Why I think Ayumi's sales have fallen...

[HELVENEUE]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Back on topic, I think that if Utada had the same rapid release rate that Ayu did, we would see her average sales dip sharply. I don't know if Ayu would be able to maintain a really high average if she had the same amount of albums as Utada but... that's really uncharacteristic of avex. Maybe if Ayu were on another label, but I just can't see Ayu =/= on avex.

I agree completely.

I think everyone can also agree that record sales are just NOT what they used to be, even in namie and utada's respects. I'm not even trippin' on record sales. I'm not worried about ayu's financial situation. Besides, doing tours is where its at. Tours generate reeeeeeeedonkulous profits. Especially ayu tours since this ***** sells out arena's and has been on tour 98% of her adult life.

[truehappiness]

You missed my edit. HDU.

Yeah, seriously. Ayu basically sold out the final two shows (20,000+ seats) for AT10 at Yoyogi in ONE MINUTE.

Site: Attention! Tickets go on sale at 10:00am!
-10:00am comes-
Fans: Yay! I can get tickets!
-10:01am comes-
Site: SOLD OUT.

-dies-

[HELVENEUE]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

You missed my edit. HDU.

Yeah, seriously. Ayu basically sold out the final two shows for AT10 at Yoyogi in ONE MINUTE.

Site: Attention! Tickets go on sale at 10:00am!
-10:00am comes-
Fans: Yay! I can get tickets!
-10:01am comes-
Site: SOLD OUT.

-dies-

10,000 seats, thousands of yen per seat
who cares about record sales.

[tourniquet]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

If you flip that argument over and look at it from a different perspective, she puts out amazing work without spending all of the time that Utada Hikaru or Namie Amuro spend, haha. So... -shrug-

utada and amuro are just divas with their release cycles, but they don't actually put that much work into their stuff. namie's all about live performance/perfection and utada is well-known to compose stuff in a night's time. and it comes out just fine. that's because she's a natural songwriter.
and her style of songwriting is greatly appreciated in Japan. I wouldn't call that overrated if you have the gift to grab so many people's attention by just doing what you feel like. if for their stans, they're equally bad.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Well, most of Ayu's albums are growers where about a year later you realize it's amazing when that "Oh!" moment happens. I think she loves to put out new music, and with Rock'n'Roll Circus, it really shows that she's trying to step up her game after not having all that much time to produce Secret/GUILTY/NEXT LEVEL. If she loves what she's doing, why should she slow down/take 2-3 years to make an album if all most people are going to do is go crazy?

there's lots of fanservice in RnRC, but I don't see anything that indicates her "stepping up the game". if anything I see a woman that's desperately running the same scheme over and over again because she cannot stop for several reasons.

there's little to none musical and artistic development in RnRC. it's a tried and true formula with the exception of Sexy little things and maybe Sunrise.

most of all, I was shocked that they still partly re-use synths from Memorial address.
songwriting is better than in NL, but I really miss those magic moments she used to create. RnRC sounds very down to earth for me, not dreamy, not conceptional, just a fan-serviced ayu product (enjoyable, but detached).

gee, I haven't seen her genuine smile for a while now. that aches.

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by tourniquet

songwriting is better than in NL, but I really miss those magic moments she used to create.

I agree with everything you said, but this part most of all. I miss the magic moments too.

[lumieregrl]

Sometimes I think I'm just glad that I'm a relatively recent fan [post-Secret era] of Ayumi 'cause honestly most of this mourning over the past Ayu goes right over my head. Not saying it's wrong if you do or anything like that (don't take it personally!), but going through her discography in the space of a couple of months leaves one with quite a different perspective than having waited on, watched, and listened to her over a period of 10 years. At least it does for me. XD Although, give me a few more years, and maybe I'll be singing another tune. lol

Why is it so hard to discuss Ayumi around here? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Zeke.]

Ok, I didn't even read any of the posts since I posted last. Lol. But I have something new I'd like to say:

I think the main thing is that, Ayu's songs can't really afford to be plain, or not out-of-the-park right now. If she were to release an unbelievable album, it could give her a nice little propel. It seems to me that all of Ayu's songs used to have so much power and perfection to them. To me, Rock'n'Roll Circus had a lot of effort put into songs that weren't really that great to begin with. Like they made good productions out of mediocre compositions/melodies. I can find parts in almost everys song that I LOVE, but not really many songs I LOVE AS A WHOLE. I'm gonna make a clip of all the clips from the songs I love and post it later. It's like, certain parts of the song I get excited for, but I am not gonna listen to a song over and over just to hear the 30 seconds I like.

[truehappiness]

To me, Rock'n'Roll Circus had a lot of effort put into songs that weren't really that great to begin with. Like they made good productions out of mediocre compositions/melodies.

I think a lot of that might have to do with the fact that 2 composers (that Ayu has been using QUITE often) basically dominated the album tracks. She really needs to spread her albums out a bit more instead of basically making CMJK/Yuta/Tetsuya do EVERYTHING. I would say that GUILTY, NEXT LEVEL, and Rock'n'Roll Circus have this "problem"...

[Bad Wolf]

^ Aww, that's really cute XD

Honestly, the diva image doesn't bother me because I think Ayu's one of the first artists in Japan to really cultivate or "use" that look -- and in a way, she's smart for doing it because she can be assertive/aggressive/rocker Ayu, girly/fun/upbeat Ayu, somber/quiet/mournful ballad Ayu all within that single image. It's like being a "diva" is an umbrella under which all these images fall for her now, which Ayu can don or take off however she wills...

I can see why people who are more familiar with western "diva" artists would dislike it or find it boring, but I don't really have a problem with it. I think it's just another expression of power and control for a woman to have (and, once again, there's no male counterpart to a diva... so why is it only a big deal if a woman does it? D: )

[elepop]

Originally Posted by identity

"But we can truly see why Namie is back in the limelight: her songs are not Americanized."

You lost me there. The reason I don't like a lot of Namie's new music is because it's wayy too americanized. I still don't think ayu's music is very americanized at all, and that's why I love it.

Namie's music is mostly urban. But it definitely doesn't sound like Americanized urban songs.

I don't really think that Ayu's music is too Americanized. Actually, it isn't at all. I simply think that she had lost her touch since "(miss)understood" and her music is getting more and more generic. They don't have that special something like it used to be.

[truehappiness]

I don't really think that Ayu's music is too Americanized. Actually, it isn't at all. I simply think that she had lost her touch since "(miss)understood" and her music is getting more and more generic. They don't have that special something like it used to be.

I would like to argue against this, because there are many people who feel that there is that special something still in the music she is releasing.

It seems more like that people who don't feel that special something are simply either not able to feel it due to other factors, or they've completely lost the ability to feel that special something from Ayu's newer works.

IMO, it's very insulting to the people who do feel something, because you're basically saying that what they're feeling is worthless and a falsity. Were the tears that this reviewer cried at the end of RED LINE ~for TA~ [album version] false? (Don't you dare call her blind, because she is anything but.) Is the happiness that one feels listening to meaning of Love or Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~ not genuine?

Just because you don't feel something doesn't mean that the songs/works in general don't cause others to.

[love in music]

Originally Posted by elepop

I don't really think that Ayu's music is too Americanized. Actually, it isn't at all. I simply think that she had lost her touch since "(miss)understood" and her music is getting more and more generic. They don't have that special something like it used to be.

ayu has original songs here and there, but the majority of her discography is generic imo, so that's nothing new to me. she just adds the ayu touch that makes me enjoy it more.

[tourniquet]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

IMO, it's very insulting to the people who do feel something

oh god no. you didn't write that.

"you don't feel the exact same way towards a thing than I do so I feel insulted."

earth'd be a worse battlefield than it already is.

[elepop]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I would like to argue against this, because there are many people who feel that there is that special something still in the music she is releasing.

It seems more like that people who don't feel that special something are simply either not able to feel it due to other factors, or they've completely lost the ability to feel that special something from Ayu's newer works.

Obviously, there's going to be different opinions on everything, for everybody.

I personally find Ayu's older songs really special and unique. And most definitely, timeless. I could still listen to appears, TO BE, alterna, Memorial address, A Song for XX, SURREAL, Close to you etc... years and years after discovering them. Now, I feel like there's a lack of climax and mood. Like the thread poster said, her music used to have a story, a mood, amazing intros and breathtaking bridges. Ayu doesn't really bring that into her music anymore. All her rock tunes sound the same, all her ballads feel the same, all her summer pop songs are the same. And when she actually tries to do something different, it doesn't work for me.

I know I must sound so picky right now. But after years and years of listening to her music, I've come to realize that her best songs are her earlier works. (On a side note, I also like her earlier voice better than her current voice, which might be different from a lot of people's opinion... XD)

[elepop]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Each and every song on Rock'n'Roll Circus has a different appeal and sound too, yo. -hides-

Yes, but as I said...

"All her rock tunes sound the same, all her ballads feel the same, all her summer pop songs are the same. And when she actually tries to do something different, it doesn't work for me."

[tourniquet]

Originally Posted by elepop

I know I must sound so picky right now. But after years and years of listening to her music, I've come to realize that her best songs are her earlier works. (On a side note, I also like her earlier voice better than her current voice, which might be different from a lot of people's opinion... XD)

I very much agree with this. especially with the timeless factor and uniqueness.
it took me 4 years to finally appreciate I am..., but this month I've finally arrived there. and it ties in so well with the rest. LOVEppears, Duty, RAINBOW. it's her newer music that draw me into listening to her but from a musical standpoint it's probably her older work that comprises what will be memorized and what formed the brand.

though I'm completely unable to point towards the album where she lost the magic (in her music). something of it must be in her voice or I wouldn't come back for more every time.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Oh, and Shu-ya.

shu'ya's an insult to humanity.

[CHE.R.RY]

To be completely honest...I don't think Ayu's music is that westernized sounding...especially when I compare it to the stuff we get here in America. I mean, yeah...pop is western...but her music just doesn't sound like the modern music of the west. Some stuff, such as (don't) Leave me alone, kind of sounds like mid-late 90's American music...but that's like ten years outdated lol. I don't know, to be honest, I just think Ayu is exhausting the Japanese public. While it's fun for us, it's probably annoying how she's always releasing new material. It might've been fun at first, but it I'm sure it's just starting to get old now after twelve years of constant releases (not to mention it's probably just starting to sound all rushed and not carefully composed). As someone said, 'what goes up must come down'....maybe her fame is slowly fading away???

I will say this much though, in a lot of ways (even though she doesn't sell nearly as well as she had in yester-years) Ayu is still very successful. She always hits the top (#2 is still basically the top) and she still sells over 100k. That's not too bad in comparison to a lot of other j-artists I've followed .

[waterballoon]

oh God. While we are arguing over Ayu's old vs new music, I'm here enjoying to Rock'n'Roll Circus AND LOVEppears.

The point is - Ayu is a pop artiste. Sorry but she's not some indie-artiste who can just do what she wants. Granted, if she honestly had that full freedom, we wouldn't be seeing songs like "EnergizE" anymore.

Ayu is a rocker at heart, I'm pretty sure she wants to sing and produce rock songs anyway, so basically EVERYTHING ABOUT AYU IS STAGED, PLANNED AND EXECUTED

Of course Ayu strays a little away from that since she's one of the few pop artistes I've seen who actually bother to take creative control over her works. But still, at the end of the day, she's a staged, planned and executed product of avex.

That being said, it's impossible for her, or ANY MUSIC ARTISTE in the world to satisfy EVERYONE.

Of course there are fans like me who enjoy every single one of her albums, though some a little less than others.

I mean why is her "old vs new" music even an issue? let the nostalgic people drown in Duty and I am..., and let the current fans or people who enjoy her current music jam to NEXT LEVEL and Rock'n'Roll Circus. Is it that difficult to... get that? lol.

But I do agree with tourniquet that her music recently has been quite uninspired, save the occasional surprises like Don't look back, Sparkle, Sexy little things and so on.

Let's just put it this way... I enjoy older albums such as LOVEppears, Duty, RAINBOW and MY STORY as pieces of art, while I enjoy newer albums such as GUILTY, NEXT LEVEL and Rock'n'Roll Circus as addicting, fun music. Either way, both sides aren't horrible or perfect, but it's all about enjoying the different eras of her music in a different perspective/point of view.

[emi♡]

This thread just...evolved into something insane! lol

Are we discussing how Americanization affects sales?

Honestly...I don't really think Japanese people care or even think about what music sounds "American" and what doesn't lol They, just like every other country, have people who like this genre, people who like that genre, etc...

imo Sales in Japan have very little to do with the actual music being produced, and very much to do with many other things...like everywhere else...therefore negating the entire relevancy of the discussion between her old and new music lol and people's opinions of what that difference means for sales.

[Andrenekoi]

^And this is a good reason for loving Emiko