[Koda Kumi] The 205th Thread - angeL & monsteR

[Rainbow141]

Hmm. I expected a lot better, this was such good work. >.< Hopefully the minis show up.

Are digital sales tracked?

[KuuXAyu-fan]

What a disaster. It makes me wonder if the fans treated the mini albums like singles. The Re(Live) DVDs sold well earlier this year.

I know Kuu will be discouraged but I hope it makes her and her team make some changes and put in more effort in the promotion.....

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by Rainbow141

Are digital sales tracked?

I don't think so but I could be wrong about it

I do know that fanclub / both versions of the release are not counted towards Oricon

===

Some footages from Sun's tour final

Jijipress



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyJaPG3tFEc

[melissalove]

Very sad. But what can be expected tbh. Her music direction has been nothing but questionable lately. This new style of hers which incorporates songs mostly rapped( if that’s what you call it) and somewhat sung isn’t working for A LOT of people. At first it wasn’t that bad, but now is just too much. If we’re gonna boast about kuu’s “ changing style” and “ I’m glad she abandoned ero kakoii”, we must understand that she’s headed for very low sales.

[Corvina]

People, her sales are not going to go up again.
Physical sales are going down every year, except for artists having their breakthrough/peaks.
The only things still rising every yesr are streaming numbers and concert ticket sales.
So why should it be different for Kuu fans?
More of them will stream and buy less, too.
But as she's not an especially popular artist anymore, it looks worse than it is.

The number for the minis is a bit lower than I expected, but minis usually sell less than full albums and they're divided here.
And Kuu knows exactly where she's staying.
Last thing she talked about charts wise was that she's ckecking preorder numbers with her staff.

[thinkingoutloud89]

I expected a lot worse tbqh.
Milyiahs cover album only showed up in the top 30 on one day. Thats bad.

[kaled kalil]

The problem was dividing the release, in my opinion. In this case each version got a different position, so it messes up the count. 2CD+Blu-ray wasn't counted as well I believe, since it's only for the FC, even tho I doubt it moved many copies anyway.

After the top 50 the releases sold less than 1500 copies, I wouldn't be surprised if both CD versions sold less than 1.000 copies each. Counting all together (2CD+DVD, CD only, Blu-ray, FC 2CD+DVD) would be around 10k I believe, not very different from last releases.

Edit-

Spotify's numbers:

angeL
1 Alarm - 3532
2 I'm Lovin' - 52859
3 for.. - 3314
4 RUN - 12935
5 puff - 160753
6 Lucky Star - 90000

monsteR
1 Killer monsteR - 49863
2 WORK IT! - 3448
3 FliCky - 5399
4 No One - 3191
5 Sing the truth - 2663
6 XXKK - 96619

Total - 484.576

Even the streams are not that great, only one song that wasn't released before got over 5k (FliCky), and this counting worldwide streams.

[Ayu_Love]

Originally Posted by Corvina

People, her sales are not going to go up again.
Physical sales are going down every year, except for artists having their breakthrough/peaks.
The only things still rising every yesr are streaming numbers and concert ticket sales.
So why should it be different for Kuu fans?
More of them will stream and buy less, too.
But as she's not an especially popular artist anymore, it looks worse than it is.

The number for the minis is a bit lower than I expected, but minis usually sell less than full albums and they're divided here.
And Kuu knows exactly where she's staying.
Last thing she talked about charts wise was that she's ckecking preorder numbers with her staff.

I was thinking the same thing, tbh. I think nowdays most of Kuu's fans (except for the die hard ones that will also buy physical releases) probably stream nowadays, either on Spotify or Line music (which is evident from her stream numbers). I remember her thanking everyone in an Insta story last year because Re(Cord) was #1 on Line Music.

It may not be Oricon but that's still a number 1 to me.

Kpop is the same. I think the only reason they sell physical still is because they offer a lot more goodies with their CDs because they know people won't buy the CD without them, they'll just stream it. The goodies they offer for standard editions are often more than what much more expensive JPOP FC editions have, as well. I recently bought CLC's 'Helicopter' single and it had a photobook inside, a bookmark, little random member cards, I think stickers as well and more.

Obviously not trying to compare since Kpop is a lot bigger nowadays with more money behind it, but it could also be another reason why not many people are buying physical JPOP sales each year. Especially with the pandemic hitting everyone, people have less money than before, and it's cheaper to use a streaming site than to buy lots of CDs of artists you like.

I could be wrong, but that's how it seems to me.

EDIT: Thank you for my responses to my Tenso shipping question, that helps a lot!

[thinkingoutloud89]

I still prefer apple music, but sometimes I wonder if I should move to Spotify to make my listens count.

I still wonder when apple music will make numbers public like spotify.

[KarenPang]

Personally I stopped caring about physical CD sales a long time ago cos every year the no.s kept going down gradually

Most if not all of my favourite artistes I support , they can't sell well anymore except if you're Johnnys , the whole AKB family tree

Kuu has been in the industry for so long already . I'm sure she herself knows her selling power is not there as compared to before

But if there's still demand for her to continue to perform , release non concert goods & all that , then why not ?

The music industry has changed drastically over the years . Now musicians cannot rely solely on physical CD sales any longer , they have to diversify whether they like it or not

And Ayu_Love made a good point & at some point in time , the novelty items giveaway that's included in a music release tend to be a big factor to trying to push sales up

If not some artistes wouldn't do extensive release events to get the word out of their new releases out cos if not for them , their sales would tank big time on Oricon

[kaled kalil]

Can she sells signed copies? I'm not sure if it's a thing or people care in Japan about it, but this is one the things that has been moving copies in UK and US, besides bundles. Vinyls are also selling good numbers, but again, not sure how this would be received by the japanese audience. Both are more collectibles to be honest.

Also, besides Go To The Top she never had tour bundles anymore. That moved a lot of copies for the single, it even managed to go number 1.

---

Just now I noticed that they have footage from her first concert ever, in the interlude for MY NAME IS... Tour (walk and Go Together are shown). I'm really shocked that this was recorded, even tho in a VHS for what is looks like. Is it too crazy to want the whole thing even if it is just one angle?

In 2002 she did two dates for a concert called プレミアムワンマンライブ (Premium One-man Live) http://www.koda-family.com/repo_021005.html, on AIR OSAKA and Velfarre, both dates have footage judging by the interlude.

This was the setlist:

Spoiler:

atomic energy
1 COLOR OF SOUL
2 Go Together
MC
3 So Into You
4 feel me
5 Your Song
MC
6 come back
Till Morning Comes (dancers introduction)
7 Trust Your Love
8 the meaning of peace [h-wonder's mix]
9 love across the ocean
10 It's too late
11 TAKE BACK
12 walk

[Gustavopc]

omg........... It's too late on that setlist.............................. I'm gonna die brb

[_XXKK_]

im sure that if that live was on my name is best, it would have sold 2 million copies

[Rainbow141]

I get that everyone streams nowadays, but I think digital purchases need to count if streaming counts as much. People still buy their music, digitally and, I guess less so, physically. But I know a lot of people who hate streaming, and they're not just older twenty-somethings - or older - like me. Sigh. Whatever.

As Karen said, all that matters is that she's still in demand. People went out in a pandemic to see her. That reminds me of how older singers in America will do year-round shows in Las Vegas, and they will pack the house every night but their sales aren't nearly as grand. And if Kuu wants to keep dancing til she's fifty lmao, I say let's let her.

And I know she's not as popular, due to age, music trends, and her newer style, the only reason the numbers bother me is that I hope it doesn't demotivate her or encourage thoughts of retirement. I have no idea what her opinions on either are, but I just don't want to fathom it.


Also.

Originally Posted by kaled kalil

Is it crazy to want the whole thing even if it is just one angle?

In 2002 she did two dates for a concert called プレミアムワンマンライブ (Premium One-man Live) http://www.koda-family.com/repo_021005.html, on AIR OSAKA and Velfarre, both dates have footage judging by the interlude.

This was the setlist:

Spoiler:

atomic energy
1 COLOR OF SOUL
2 Go Together
MC
3 So Into You
4 feel me
5 Your Song
MC
6 come back
Till Morning Comes (dancers introduction)
7 Trust Your Love
8 the meaning of peace [h-wonder's mix]
9 love across the ocean
10 It's too late
11 TAKE BACK
12 walk

No. Not crazy. I keep track of what songs have PVs/lives and there is NO record of "Go Together", "feel me" or "It's too late", apparently outside this show. I would kill just for the MC, hell. I have a very soft spot for the affection/R&B days.

[Darkifrit]

Originally Posted by Rainbow141

And I know she's not as popular, due to age, music trends, and her newer style, the only reason the numbers bother me is that I hope it doesn't demotivate her or encourage thoughts of retirement. I have no idea what her opinions on either are, but I just don't want to fathom it.

I do think she is in peace with herself.
She is releasing songs she wants to sing even if only die hard fans will enjoy.

She is not focused in sales anymore, it’s been a while already and I believe until she can keep filling hall / occasional arena, she will be grateful.

Originally Posted by Gustavopc

And despite all odds, she had an amazing 20th anniversary. I am so happy her efforts paid off... I mean, it's not common for you to reach 20 years in the industry being active, even less to hold an arena tour to celebrate it, and even less in 2020 lol She's truly a legend!

Couldn’t agree more!
The figures are quite impressive considering the COVID.


I would love for 2021 if she would do 2 new (re)LIVE Tour.
I would especially love to see TRICK or UNIVERSE.

[Rainbow141]

TRICK and UNIVERSE would be amazing, but I'll take TRICK if we have to go with one. It's the standard I measure all her tours by ♥ If, like re(LIVE) 2019-20, we're going to add up to '21 though...hmm. There are a few interesting combinations lol.

Honestly I have no idea what her next tour could be. These new mini's were part of the MY NAME IS theme... If she doesn't release another album, some kind of themed tour would be cool, like in the vein of FANTASIA, a selection of her best songs from each style. Or maybe a more comprehensive version of BEST SINGLES '16. It would be five years since then, and she didn't do all her singles/b-sides/etc.

[kaled kalil]

As Corvina pointed out some pages ago, Kumi was talking about trying to do kinda the same thing from reLIVE with two performances per day, one for monster and other for angel, so that's probably in the plans if things get better with the covid situation:

Originally Posted by Corvina

From what she said in the streaming live she might do another two-performances -on-one-day tour next year, one for angeL, one for monsteR.
But it didn't sound as it was 100% sure yet, just that she's touring if it's not prevented by Covid.

As for reLIVE, the other two options she picked were TRICK and Kingdom (it was a the backup for Black Cherry, in case she couldn't use the water tank), I remember she said something on IG about having two days to decide, after getting the green light for the tank, or something like this. The reLIVE concerts are one of my favorites, I love everything about them basically and I would love it to happen again.

[KarenPang]

I'm actually surprised Kuu did not mention any further plans on what she planned to do during Sun's tour final

Maybe she will save it for the year end countdown live ?

Rainbow141 made a good point in that despite the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic , fans still went to see Kuu to give her moral support during her 20th anniversary tour

You can see how overwhelmingly touched Kuu was in the 1st 2 dates of the tour & of course during the tour final too

Kuu has been in the industry for so long already & I feel she's already at a stage in her life that she feels content and she also did said in the part 1 of the Sora Senpai Club interview she still wants to continue to try more new things too

From Oricon regarding the separate minis

angeL - #123
monsteR -#129

https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/259698/products/

Baidu will update the rest of the sales figures from below the Top 100 later on today

Also for the record I'm also the rare few that do not like streaming sites either . I never get why others like using them but to each his own

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by Rainbow141

I get that everyone streams nowadays, but I think digital purchases need to count if streaming counts as much. People still buy their music, digitally and, I guess less so, physically. But I know a lot of people who hate streaming, and they're not just older twenty-somethings - or older - like me. Sigh. Whatever.

Digital sales are going down every year, too.
From the numbers in Japan from the first half of the year, surprisingly the pandemic even made it go down faster.
It indeed looks simple - people are not buying music anymore, they stream it, either for little money on apple music/Line/Spotify or for free like on youtube e.g..
Probably as Ayu_Love mentioned cause lots of people earned less money this year and times are so insecure.

The Japanesw music market still is physical dominated (like 70% last year iirc, mainly from idol sales I'd say tho), but it changed faster than expected the last three years.
Covid probably had a bigger impact this year as well.
I also still remember one number regarding the rise of concert ticket sales. It went up 25% (!) in five years in Japan 2019 iirc.
So that Kuu loves performing and doing tours so much is a really good thing looking at the market ( and not so good for somebody like Utada who likes performing not so much).
Though in Japan physical will most likely never go away and it's going to settle down on a certain number definitely higher than in the rest of the world in the next decade.

Ah, yeah, here's a good and recent English article about it:
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Bus...e-of-discovery

EDIT:

Just found somone unboxing angeL & monsteR, including FC edition.

[Darkifrit]

Originally Posted by kaled kalil

As Corvina pointed out some pages ago, Kumi was talking about trying to do kinda the same thing from reLIVE with two performances per day, one for monster and other for angel, so that's probably in the plans if things get better with the covid situation

I miss the information.
It’s a good concept. It could be the occasion for her to perform gems she rarely performed live.


I love TRICK Tour, it’s been a while I watched it since she didn’t update it in her YouTube this year.
I was lucky to assist to this concert, the only thing I didn’t like was the atrocious haircut so she would probably improve it for a (re)LIVE.

Kingdom Tour is lacking something in comparison probably because of the scandal at that time. The design stage was amazing but the ballad section was too long and boring (with the exception of hands ). Glad she stucked with Black Cherry Tour instead.