This makes absolutely no sense, much like basically everything you posted in this reply I'm quoting. Since the Japanese people living in Japan who can go to every event and consume everything they have to offer are the only ones that can make any difference, it is up to them to change the financial backing of the group. I own all of the Idoling albums, half of the singles, and have a couple dozen pieces of merchandise from them as far as shirts, DVDs, etc. so I don't just sit around and download their shit all day, I do buy their releases often, but my one person (a foreigner, nonetheless) doing so doesn't make much of a difference. No one has "responsibility" as a fan, you just are a fan, you have no obligation to an idol group unless you imagine it. You're getting into delusional wota mentalities here. I'm not here to "protect" Idoling, I am a fan and I support them when I can financially and when I see it fit.
I'm not implying that you are just talk and no walk fan, I'm just curious as to your apparent lack of consideration for the well being of the members by keep saying that Idoling doesn't need to become mainstream, it just sounds like a very selfish motive to me. The members want to be more popular so that they could get more decent and well-paying work, as a fan you should be supporting their goals, not fear the possibilities of going mainstream and convince yourself in a twisted logic that Idoling is fine the way it is now, an anonymous nobody group. Do you even know why the members are working their butt off? Remaining anonymous is not it, that much I can tell you with certainty.
If you don't want to be responsible or liable for the success of an idol group, then it would be better to not say such discouraging things like Idoling doesn't need to become mainstream, I have to tell you again that I still don't get such an mentality. If you are basing that on that nonsense AKB analogy, your whole thought process is flat out wrong, that's all I can say.
These schemes don't matter unless you already have a pretty substantial fanbase that buys everything you release, which Idoling really doesn't, yet H!P and AKB do, so the formula works for them, but for Idoling, they just need to get more supporters in general, not just suck more money out of the existing fans, because it doesn't work that way when you have few fans to begin with, comparatively. I think the relative non-idol-ness of Idoling is what hinders them from being accepted by lots of general idol wota because they don't try so hard to be the perfect ideal idol image, they focus more on being entertainers, and it doesn't give the wota very much fantasy to latch onto or create compared to something like AKB and H!P where the girls are pretty much all carbon copies of each other and are about as fake and generic as it gets in idol terms. This is why I love Idoling and I'd rather seem them keep their uniqueness in the idol market than go the road that other troupes have gone, even if they're not swimming in money.
Wait, just before you were claiming that HP was selling less than Idoling, but now you are flip flopping and saying that HP has the fan base to employ the AKB tactics? Do you just change things to fit your argument conveniently? Technicalities aside, you are now blaming the wota crowd for not appreciating Idoling enough? Do you ever find any faults in how the management or the group operates? This blaming everything else but not your beloved Idoling for not being popular enough to go into mainstream only sounds like sour grapes to me sir.
Here's what I have identified with the 5th generation voting scheme, you blamed the wota crowd who doesn't get Idoling, I say I blame the management for pulling such a lame stunt on the current fan base, more so than the current fan-base's lack of financial power. I mean if such a tactic is not going to make the current fan-base to spend more money, than clearly the non-fans wouldn't either.
You have mentioned that Idoling needs a new source of revenue stream such as new fans, and do you suppose they can do that the way Idoling is now? I doubt it, the quality has been real questionable on all fronts, and the staff is fooling around way too much by keep employing youth with mediocre vocals, and shoving untalented members into the spotlight and sucking on Kikuchi's toes every chance they can get. It's not a coincidence that I have to be rather critical of Idoling's management here, there are a lot of room for improvement.
I simply have to disagree with your claim that HP is just a carbon copy of each other and that they are fake and generic. HP actually keeps their idols very much down to Earth form, their talk segments are rather very free-style and has tons of comedic touches to it, their once aired Hello!Morning had quite a bit of variety to it and it would be rather ignorant to dismiss HP as another AKB clone, that's just not true. Besides, whos that annoying character from HP who is forming a tag-team with Kikuchi on the variety circuit? Momochi is home-grown HP idol and she's as unconventional an idol as they come, in fact her character is even more dynamic than Kikuchi's baka character, your opinion on HP is simply wrong.
And again, I must remind you that your worst fears of Idoling going mainstream = AKB clone is totally flawed.
Is Momoiro Clover an AKB clone? No and they are mainstream, and has plenty of variety aspect to them, just ask Idoling's MC Bakarhythm, he's a big fan.
Is Perfume a slutty garbage AKB clone? No, they are very artistic and creative, their techno-vocal genre has become something of a revolution in global music scene even, whos to say Idoling can't be that rather than AKB? Hell, Idoling actually has the vocal trio of Maipuru, Rurika, and Tonchan to even surpass Perfume. You see what I mean?
I don't know, Calpico, Sega, Sony, Konami, and Microsoft, among a laundry list of others. Idoling!!! has done promotions and tie-ins with all of them, and some of them multiple times.
Yes I'm aware of the little corporate gigs Idoling gets, and do you suppose they are hired because of popularity, or super-discount in cost?
Hewlett Packard has dumped Idoling for AKB, and AKB now does TV commercials for them, Idoling only got lousy web ads. Idoling might as well stand on the streets and hand out fliers, the quality of work they get are putrid. Even the very recent Caplico gig they got had me on high hopes only to realize that their so-called reward is doing field sales in stores, not even a TV commercial, how sad.
Considering that AKB is selling CDs in the millions, I don't think the same 6% of overall profit even applies the way it would to Idoling or Morning Musume. So clearly, CD sales does matter.
This statement makes no sense at all, I'd suggest you re-state it and make your point more clear if you want it to be taken seriously.
What is there not to understand? I'm saying CD sales matter, I can't be any more clearer than that. I also like to add that CD sales isn't just about making money, it also helps in spreading popularity, things would be radically different only if Idoling could get weekly Oricon #1 ranking just once, then people in the industry would not treat Idoling like a bunch of also-rans, that's for certain.
girl scout modesty
That's what MAMORE did.
I thought we were talking about One Up!!!