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| · Ayu's Official Site · Ayu's twitter · Ayu's YouTube · masa's translations · Misa-chan's translations · |
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#81
13th April 2010, 06:32 PM
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I don't agree with joshuapeterson at all, but I don't see the point to bashing him or call him a 'troll'.
First of all, RnC may sound 'westernized' because she was inspired by her trip in London I though. But I disagree, her songs are mostly japanese-pop oriented. BTW I agree with emiko, especially with the sales part. 300k copies in just her home country are few? I don't think so. Most of the j-singers we listening to would sells their mother (lol) for a #1 or for these huge sales. We (or most of us maybe) have a distorted perception on what's going on in Japan I guess. Ayu's started as a idol and now is one of the most famous singers in Japan, that' great if you thinking about those idols who disappear after their first 1000 copies sales singles. Her sales are dropping I can't deny, but she still remains pretty popular (inb4 'that's not true because a japanese friend of mine don't like her so japanese people hate Ayu')
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#82
13th April 2010, 08:13 PM
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Being a troll or not, on the same way nobody needs to love everything Ayu do, nobody needs to hate everything in order to not being "biased". I'm most likelly the only person on this forum that loved Next Level (
 drama), so, it can't be considered universaly bad... the same goes for S/S, some people around here really loves this single... even if most people on AHS bashes the single really hard... I don't think Ayu released anything that can be considered universally bad, even if she has tons of music that apeals only to part of her fanbase.... And I can't see how is her sound americanized... she puts more japanese culture on her pop than most jpop acts (being it tradicional instruments, art concepts, composition, etc)... Jpop overall is the japanese way of doing western pop, and IMO, Ayu makes her even more japanese most of the time. I can't see how is she not sounding like herself, the elements that make ayu's music what it is, like the dance/rock mix is present on all of her albums since I am... The fact is: She has a 12 years old career now... She is not new, she is not young, she is not the "it" girl, her peak started 10 years ago (and ended 8 years ago)! Considering this, she is pretty much doing very well... Most of the time, when the peak is over, so is the singer career on Japan...
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#83
13th April 2010, 08:19 PM
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It's internet. Anyone can downloading. No need to buy albums nowadays if you want the songs for free. Everyone love free things. But WE who still support Ayu, will always buy her latest album.
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#84
13th April 2010, 08:30 PM
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I also read this forum as a "silent user" for long time in 2008 and started to write more often just few months ago. And I am also very critical sometimes. Does this makes me a troll, too?  You can't tell, what someone is, regarding on the amount of his/her posts.
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#85
13th April 2010, 08:53 PM
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^ But we CAN infer that there's something strange here, considering the OP hasn't even shown up to repost his/her thoughts after five pages of discussion lol.
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#86
13th April 2010, 08:56 PM
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#88
13th April 2010, 09:21 PM
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Whether the OP is a troll or not is beside the point, it's an interesting discussion anyway as long as people don't get off in the ditch with it. I'm not crazy about everything Ayu puts out, but it's more my opinion than whether or not it's actually horrible (one man's trash is another man's treasure
 ); I overreacted a bit in my post to his dislike of Guilty, Next Level, etc (I love NL & RnRC  ). As it has been pointed out, there's more than one factor in Ayumi's declining sales: the economy, changing music styles, overexposure, and such. Although I wonder, do the sales records differentiate between in Japan and abroad? For instance, are sales declining in Japan itself but increasing elsewhere so it offsets the effects of Japan's declining sales? Is there any way to find this out?
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#89
13th April 2010, 09:39 PM
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#90
13th April 2010, 10:37 PM
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Anyway, just for those who don't know picopop is originally from Japan ^_^. I don't think Ayu's lost. She's just being herself with her music.
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#91
14th April 2010, 02:10 AM
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You know, I was reading the entire thread and charging with all the stuff I need to say xD
I want to give my 2 cents on this, since that many people compare her to Madonna, but you know, even if they are similar in terms of popularity and overall impact in music and culture, I don't think they are very relatable. Ayu is still really popular with the Japanese public (at least woman) like shown on surveys and such. And she is like 7 or 8 times a year in the cover of ViVi, Scawaii, Popteen and what else (all fashion magazines targeted to a young audience). She is the spokeswoman of many important labels (her Lumix contract has been running now for years, and still new companies hire her, like Wacoal, Weider and Honda, which (specially Honda) are pretty huge tie-ins.). I don't see Madonna on magazines or advertisements that often, not by a longshot. And not to mention that both had her peaks in different markets and in completely different times, and the fact that Ayu is in her 30s and Madonna in her 50s. It's like comparing and apple with an orange just because they're fruits. She (Ayu) is usually talked about in tabloids and sure, lot of people may be sick or tired of her, but a really big portion of the population are ok with her. In terms of fashion and popularity as a celebrity, she is at the same level of Namie Amuro. What makes Namie sell more right now, (and since she's the female top seller now it's interesting to compare her to Ayu), are, mainly, four factors: -She releases much, much, much less often, and in a crisis period that translates into two things: People can afford to buy all her releases since they're less broke, it is "cheaper" to support Namie than to support Ayu. Not only singles and albums, but also concert tours, merchandising, etc. They would sell Ayu's vital force if they were able to. Also, people hype her releases much more. No one doubts that if Utada Hikaru releases an album right now, it would blow up the charts. It's the power of comebacks. -Her comeback. She was forgotten for YEARS (she was flopping hard during ALARM era and so on), and she came back strong with PLAY, and specifically, BEST FICTION. C'mon, Namie is still living of the BEST FICTION effect... and I doubt this will last much. She will remain popular but, not at the level she is now, in terms of sales. Ayu has never fallen from grace, she's always been at the top. And it is a much better kind of popularity the one that Ayu has, because it is steady. When the Namie boom fades away, she has much more danger of falling rapidly into obscurity than Ayu. -More relatable music. Namie doesn't really experiments, and about 99% of her recent stuff is dance. And a very catchy kind of dance. She has like, given up on ballads (The Meaning of Us is there to add some variety, same with Baby Don't Cry), and notice that her biggest hit for the japanese public is a wedding ballad xD (CAN YOU CELEBRATE?), and because her musical style is so wide and mainstream, she appeals more to teenagers. The teenagers that grew up with Ayu were more into the deep lyrical stuff and all the drama, young people nowadays don't pay much attention to the lyrics in general, and just want fun. Ayu has her fair share of fun songs too, but while Namie whispers and shouts "Dahlin' are you ready to Rock Steady?!!!", Ayu sings "Give me more more more more more love, let me see your enduring smile as I watch your back like a living sign post under this vast nightsky, my precious precious treasure.". Ayu tends to be cheesy lots of the time (which I love), but that can be a huge turn-off for many people (specially males). -The sex appeal that the Japanese public love and are able to accept, albeit this is changing. Actually, if you look at which Japanese mega star have turned on the public more, Koda Kumi fails short, thanks to her overexposure and dirtyness, which I personally find nosebleeding, but we all know that it just may overwhelms the Japanese public (she had her impact because she was shocking, more than irresistible). Namie is really sexy without showing any skin, with her dances and simply a look: she has the attitude, the raw factor, but also the lovely and kind look that shouts "Protect me and love me, Random-Japanese-Standar-Male-san *3* !!!! ". It is a powerful combination that appeals both a female and male audience. And she also has that aura of mistery with the tattos and her son. The thing with Ayu, is that she found her comfort zone with her fanbase, and that's great that she's sticking with them, but she is not really making an effort to catch new fans... and I don't think it is her objective. She stands where she is stands and we should be more than satisfied with her sales: She is the second best selling female artist at the moment, the first before Namie's re-boom. And that's nothing new, because she was up there with Utada on her peak. She has never been the sole queen of sales, but she has, and always will be, the Empress of Japanese Pop, with a much bigger impact that any other solo act ever, male or female of modern music. Honestly, if we look through the history of J-Pop, she has been surpassed by, what, X-Japan, Seiko Matsuda, Southern All Stars and maybe Mr. Children? That's a pretty big mark, if you ask me. And well, I think she knows all this pretty well and is very satisfied with herself: she predicted this on alterna. Quote:
Quote:
Spoiler:
^This is soooo true. Best post in all the thread, one fact straight after another. Quote:
Woah, this should count like 10 posts... Last edited by hpg23; 14th April 2010 at 02:18 AM.
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#92
14th April 2010, 02:26 AM
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i misunderstood. sorry!
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#93
14th April 2010, 02:28 AM
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The only reason I said what I did was because there are some things that just don't make sense in the post, haha. Specifically the "Americanized" thing. She's worked with some musicians who are American, but that's about it, haha.
If what Ayu's doing isn't J-Pop, then what is it? Do you want her to start singing enka and kayokyoku? Edit: (hpg23, I think I love you.) From the first post: Quote:
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Last edited by truehappiness; 14th April 2010 at 02:39 AM.
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#94
14th April 2010, 02:33 AM
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LOL he leido todo el post!! long, but true! agree with everything you said, and also with emiko's post..
look what kuu's album+10th ann. best sold... we have to accept the new standards... I just hope that no one will blame ayu and the world if RnRC sell less than NL...
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#95
14th April 2010, 02:34 AM
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#96
14th April 2010, 02:59 AM
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un asterisco en la palma de mi mano, una acotacion de tu puño y letra
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#97
14th April 2010, 03:12 AM
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From what I understand, they want less American influence (hip-hop and r&b). What I don't understand is how Ayumi is anything American. They must believe western and American are the same thing. It is not. Explain clearly or use the correct word! That is very important.
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#98
14th April 2010, 03:31 AM
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Yeah.
But Ayu has almost always been quite Western starting with LOVEppears... -hides-
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#99
14th April 2010, 03:36 AM
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I'd call the current Rock'n'Roll Circus era the Dark Empress platform, but it's getting time that I'm kind of switching heels from Ayu herself to more of like Angela Aki or such. Not even good for Ai Otsuka last week, so what's going on with today's competition in music sales?
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#100
14th April 2010, 03:47 AM
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Quote:
Last edited by microphone; 14th April 2010 at 04:05 AM.
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