Forum - View topic

Answerman - Why Aren't Anime Sales Figures Made Public?

Motion picture of any sort has to be unique in this aspect because units often have edition updates or minor design changes. Eventually you simply can't keep stock of a particular edition or title, especially if it's constantly superseded or changes hands (like a lot of anime does when titles change distributors). I guess in a fetched way one could parallel the aspect to book sales.

I've always wondered why fans care so much. To a certain extent I suppose there's some validation from seeing a show you like sell well, and for that matter a show you dislike selling poorly, but surely that's not compelling enough to justify the fuss fans make over them. Maybe some people use how many other people bought it as some kind of guide to whether or not they should buy it, in spite of the myriad ways of watching it first being a better indicator of quality.

I always like the nefarious intentions argument of why do you want this? What are you plotting? How will you use this to hurt people? etc.

Do you really feel that everyone who reads Billboard, Variety, Box Office Mojo, stamp collector magazines, New York Times Best Seller list, etc. are all up to some evil plan?

Maybe some people like business data (there are businesses on Earth so it would make sense that some people are indeed into business) and you don't. It could really be as simple as that. No self-validation, no plot or scheme. They just like business data, they like anime, they feel there's a potential for crossover of two hobbies.

I disagree with the answer's premise. There are many good reasons for companies to share their sales information; contributing sales info to a general, public pot allows for a better picture of what works, what doesn't, and why.

According to Amazon's numbers, Nichijou is the top selling sub only anime this year, probably all time. Why? Ok, I know why it was, what I want to know is why it had to be.

NeverConvex wrote:

I disagree with the answer's premise. There are many good reasons for companies to share their sales information; contributing sales info to a general, public pot allows for a better picture of what works, what doesn't, and why.

That is still not a good reason for companies to release their information. The bad far out weighs whatever little good or consumer benefit.

Even if you knew that information, you still have to get all the parts of the production working their best and together in synchronicity. Also, if you got everything right, it could still fall flat with the audience.

I disagree. Information of this sort is extremely valuable when planning new projects, and the downsides to sharing information publicly are all intangibles at best tenuously related to the studios' bottom line (like the Answerman answer's concern that it would encourage fans to push studios' noses into their failures).