Mattthecat said:

But that's the point. She IS an idol who knows how showbiz works. And not a normal teen who no one cares about except parents if he/she gets drunk.
Those comparisons simply fail.
Aside from the fact that she's almost 19 and hardly a little girl anymore

Mirei's my favorite member by miles. But here she made a really big blunder.

And She IS a human girl with 18 years old that can make small errors like this.

I understand that the idol world is different from Western artists, but I also think we should not forget that these idols when they come down the stage are normal people, might have to consider whether the problem is that they don't entitled to have privacy in their daily life .

stansfield123 said:

But you can't expect to make a significant PROFIT from doing that. The direct sales are enough to keep producing music, but you have to sell your act indirectly, to make money. It can be through silly "handshake events", or other tricks Lurkette described in detail, or it can be by improving your ability to put on a show in front of a live audience, and selling tickets. So that's what it will come down to: will Ebichu follow MCZ's example, and spend their time improving the quality of their live performances, or will they go back to spending their time shaking hands and taking photos with fans.

Sorry I don't know much about Momoclo.
So Momoclo don't have any gimmick like HS, lucky winner item autograph, etc etc for whoever bought their new singles?

Management doesn't say anything so I don't get why Mirei should be blame over the lack of sales for this single....yet. Even if the scandal is true, that doesn't necessarily deter people from buying their singles. I'm sure fans know other girls livelihood depend on the fans' support on the whole group and not just Mirei's alone. After all, the group always does thing together with everyone always sharing the spotlight.

I just want to add that while it is by no means certain that the scandal is the direct cause for Massugu's failure to do well on the charts, and that therefore Mirei should be blamed. I mean, yes, it looks almost too coincidental, but maybe it is just that - a coincidence. As others have pointed to a lack of promotion, it seems to make sense to assume that has to do with it as well. Most likely it's a combination of factors. It's always hard to compare sales figures of one single with those of past singles (Superhero, Natsu Daze etc), simply because so many things have changed since they released them.

What would be interesting is if a poll among buyers of some of their better selling singles (Superhero and Haitateki or something) was to be organized. Then we could know for certain why a large portion of those people did not buy Massugu. But of course, this isn't really doable.

vimoral said:

And She IS a human girl with 18 years old that can make small errors like this.
I understand that the idol world is different from Western artists, but I also think we should not forget that these idols when they come down the stage are normal people, might have to consider whether the problem is that they don't entitled to have privacy in their daily life .

No one's denying that. When someone breaks the law however privacy is over.
In her surrounding it is not just a small error. It is a big error.
One however that would not shake the world. Not even in Japan.
No one is expecting her to be crucified.
But it might have been wiser to address that, make her admit the mistake and send her off on a series of social workings or whatever. Turn the bad into something good.
Simply ignoring the fact that she broke the law is well... brave. Lol
And as I said I think the lack of TV exposure has probably been linked to that. And that in return had some influence on the sales.

ebizori said:

And how many people will come to it and pay their money?

I don't have a scientific answer to that question, but this drop in sales is a strong indication that the answer is: several times more than there are willing to just be satisfied with buying the CD, and listening to the songs, without personally interacting with the teenage girls who sing those songs.

And still: the key to long term success in the Japanese music business is to try and appeal to people who are interested in the music rather than the personal interaction. If you look at artists who rely on personal interaction, they spend a couple of years in showbiz, and then they're done. As an ex Momusu fan, I learned this the hard way. The only ones who succeed in the long term are the ones who are able to get people interested in the music itself.

Kwkm knows this. That's why MCZ haven't tried to sell stuff by personally interacting with fans, in years. They're aiming to be successful in the long term, not just right away. The way to do that is by focusing on improving the product, not the sales process. Ebichu's managers need to learn from that (and they seem to have learned from it, judging by this shift in marketing).

AND I KNOW THIS: that's why is stopped caring about Momusu, and got into bands like MCZ, Babymetal, etc: because I want to care about things that have a chance to last (I'm not even looking for guarantees...I know there's no guarantee that MCZ will last forever, but at least there's a chance...the members of Momusu will be replaced in a few years, no matter what).

P.S. if you're willing to look at talent as a disposable resource, like AKB or H!P management does, then none of this applies: you can build a long term business strategy on signing and then getting rid of teenage girls, in a never ending cycle, just fine. But that doesn't seem like the Stardust way of doing business. I know Ebichu has had some changes in their lineup, but I'm still hopeful that they're not aiming to become an AKB clone.

I just feel like (scandal aside) there just wasn't enough promotion for this single. I myself forgot it was even coming. It came around so quick and there was no TV appearances, or any magazine promos or anything like normal really. I'm not really sure why and I'm not sure if it had anything to do with Mirei, but I think it definitely had an effect on sales.

they will not be AKB clone. noway)

But I don't mind substitutions in the group, if it required. The main thing that new members must be not less talented. Sakura Ebi's members does'nt suit me yet as a possible members

Wow! Momoclo sounds really impressive!
I remembered that they held a concert at Japan's largest capacity venue right? And the first girl group to do so and that is really amazing.

Actually I don't watch Momoclo performance except for collab with Ebichu like in Ore no Fuji. They were really good despite me never seen them perform before. I think Ebichu could follow their style but to management, it's a huge loss. Ebichu has 8 members, that means more budget need to be expense at them. I don't think management will do this again. Their best album is coming out in a short while so let's see what strategy management had in mind.

SSFV said:

Wow! Momoclo sounds really impressive!
I remembered that they held a concert at Japan's largest capacity venue right? And the first girl group to do so and that is really amazing.

Momoclo is the only one female group who held three concerts at Nissan Stadium, the largest venue of Japan

Well, Ebichu was the youngest group that had a solo concert at Saitama Super Arena (on 2013)

hehe))))