Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 331 Jewell's Meeting
JVR Music.

This is the record company founded by Jay Chou.

As early as March 1, 2007, Jay Chou officially regained his freedom.

JVR Music Ltd. is the record company that Jay Chou founded after regaining his freedom, and it opened in June last year.

The opening work is Jay Chou's "I'm Very Busy" from last year.

After the company was established, it was busy competing with Alfa Records for the copyright of Jay Chou's records.

On the other hand, they began to participate in multiple investments.

Besides investing in Jay Chou's film "Secret" in 2007, he also focuses on producing and releasing records, organizing concerts, and investing in TV dramas.

At that moment, inside JVR Music in Taipei, the company's three founders were each holding a newspaper.

The news in the newspaper was about Wu Zhuo's participation in "Connected".

Yang Junrong put down the newspaper in his hand, his face solemn:
"It is obvious that, judging from Wu Zhuo's current development trend, he is the biggest threat to you in the Chinese music scene right now."

If we sit idly by and wait to die, you'll probably be left behind in less than two years.

After all, his advantages are simply too great.

The vast overseas market has not only brought him enormous international influence, but it has also allowed him to steadily erode your position domestically.

Sitting opposite him, Vincent Fang nodded in deep agreement:

“In the past, when people talked about the most talented singers in the Chinese music scene, you were definitely the first one that came to mind.”

This situation began to change last year after your record sales couldn't surpass his.

Wu Zhuo began to be seen by many as a singer on par with you, or even more talented than you.

Jay Chou didn't say anything, he just looked at the newspaper cover.

The cover photo appears to be a candid shot; Wu Zhuo is walking in the picture, and seems to turn around after hearing the reporter's call.

He wore a gentle and bright smile.

For some reason, when Jay Chou saw this photo, the word "superstar" would subconsciously come to mind.

Jay Chou started paying attention to Wu Zhuo when he was just a rising star.

I've practically watched him grow up step by step to where he is now.

In the beginning, Wu Zhuo was naive and arrogant.

But he progressed very quickly. In just a few years, Jay Chou saw in him the demeanor of a superstar.

"What on earth do you think?"

Seeing that Jay Chou didn't say anything, Yang Junrong couldn't help but tap the table.

Jay Chou put down his newspaper, pondered for a moment, and then spoke:
"Let's not worry about movies for now; let's focus on maintaining my dominance in the music industry."

This is also the easiest thing for me to do.

Although Wu Zhuo is very popular abroad, I have been working in China for many years, and my influence is something he can't match in just one or two years.

Even if his sales exceeded mine by a significant margin last year, it wouldn't be enough to directly shake my position.

Therefore, I've decided to change my original plans for this year's new album and release more singles.

Whether in Chinese-speaking regions or around the world, singers follow certain patterns when releasing albums.

To ensure the sustainability of a singer's career, most singers try to control the number of hit songs on their albums when releasing new ones.

After all, the market is only so big. Two hit songs can sell for two million, three songs can still sell for two million, and four songs can still sell for two million.

A combination of multiple hit songs can indeed make an album receive overwhelmingly positive reviews.

However, in terms of profit and revenue, it is not as profitable as splitting it into multiple albums.

Jay Chou himself has actually registered quite a few songs with the Taipei Copyright Association.

Some of the songs are of such high quality that he could easily put together several albums filled with all the best hits.

To ensure sustainable revenue, he rarely puts all his best songs on one album at once.

But not anymore.

Wu Zhuo is now a troublemaker.

His albums are full of great songs, with at least five, six, or even seven or eight songs that are widely sung by fans.

It was precisely this album, filled with all hit songs, that allowed Wu Zhuo to rise to fame so quickly.

Faced with Wu Zhuo's albums featuring numerous hit songs, Jay Chou felt that if he wanted to maintain his dominance in sales, he had to learn from Wu Zhuo's approach of releasing multiple hit songs on one album.

"Are you confident?"

Yang Junrong certainly doesn't disbelieve Jay Chou.

Ever since he first saw Jay Chou's songs in 1999, he has always believed that Jay Chou is a once-in-a-century genius in the Chinese music scene. It is this belief that led them to collaborate sweetly for nearly ten years.

Even after Jay Chou left his original record company, he also chose to resign from his original position as general manager and join Jay Chou in establishing JVR Music.

However, this belief was slightly shattered after Wu Zhuo appeared.

Wu Zhuo's momentum is too strong.

Unlike Jay Chou, who insisted on cultivating the Chinese music market, he did the opposite, using the international market to surround the domestic market.

Their outstanding performances on the international stage have indirectly boosted their domestic appeal.

His method was clearly very successful.

Nowadays, domestic audiences tend to have a certain tendency to admire foreign things and fawn over foreigners.

Wu Zhuo's repeated successes abroad have made him increasingly famous in China.

Many fans even feel that Jay Chou is not as good as him.

"You don't have faith in me!"

Jay Chou glanced at Yang Junrong, somewhat displeased that Yang had questioned his abilities.

"No, I just think that, just to be on the safe side, we should probably put some effort into other areas."

"In what aspect?" Jay Chou frowned.

"Wu Zhuo became famous too quickly, and there is a lot of public opinion targeting him both at home and abroad."

If all else fails, we'll find a way to ruin his reputation.

Yang Junrong's face was fierce.

He never considered himself a good person.

In his view, Wu Zhuo posed a threat to Jay Chou, so destroying him was undoubtedly the best solution.

Jay Chou's gaze sharpened.

"You'd better not do that. Although such underhanded tactics may have an impact on Wu Zhuo, they are not the best approach you should take."

But it's absolutely impossible to defeat him.

If I accidentally get caught doing something wrong, what will people think of me?

"Can't they tolerate other singers?"

Indeed, Wu Zhuo's career trajectory has had a significant impact on Jay Chou.

He is not only a leading figure among the new generation of Chinese pop music.

In terms of actual profits, he was also significantly impacted.

Originally, Jay Chou was the first artist favored by the organizers of large-scale performances across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

But this situation began to change after Wu Zhuo appeared.

Nowadays, when choosing partners for endorsements, events, and commercial performances, many companies are subconsciously prioritizing Wu Zhuo.

Especially those top-tier endorsements.

Wu Zhuo was always the one they liked the most.

There's no way around it, the Asian market is just too tempting.

Especially in Japan, although the Japanese market has collapsed considerably after the economic crisis.

But the Japanese are still rich.

Many brands want to collaborate with Wu Zhuo in order to take this opportunity to enter the Japanese market.

But even so.

Jay Chou doesn't want to do such a despicable thing.

He is arrogant.

He always believed he was the strongest.

As the strongest and most influential singer in the Chinese music scene, he wanted to defeat Wu Zhuo in terms of sales in a fair and square manner.

Of course, this only refers to Chinese-speaking regions.

Jay Chou doesn't dare to dream of places like Japan, South Korea, or even the US and Canada.

That area is now considered Wu Zhuo's home turf.

He, however, had no influence whatsoever.

(End of this chapter)