Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 367 The Record Industry's Winter
In fact, Wu Zhuo's absence from the subunit's EP promotion did not affect the album's sales.

After the release of this album, which was directly named after the subunit "Fahrenheit - Foreign".

In the first week, it achieved sales of 1.3 million units across Asia.

It debuted at number one on the Asian sales chart that week with an absolute advantage.

At the same time, it ranked at least third in sales charts in various countries and regions.

Of course, to be fair, the 1.3 million sales in the first week cannot be compared with the sales of Wu Zhuo's previous album.

There is nothing we can do about this.

This year, the global record market has once again shrunk.

The rampant piracy of VCDs and the gradual rise of the online music market, which has the greatest impact on the traditional record industry.

This has had a huge impact on traditional record markets around the world.

Unlike the film box office market, which is getting higher and higher every year.

This year's record market has once again seen a sharp decline compared to last year, decreasing by nearly 20% year-on-year.

The overall market downturn has inevitably impacted the records of all singers.

Well-known singers like Wu Zhuo are considered relatively good.

For those unknown, second- or third-tier singers, the winter of the record industry is truly the hardest.

This year alone, numerous record companies worldwide have laid off a large number of employees and reduced the number of records released due to the decline in the record market.

I won't go into the rest.

Let's take HIM International Music, which Wu Zhuo knows best.

Last year, HIM International Music was known for Wu Zhuo, as were other artists like S.H.E. and second- and third-tier singers, with no fewer than thirty albums produced and released.

This year, the number of records released has plummeted to seventeen.

This is still HIM International Music.

As is well known, HIM International Music is one of the most profitable companies in the music industry right now, thanks to the huge profits made by Wu Zhuo's record label.

If even HIM International Music is experiencing this situation, it goes without saying that other companies are in even worse shape.

Like Rolling Stone, what a glorious record company it was back then.

Now, it's almost at the end of its rope, to the point where no trace of the company can be found.

The reason for all this is the arrival of a downturn in the record industry.

The shrinking market has resulted in many record companies releasing records at a loss.

This made it unaffordable for most record companies, ultimately forcing them to reduce the number of records produced.

And all things have a chain reaction.

Record companies reduced the number of records produced, which inevitably led to the cancellation of some second- and third-tier singers' record projects.

In other words, some second- and third-tier singers found themselves unable to release albums and ultimately had no choice but to retire from the music scene or switch to other industries.

The impact of the record industry downturn is not limited to second- and third-tier singers; it also affects the behind-the-scenes staff.

Many lyricists and composers who were writing songs non-stop a few years ago suddenly found themselves unable to receive any more invitations.

There's no way around it; with record production decreasing, demand naturally decreases as well.

In previous years when record companies were making big profits, they were practically constantly asking songwriters for songs.

Now, they probably don't even have enough music in their own repertoire, so naturally they won't be asking for songs anymore.

The consequence of this is that many music creators, due to the lack of invitations, have had to start working in other industries and completely withdraw from the music scene.

Wu Zhuo has lived two lives, so he has a good understanding of the peak and winter periods of the domestic music scene.

In my previous life, starting 10 years ago, the traditional record industry in China was essentially dead.

At that time, the new online music channel market had not yet replaced the traditional market.

This directly led to a vacuum period.

The five years from 10 to 15 were an absolute winter for the music industry. Traditional records were not being sold, and online records were severely impacted by free services.

During this period, a large number of employees faced the risk of unemployment and had to switch to other industries.

In fact, it's not entirely unreasonable for later generations of audiences to say that domestic music has gotten worse and worse.

The quality of domestic music productions has indeed declined significantly.

The reason, of course, is that no record company is willing to spend money to produce records.

Capital is profit-driven.

When record albums don't generate revenue, aside from audiophiles, investors are unwilling to invest in this industry.

With the original capital withdrawing and new capital not coming in, there's no money, so no one is willing to put in the effort to write good songs.

Since no one is going into seclusion to seriously write songs, naturally, good songs are hard to find on the market.

In fact, the domestic music market has not always been in a period of stagnation.

Sixteen years later, China's music copyright system gradually improved, and the online market also developed.

Logically speaking, the domestic music market should have a good period of development.

Unfortunately, for some inexplicable reason, the market went astray.

With limited funds and a desire for widespread popularity, some opportunistic individuals opted for imitation, plagiarism, and patchwork.

By combining the melodies of two or more classic songs, or by lowering or raising the key, a completely new song is created.

Although it has been criticized for plagiarism, the sheer number of people listening to it is undeniable.

Once someone makes money this way, naturally more people will join in.

Start mass production directly.

This created a distorted and frustrating atmosphere in the market, and the entire music market has been in a slump ever since.

……

The downturn in the record industry has had some impact on Wu Zhuo.

His record sales also declined sharply.

This can be seen from the subunit's album.

Therefore, Wu Zhuo accelerated the production speed of his record.

Time is money, so we need to release this record as soon as possible.

Forget about its peak; the sales of this album will likely be greatly affected.

In fact, HIM International Music and Sony have been urging Wu Zhuo to produce a finished product as soon as possible.

The two companies have the most accurate understanding of the market.

They are well aware that the traditional market changes every single day.

The rise of mobile phones, which allowed listeners to listen to music directly on their phones, dealt another heavy blow to traditional record stores.

The number of people buying records and CDs changes every day these days.

There may be ten today, but by tomorrow, there will only be nine.

Unfortunately, online downloads are now rife with piracy.

The music copyright law in mainland China is not particularly comprehensive.

Various reasons have led to everyone watching helplessly as a song spreads rampantly online, with countless pirated copies, yet there is nothing that can be done.

Urged by HIM International Music and Sony, Wu Zhuo's new album was finally released on October 26th.

After receiving the finished product, Sony and HIM International Music immediately contacted the manufacturer and began large-scale replication production.

At the same time, promotion for the album immediately began.

(End of this chapter)