Quote:

...............

did anyone ask you to dig this up?

exactly

i'm sorry, but i don't see the point of having her "break" into the U.S. market. i mean if she wants to do english albums then fine, do then. what can she gain from the US? fans? money? she has all of that.
breaking in the US will only draw a bunch of dumb "pop" fans, and probably cheapen her image, since skin sells in the US, not talent.
this girl is the most wonderful, talented, musician i have had the pleasure off listening too. i don't want her and her career to become a big corporate entity like Ayumi Hamasaki. i don't want to see her picture in some tabloid in the supermarket with some scandalous, fake headline.
i dunno, maybe i like the idea of us "hardcore" fans having her all to ourselves.
as far as Island records go, they used to be a class act. after Chris Blackwell sold it, it went to shit. Island used to stand for something against the other, more money hungry label. they would put the artist and art 1st. now it's all about the bling.
the only reason hikki signed with them is because EMI and Island have been in bed together for years.
another thing is she needs to get with "real" producers. people who are interested in the vision the artist has for the album. not guys like Timbaland who are only interested in hanging plaques and grammy's on his wall. i want her to work with Eno and Lanois, Reznor........etc.

i don't know about that idea

u know how they promote and stuff so more skin and all that junk =/

I agree with fanmail, I didn't know that YMMWTBAM was out either, it wasn't played on radios etc and I never sayw it in any music shops. I hope she considers proper releases next time she thinks of the UK, don't let Island look after is Hikki, force them to put you here! *imagines Utada concert in UK* maybe someday~ lol!

ummm good idea?

im sure island would not let utada be released from them...they want to show what huge stars they can pull

I think Utada can stay with whatever label that makes her happy. If she's happy then I'm happy with her. If she decides to change labels to promote herself more, then let it be. I just want her to keep singing and doing music because I love her music and I look up to her. I know island records doesn't always show much of her, but I'm sure if she ever decided to leave them, they'd be begging for her to come back.

Unfortunately it isn't as easy to switch labels as I would like it to be... she probably has a contract with them, and I think she doesn't even care that much anyway. She never seemed the type to need the validation of her fans for her music, she seems to just make it and hope people like it.

HOWEVER, island is super stupid. They signed her because she was a superstar in Japan, but they never intended to promote her properly, (which might have had something to do with her being asian) hoping her own superstardom would propel her to some sort of fame here. I mean, did you see the promotional pictures they released for exodus, and the art on the cover? The only photos I liked were the ones for Devil Inside (which were awesome btw), but the rest of them made her look so ugly and alien-like (in my opinion, compared to her other ones). And I think a lot of people who bought her album had already heard of her because of Kingdom Hearts or her Japanese stuff. I never heard any of her songs on the radio, except one night at midnight when they played this (pretty bad) remix of Devil Inside.

But also, you cant put the blame completely on island, because this album wasn't the easiest thing to work with. I liked it, but I realize its faults - it had some weak points.


Man, I am just writing essays all around! I should learn to shorten my posts.

This really depend on her own will......if she feel comfortable staying on Island records...then let it be, it must have some reason behind tat...