NEXT LEVEL tracklist (In Vogue)
[Ent. News] Ayumi Hamasaki – Next Level Cover (Ai Pod)
Hamasaki takes the ‘NEXT LEVEL’ in sales (Channel-Ai Community Blog)

Rinoa at In Vogue has the tracklist for Hamasaki Ayumi’s next album. Well, I should says tracklists. This is Hamasaki Ayumi of course, so it has more versions (2CD+DVD,CD+DVD,CD,USB) than a year’s worth of releases for some artists.

kingyohoshikuzu at Ai Pod is more focused on the cover. As if Rule/Sparkle’s cover wasn’t bad enough! kingyohoshikuzu brings up a comparison to Madonna’s “Hung Up.” Ok hold up. Madonna rocked one outlandish outfit in “Hung Up,” but it was also because Madonna was 47. Ayumi’s outfit here isn’t even close to Madonna’s, plus she’s 30 so she stands a much better chance of getting away with it than Madonna did.

DJAeon takes a much broader look at what Ayumi and the USB release is attempting at Channel-Ai Community Blog. He points out that sales are down across the board, and this could be a reason as to why this type of marketing is being attempted. I wouldn’t have considered this to be a prelude of things to come, but DJAeon makes a good point:

CD sales are in a steep decline, so steep that the rising digital sales are not enough to make up for the loss. Many Japanese artists have suffered a decline in overall sales, Hamasaki included. NEXT LEVEL’s USB’s mix of physical presence and digital versatility however, may be a turning point into the market.

It would take a Hamasaki Ayumi having successful results to inspire the rest of the industry to follow suit. I’m all for a changing market/industry so hopefully this doesn’t end up being simply a collector’s item and nothing more.