Noticed over on Arama! Japan that J-pop queen Ayumi Hamasaki's career has been one of the most illustrious in the history of Japanese music- and the music industry in general.
Hamasaki's album, "LOVEppears" was her second studio album that had massive success, selling a whopping 1 million+ copies in its first week back in 1999, 20 years ago from now.
Ayumi Hamasaki set record after record after that by continuing this streak with 4 more albums, cementing her legacy and setting a record as a female artist who has 5 albums that have sold so astronomically in their first week.
Singer Taylor Swift from America has just tied with good ol' Ayu with her seventh and latest album, "Lover" which just sold over 1 million copies worldwide and is being praised by fans and critics alike.
This achievement now ties Taylor with Ayumi Hamasaki, as both of these talented women now hold the record for a female artist having 5 albums cross the 1 million mark in those album's first week.
Its said that the new album by Taylor has had about 679,000 copies sold in the United States alone, with the rest selling strongly in Asia and Europe. Taylor's streak began with her third album, "Speak Now", and has since been picking up a ton of popularity.
While these gargantuan achievements are equally amazing from both artists, I personally feel that it should be noted that Hamasaki achieved her record in only five years, and in one market much smaller than the United States or western market. Ayu may have fans all over the world, but her music is technically targeted toward Japan, which is roughly less than half the size of the US market.
This is opposed to the near decade it took Taylor, and with her work being marketed worldwide.
To me, this just highlights how impressive Hamasaki's career has been.
Anyone who sees that much success has definitely put in some hard work, so I'd certainly like to congratulate Taylor Swift.
As mentioned on Arama! Japan, a current similar record held by male artists is presently held by B'z, who has sold 10 albums at 1 million+ sales each in their first week.
Speaking of Ayumi Hamasaki's LOVEppears album, there's a very nice 20th anniversary edition coming out soon, details here.
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