[Utada Hikaru] ʕ•̫͡•ʔ Upcoming 2018 Album and Tour in the 57th thread ʕ•̫͡•ʔ

Maemi · #1 27th January 2018, 06:44 PM

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Very exciting news for Utada Hikaru fans! Next year the singer will be embarking on a domestic concert tour for the first time in 12 years, the lasting being “UTADA UNITED” in 2006, supporting her studio album ULTRA BLUE.

Furthermore, along with the tour announcement Hikki’s official website also revealed that she is working on her 7th studio album which will also be released next year. This will be her very first studio album since making the switch from Universal Music to Sony’s EPIC records.

To celebrate these exciting announcements starting on Friday December 8th Hikki’s music will be available on numerous streaming music services including Apple Music. All of her releases starting with her debut single automatic, to her latest studio album Fantome will be included. Starting on January 8th her catalog will also be available on Spotify!

Next year makes her 20th anniversary. On December 9th, 1998 Hikki made her official solo debut with the legendary single automatic / time will tell. It went on to sell over 2 million units and charted for over 22 weeks. New album, new tour, does she have any other surprises up her sleeve? - source

NEW STUDIO ALBUM「Hatsukoi (First Love)」will be released on June 27, 2018!

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ʕ•̫͡•ʔ About Hikki

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ʕ•̫͡•ʔ Discography

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ʕ•̫͡•ʔ US Discography (as Utada)

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Credits:
The Previous Thread
The Official Site
Official Twitter
Generasia
Official Instagram
Official YouTube

Zahara · #2 27th January 2018, 09:16 PM

She looks beautiful in that photo.

DeepRiver · #3 27th January 2018, 09:56 PM

Didn't she get platinum for over 1 m sold copies? Digital and regular?

orbitalaspect · #4 27th January 2018, 11:00 PM

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Originally Posted by DeepRiver

Didn't she get platinum for over 1 m sold copies? Digital and regular?

I don't think Oricon does physical+digital sales certifications, right? I thought it was a special cert for digital sales. Because for Nishino Kana, she's always had separate RIAJ certifications for physical and digital sales. And I can't really think of anyone else who sells as much as she does digitally.

JackieRos · #5 28th January 2018, 10:24 AM

Thank goodness there’s a new thread, hopefully people stay on topic on this one.

I’m excited about the new album and concert, I extremely regret not seeing her live when
she came to NYC.

Zahara · #6 29th January 2018, 03:45 AM

Is she only touring in Japan?

ahtka-chan · #7 29th January 2018, 11:45 AM

^Most probably. Hikki has always been very specific on her tours. So, since she didn't anything about going anywhere outside Japan, I'd think it's just there.

NintendoHTF1242 · #8 31st January 2018, 09:57 PM

Utada’s discography minus 2016-onwards is now on US Spotify!! Finally I can listen to the tracks on SINGLES VOL. 2 and I can listen to the strings mix of First Love for the rest of eternity ugh yaaaas queen

Baco__ · #9 31st January 2018, 11:43 PM

I just wish they've uploaded her post-Fantome singles. urgh

Zahara · #10 1st February 2018, 01:51 AM

I'll take what I can get. Thanks for the news!

Akutenshi · #11 3rd February 2018, 04:07 PM

I'm happy that almost all of her discography is on Spotify now! I illegally downloaded all of her Japanese material back in the mid 2000s because that was my only means of getting it (reasonably, anyway - wasn't spending $40+ dollars on importing one CD), so it's nice to be able to listen to her older stuff in a way that will support her!

thinkingoutloud89 · #12 3rd February 2018, 05:36 PM

^the illegal downloading thing is debatable. i download almost everything that is not on apple music illegal, but they way you put it is also wrong. Depending on how you see it, do you really need each and everything you download? I have trillions of songs I never listen to - if I would buy music physically I would have much less but prioritize my listening habits. Maybe that is why everyone (including me) is out of touch with what they own and demand new music every week after a new release.

orbitalaspect · #13 3rd February 2018, 08:05 PM

I kind of get it and agree. And TBH, streaming services are not really supporting the artist similar to buying the actual CD. In most cases, ripping an illegal copy and streaming an entire album once are effectively putting the same amount of money in an artist's pocket. (And that's why Adele and Taylor Swift keep their new albums off streaming services for at least a month after release.)

Streaming services don't have to pay a per-play standard fee. They actually allocate a proportion of revenue to royalties then divide the total cumulative plays for all tracks by that amount and then pay royalties based on the per play estimate. So it kind of looks like this:

$255,000,000 Revenue -> 70% to Royalties

$178,500,000 Royalty Bucket.
~31,000,000,000 streams for January 2018

Per stream royalty: $.005758
Utada gets 1,000,000 streams in a month: $5,758 royalty sent to her label. Her label will take at least 80% of that, and Utada will get: $1,151.
Utada's manager then takes their 20%, and her agent gets their 15%, which leaves Utada with: $748.

Effectively, you stream her entire discography this month and she makes maybe 7 cents. You buy her entire discography and she maybe gets $1 per single and maybe $2-3 per album, so she takes home $60-100.

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Originally Posted by thinkingoutloud89

^the illegal downloading thing is debatable. i download almost everything that is not on apple music illegal, but they way you put it is also wrong. Depending on how you see it, do you really need each and everything you download? I have trillions of songs I never listen to - if I would buy music physically I would have much less but prioritize my listening habits. Maybe that is why everyone (including me) is out of touch with what they own and demand new music every week after a new release.

I agree on the "needing everything" thing. It's a lot better for you personally to spend money on the albums you really like and plan to hold on to for a long time. I wish more artists did special packaging for collector's editions. Like, Bjork's new Utopia album: If it came in a metal case with a photobook, I would easily drop $100 on it. The best edition I could find cost me $18 and it's still a very minimal looking package that will fall apart over the years. But I have it sitting on my desk because it's such a big record to me. I also plan on buying aMEI's last three albums off eBay as soon as I save the money for them.

So, my attitude with this is that streaming services should be like a trial of the music. You either get a maximum number of streams every month, or you get a maximum number of streams per song or per album. If you truly love the song, you need to buy the CD. Spotify is just Napster with a paywall.

For me, I wish things like the mixes on YouTube from Fluidified and Ambient could be bought. I would totally spend the money to hold onto all of the Ambient channel's Ambient mixes. But I think I should also clean out my media drive and delete things like Ayu's old tours and TV shows that I don't have on actual disks. And then just buy the discs if I really really want to hang onto it. The more crap you own, the less you value any one piece of it.

But in my defense in wanting more new music, it depends on the artist. With aMEI, I am still listening to Story Thief as much as I did when it first came out back on December 12. I am still listening to Bjork's Utopia as often as I did when it came out back in November. I think music itself is just oversaturated and the people who are releasing music aren't doing anything attention-grabbing with it. I love Taylor Swift's Reputation, but I just can't bring myself to buy it.

I have scattered thoughts on this stuff. But I do hope Utada's next album is available for purchase outside of Japan without a bunch of obstacles. I've always wanted to buy her records directly, but I am not going to spend another $40 for shipping after already spending $40 on the CD... unless it's packaged in a way that will keep it intact for a long time, or unless I find myself listening to it a lot for months.

Baco__ · #14 3rd February 2018, 08:17 PM

But you guys are talking about a model that doesn't work in the XXI century anymore. We are in the digital era and information from all sources and stuff. Why would be different with music? Personally I don't think Utada would receive so little money from her label (either from streaming services nor physical/digital sales) because she basically owns her songs (she has written her lyrics and composed most of her material), so I guess that'd be true to more produced artists, but not for her. But I also am realistic and know she doesn't make money out of it hahaha but she is Utada Hikaru, once the richest personality in Japan. That money was basically from her CDs and concerts, because Utada has never done so many ads like ayu, namie, BoA and stuff, has she? Haha

voltron · #15 3rd February 2018, 08:26 PM

She had pretty big tie-ins over the years, especially with Sony products I believe. In general, artists earn more from touring and goods than they do from the music itself - that part has not changed over the years.

That said, I'm pretty sure artists are paid differently in most Japanese contracts. For many it is more of a salary-based system, from what I understand. I think it is also common practice for labels to own the music (even if the artist wrote, composed, etc.). Though I could be mistaken in some of that.

Akutenshi · #16 3rd February 2018, 09:16 PM

I'll be blunt - by reasonable, I meant reasonable for me. I in no way will ever spend $40 on a music CD, unless like orbitalaspect said, it was a collector's edition with special packaging and the like.

And the problem in regards to Utada is, I've loved each album of hers. I love her entire discography, hard as that may be to believe. I bought Exodus legally, and I bought TITO legally. But I was not going to buy her older material for ridiculous prices, especially seeing as most of it isn't money that benefits her and her artistry.

And so, streaming is a more supportive thing to do than downloading illegally. Streams may not make massive amounts of money per play, but in their argument, fans do tend to stream the same song (and in my case, every song) many times. If all of her material were available at standard CD prices in my country (back then - again, I know they're on Itunes now, but I'm speaking to the 2001-2009 timeframe), I would not have illegally downloaded them.

thinkingoutloud89 · #17 3rd February 2018, 09:57 PM

^oh don't get me wrong, it was not to attack you. i can totally relate. Since I'm going to Japan more frequently now I distanced myself from buying CDs online. I also know that streaming services don't provide money to the artists, but better than nothing. i still buy CDs from smaller artist, artists I love and Vinyls.

What i wanted to say was more of a general thought I had and I just happens to speak it out loud. I guess we are just all losing touch of what we love. When you watch these shows on TV that talk about old music, there are so many live-changing albums. same with TV shows that talk about music - yet I feel very little of what I listen to is like "OMG I need this track forever". i overplay what I like and 90% of my music just sits there because I have no time left.

I sometimes feel sorry for myself that I just don't bond with an album that much anymore, but like someone said, it is not the century anymore to value that kind of approach. If I could change something up (meaning my choices in life) I would love to have more albums in my living room where friends who visit just grab one and I have a story to it. Currently I have Namies discography on my shelf. And while I have an overall story to it, there is not that much of variety. Like "I have this album because it is the bets pop-rock-after-grunge-hip-hop sound on the entire planet" and so on.

I may sound crazy but especially these comments in forums that call for new music and trash everything new into a bin after two weeks make me somewhat sad and angry (just like every other comment in the Koda Kumi thread).

I think Utada is an good example. She has a pretty long-lasting career, and for that a pretty small amount of albums that have , of course debatable, some kind of story and quality. Even though I love so many Ayumi and Koda songs, on the other hand, I can see why people make these comments in their threads - they just get more and there was rarely room to breath.

voltron · #18 5th February 2018, 04:41 PM

Since they added her discography to Spotify, I've been listening to Play Ball incessantly, tbh. This whole album is fantastic, and while I love Distance, Deep River has aged better than just about anything she's done.

ayumi_croatia · #19 5th February 2018, 07:03 PM

Play Ball is a great song!

voltron · #20 5th February 2018, 07:36 PM

^ It really is! I can't say I really dislike anything on Deep River, but when it came out I was all about Traveling, Sakura Drops, Final Distance and Hikari that I probably did not appreciate the other songs enough.