Chinese entertainment, from radio love songs to superstars

Chapter 176, All-out Attack

Due to the SARS epidemic, the song "Ambition Soaring" was recorded on-site, with singers from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan recording their own songs, while the MV directly used the singing footage from the recording studio.

Shen Lang recorded it in his own recording studio, and Ning Hao carried the camera to film it. It was done in one morning, and then the tape was sent to the CCTV Art Department.

During this period, he also recorded 10 songs for the English album and shot the MV.

Anyway, we did everything that could be done indoors.

In the blink of an eye, it was May and SARS in Yanjing entered its peak period.

Shen Lang and Gao Yuanyuan stayed in the villa and did not go out unless necessary.

Now that he has time, he can choose the title songs for the singers under Jingtao Music.

The original plan was to have one artist debut every month starting after the Spring Festival, but it was postponed after the SARS outbreak.

First of all, there are Angela Chang and Cecilia Wang.

Zhang Shaohan was lucky to sign the contract. In 1999, she participated in the "China Broadcasting Pop Star" singing competition and won the first place in the Canadian region. She was invited to Taiwan Province to participate in the finals. In the finals, she was selected by the judge Lin Longxuan and signed a contract with Fumao Records. Due to her studies, she returned to Canada to continue her studies for two years. After graduation, she starred in the romantic idol drama "Never Give Up". Her contract expired in 2002, and she was won over by Chen Yaochuan when negotiating a contract renewal.

Wang Xinling was also lucky to be signed. When she was studying at Huagang Art School in Taibei, she began to be noticed by directors because of her natural appearance and voice conditions, and starred in several movies and TV series. Avex Records in Formosa Province also took a fancy to her, and was won over by Chen Yaochuan during the contract negotiations.

Shen Lang's arrangement for the two of them was to follow the same route as in the original time and space, and in the early stages they would still be both singers and actors.

As for actors, Taiwan's love idol dramas such as "Dolphin Bay Lovers", "Heaven's Wedding Dress", "It Started with a Kiss", "The Prince Turns into a Frog", "Smiling Pasta" and "Star Apple Paradise" are all in discussion.

As for singers, Angela Chang used "Aurora" as the title song of her debut album; while Vicki Wang used "Love You" as the title song of her debut album.

Next are Fiona Sit and Zhang Liangying.

The signing of the two was very smooth. Alex Fong was discovered by a scout and worked part-time as a model for commercials while studying; Zhang Liangying had not yet met the scumbag and was studying in a vocational high school while working part-time as a resident singer in a bar.

As for Fiona Sit, she focused on the Hong Kong market and used the Cantonese song "Zhong Wuyan" as the title song of her debut album.

Zhang Liangying didn't have to participate in "Super Girl" and could have made her debut directly with "If This Is Love" as the album's title song.

Finally, only Yang Zongwei and Chen Chusheng were left.

They are in a bit of trouble as one of their famous songs, "Onion" and "Has Anyone Told You", has been used by Shen Lang, so they have to find new ones.

Yang Zongwei's voice has a variety of timbres, from clear to low, from crying to slightly hoarse, and then to heroic voice, all showing a warm thickness, neither sharp nor flat, and certainly not harsh. This voice characteristic makes his singing very pleasant to listen to, and "Blank Space" is perfect for it.

Chen Chusheng's voice is pure, without any impurities, like the sound of footsteps in an empty valley, able to drown out the hustle and bustle of the city and become a panacea for urbanites to heal their heartaches. The song "Mercury" is just right for him.

"Done!" Shen Lang put down his pen and stretched. This was more troublesome than choosing for himself.

"I'm done." At this moment, a beautiful snake wrapped around his body from behind.

"Well, Jingtao's matter has been settled. Haozi just gave me a list of film and television dramas. See if there is any you want to act in." Shen Lang stretched out his big hand and pulled Gao Yuanyuan into his arms.

"Please help me choose." Gao Yuanyuan returned to Yanjing after filming "Turn Left, Turn Right" in March, just in time to avoid the peak period of SARS in Hong Kong. To be on the safe side, Shen Lang let her rest until now.

"First, there were Jackie Chan's two films, New Police Story and Project Baby. I was said to be the leading actress, but actually my role was the same as that of a supporting actor. The scripts are good though, so just think of it as a cameo." Due to the impact of SARS, there were not many good films. For example, the top three Chinese-language films in 04 and 05, Kung Fu, House of Flying Daggers, A World Without Thieves, The Promise, The Myth, and Seven Swords, did not have roles suitable for Gao Yuanyuan, so Shen Lang picked two films with good reputations.

"Well, although the box office of Jackie Chan's movies in the past two years is not as high as before, they are still quite good." Gao Yuanyuan nodded.

"Then she starred in the TV series The Untold Story, also as the leading female role." The situation with TV series is similar. In the past two years, apart from period dramas, the big hits are The Chinese Paladin and The Legend of Sword and Fairy and The Lotus Lantern. There is no role suitable for Gao Yuanyuan either. In the original time and space, the leading female role of The Untold Story was Shu Chang, but Shen Lang moved The Lotus Lantern forward by one year and there was a conflict, so Gao Yuanyuan was asked to play the role.

"Well, actually I don't have to play the leading female role. I can play the second female role or a supporting role." Gao Yuanyuan herself is not very career-oriented. In addition, her mother is in poor health, so she doesn't care about how popular she wants to be. As long as she can make money, it's fine. She doesn't want to make things difficult for Shen Lang and force him to give her a role.

"Didn't you say you would listen to me?" Shen Lang raised his eyebrows.

"Listen." Gao Yuanyuan said obediently.

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November 5th, 25:6.

Coinciding with the lifting of the SARS warning for Yanjing by the World Health Organization, in order to celebrate the lifting of the haze, at the launch ceremony of "Ambition Soaring", a song that embodies the passion and hard work of Chinese musicians at home and abroad and many media, the organizers specially set up a large screen on the scene to symbolize the sunshine after the rain. Representatives from 30 radio stations across the country including Yanjing Music Station, organizing units such as CCTV Art Department, and singers participating in the recording, including Eason Chan, Yu Quan, Dai Yuqiang and others, turned the originally cloudy sky on the screen into a rainbow.

After a peak period in late April and early May, the situation improved significantly in late May.

SARS brought great inconvenience to people's lives, but as music fans, the first half of the year was undoubtedly a happy one.

In January, there is Zhang Jinxuan’s “Breakpoint”;
In February, there is Cai Yilin’s “Chivalry”;
In March, there is Huang Zheng’s “Running”;
April was the most abundant month, with "Love Transfer" by Shen Lang, "Can't Live Without You" by Yu Quan, "Heaven and Earth" by Shin Band, "Molody" by Tao Ze, "Music Walker" by Lin Junjie, "Your Backpack" by Eason Chan, "We Are Mayday" by Mayday, and "Touch Of Love" by Twins;
Not to be outdone, May also included Wang Leehom's "Only", Elva Hsiao's "Fall in Love with Love", and Christine Fan's "Beauty of the Realm";
On the first day of June, Liu Yifei and Shu Chang's EP "Persian Cat" and Huang Bo's single "Ten Thousand Reasons" were officially released.

Because Jingtao Music has cooperated with China Mobile on ringtones, the ringtones of these songs were also launched simultaneously.

In this era of pursuit of individuality, there is no reason why ringtones should not become popular.

Since the beginning of this year, more and more mobile phones are no longer hearing the familiar "beep" sound, but "Hello, this is the 7 Pigs Computer Hotline", "Sorry, the owner of the phone you called has flown to Mars", "I make money, I make money, I don't know how to spend it"... People have entered a new auditory era in confusion - the ringback tone era.

Today, China Mobile's ringback tone service was officially launched, and Shen Lang became the first to launch a song ringback tone. All his songs and the copyrighted songs of Red Star Production Company were launched together.

The ringback tone business is a huge piece of cake, and the income from it is very considerable.

If a song is downloaded 500 million times, it is equivalent to selling 500 million records. In terms of revenue, ringtones are nearly ten times more than traditional records. Based on the download fee of 2 yuan per song, the copyright owner can earn 150 million in royalties.

The song royalty sharing ratio can range from 10% to 30%, depending on the singer's bargaining power and market position. It is usually 15%. The royalty for a CD is 2 or 3 yuan, and a cassette is more than 1 yuan. In other words, the income of 2 yuan from a ringtone song is the same as the income of a record in the past.

Key ringback tone services must be registered and activated through operators, so piracy is not possible. The download volume is in the millions, and the revenue is more stable than that of traditional records.

This is just the royalty income, the bulk of it is commission.

The profit sharing of ringback tone is a bit more complicated. In fact, the operators do not get songs directly from the copyright holders. The copyright holders have to go through CP companies or SP companies to upload songs for users to download.

The contract between Jingtao and China Mobile was the first contract in the history of the ringback tone business. The final distribution agreed upon was that after deducting royalties, China Mobile would take 15%, and the remaining 85% would be divided between the copyright holder and the CP/SP companies.

At this time, the importance of Shen Lang's layout for Qianqian Jingting was reflected. From upgrading to a local music player to an online music listening software, it also had the function of a CP/SP company, which meant that all 85% went into his own pocket.

Coupled with the coverage of a large number of Internet cafes across the country, it is the undisputed number one music listening software, and has therefore also become the choice of other singers and record companies, taking up 7% of the ringtone download provider share.

The remaining 3% is divided among large and small Internet companies such as Sina, NetEase, and Penguin.

Shen Lang also has shares in these large Internet companies.

That is to say, he is the biggest winner in the ringtone market.

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As SARS recedes, people's lives gradually return to normal.

"If you really need a reason, ten thousand of them wouldn't be enough. If I had known that you took this relationship too seriously, I would never have let you go..."

"Hey, Lao Wang, what ringtone are you using? It sounds pretty cool."

"Ten Thousand Reasons by Huang Bo, a song composed by Shen Lang." "Really? I'll go to the next one later."

……

"Yueyue, have you used the song ringtone?"

"I used it. I downloaded several songs on the 1st."

"What kind of thing? I'm going to call your cell phone, don't answer it."

"Go ahead and hit me. The Persian cat is squinting his eyes. The Persian cat is standing on tiptoe. The Persian cat is guarding his love, but in the blink of an eye, he can't see anymore..."

……

"Jin Hai, why are you still using the old-fashioned ringtone 'Grandpa, your grandson is calling you'? Change it to a melody."

"I went to an internet cafe the other day and saw so many songs that I didn't know what to choose."

"Wang Lihong's "The Only One" is very nice."

"Okay, I'll go to the Internet cafe to download it after get off work tonight."

……

The ringback tone is something that has no effect on the mobile phone.

When it first appeared, I thought it would be a novelty for a while before becoming obsolete, but I didn’t expect it would create such a large market.

Only half a month after it was launched, a song has already been downloaded 50 times, and that is Huang Bo's "Ten Thousand Reasons".

Shen Lang, the new generation king of pop, has nearly a hundred songs regarded as classics, but his popularity in ringtones is slightly declining.

He is not even as good as Liu Yifei and Shu Chang. The song with the highest download volume is "Fairy Tale", with 21 downloads.

However, his overall download volume is the highest, after all, the number of songs and fan base are there.

In terms of traditional record sales, Shen Lang is far ahead and no one can rival him.

The new album "Love Transfer" sold 210 million copies in more than two months, even during the SARS epidemic.

Now that SARS is over and there is still half of the year left, selling 400 million tickets will not be a problem.

Liu Yifei and Shu Chang's EP "Persian Cat" and Huang Bo's single "Ten Thousand Reasons" sold 13 and 7 copies respectively in half a month. In comparison, they are more popular online.

This is normal. The record industry is half-dead. Except for a few top singers, basically no songs can be sold.

For example, Wu Qillong's EP album "Wu Qillong's 2003 Mandarin Audio and Video Complete Record" includes 5 theme songs or interludes of the TV series "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The Adventure King" and "Chasing Dreams" starring him in recent years. In addition, it also comes with the music videos of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"'s theme song "Turning Point" and the interlude "Hidden Pain". As a result, it sold less than 5 copies. This is the sales volume of genuine records, which is almost a joke.

The development of science and technology and the rise of the Internet have indeed brought a huge impact on traditional records. Traditional records have high production and distribution costs and relatively single sales channels. The emergence of online music platforms has changed the way music is disseminated and consumed. For singers, it brings more opportunities than challenges, which is a good thing.

First of all, the Internet provides a broader display platform. Singers can quickly spread their works to all parts of the world through various music platforms, social media and other channels. They are no longer restricted by the traditional record distribution regions, which greatly increases their exposure and chances of being discovered.

Secondly, the Internet has lowered the threshold for music production and distribution. Singers can use various digital music production software to produce high-quality music at a relatively low cost and upload them directly to online platforms without going through the complicated production and distribution processes of traditional record companies.

However, this also brings some challenges. For example, music works are easily pirated, downloaded and spread, affecting the singers' copyright income. In addition, there are a huge number of music works on the Internet and the competition is more intense. It is not easy to stand out.

Shen Lang's plan for Jingtao in the next 10 years is to still focus on both traditional records and digital music.

Start from three aspects.

In terms of traditional record business: 1. Premium record production, continue to invest resources in producing high-quality traditional records, release limited edition vinyl records, high-quality CDs, etc., to meet the needs of specific consumer groups; 2. Maintain close cooperation with offline music stores, record stores and other channels, hold record signing sessions, fan meetings and other activities to increase record exposure and sales.

In terms of digital music business: 1. Actively expand digital music copyright resources, establish long-term cooperation with outstanding musicians and music labels at home and abroad, and obtain more copyrights of high-quality music; 2. Continuously optimize the technical architecture of Qianqian Jingting to ensure the stability and smoothness of the platform and meet the users' growing demand for digital music; 3. Increase support for new musicians in the field of digital music, and provide support such as creative funds, recording production, publicity and promotion.

In terms of integrated development: 1. Combine traditional records with digital music to launch online and offline activities; 2. Cooperate with other media industries such as movies, TV series, and games to promote music works to a wider range of fields.

After reading Shen Lang's plan, Chen Yaochuan couldn't help but say, "I don't mean to flatter you at all. Your market and strategic vision for the music industry are at least 10 years ahead of your peers!"

Shen Lang smiled faintly and said, "That's too little, at least 20 years."

No, he traveled from 2024, which is 21 years from now.

When it comes to many things, it’s not about having advanced ideas, it’s about seeing it with your own eyes.

However, he only has a general concept, and how to implement it specifically still needs professionals to do it.

Chen Yaochuan was this person. He was already full of energy and eager to try. He said, "I will call them to a meeting tomorrow and make sure they study your plan thoroughly."

Shen Lang believed in his ability and said with a smile: "I'm at ease with you doing the job."

Chen Yaochuan then asked, "Are you going to Zhang Shaohan's debut album signing event?"

Shen Lang asked: "No. 25, right?"

Chen Yaochuan nodded.

Shen Lang thought for a moment and said, "Go ahead. It's nothing. Once you're done, just fly north to New York."

On July 7, his first English album "Shen Lang·Towering Waves" will be released worldwide, and a signing event will be held at the New World Music store in Union Square in New York on the same day.

The album cost 3000 million RMB just for promotion and was released in 45 countries.

The global sales target is 1000 million copies. If it fails to sell well, it will be a huge loss.

Achieving this sales volume is difficult, but not impossible.

Of course, Shen Lang is very confident.

Those 10 songs are not only award-winning songs, but also best-selling songs. Coupled with his distinctive voice and outstanding singing skills, they are enough to attract overseas audiences.

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June 6th, Julang Film and Television Building.

Today, auditions for the two dramas "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "The Lotus Lantern" will start at the same time.

The main purpose was to select actors for the three roles of Lin Yueru, Tang Yu and Anu in "The Chinese Paladin". The original version included Ady An, Eddie Peng and Liu Pinyan, but because the shooting time was brought forward, their schedules conflicted.

There are also three roles in "The Lotus Lantern". Park Si-yeon, who plays the Third Holy Mother, failed to reach an agreement with her Korean agency, Liu Xiaoqing, who plays the Queen Mother, is still working a sewing machine due to tax evasion, and Liu Yuqiao, who plays Ao Chun, has already accepted a role in the TV series "Love in Shanghai".

The other main characters are all from the original time and space version, including Liu Yifei's Zhao Linger, Hu Xuan's Li Xiaoyao, Xie Junhao's Drunken Swordsman... Shu Chang's Xiaoyu, Cao Jun's Chenxiang, Jiao Rongjun's Erlang Shen...

As the producer and chief investor, Shen Lang must review the plan before making the final decision.

"Next!"

I recommend a book by a friend, Zhu Tian, ​​if you are interested, you can go and have a look
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(End of this chapter)