[Article] Ayu takes digital music to the "Next Level"

[freedreamer]

Ayumi Hamasaki's tenth original album, "NEXT LEVEL," marks a new stage in the era of digital music. With the industry gradually shifting away from CDs, Hamasaki has decided to make the album available to fans on a USB flash drive.

USB distribution has been tried by indies artists before, but this is a first for a major label in Japan. The USB album will be released in limited quantity on the same day as the regular CD version on March 25. "NEXT LEVEL" will be released in a total of 4 different packages, including a CD+DVD combination. The USB edition will include all 13 tracks from the regular CD, 6 music videos, and a lyric booklet.

The USB flash drive itself will have a capacity of 2 GB. The album will take up about 800 MB, while the remaining 1.2 GB of space is free to use. At a price of 6,800 yen, the USB version is said to be a bargain, as typical USB drives reportedly sell for around 4,000 to 5,000 yen.
The USB will be packaged in a case the same size as a normal CD case, making it easy to display in stores. Oricon will apparently include the USB drive version in its sales tracking.

Hamasaki explained, "As the way we listen to music changes from day to day, I looked at things from the listener's perspective and decided to sell it this way."

Source: http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-4427

[AyuHamasaki01]

OMG that is just so cool!

I need this album ...

[Lee^ChaN]

wow.. nice move Ayu!!
but still.. it's too damn expensive

[thesilentspeaker]

ayu is really creative for coming up with this strategy

[rookies]

I wonder what file format the songs are coming in.

It looks like lossless format, judging from the size mentioned (800MB). But is that including the PV's too? *unsure*.

[noidea]

Originally Posted by rookies

I wonder what file format the songs are coming in.

It looks like lossless format, judging from the size mentioned (800MB). But is that including the PV's too? *unsure*.

music: mp3 320 kbits
pvs: avi around 1500 kbits

[rookies]

Originally Posted by noidea

music: mp3 320 kbits
pvs: avi around 1500 kbits

mp3 320kbps?

But that's lossy, and loss in quality.

[KarenPang]

she sure's smart in thinking such a concept

I wouldn't be surprised if other major labels will follow her eg. in due time as physical CD sales are declining every year it goes by

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by KarenPang

she sure's smart in thinking such a concept

I wouldn't be surprised if other major labels will follow her eg. in due time as physical CD sales are declining every year it goes by

I doubt that. The reason physical CD sales is declining is because it's more convenient and cheaper to buy an album/single online. This REALLY doesn't offer anything new that would motivate people to buy USB sticks instead of buying songs from iTunes, except for the appeal of having a pretty Ayu USB stick.

Think about it... If you REALLY want the songs in .mp3 format or whatever versus having them on a CD, which are you more likely to do..? Are you more likely to spend $15 or whatever to buy the songs from iTunes, or $70 for the same songs plus a little stick?

And as for CD vs. USB stick... Well I can play the CD in my car, a portable CD player, a DVD player, my computer, etc., and the CD is better quality. Whereas I can play the USB stick in... probably just my computer. Plus it's probably non-copyable and less quality than CD.

To me, the USB stick thing just doesn't make sense.

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by Tom Punks

I doubt that. The reason physical CD sales is declining is because it's more convenient and cheaper to buy an album/single online. This REALLY doesn't offer anything new that would motivate people to buy USB sticks instead of buying songs from iTunes, except for the appeal of having a pretty Ayu USB stick.

Think about it... If you REALLY want the songs in .mp3 format or whatever versus having them on a CD, which are you more likely to do..? Are you more likely to spend $15 or whatever to buy the songs from iTunes, or $70 for the same songs plus a little stick?

And as for CD vs. USB stick... Well I can play the CD in my car, a portable CD player, a DVD player, my computer, etc., and the CD is better quality. Whereas I can play the USB stick in... probably just my computer. Plus it's probably non-copyable and less quality than CD.

To me, the USB stick thing just doesn't make sense.

I don't know about that, the USB sticks are selling like hotcakes and you don't just get the songs, you get the videos and digital booklet as well. Slap on limited edition and collectors item and you have yourself a bunch of sales. Even people here are scrambling to find places to pre-order them. So it may not be something "new" per-se but it's still something new that's she hasn't done before.

But I do agree, if everyone starts releasing USBs, it's not going to overthrow the convenience of digital downloads.

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

I don't know about that, the USB sticks are selling like hotcakes and you don't just get the songs, you get the videos and digital booklet as well. Slap on limited edition and collectors item and you have yourself a bunch of sales. Even people here are scrambling to find places to pre-order them. So it may not be something "new" per-se but it's still something new that's she hasn't done before.

But I do agree, if everyone starts releasing USBs, it's not going to overthrow the convenience of digital downloads.

Sorry, I didn't mean specifically this release... I meant that I doubt this will be a way to get physical sales up like Karen said. It's much more expensive and just has less benefits than an actual CD, so I don't see USB format bringing up physical sales ever.

[ストロボ・EdGE]

Originally Posted by Tom Punks

I doubt that. The reason physical CD sales is declining is because it's more convenient and cheaper to buy an album/single online. This REALLY doesn't offer anything new that would motivate people to buy USB sticks instead of buying songs from iTunes, except for the appeal of having a pretty Ayu USB stick.

To me, the USB stick thing just doesn't make sense.

I feel the same way! Although it is kind of innovative, it just doesn't make sense; you can download it for 2000 yen at iTunes instead of paying 7000 for a stick...

[Chef+Vanny]

6800yen for a USB+ayu songs=GOOD BARGAIN ok agree
"USB in Japan cost 4000-5000yen WOW!

but i prefer physical disc.......

[Raleigh]

Originally Posted by KarenPang

she sure's smart in thinking such a concept

I wouldn't be surprised if other major labels will follow her eg. in due time as physical CD sales are declining every year it goes by

Well if this album will be a success I'm quite sure that other labels will try to copy the technique. I remember when Koda came up with the 12 singles concept, several other artists tried something similar, on a smaller scale. So it's possible Ayu would lead the next new trend.

However, I have the feeling that in order to make USBs popular, they must be at least the same price of the CD+DVD Version or else people are not going to be willing to spend more money.

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

cool
ayu is awesome!!



thanks!

[a_kingdom21]

and ORICON will include it as the sales......yay.......

[lumieregrl]

It's interesting, but nothing can replace having a physical cd with beautiful liner art for me. I love holding cds [and books] in my hands. Besides, what if somehow the usb stick becomes erased? If you get them near magnetic things, *poof*. I'd rather have a hard copy.

$75? Eek.

[SolarAngel]

Thanks for the article. It makes the USB flash drive thingy more understandable to me. Erm, doesn't seem very necessary but it's something different I guess... And the design is really gorgeous. Can we erase the songs? Then we could have 2 GB worth of space and we can buy the actual physical copy.

[noidea]

Originally Posted by SolarAngel

Thanks for the article. It makes the USB flash drive thingy more understandable to me. Erm, doesn't seem very necessary but it's something different I guess... And the design is really gorgeous. Can we erase the songs? Then we could have 2 GB worth of space and we can buy the actual physical copy.

Not erasable and (probably) not copyable, too

[Lanz16]

Nice article.
But still, its too darn expensive!
Only few people to have that such thing.