ORICON RANKING DAILY [Startin'/Born To Be]

[hallelujah_united]

I can only tell all of us to stay positive.

[Raleigh]

I'd be just glad to see another #1 in weeklies

[Mad_Cactuar]

Number 1 today too! So she's obviously getting #1 for the weeklies.. Unless the other singles suddenly gain a surge in sales of about 100 000 copies..

I predict sales of: 128 000

[Raleigh]

Nah she's definitely going to get #1 for the weeklies. Let's see how much she sells then..

[Sweer]

Originally Posted by MC Tatsujin

Number 1 today too! So she's obviously getting #1 for the weeklies.. Unless the other singles suddenly gain a surge in sales of about 100 000 copies..

I predict sales of: 128 000

I really hope it'll sell more that 128k
sure its not bad, but in comparison to the other singles

[Maiku]

I predict 160-170K

[Mad_Cactuar]

Well, if she does sell more than 150 000, I'll be so happy I'l even go vegetarian for a day.

[truehappiness]

I predict... a number between 100k and 200k :p

[~*Mabushii*~]

Wow go ayu for the #1 spot still, it's very good to see her single sell so well!

[evolution7931]

Originally Posted by MC Tatsujin

Well, if she does sell more than 150 000, I'll be so happy I'l even go vegetarian for a day.

hahaha!!! you sound so devoted XD

[elepop]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

I'm in Tokyo now and it feels good to know that my purchase of Ayu's new single actually contributed to the sales figures this time. I bought it at HMV in Shibuya and when I went all of the copies were gone. I had to ask a shop attendant and they got one from in the back. Koda Kumi's album was selling well too. Compared to Ayu's other album and single releases though Avex has really low balled this one promotion wise. I've only seen one billboard for it and that was in Shibuya and I probabally wouldn't have seen it had I not been specifically looking for it. Also on the release day, Avex sent out a street team w/ a table, megaphone etc only it was to promote Koda Kumi, not Ayu. I haven't seen any commercials for Startin/Born to Be or seen anything in the trains. Weird. I was in Japan when Step You came out last year and there was a lot more promotion I thought.

I'm not suprised. Kuu is now the main focus of avex trax. They have forgot about Ayu.

[truehappiness]

Kind of sad. Especially since Koda Kumi is more than likely to drop in status after a period of time.

/cough ORANGE RANGE >>

Ayu really doesn't deserve to be put on the side.

[Raleigh]

That's possible but also it might be possible that Kumi might become a popular artist for the long term. I don't mind that but I wish avex focused on other artists rather than one only.

[elepop]

Originally Posted by Axel_Grease

Koda doesn't deserve all that promotion since she's mostly selling from her sex appeal and not actual talent. <.< But it's good to hear that Ayu still got #1 even though she had so little promotion.

Actually, Koda Kumi have a better voice than Ayu.

And yes, she does deserve all the promotion she's getting and same for her growing popularity. The girl has been making music for 5 years and haven't got really notice. Sorry to say that if it offends anybody but... It's her time to shine.

[evolution7931]

Originally Posted by asongforXX

Actually, Koda Kumi have a better voice than Ayu.

... in your opinion .. >.>

[Raleigh]

Yeah it's a matter of opinion. Personally I prefer Ayu's voice because it's more versatile and enjoyable to the ears. I don't mind if Kumi gets exposure but avex is simply cheap by promoting Ayu so little for this single by giving her three magazine appearances only and not bothering to promote this single more as SunshineSlayer said.

Ayu has spent far more years than Kumi and has worked really hard and this seems a pretty poor way to repay a long term artist by throwing her aside and I really cannot find it in me to forgive avex for treating her so poorly imo.

[elepop]

^^ I guess Ayu had her time. It's time to move on. avex trax can't concentrate on Ayu for so long. It's been years and years of non-stop Ayumi here, Ayumi there. Tons and tons of Ayumi advertising. Her face on every magazines. Her face on every popular brand. And every music show. Simply everywhere. Other artists deserve some spotlight too, because they have major talent and they wanna show it. Although I do think Kuu's case had been a bit exagerated, she deserves it. At least, for now.

Originally Posted by evolution7931

... in your opinion .. >.>

Yes.

[evolution7931]

Originally Posted by Demure_Dusk

Yeah it's a matter of opinion. Personally I prefer Ayu's voice because it's more versatile and enjoyable to the ears. I don't mind if Kumi gets exposure but avex is simply cheap by promoting Ayu so little for this single by giving her three magazine appearances only and not bothering to promote this single more as SunshineSlayer said.

Ayu has spent far more years than Kumi and has worked really hard and this seems a pretty poor way to repay a long term artist by throwing her aside and I really cannot find it in me to forgive avex for treating her so poorly imo.

wow I agree 100% with everything you have just said! I mean.. don't they know that they're taking a person who brought in billions for them and basically made them what they are today, and shoving her over.. What's wrong with them?! I mean, do they have any logical sense? Even with A BEST, when she was selling 4 or 5 million cds a year, they tried to get rid of her.. where's their sense?

[elepop]

Originally Posted by evolution7931

wow I agree 100% with everything you have just said! I mean.. don't they know that they're taking a person who brought in billions for them and basically made them what they are today, and shoving her over.. What's wrong with them?! I mean, do they have any logical sense? Even with A BEST, when she was selling 4 or 5 million cds a year, they tried to get rid of her.. where's their sense?

Don't you get it? They don't care. They want money, that's it. Ayu USED to be the one who made 40% of avex's profits. Yes, she USED to be the top star. Yes, she USED to make lots and lots of money for avex and she was the artist of the moment. But you see, Ayu doesn't do that anymore. Kuu is.

[Raleigh]

I don't think Ayu had her time. She's still producing quality releases no? And her singles still go straight to #1. She's still a top artist and thus I don't see why avex shouldn't concentrate on her. I still see her high on Oricon popularity charts and she's still one of the most loved artists of all time. I don't see why we shouldn't see Ayu all the time. I enjoy seeing her and I'm pretty disappointed when I don't. Some artists are made to shine for a very long time and Ayu certainly is one of those people.

Hikki has been with Toshiba Emi for ages yet they don't just dump her for the latest artist and give her low promotion even if she's not as huge as she was before.

I don't know why avex is doing this, evolution. Maybe because they just want to focus on another artist because at some point Ayu became huge and that scared avex. We can only speculate. Guess avex wants somebody to make much more money than Ayu but to be honest I can't see Kumi selling too much unless she keeps up with releasing like crazy...