The Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki has released eighteen studio albums, seven extended plays, nine compilation albums, twenty-six remix albums, three live albums, and fifty-eight singles. She initially debuted under Nippon Columbia as "Ayumi", releasing the extended play Nothing from Nothing (1995). Three years later, Hamasaki made a second debut under Avex Trax with the single "Poker Face" (1998). The artist's first album A Song for ÃÂÃÂ (1999) reached number one on Oricon's albums chart, selling over 1.4 million copies. Her second studio album, Loveppears (1999), also topped the Oricon charts and sold nearly 3 million copies. To date, Hamasaki currently holds the record for the most albums to place in the top ten by a female artist in Japan.
Hamasaki continued to release music at a prolific rate throughout her career; she has the most number-one hits by a female artist (38); the most consecutive number-one hits by a solo artist (25), and the most million-sellers. From 1999 to 2010, Hamasaki had at least two singles each year topping the charts. Hamasaki is also the first female recording artist to have ten studio albums since debut to top the Oricon, and the first artist to have a number one album for 13 consecutive years since her debut. In total, Hamasaki has sold over 50.708 million units in Japan.
Hamasaki also has an extensive remix discography, having released twenty-six remix albums since the 1999 album Ayu-mi-x. Several remix albums were released as a series, exploring genres such as eurobeat, trance, acoustic, and classical.