. That is why it didnt' sell.

How can people find out about the tracks without buying it? It didn't sell that much because people purchased it on-line or on their mobile phone. Also, the fact that she released only two singles before the album might have hurt as well. But the third single might have been cancelled because of her health.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

Ayu's fan base went down alot. It's true! in this day and age there is somthing we call competition which she has now

She has had competition since day 1. It won't magically disappear or reappear at any given time.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

No one has Ayu advertising anymore really. Because she is not selling as much as she used to.

I think it's more because she's advertised for everyone who can afford her.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

Because everything is sounding the same and is not tasteful.

That is just your opinion. How can you call her music distasteful? Distasteful would be stripping out from her geisha outfit and flirting with the horse. Those are references to the "part of Me" PV which isn't music, but still, she doesn't have random orgasm noises in her songs. They're nowhere near distasteful.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

And its sad that fans knew A-BEST 2 would sell so low... and it was expected "Black Cherry" has surpassed SECRET by thousands and so has "Ultra Blue"

Are you trying to say that anything under 4.5m is low? Low by Ayumi standards is 100k which is a lot to some. Koda Kumi is the most popular female singer in Japan now, but it's not like she's the only one. There are other very popular singers as well. ULTRA BLUE was released before Secret so it hasn't surpassed Secret's sales.

[Dustie]

Originally Posted by criminal

ULTRA BLUE was released before Secret so it hasn't surpassed Secret's sales.

Well, maybe not "surpassed" but "surpasses", becouse it has sold more than Secret has so far... and I believe Secret will never outsell ULTRA BLUE, which is 950k~, while Secret is 660k~ copies sold...

Although you can tell that sales lowered over the years in Japan, but if you look at Orange Range... they can still sell around 2 million copies, right? It's not like Ayu left, but yeah, she could get way higher sales than she gets now. It's not that she's "not popular", becouse I bet she's a household name throughout the whole country, but just knowing her name doesn't make people like/buy her music...

But you can't really control people's tastes. You can't really predict what's gonna happen when you release a record. Who knows if a song's gonna flop or send the sales through the roof.

[DerrickRocks]

If Ayu is all about money that is so wrong... But people have moved onto new artist. Ayu is not what she was back then and defantly not coming back into that era. Alot of her songs have sounded the same i can find 500 different post if not more where people opinionated just as i have that her music isnt even close to as it was before. That is why it is called an opinion their isnt an official spokesperson who says Ayu's music sucks now. That is why it isnt fact but opinion i am seeing what Ayu can do to make a comeback happen to make her as good as she was back then. If there is no reason for her to make one like you said i guess her career is where its gonna stay now. At normal artist level. And contiually to sell low

[Raleigh]

Comeback? Oh Please. Give me a break. She never left. Plus last time I checked she was still topping Oricon charts. Her songs don't sound the same, people just complain and whine too much. I like the direction her career is taking. If people don't like it, it's their problem not mine.

Also electronica and rock are in Secret. Didn't you listen to her most recent album or not?

[Coelacanth]

You should write for tabloids. You like to create this whole like "Who's selling more than who?" drama. And I completely stopped taking this thread seriously when you started comparing Ayu to Koda Kumi, Utada, and Mika Nakashima - sales-wise and music-wise. All these artists have COMPLETELY different fanbases in Japan. Just because everybody here at AHS has to like every single mainstream Japanese female artist, doesn't mean everybody in Japan does. The Oricon graph in the News section pretty much confirms that Ayu is most popular with people in their 40's. Guys in their 20's like her, but girls in their 20's don't like her so much.

She's touring Asia, she's the best selling Japanese female artist of all-time, she's had the chance to even release a second best album. What comeback has to be made? Though I do agree her music and lyrics are getting repetitive, I don't think your theories of bringing back CREA or doing more rock (than she already does) are going to help her career.

We don't live in Japan either, we can't possibly know what the situation is. People might think her music is great right now, but not buy her albums for.. whatever reason. Especially after that whole Max Matsuura drama in '04. This is Japan here, a society that will shun an artist because she gets pregnant, gets divorce, or attempts suicide.

At least Ayu can look back 10 years from now and certainly be proud of what she has accomplished with her music, style, image, lyrics - everything she has done. She possesses ingenuity and honesty. She makes her own visual map of her career and what she wants to do.

Unlike other filthy *****s in the music industry today (yeah, Japan too), who aren't being honest with themselves, have a lot of issues, are being trashy, etc. If they were a decent human being, they'd be ashamed of themselves ten years from now.

[Tasked]

Ayu can't have a 'comeback', because she was never 'gone'; like "criminal" & "demure" already explained; Ayu is still at the very top breaking all the records... Ayu is just not a hype anymore, and to get her hype-status again is nearly impossible. I think the only way to get hyped is to follow the trend... Do R&B/hiphop songs, dress really sexy etc..

[*Petit*]

In order to make a "comeback" you must first "disappear" somehow, change, and come back. Like Namie. And no one else I've heard of in Jpop ever did this. No one. Disappearing like that is too much of a risk to take to be worth it unless there's something you really really are passionate about (like namies hip hop obiously). Ami Suzuki failed even with avex help.

If you mean comeback sales wise, this may come with time (probably no though) as trends shift (population getting older f.ex.)

It wont work just to follow the trend either, especially if you're an established artist. Also she IS getting older, the jpop scene is very young and you can really refresh ayumi hamasaki like you can with johnny's and morning musume.

[DerrickRocks]

Originally Posted by Demure_Dusk

Comeback? Oh Please. Give me a break. She never left. Plus last time I checked she was still topping Oricon charts. Her songs don't sound the same, people just complain and whine too much. I like the direction her career is taking. If people don't like it, it's their problem not mine.

Also electronica and rock are in Secret. Didn't you listen to her most recent album or not?

yeah i do. But there were too many filler songs. "Beautiful Fighters and Bluebird" should have been left out and replaced with better songs it messed up the flow of the album completely. "Startin" got me started thinking Ayu was taking a new direction. And then went right back into the stupid "Jewel" thing. Her rockier and edgier songs were great i mean i rather have "(MISS) Understood with "STARTIN" on it and id be happy the "SECRET" album just didnt do it for me.

As in comeback i mean, a new change in artistic visions, music and sales. People aren't all hyped about Ayu anymore. I get hyped listening to her older works but now the songs seem emotionless and not meaningful. It seems she is working hard but it isnt getting her anywhere. If A-Best 2 sells its defantly not because of "PART OF ME". None of her songs have people dancing and having fun as of late. They are all freaking ballads. You mean to tell me you rather be sitting in a room listening to ballads all freakin day instead of an upbeat song? thats so emo.

I don't think Ayu needs those back up dancers. Herself on stage was enough pressence. I don't think she is putting her heart and soul into her new music. I think this music is forced on her nowadays. She needs to go away for a while and make another kick ass song then let go! of all her creative juices because right now nothing is flowing

[Raleigh]

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

yeah i do. But there were too many filler songs. "Beautiful Fighters and Bluebird" should have been left out and replaced with better songs it messed up the flow of the album completely. "Startin" got me started thinking Ayu was taking a new direction. And then went right back into the stupid "Jewel" thing. Her rockier and edgier songs were great i mean i rather have "(MISS) Understood with "STARTIN" on it and id be happy the "SECRET" album just didnt do it for me

Filler songs? That's just your opinion and not a fact. If you don't like it get over it. You're saying stupid "Jewel" but for me it's a beautiful masterpiece. In Secret many of her songs were rock/edgy and upbeat but you can't have a whole album full of rock or it would get boring. If you didn't notice the first four tracks were electronic-rock tracks and "kiss o' kill" & "taskint" where in the same style of "Startin". That makes up four tracks and two interludes. The rest were ballads and pop songs which are extremely popular in Japan.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

As in comeback i mean, a new change in artistic visions, music and sales. People aren't all hyped about Ayu anymore.

Seriously have you ever followed her career? She's always changing genres. And people are still hyped. See the Asia Tour craze. She just can't reamin on top forever. Artists like Namie or Madonna couldn't either so quit dreaming that Ayu would die being a J-Pop queen forever. Japan market is targetted towards a young generation of artists so get over it.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

I get hyped listening to her older works but now the songs seem emotionless and not meaningful.

Again that's not a fact but just your opinion. I still get hyped and many others do. See her sales.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

None of her songs have people dancing and having fun as of late. They are all freaking ballads. You mean to tell me you rather be sitting in a room listening to ballads all freakin day instead of an upbeat song? thats so emo.

Give it a break and wait for her next single. I'm sure it'll be upbeat. And the all freaking ballads thing is so untrue. In 2007 she only released one song so wait after a full year before whining about ballads. Otherwise just go and listen to Kumi or something.

Originally Posted by DerrickRocks

I don't think Ayu needs those back up dancers. Herself on stage was enough pressence. I don't think she is putting her heart and soul into her new music. I think this music is forced on her nowadays.

AGAIN that's your opinion. Almost any artist who is popular has backup dancers - Kumi, BoA, Namie, Ai Otsuka. The "claim" that she's not putting her heart and soul is pretty fake since the lyrics of her recent music are just as good as her previous once. Honestly this thread has no direction and sounds like your complaining and bashing about how you think Ayu sucks.

[freedreamer]

i need she jsut needs more drama and anime tie ins to appeal to the new generation...this is just to get MORE popularity then she has

back to basics

i dunno but i kinda feel that Avex thinks she is too gd so she doesnt need all these tie-ins..(yes Startin'/BTB.., had gd tie-ins..thats wad i mean..but more)...

Avex has this talk about promotiing her...but i need it has to get across to all levels of the society...no just purely thru Panasonic and Shibuya posters

[JinHamasaki]

Hey hey, calm down everyone. But I agree with Demure here, Miss. Ayumi Hamasaki was never gone, so she doesn't need a comeback.

Her sales have slumped? Sure, she isn't making million sellers recently (which is the equivalent of DIAMOND status in the US) but she is still a MULTI-PLATINUM selling artist. She graces the cover of every girl magazine consistently and is one of the most requested artists for TV shows.

Sure, she doesn't NEED backup dancers, but she has always had them. She really glows on stage with her fans and dancers moving along with her. It's obvious she loves her job and she is willing to work at it. But she IS getting old (age wise) and the Japanese population always want a new face. Right not, her popularity is stable and its people that really like her rather than doing "whats in".

Ayu has taken many directions in her career. She hired Sweetbox to make an album. Bold & Delicious/Pride wasn't one of her best sellers but it was different. Some people LOVE it, some people HATE it. The Ayumi Hamasaki we know now makes music SHE likes, and if people like it, too, then all the better.

When I get back from Japan I'll give everyone a report of Miss. Ayumi Hamasaki and the Japanese public, lol.

[miniayumi]

Ayu's doing great! Woo!

Let's look at madonna for example: Ayu's often nicknamed "Japanese Madonna" right? Well even the American Madonna had Britney Spears/Christina Aguilera outselling her sometimes.

So, it's perfectly fine that some other artists are outselling Ayu. It would be scary if no one sold more than Ayu. People would think Ayu was a witch if that was the case. Witchcraft!

[emi♡]

What makes everyone think that Ayu even cares about her sales and such? I bet you anything that she is perfectly happy.

And after all her excursions in Hong Kong I think she's just fine.

[atomicguy]

i don't want to be a bore, but did she ever left the scene? her tour are all sell out, everything she releases gets to #1 while the pop stars of the moment really can't do that (Koda is the new top dog and she only has 3 #1s singles *i think*)...Ayu will always be jpop queen-bee
if you're all crying about 500.000 debut sales you should never become fans of artists like madonna, or mariah, or rachel stevens, those REALLY have ups and downs...Ayu's career is a dream to any pop artist, she got into a position that she doens't live in the hype, she estabilish herself as a legend.

[AyUmIXx]

gosh..
what are we doin' here?
another "disappointment of ayu"'s thread?

ehmm..
get over it..
if u don't like ayu or sick of listening to her recent songs, just don't listen to her songs, listen to other artists' songs, it's just as simple as that.
and start to idolize other artists. it's easy.
ayu's not forcing you to listen or like her songs, everytime she releases a single or an album..