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The story
On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, a thread blew up over the fact that Morning Musume’s Spotify monthly listener count beats Juice=Juice’s, yet Morning Musume hasn’t received a single offer from TV or music shows. Replies split into two camps: one theory holds that the agency is funneling music-show slots to Juice=Juice, while the counterargument points out that if such slots really existed, Morning Musume should have been getting more appearances for the past five years. Commenters also brought up how Morning Musume’s new single hasn’t appeared on Venue101, and how none of Juice=Juice’s songs have cracked Spotify Japan’s Top 50 — with opinions split over which numbers should actually count as evidence.
What people said
Well, it's an important metric for Kohaku [NHK's New Year's Eve music special], but as things stand it's 100% impossible
Classic case of ME:I debunking that argument every time
Tons of new fans have flowed in that weren't there back when the slots went to Morning Musume — great cost-efficiency
If 'slots' were really a thing, they'd have been getting way more appearances since 5 years ago. That's such a dumb take. Do you even know how many years it's been since they were on Music Station? lol
Never gonna happen — they're already on a downward trend
No need to pass them — Juice=Juice keeps getting booked on TV one show after another
Who's the one shifting the goalposts away from the thread title?
Okay fine, they lost to Musume's golden age. Happy now?
There are groups like Morning Musume and AKB48 that grow even without going viral, so you should take that with a grain of salt
Name me a song or artist whose popularity never declines
Maybe so… they don't ride trends either
Kurakura☆Climax alone was enough to get them on Venue101, but apparently Morning Musume hasn't been on it once since their 'Fue' (Flute) single back in 2022
If Kurakura had been credited to Hoshibe, it would've definitely gotten trashed as a crap song
Honestly can't quite tell which way that gap goes
That's rough. Everyone kept saying they went viral so I figured they'd at least be neck-and-neck with someone like =LOVE
It's impressive that Airitto is still in the top 10 — they even beat out Mrs. Green Apple
So Juice=Juice really isn't popular at all, huh. Guess I got fooled by the 'wolves' (diehard male fans notorious for hyping idols up)
But they don't draw as big a crowd as Mrs. Green Apple though
Well yeah, I mean their arena shows sell out completely and all
But their monthly listeners are several times higher than Mrs. Green Apple's — that's the interesting part
Homatan is over there feeling frustrated watching other idols cover Hello! Project songs on TV
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Spotify’s monthly listener count measures the number of users who played a song at least once in the past 28 days — a different yardstick from CD sales, concert attendance, or TV appearance opportunities, and that distinction sits at the heart of this debate. Within the thread, it was pointed out that while Juice=Juice’s monthly listeners outnumber Mrs. Green Apple’s, they fall short in arena-show attendance, making the mismatch between different metrics itself a talking point. Whether a group gets booked on TV depends heavily on external factors like the agency’s sales strategy and each show’s own casting intentions, and can’t be explained by Spotify numbers alone. The thread split between an ‘agency slot allocation’ theory and a ‘talent/buzz’ theory, but since the actual booking criteria have never been made public, readers should keep in mind that both remain speculation.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Morning Musume completely beats Juice=Juice in Spotify monthly listeners, so why haven’t they gotten a single offer from TV or music shows?”.
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