thoseguiltyeyes wrote:

The entire Koisuru Universe single is now up on Spotify worldwide. If it's not available in the country you're in, please let me know!

https://open.spotify.com/album/13T3YTeuU2iBbOUTDwmN7x

Not available in France  

But thanks to JPU RECORDS for putting it on iTunes

niico wrote:Not available in France  

But thanks to JPU RECORDS for putting it on iTunes

same on italian spotify. maybe it'll take some time

All I can do is laugh now.    I struggled so much to with the instructions and setting up the ITunes Jp account then I had to buy the most expensive gift card they had because it was all that was left.   I then purchased the single early on my computer then after downloading to my iPhone (which I use in my car and out walking to listen to music) I lost access to my entire ITunes USA library (hundreds of songs with a fairly complete Scandal library including singles) for 90 days.  So now I find out it is available on ITunes USA.   Life is truly filled with epic jokes and this one is on me.   Really, I am laughing my A#% off right now.  There is no use in being bitter or upset.   I guess I know my Christmas present from Apple this year will be to get my Library back..

...and that is why I waited for the official release... I just knew they had to make it available to the rest of us fans.
So tomorrow I can finally listen to the two new songs in 256k and make a proper of that and finally watch the video too. *slight trepidation*

Kris1Otaku wrote:All I can do is laugh now.    I struggled so much to with the instructions and setting up the ITunes Jp account then I had to buy the most expensive gift card they had because it was all that was left.   I then purchased the single early on my computer then after downloading to my iPhone (which I use in my car and out walking to listen to music) I lost access to my entire ITunes USA library (hundreds of songs with a fairly complete Scandal library including singles) for 90 days.  So now I find out it is available on ITunes USA.   Life is truly filled with epic jokes and this one is on me.   Really, I am laughing my A#% off right now.  There is no use in being bitter or upset.   I guess I know my Christmas present from Apple this year will be to get my Library back..

I feel you, but I end up buying nothing cuz something keep messing or something keeps freezing on my computer lol. Then I found out that it was just the Heavens telling me to hold on and wait for the official release. I've save some cash lol. I'm glad they have it on iTunes bit I still have to find a way to listen to it on the go.

thoseguiltyeyes wrote:

Chart update:


＃1 on iTunes's Top Albums



＃1 on mora's Top Albums

http://mora.jp/ranking?term=lrank24&genre=all


#front-page #koisuruuniverse

Woah!! Number 1?? That's a big accomplishments   Good job!! I'm happy to hear it!

Kris1Otaku wrote:All I can do is laugh now.    I struggled so much to with the instructions and setting up the ITunes Jp account then I had to buy the most expensive gift card they had because it was all that was left.   I then purchased the single early on my computer then after downloading to my iPhone (which I use in my car and out walking to listen to music) I lost access to my entire ITunes USA library (hundreds of songs with a fairly complete Scandal library including singles) for 90 days.  So now I find out it is available on ITunes USA.   Life is truly filled with epic jokes and this one is on me.   Really, I am laughing my A#% off right now.  There is no use in being bitter or upset.   I guess I know my Christmas present from Apple this year will be to get my Library back..

Similar problem when i got it  on itunes Jp too haha. I also bought it on the US side too in the end so just 'cause im weird that way i guess. 

Seeing their chart on itunes japan, i kind of wished i held off now and bought on release to maybe help a little in the single song category rankings.

Kris1Otaku wrote:All I can do is laugh now.    I struggled so much to with the instructions and setting up the ITunes Jp account then I had to buy the most expensive gift card they had because it was all that was left.   I then purchased the single early on my computer then after downloading to my iPhone (which I use in my car and out walking to listen to music) I lost access to my entire ITunes USA library (hundreds of songs with a fairly complete Scandal library including singles) for 90 days.  So now I find out it is available on ITunes USA.   Life is truly filled with epic jokes and this one is on me.   Really, I am laughing my A#% off right now.  There is no use in being bitter or upset.   I guess I know my Christmas present from Apple this year will be to get my Library back..

This here is why I'm very skeptical about an all-digital future. You are at the mercy of the service provider (Apple in this case), and all your digital purchases could just go poof one day.

joon wrote:

Kris1Otaku wrote:All I can do is laugh now.    I struggled so much to with the instructions and setting up the ITunes Jp account then I had to buy the most expensive gift card they had because it was all that was left.   I then purchased the single early on my computer then after downloading to my iPhone (which I use in my car and out walking to listen to music) I lost access to my entire ITunes USA library (hundreds of songs with a fairly complete Scandal library including singles) for 90 days.  So now I find out it is available on ITunes USA.   Life is truly filled with epic jokes and this one is on me.   Really, I am laughing my A#% off right now.  There is no use in being bitter or upset.   I guess I know my Christmas present from Apple this year will be to get my Library back..

This here is why I'm very skeptical about an all-digital future. You are at the mercy of the service provider (Apple in this case), and all your digital purchases could just go poof one day.

If it's done right all-digital releases could be way better than CDs. First Apple is not giving you the song, it is more a streaming thing, same with Amazon and Google.
The best digital store for music I saw is Bandcamp. It allows you to download the songs in any format(up to FLAC 24bit/192Khz). I don'k know why SCANDAL/Sony do not use that store....from what I know they only take 10% of your sells if you sell more than 20k/year worth of music and 15% if you sell less.

Or atleast why Sony isn't selling music on playstation store?? it's not like they need to buy the rights for the songs(as much as the artists are under contract with a Sony company). It would be so cool to have a music category in playstation store. Sony is as big as Apple, maybe bigger so it seems stupid to send their parteners to Apple store.

Does anyone have a comparation between iTunes and Amazon music quality for these songs ?

park23 wrote:If it's done right all-digital releases could be way better than CDs. First Apple is not giving you the song, it is more a streaming thing, same with Amazon and Google.
The best digital store for music I saw is Bandcamp. It allows you to download the songs in any format(up to FLAC 24bit/192Khz). I don'k know why SCANDAL/Sony do not use that store....from what I know they only take 10% of your sells if you sell more than 20k/year worth of music and 15% if you sell less.

Or atleast why Sony isn't selling music on playstation store?? it's not like they need to buy the rights for the songs(as much as the artists are under contract with a Sony company). It would be so cool to have a music category in playstation store. Sony is as big as Apple, maybe bigger so it seems stupid to send their parteners to Apple store.

Does anyone have a comparation between iTunes and Amazon music quality for these songs ?

if you drag the songs out of itunes you keep the files. 

the reason most music companies used itunes or amazon or even google is because of the user base. in apple and google's case theyve got millions on millions of people with their phones and services since its already built in. amazon music has their potential customer base since it is also attached to their main store. Bandcamp is trying to court companies with its lower cut percentages since it probably cant compete with the others user base.

It's available in Spotify Brazil!  .clap.

Also, I just found out the whole discography is available in Spotify!  .toj.
Until a few months ago only Yellow was available... nice! Was this noticed before? Does it deserve a thread? 

Anyway, OMG I was expecting only Koisuru no Universe and Futari! Never heard Kimi To Yoru To Namida live before, this version is so good, for some reason I think this song has a big L'arc en Ciel feeling to it, I think it's the guitar riffs.

I was never a big fan of Koe until I've heard the 10th aniversary live version and read the translation, I was in a bad mood at the time because of a breakup and it really resonated with me, now it's a special song to me. This acoustic version gives me chills!  .love.

I actually bought the single on both iTunes Japan and iTunes Mexico, but I never lost access to my library. I think you need to prevent the songs from downloading automatically. I got a warning saying that if I turned on automatic downloads I will not be able to change accounts for 90 days, so I said no and I had no problem at all.

Also, Koisuru Universe is wrongly labeled on Spotify under the other Scandal band, so it's impossible to find if you are inside SCANDAL's discography. Be sure to search for Koisuru Universe or search for the other band. Is there any way to report this situation to Spotify?

I personally don't like digital-only releases in general and wish this was a CD, but OTOH it only costs $5.16(?!) in the US so I can't really complain. But I'd be happy to give them more money for a disc release. I can't see how the economics of this works out for them; you'd think they could still sell that digital release for those who want to spend the least, and give a limited (even 1,000 copies) physical release for those wishing to pay more to get more.

Anyway, regardless of all that, I really like all the songs. Futari will probably take a while to grow on me but it's a song I feel like I probably just need to know before I really get into it (something like Image, which was the same). It's not a style I dislike or anything so I just need to listen more. I really like Koisuru Universe already. And the live songs are both great -maybe this was mentioned (I haven't read the whole thread) but I haven't heard Kimi to Yoru to Namida live before (edit: it's on the First Live DVD, which I just haven't watched in years) and while I usually don't like acoustic versions of rock songs, Koe is actually really good. I think it's mostly Mami's voice, which always sounds better live but really sounds "right" singing over an acoustic guitar. She sounds a lot more powerful.

Anyway, really good single/EP, just wish I could hold it in my hands.

spacecadet wrote:I personally don't like digital-only releases in general and wish this was a CD, but OTOH it only costs $5.16(?!) in the US so I can't really complain. But I'd be happy to give them more money for a disc release. I can't see how the economics of this works out for them; you'd think they could still sell that digital release for those who want to spend the least, and give a limited (even 1,000 copies) physical release for those wishing to pay more to get more.

There are no printing, distributing and shelf space costs so it's possible that the profit is bigger on a digital-only release.

One more side note on my ITunes issues.   I downl all purchases to my devices, I don’t just stream them.  I first downloaded to my iPad and clicked yes on the 90 day warning (believing that I just could not download from the US account for 90 days to that device since I don’t use it as often).   Every thing worked fine and the single was added to my library along with a couple videos I bought.  Later that day I ran the new IOS update on my devices.   Couple days later I went to download to my iPhone.  Clicked through the warning then poof, my previous library was gone on my phone.  When I change accounts on the phone I can see them, but I can’t download or stream them.  The problem may be related to the iPhone software vs the iPad or I was sabotaged with the iOS update.  No way to be sure.

The single also charted at the top of RecoChoku's daily album chart, #2 on the Malaysian, #4 on the Hong Kongese, #11 on the Singaporean, #15 on the Swedish, #24 on the Taiwanese, #32 on the Polish, #35 on the Italian, #53 on the Turkish, and #73 on the French iTunes Store's daily album chart

"Futari" charted at #39, "Koisuru Universe" at #49, and "Koe (Billboard Live Osaka 2017.08.21)" at #91 on RecoChoku's daily single (song) chart, all for songs charted on the daily J-Rock single (song) chart ("Futari" at #5, "Koisuru Universe" #7, "Koe (Billboard Live Osaka 2017.08.21)" at #19, and "Kimi to Yoru to Namida (Billboard Live Osaka 2017.08.21)" at #24, respectively), also Scandal and Temptation Box re-entered the daily hi-res album chart (at #49, and #50, respectively)

On mora the single charted at #1 in Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Okayama, and Ehime (they are absent on the real-time chart, though), at #2 in Tokyo (they are #1 on the real-time chart, though), Hiroshima (they are #1 on the real-time chart, though), Shiga (they are absent on the real-time chart, though) and Fukuoka (they are absent on the real-time chart, though), #3 in Yamaguchi, and #7 in Toyama and in Wakayama, but failed to chart in the other 29 prefectures.

Hmm.. I cant seem to find it on their page.. even though the link TGE given works and if I search it on spotify it shows another artist with the same name.. .whiteflag.

Anyone else have this issue too?


(just realised someone said this..)

Try searching for the song name (Koisuru Universe) instead of the artist.

That's how I found it.

Koisuru Universe also reached #1 on iTunes Mexico!

Koisuru Universe Single charted #1 in J-Pop albums and #20 in the daily album chart. Futari charted #2 and Koisuru Universe charted #3 in J-Pop songs.

#1 for World category in the US iTunes store :D

Tuba wrote:

spacecadet wrote:I personally don't like digital-only releases in general and wish this was a CD, but OTOH it only costs $5.16(?!) in the US so I can't really complain. But I'd be happy to give them more money for a disc release. I can't see how the economics of this works out for them; you'd think they could still sell that digital release for those who want to spend the least, and give a limited (even 1,000 copies) physical release for those wishing to pay more to get more.

There are no printing, distributing and shelf space costs so it's possible that the profit is bigger on a digital-only release.

The economics of the recording industry are fairly opaque in the U.S. Not sure at all about Japan, other than anecdotally artists being on salary. Other than superstars I think many artists make their money, such as it is, through live gigs. There are a lot of articles out there if curious. https://splinternews.com/buying-an-album-isnt-the-best-way-to-support-a-recordin-1793852977

Playing around with Google Trends I see search interest for SCANDAL (worldwide and Japan) has trended down over the last few years. Anything before 2008 or so looks to be Patty Smyth (despite Google breaking out "Scandal Japanese Band" from others. I hope their new work brings them new fans and interest.

I think one reason they might be doing this is that it allows them to easily do basically a worldwide release on the same day. Of course a lot of us order our physical CD's from overseas, but that probably screws up their accounting and charting, since most of those sales don't actually count towards any chart.

I do know from experience that full printing and packaging for a CD is less than $1 even in very limited quantities, and a major label could do better than that I'm sure.

Well anyway, it's done and out there and the music's good. I did notice too that they didn't shoot any photos or anything for any kind of digital booklet or even cover art, so it also seems like it's an experiment in going minimalist to save on costs. But I feel like I always do with them - I want to give them my money! I want big deluxe physical packages that cost a lot of money but are so worth it

iTunes Store daily album chart (10/23):

#1 in Japan (-)
#1 in Malaysia (↑)
#2 in Singapore (↑)
#3 in Hong Kong (↑)
#7 in Thailand (NEW)
#17 in Sweden (↓)
#19 in Mexico (NEW)
#44 in Netherlands (NEW)
#61 in Kiwiland (NEW)
#77 in France (↓)

Failed to chart in Taiwan, Poland, Italy, and Turkey (↓)

Japanese bands usually get popularity in the west when they do an anime op/ed. Scandal doesn't do one since 2012 so I think that's normal.
I feel a little sad for people that only heard the anime related songs, cause now they're at their best IMO.