Flavor of Life

Infobox Single
Name = Flavor Of Life


Artist = Hikaru Utada
from Album = Heart Station
Released = February 28, 2007
Format =
Recorded =
Genre = J-Pop
Length =
Label = EMI Music Japan
Writer = Hikaru Utada
Producer = Hikaru Utada
Reviews = * "Who's Afraid of Music" (A) [http://vinyabarion.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/128/ link]
Last single = "Boku wa Kuma"
(2006)
This single = "Flavor Of Life"
(2007)
Next single = "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry"
(2007)

"Flavor Of Life" is Hikaru Utada's 18th Japanese single (25th single overall). released on February 28, 2007.

The single sold over 2 million downloads even before the physical format release, topping RIAJ downloads for 12 consecutive weeks, certified platinum for PC downloads in Japan. "Flavor Of Life" has become the biggest-selling Japanese download single of all time, with over 5,580,000 downloads there by April 2007. [http://www.rbbtoday.com/news/20070419/41040.html] [http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070419-00000038-rbb-ent]

On July 19th, 2007, EMI disclosed "Flavor Of Life" as a contender for most sold digital single of all time, with over 7.7 million downloads total. In 2008, IFPI reported "Flavor of Life" as the #2 digital song of 2007 in the world with 7.2 million downloads, behind Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend (7.3 million) and above Rihanna's Umbrella (6.6 million). [ [http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2008.pdf IFPI Digital Music Report 2008] ] [http://www.emigroup.com/Press/press51.htm] [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hV-9sQLhWhX_FALO6lvIBdw86fjw AFP: Online music sales grow 40 percent in 2007: IFPI ] ]

There were three versions of the "Flavor Of Life" that were released: "Flavor Of Life", "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" and "Flavor Of Life -Antidote Mix-" (a CD-only exclusive). The ballad version of "Flavor Of Life" was arranged by Utada as well as two other professionals; the original version was arranged by Utada, and the Antidote mix of the song was arranged by Alexis Smith, who provided additional arrangement for "Ultra Blue" tracks such as "Keep Tryin'" and "This is Love". [ja icon [http://joshinweb.jp/dp/4988006210073.html Flavor Of Life | 宇多田ヒカル | TOCT-40095 | EMIミュージック・ジャパン | CD・DVD 販売 通販 ジョーシン ディスクピア ] ]

The ballad version of "Flavor Of Life" was featured as the insert song for the popular drama or dorama, "Hana Yori Dango 2," which averaged over 21% viewership in its timeslot. [ [http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt200701/gt2007010504.html Article on Flavor Of Life and info on Hana Yori Dango 2] ] In early 2006, the production team of the drama contacted Utada about an image song that would sound similar to "First Love". When the director wanted to express the heroine's wavering feelings, he said that, "'First Love' came into my mind", and so, a request was made to Utada.http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/p-et-tp0-20070105-138437.html]

This is Utada Hikaru's first drama tie-in since "Sakura Drops" in 2002. An onigiri is featured on the cover and on the actual CD.

Mass reception

Digital success

The 45 second download of the ballad version of "Flavor Of Life" was released as a ring tone on January 6, 2007 on Chaku-Uta. The song debuted at number 14 the Chaku-Uta ring tone download chart, a great feat for one of the largest download stores in Japan. For reference, the main theme song from Hana Yori Dango 2, Arashi's "Love So Sweet", debuted at number 7.

On its second day of sales, "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" jumped to the number five position on the download chart, where it quickly ascended to number one. [http://www.utada-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7972] On the ringtone's success alone, "Flavor of Life" was able to peak at number one on not only the ring tone chart, but also composite chaku-uta download chart.

Within five days of release, it was confirmed that "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" had been downloaded as a ring tone over 100,000 times. These rapid and large sales figures only served to foreshadow the download success of the song. [ [http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000029304 宇多田ヒカル、新曲が早くも大ヒットの予感！ / BARKS NEWS ] ]

Indeed, the song gained a great deal of momentum. Just two weeks later on January 25, 2007, figures were released that confirmed that the "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" had sold in excess of 500,000 ring tones. "Flavor Of Life" had spent over a week at number two, as well as a week at number one on the real tone chart by this point. [http://www.utada-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7972&page=6]

On January 26, 2007, three more versions of the "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" ring tone were released. [ja icon [https://recochoku.jp/search/Srch?fkw=&tgt=mid&o=0&ftgt=mid&ext=1&mid=0%3a20066588 「着うたフル®」・「着うた®」なら「レコ直♪」 - 楽曲検索 ] ] These were the "2nd Chorus Version," "Bridge Version," and "Last Chorus Version." With the release of these new ring tones came the "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-"'s re-emergence at number one on the Chaku-Uta ring tone download chart.

"Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" was certified 3X platinum for the month of January for sales of over 750,000, and peaked at number one on RIAJ's monthly ring tone download chart for January 2007. [ja icon [http://www.riaj.or.jp/whatsnew/w070220_3.html 社団法人 日本レコード協会｜新着情報 ] ]

By February 5, 2007, over a million ring tones had been downloaded, and it was forecast that the number of downloads would in fact increase as the single's release date approaches. [ [http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/3015131/ livedoor ニュース - 宇多田ヒカル、新曲着うたが100万件突破 ] ] This prediction was soon confirmed as within the span of two weeks, "Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-" was downloaded an additional 500,000 times, bringing its total downloads to 1.5 million. [ [http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/3036319/ livedoor ニュース - 宇多田ヒカル、発売前に150万ダウンロード突破 ] ]

On the eve of "Flavor Of Life"'s release as a physical single came the revelation that "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" had sold over 2,000,000 ring tones before its release date, a first for any song or single in Japan and worldwide. [http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2007/02/28/06.html]

Full song downloads of "Flavor Of Life" on Chaku-Uta, iTunes Japan and other online dealers became available on February 28, 2007. "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" debuted at number four on iTunes, but peaked at number 2 due to the original version's stay at number one.

On March 7, 2007, approximately one week after news of 2,000,000 downloads, it was confirmed that "Flavor Of Life" had sold over a million more downloads, totaling three million downloads. [http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/3061397]

On March 8, 2007, the "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" fell to number two on Chaku-Uta's composite chart to the original version. It remained at number one on ring tones and number two for full song downloads. However, by March 11th, the ballad version ringtone fell to number four on ringtones, while staying at number two on the composite charts. The descent of the Ballad Version continued throughout March, as new singles were released and rose past Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-. Still, a month after release, Flavor of Life -Ballad Version- remained in the top ten for composite downloads on Chaku-Uta and iTunes.

In 2008, it was reported that "Flavor of Life" had become the #2 downloaded song of 2007, surpassing Rihanna's "Umbrella", but beaten by Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend".

On May 13th 2008, according to Barks.jp, digital sales for "Flavor of Life" have reached 8 million copies, accounting for over half of the 15 million downloads for Utada's current album, "HEART STATION". [ [http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000039775 Barks.jp] ]

Original version's digital emergence

On February 19, 2007, the original version of "Flavor Of Life" was released as a ring tone as well.Fact|date=June 2007 It debuted at number 45 on the Chaku-Uta download chart and rose to the top five within a week.Fact|date=June 2007 As of February 27, 2007, the original version ring tone has peaked at number four.{cn

Despite being overshadowed in ring tone sales, the original version outshined the ballad version in full song downloads, debuting at number three on iTunes Japan whereas the ballad version debuted at number four.Fact|date=June 2007 The second day, it rose to number one, snatching the spot from the popular single by Namie Amuro, "Baby Don't Cry".Fact|date=June 2007 "Flavor Of Life" also rose to number one on Chaku-Uta's full song download chart, and by March 8, 2007, it had finally reached number one on Chaku-Uta's composite chart, as well.Fact|date=June 2007

Although the Ballad Version fell out of the top five on both Chaku-Uta and iTunes a month after release, the full version has stayed at number one on iTunes and in the top five on Chaku-Uta full song downloads. The Original Version went on to stay at number one at iTunes Japan until April 20, 2007, when Spitz's Lookin' For took the position.Fact|date=June 2007

Airplay

"The "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" aired on radio in Japan on January 15, 2007, the same day as the release of the PV. The song has since reached the top ten airplay rankings of various FM Japanese radio charts. On MUSIC LOUNGE radio in Japan "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-" reached the number one ranking.http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/hikki/news/index_j.htm] [ja icon [http://fmosaka.net/ncf_top100.html fmosaka.net〜FM大阪〜 ] ] [ja icon [http://www.fmfukuoka.co.jp/cgi-local/countdown/w_countdown.cgi ヒットチャート [ソバイル..? fm fukuoka ] ] [ja icon [http://www.music-lounge.jp/chart/ Music Lounge リクエストチャート ] ]

On February 19, 2007, the original version of "Flavor Of Life" was aired on the radio. For the first week of airplay, "Flavor Of Life" faced lower airplay than Ayaka and Kobukuro's "WINDING ROAD", peaking at number 2 for composite FM airplay. However, "Flavor of Life" overtook WINDING ROAD on FM airplay the next week.

"Flavor of Life" also peaked at number 11 on mediatraffic's world singles chart, the highest any Asian artist has charted in at least the past eight years, the closes contender was KAT-TUN's Real Face, which peaked at number 12. Her initial index for sales and airplay was 138,000, beating out Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend for the hot shot debut for the week [ [http://www.mediatraffic.de/tracks-week11-2007.htm Global Track Chart ] ] . "Flavor of Life" remained steady the second week, with an index of 133,000 and a position of 12 [ [http://www.mediatraffic.de/tracks-week12-2007.htm Global Track Chart ] ] . Such a steady chart performance is unusual for Asian artists as singles usually peak the first week, and drop off quickly; KAT-TUN's Real Face is a paragon of this chart performance.

Physical sales

February 28, 2007 brought the release of the single, garnering buzz on Maxi for purchases. However, some bloggers reported the single was out of stock when they checked the store. Later it was confirmed that some sellers had already begun running out of the 400,000 initially shipped singles, just before "Flavor of Life" took number one on the Oricon dailies for February 27. [ [http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000030247&m=jpop CDが売り切れ!? 宇多田ヒカル、新曲が異常なセールス / BARKS NEWS ] ]

Despite tough competition from break out artists Ayaka and Kobukuro, Utada was confirmed to have taken the number one position on the Oricon with only the first day sales. Oricon reportedly stated that she "checkmated" her competition. [ja icon [http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/42575/ 『花より男子2』大人気！関連シングル2週連続首位濃厚！ ニュース-ORICON STYLE ] ]

On the second day of Flavor of Life's sales, the Oricon updated their daily charts to include indices for each day. Only a log of one week of these numbers was created, but for the known days, Utada has exceeded Arashi's "Love So Sweet" every day. Altogether, her index total for three days came to 87,898; the actual sales for these three days was much higher. Livedoor published an article using a factor of 1.81 to determine a suitable estimate for sales; if this was true, "Flavor Of Life" sold about 160,000 copies in just three days, outselling "Be My Last"'s total sales of 150,000, making this single her best selling since "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro". On the fourth day of sales, the index rebounded from 18,161 to 19,669. This single's sales rise continued for the rest of the week, once more peaking at a sales index of 23,821. The final estimate for the sales for the week was 278,930 copies sold; later on March 5, 2007, Oricon confirmed that final sales figures for the first week totaled 271,000. [ja icon [http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/42658/ 宇多田、1年5ヵ月ぶりの1位！初動売上は自身4年ぶりの20万超え！ ニュース-ORICON STYLE ] ] This figure is the highest first week sales for a single from a female artist since 2003's "&" by Ayumi Hamasaki.

On the second week of physical sales, Utada's daily index sum remained ahead of the competition for every day of the week. Despite falling to number three on the day of new releases, "Flavor Of Life" rebounded to number one on the next day and gained an increasing lead on its competition with each passing day. Utada's sales indices hovered around 10,000 each day, leading to scaled sales estimation of around 80,000 for the week by Thursday. Utada remained at number one for the rest of the week, selling a total of 140,000 for the week, and beating Yui's CHE.R.RY, Yui's best first week sales ever, for number one.

On the third week of physical sales, Utada's daily ranking was knocked down by Koda Kumi's BUT / Aishou and another single. Utada eventually gained the 2nd spot by the third day, and eventually reached number one, daily and weekly, outselling Koda's first week with her third week on the charts. This was the first time in four years and five months that a female artist has had three consecutive weeks as number one- the last female single was Ayumi Hamasaki's Voyage. This is Utada's second single to have three consecutive weeks at the top of the Oricon Charts, with 光 ("Hikari") being her first. On March 31, 2008, this single would also equal 2003's COLORS as her longest charting single ever, with 45 weeks to date [ [http://wiki.theppn.org/Flavor_of_Life Flavor of Life - Wiki.theppn ] ] .

Promotional efforts

Utada originally alluded to this new single on December 20, 2006 through a blog entry's title. [ja icon [http://www.u3music.com/message/index.php?m=1&d=2006122017453j.xml U3MUSIC INC ] ] This release was accompanied with a website update that revealed a February release date for this new single as well as the release of the track list.The "Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version's-" PV was released on January 15, 2007. The PV of the ballad version featured in-studio footage of Utada recording the song alongside a guitarist, a pianist, a cellist and various violinists.

On February 1, 2007, the television performance dates of "Flavor of Life" were released through Utada's official site. The first performance aired on CDTV on February 24, 2007 and the final performance aired on Utaban on March 8, 2007. Probably due to its tie-in with Hana Yori Dango 2, the Ballad Version was performed one time more than the Original (for a total of five). There was also another official update on February 1, 2007 that revealed other media Utada would be appearing in, including radio and magazines. Her promotional schedule for these efforts would last from early February to late March.

A PV blog web page was created for "Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-" on February 9, 2007. "Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-"'s PV peaked at the number one spot on the Oricon Chart web for most searched, played, and featured PV. Utada also was the most searched artist at the time. [http://utada-online.net/forums/showthread.php?p=227870#post227870] It also peaked at number one on Spaceshower TV, and for over a week, was the most downloaded PV on Chaku-Uta. The PV came in at #3 on Space Shower TV's Hot 100 Videos Year-End Rankings [ [http://www.spaceshowertv.com/chart/2007/org.html SPACE SHOWER TV｜スペースシャワーTV｜2007 年間 ORIGINAL CHART ] ] .

So far, there has been no official confirmation of a PV for the original version.

Fan reception

Overall, fan reception of the ballad version of "Flavor of Life" has been positive. Some of those who have listened to the song have complained of Utada's wavering voice, although some believe this to be a manifestation of her emotion. [ [http://www.jpopmusic.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=67131&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Jpopmusic.com :: View topic - Flavor of Life - Single - out Feb 28 ] ] [http://www.utada-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7945] [http://www.utada-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7958] With the full release of the rip of the drama song, fans were able to hear a low quality audio version of the ballad version. Additionally, the ballad version was released as a ring tone, allowing for many to form an opinion of the ballad version far before the February 28, 2007 release of the song. [ [http://www.jpopmusic.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=67131&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=255 Jpopmusic.com :: View topic - Flavor of Life - Single - out Feb 28 ] ]

The original version had a preview released on January 25, 2007, featuring a similar singing style to the ballad version, but drastically different instrumentals. Most have thought this song sounds like a mixture between 80s pop and the style of Utada's latest album, "ULTRA BLUE". [http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/app/scripts/access.php?cid=foozay&id=hikki_toct26067_03&url=foozay/hikki/toct40095_01.wma]

On February 11, 2007, a group of fans attended the taping of HEY HEY HEY, where Utada was reported to sing the ballad version of "Flavor of Life", as well as "Boku wa Kuma" in between takes. The fans were impressed with the performance, which aired on February 26. [ [http://www.jpopmusic.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2710497#2710497 Jpopmusic.com :: View topic - Flavor of Life - Single - out Feb 28 ] ]

On February 19, 2007, the original version leaked to the radio, which finally allowed fans to hear it in full for the first time. Overall, the response was positive. Many were ambivalent towards the songs and were not sure which one was better. [http://www.utada-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8361&page=4]

Tracklist

#"Flavor Of Life"
#"Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-"
#"Flavor Of Life (Original Karaoke)"
#"Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version- (Original Karaoke)"
#"Flavor Of Life -Antidote Mix-" (CD Only Bonus Track)

Chart

Oricon sales chart (Japan)

* *Still charting
*For a more detailed chart listing, as well as total known digital sales, see the .

TV Promotional Performances

*Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version- Performances:
#02.26 - HEY!HEY!HEY! MUSIC CHAMP
#03.02 - Music Station
#03.08 - Utaban
*Flavor Of Life Performances:
#02.24 - CDTV
#03.02 - MUSIC FIGHTER

ee also

*List of best-selling singles worldwide

References

External links

* [http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/hikki/news/news_j.php Hikki Official Website] - News about Flavor Of Life
* [http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt200701/gt2007010504.html Sanspo] - Article on Flavor of Life
* [http://www.tbs.co.jp/hanadan2/ Hana Yori Dango 2 Official webpage]