Colours covers!

[Andrenekoi]

^As a graphic design major I'm really pleased with everything too...
The cover with the letters on her eyes happen to be my favorite...

[Linza-mo]

*open the door*

hum... I just want send this picture =D



Good night ( ˘ ³˘)♥

*close the door*

[mi|kshake]

That smile is like someone told her to smile and she really didn't want to...

It's like she was originally smiling so they had to photoshop it on!

[Loulines]

Originally Posted by Linza-mo

*open the door*

hum... I just want send this picture =D



Good night ( ˘ ³˘)♥

*close the door*

I oficially love this photoshoot so much. F* the typography.

[koumori]

Although I appreciate some of the discussion going on, please make sure you are respectful to other artists whilst making comparisons. You may not be a fan, but it means your possibly viable other points will be lost by others because of you bringing down it all with insults unnecessarily.

Some posts have been removed - instead of continuing any disagreements, please report posts you feel are not contributing to the discussion or are generally side-tracking from the main point of this thread, which are the new album covers for Ayumi.

[Refix]

Its not that special or memorable for me. Just a plain magazine-editorial-picture-ish
The font kinda cool, but the placement and size are major issue.

[November4]

Originally Posted by LUOYUXIANG

If you remember the interviews around the release of Pray, ayu had started the new album long before Pray with a clear concept of EDM-themed album. Then Pray came up, and she decided to change the concept and blend in some old-ayu, hence NOW & 4EVA...

That's exactly what I said. She changed the concept last minute to add in some J-Pop because halfway through production she got positive reception to Pray, thus resulting in an incohesive album.

Releasing the covers late does not mean the making of covers is last-minute. Who says the covers have to be out the moment it's done?

Because it's called proper marketing? Are you seriously defending the decision to officially "leak" all the songs and releasing the cover 2 weeks before the album? It's illogical, there's no hype, it will show in the sales next month. Sure, the covers could've been shot a year ago but it certainly doesn't seem that way from her TA diary. She's not Beyoncé, if that's what they were expecting by releasing the songs out of nowhere.

It's a lot easier to follow a normal path if you want to do everything last-minute (especially for someone who has released albums for more than 10 times) than to design a marketing strategy that is different, interesting, shocking. Whether or not it works depends on the audience, but as a fan I personally see ayu put some work into Colours, certainly way more than into LOVE again.

Actually, it's pretty much opposite. Now we don't know if everything was done last-minute, true, but releasing everything randomly and out of order is actually a sign of doing things last minute instead of doing them in proper order. With Namie her covers tend to get released, what, 2-3 months before the album? A concept is established, she takes time to record everything. Doing things in order means you have to plan and work ahead, it's not a sign of doing anything last-minute. That logic is reversed.

Here it feels like she started with an EDM concept, decided to put in J-Pop songs halfway, did some quick PVs in LA then flew back to Japan for concerts and slapped on some easily photoshopped covers from a previous photoshoot. And by "her" I'm referring to the product/team ayumi hamasaki. I have no idea what Ayu was personally doing/wanted, but saying she has more control over her career now than before indicates that she herself is the issue with the bad timing of this release. In no way is this a proper marketing strategy. What incentive do people have to be excited about the album until its release date? Who would still buy it? The hardcore fans only. Although perhaps her hardcore fans would buy it anyway AND buy the songs from TA in which case this is just another $$$ scheme.

We'll see with the Angel and XOXO PVs but so far it seems like she put more effort in making LOVE again than making Colours. Deciding to do a different genre and hiring some western producers isn't a sign of being more serious or doing more work. If anything it feels like she was less involved with the recording process than usual. Instead of CREA we get some demos from high budget western producers.

[orangeakira]

It's funny that we have all the song, the covers, the album name, and almost all the pvs. I actually keep forgetting this album hasn't been released yet (physically). lol

[hayasaki]

I'm officially using that textless photo for my iTunes��❤️

[hayasaki]

Originally Posted by orangeakira

It's funny that we have all the song, the covers, the album name, and almost all the pvs. I actually keep forgetting this album hasn't been released yet (physically). lol

And its tour is ending two weeks from Now lol

[marty]

@November4: I remember reading in Japan you can't really download illegally, or something like that. Maybe that's why they thought this was a smart promotion: since nobody was going to be interested even if they announced an album, they used a thing people still are interested in (concerts) to give them free samples of the new songs otherwise they wouldn't have checked on their own.
Honestly, I'm perplexed too at this new marketing direction, but since it's something refreshing, I really like it. Anyway, it seems WAY more and better planned than her whole 15th anniversary, even if maybe not very effective.

[LEOyumi]

Well, if we're going to try to define what's artistic, we'll still be discussing when ayu releases her 20th album. I feel the Colours covers have an artistic touch to them, somewhat like a simplistic fashion photoshoot.

[kaled kalil]

I can't with people dissing Secret's cover... That CD Only is one of my favorites cover EVER.

The new album's covers are pretty, nothing special but better than her latest releases.
Five (with so many photoshop mistakes) and Party Queen covers are so wrong, and Love Songs/Love Again were kinda of whatever, so this one is kinda fresh to her. It reminds me of Bold & Delicious style without the cool background.

[adantatu2]

Originally Posted by Linza-mo

*open the door*

hum... I just want send this picture =D



Good night ( ˘ ³˘)♥

*close the door*

My favourite cover, and isn't official <3

[xLuna&1LOVE]

@ November4 What is the dealio exactly about?

Unfortunately I am not up to date with Namie's recent releases. I would love to believe she had a much better marketing strategy, but I cannot see/use hers as an example because I know nothing about it.

Ayu has not hired "some" western artists. She has collaborated with influencial, international artists who are positively active at the moment. They are not 'some people' you can make jokes about. They are very well chosen for the EDM sound Ayu was looking for. Being able to collaborate with different music producers like these men is definetely a sign she is taking her work serious.

Ayu knew what sound she was looking for and that is why I cannot believe she has ever changed a lot to finish Colours in the last minute. Though, I can understand she struggled by putting Pray on the refreshing album without any other J-Pop-ish songs to reinforce the complete sound. She could not have made the deadline in July otherwise. Even though some marketing strategy decisions have been weird, that showcase and the 10 days PV shooting are not some things to shedule in a rush.

By saying this I hope I could have convinced you a little bit that Colours has not been a rushed through progress, but an experimental opportunity to work together with a brandnew team who really thought of the album concept in first place. I think the album is very well executed. Much better than LOVE again, which is actually very uncomparable to Colours, but hey.
But it is up to you whether you like the album or not. Even Ayu does not have the power over that fact.

[Andrenekoi]

I love how much marketing specialists we have over here...

[orangeakira]

Originally Posted by marty

@November4: I remember reading in Japan you can't really download illegally, or something like that. Maybe that's why they thought this was a smart promotion: since nobody was going to be interested even if they announced an album, they used a thing people still are interested in (concerts) to give them free samples of the new songs otherwise they wouldn't have checked on their own.

It's only illegal if the artist doesn't want you to download it. If Ayu released "EDMA" as a free exclusive download on her website it wouldn't be "illegal". If it was released on itunes only and someone bought it, and then uploaded it on a site like mega, or mediafire for people to download, that is illegal.

I think it was a very smart idea to give out free album samplers like the "XOXO/Terminal" CD but personally I see no reason why EDMA couldn't be a free download even if it is only about $5, or even put on a cd and handed out like the other cds at her concerts. I mean you're literally paying for a 15 minute sampler? Samples are for people to get a taste of something to get them to want to buy it. Could you imagine if you went to a supermarket and the nice old ladies that worked the sample stands actually charged you to try the samples?

Hell, if anything EDMA should be a free download on her official website for everyone to enjoy, while the 2 song free cds handed out at her concerts should be $5 you can buy at the stands outside. The cds give you 2 full songs to enjoy for no price, while EDMA only gives you a verse and a chorus of select songs from the album which you can hear for free on itunes when you press "preview all".

[kotora]

Why does she have perfect armpit and perfect hair, but I have messy hair and life.

[pimenta]

Originally Posted by orangeakira

Hell, if anything EDMA should be a free download on her official website for everyone to enjoy, while the 2 song free cds handed out at her concerts should be $5 you can buy at the stands outside. The cds give you 2 full songs to enjoy for no price, while EDMA only gives you a verse and a chorus of select songs from the album which you can hear for free on itunes when you press "preview all".

Just want to remind you that to get those "free CDs" people had to attend the concert, and the tickets aren't cheap (in fact the tickets for this tour are more expensive than many other j-pop artists' tours).

[adantatu2]

avex's prices for everything are always more expensive.