After offending capital, my songs became more and more popular.

Chapter 164 Brand Endorsement Blocks the Doorway: A Top-Tier Contemporary Scheme!

By the time Shen Ming'en finished singing "We Are Soldiers," the number of online viewers for "Chinese Music Awards: Red Song Season" had exceeded 15 million. Basically, anyone who was online for more than 10 minutes could vote, so the online voting data was actually quite exaggerated.

Even though everyone was mentally prepared, when the data was released, everyone still felt a sense of utter shock and disbelief...

The screen clearly displayed the following entry: [Shen Ming'en: 14589751 votes!]

More than 14.5 million votes!

There are only a little over 15 million people in the live stream, and many of them are just there to watch the show. They probably won't even stay for two or three minutes, let alone ten...

Many people may not even have the right to vote.

even so!

Shen Ming'en still received so many votes!
Just tell me how exaggerated it is!

Shen Mingen has truly sparked a nationwide craze for idol worship!
The funny thing is, people in the comments section are saying:
[Hilarious! My grandma just finished listening to Shen Ming'en's "We Soldiers," and when she heard there was a vote, she actually asked me how to vote for Shen Ming'en.]

[Pfft...Who wouldn't? My grandpa said this song is uplifting, and anyone who doesn't vote for it is a jerk, so how could I not vote for it!]

[Enough said, three generations of my family have served in the military. My dad even called several of my uncles overnight to ask them to vote for me!]

[Hilarious! Shen Ming'en is truly a national superstar now!]

……

When the director backstage saw Shen Ming'en's vote count, he gave the votes to those mainstream singers, especially Zhou Chujian...

At that moment, everyone could clearly see that the veteran music creator's expression was extremely unpleasant...

Why is it ugly?
Ah……

Even a tiny fraction of Shen Mingen's votes were enough to surpass his!

He only got a fraction of Shen Ming'en's score in the online voting!
Can you imagine how embarrassing that must have been?

It's a shame that before Shen Mingen's performance, many haters were praising his work so much. Now it seems that those people were the ones who truly "killed him with praise"!
The online voting is over, now it's time for the in-person voting...

Because of the support for Shen Ming'en and the inability to eliminate him, "Chinese Music Awards: Red Song Season" released only real data, so the data from the live performance was also very accurate. Even so…

"..."

When the data was released, many people were still stunned and frowned, wondering if there had been a mistake.

On-site data shows: [Shen Ming'en: 500 votes!]

"Everyone read that right, let's congratulate Teacher Ming En..." The host announced loudly at this moment: "He has won the unanimous vote of 500 audience members!"

As soon as these words came out...

"Oh!!!"

The crowd finally stopped questioning and cheered wildly.

That's right...

Unanimous vote!

It passed unanimously!

Data shows that Shen Ming'en's "We Are Soldiers" received a unanimous vote from the 500 audience members in this "Military Life" themed performance!

Everyone unanimously cast their votes for Shen Ming'en!
Horrible!

What terrifying cohesion!

At that moment, Shen Ming'en was at the height of his power; no one could think of any other way to describe him.

From appearance to talent, popularity, online traffic, works, and reputation...

Looking across the Chinese entertainment industry, who can rival him?
After the show aired that night, Shen Ming'en naturally topped the trending search list with his two new songs from "Chinese Music Music Center: Red Song Season," "Green Flowers in the Army" and "We Are Soldiers."

"#Longing, Military Romance, Green Flowers in the Army!#"

"#What's so different about us soldiers?#"

#Shen Ming'en received a unanimous vote from the audience at the "Chinese Music Awards"!#

"#The value of being a spokesperson for revolutionary songs continues to rise!"

……

Shen Mingen's trip to Beijing has already boosted his popularity and online buzz to a very high level. With such a massive following, Shen Mingen is naturally always in the spotlight.

The expectations for the works in "Chinese Music Awards: Red Song Season" are ridiculously high...

To put it bluntly, at this stage, Shen Mingen isn't afraid of singing badly, but rather of not singing well enough.

Because every single one of his previous works was so popular, so catchy, and so incredibly successful, people have very high expectations for his future works. If even one of his songs isn't as good, everyone feels a sense of disappointment and unmet expectations.

What makes everyone feel gratified and happy is that, despite all their high expectations for Shen Mingen, his new works always far exceed their expectations!

Each time, Shen Mingen will give all his fans and supporters a new experience, a new feeling, and a work that reaches a higher level!

What the hell does "a man without limits" even mean?!
The comments section was full of positive reviews for these two pieces!

The live versions of the songs "Green Flowers in the Army" and "We Are Soldiers" immediately topped the new song charts and hot song charts on major music apps upon release, with their popularity soaring at a speed that shocked the Chinese entertainment industry each time.

On major social media platforms such as Douyin, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Zhihu, etc., these two songs have been edited to a new level, with various video bloggers providing in-depth analysis and praising them highly!
It's funny, actually...

Someone in the comments section said this:

I think putting these two songs alongside this year's popular online singles is an insult to their reputation!

[Heh, I'm afraid you'll laugh when I say it, but Shen Ming'en's "opponents" in "Green Flowers in the Army" and "We Soldiers" are: "What kind of melancholy is this?", "Maybe I'm cheap?", "People say you're a prostitute", "Including when we broke up, he said you knelt on the ground crying and three people couldn't drag you away"...]

Compared to them, my income is quite good!

Don't laugh at people who listen to these songs, because they'll tell you with self-deprecation and melancholy: Maybe I'm just pathetic.

In the utterly corrupt and chaotic Chinese entertainment industry, Shen Ming'en's appearance is like a savior, bringing a ray of hope!

What the hell does "a Purple Star descending from the heavens" mean?!

……

There's a long-standing saying in the Chinese entertainment industry about a "heavenly star" descending from the heavens. It seems like every year someone will say that a "heavenly star" will lead the Chinese music scene to the world stage the following year—it sounds quite mystical...

Everyone had forgotten about it, but recently someone brought it up again, saying that Shen Ming'en is very similar to this "prophecy"!

It's just...

One thing that probably no one expected was that this "heavenly Ziwei star" was bright red!
It is worth mentioning that he now truly shines like a red star, illuminating the lives of many.

The comments section is full of people saying they were going through a low period, but listening to Shen Ming'en's songs suddenly gave them strength...

Modern society is very stressful, and many people find it difficult to make money during economic downturns. In such times, melancholic songs often appear online, leading some to mistakenly believe that we've returned to the era of alternative culture...

It feels like those guys from the alternative era have grown up and are now reminiscing about their melancholic days, so they start praising those lousy, low-quality people...

The problem is, what can those new things use to try and piggyback on songs from the non-mainstream era?

Check out Shen Ming'en's work!

They're not patriotic songs, but rather inspirational and uplifting songs like "Proud Youth" and "Ode to Young China"!
Those who haven't experienced a low point won't understand how inspiring these songs can be during those times!

To put it dramatically, this kind of song can save lives in many situations!

This is what music can bring and convey; this is the role that music should play!

Anyway!

Online, the current evaluation of Shen Ming'en is so good that it's almost exaggerated and outrageous.

Many netizens believe that Shen Mingen is currently very popular and will continue to be popular in the future...

The internet doesn't forget things. Many people know about Shen Mingen's dealings with those investors before, but now many people generally believe that Shen Mingen, who is so popular now, must have already reached an agreement with the company.

even!

Online, some idiotic marketing accounts are stirring up trouble, saying things like...

"According to sources, Shen Ming'en has reached an agreement with his agency, Ruixing Entertainment. Ruixing Entertainment's new contract gives him a 91% commission, which is a treatment that many top-tier artists, even the cash cows of their companies, don't receive!"

“Who understands, my family!”

"Shen Ming'en is the real male lead in a wish-fulfillment novel!"

"What do you mean by 'talent triumphing over capital'?!"

They know nothing about the real situation; they only know that labels like "talent triumphs over capital" are easy to become popular, so they come out and release videos to make things up.

This has led many fans to believe that Shen Mingen has reached a reconciliation with the behind-the-scenes capital...

But is this really the case?

……

At Ruixing Entertainment in the early morning, everyone is busy. From the moment you enter the company, you can see people from certain departments running around and constantly answering phone calls... This phenomenon even extends to the company's top agent, Ma Ling, and her team.

As you can see, Ma Ling, who just started working at the company, and her assistant Chen Jia and others were constantly on the phone. As soon as one call ended, another would come in, and it never stopped.

It's not just them...

Even the company's CEO, Lin Bei, was on the phone non-stop from morning till night.

It's important to understand that it's easy for anyone to get the phone number of an ordinary employee, agent, or assistant, but as the company's CEO, Lin Bei's phone number isn't something just anyone can call.

Unless you use connections, no one can usually get his phone number. Basically, his secretary handles all the trivial matters...

But today, the secretary's phone was ringing off the hook, and Lin Bei's phone was ringing off the hook too.

Just tell me how outrageous things are!
When Lin Bei arrived at the office, he angrily turned off his phone immediately.

The temperature wasn't high in the early morning, and Shanghai isn't particularly hot in the summer because of its coastal location, but even so, Lin Bei still broke out in a sweat.

I reached for the air conditioner remote, but for some reason, it seemed to be out of battery and malfunctioning; no matter how I pressed the buttons, the air conditioner wouldn't respond...

"boom!"

Enraged, Lin Bei threw the air conditioner remote control on the floor and shouted at his secretary outside:
"Is the coffee not ready yet?!"

A moment later, the secretary walked in shakily with a glass of iced Americano and placed it in front of Lin Bei. She didn't dare to breathe loudly and only dared to carefully pick up the broken pieces of the air conditioner remote control scattered all over the floor.

Lin Bei took a big gulp of his iced Americano, feeling the cool sensation spreading down his esophagus, and finally felt much better.

He loosened his tie, trying to suppress his anger, and said to his secretary, who was squatting on the ground not far away "cleaning up the mess":

"Which idiot on the internet said that Shen Ming'en reached an agreement with the company?!"

As the CEO of an entertainment company, Lin Bei prides himself on being a person of high quality, and his usual manners are often praised by many of his company employees.

But today, he started swearing...

Tell me, just how angry did this make him?
Because those stupid marketing accounts on the internet said that the company had reached an agreement with Shen Mingen, now all the brands, big and small, that used to ask Shen Mingen to be their spokesperson are collectively coming to him again to ask for cooperation, endorsement, and advertising!

Your company had contract issues with Shen Mingen before, and we couldn't do anything about it. But now everyone is saying that your company has reached an agreement with Shen Mingen and that the two sides have settled their differences. Under these circumstances, what reason do you have not to accept our endorsement?

You won't even take the money?!

They're not even raising money anymore?!

Since returning from the Beijing Olympics, Shen Ming'en has already reached a level of popularity, fame, reputation, and national recognition that is unprecedented and unparalleled in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Under these circumstances, the brand sponsors who were already eager to work with him naturally all came to Shen Ming'en to become their brand ambassadors!

In fact, many brand sponsors have never stopped inviting Shen Ming'en.

Now, with this wave of popularity and traffic, there are more and more people asking for endorsements!
At Ruixing Entertainment, the company's phones were ringing off the hook early in the morning for the same reason.

"We have inquired about General Manager Lin from various sources..."

The secretary stood up, head bowed, and spoke to Lin Bei as cautiously as possible:

"Those marketing accounts don't seem to belong to any company. They seem to be paid to do this kind of marketing."

"Someone is paying for this???" Lin Bei's lips twitched, wondering if it was the company's rival.
But after thinking for a moment, he felt it didn't quite seem like it...

"You mean..." He looked up at his assistant and asked, "Those people Shen Ming'en found himself?"

That can only be the reason!
If Shen Ming'en hadn't brought this on himself, who would have the time to stir up this kind of trouble?!

Yes, those marketing accounts will do anything to create hype and grab attention, but they also know who they can afford to offend and who they can't!

They wouldn't dare to cause trouble like this if they hadn't been paid, or rather, paid a lot of money.

"..."

The secretary remained silent, which at this point was tantamount to tacit agreement. Although she had not received accurate information, based on the analysis of the situation, it was highly likely that those marketing accounts were found by Shen Mingen himself or by someone he instructed.

"..."

After receiving confirmation from his secretary, Lin Bei fell silent for a moment. To be honest, he couldn't understand the meaning behind Shen Ming'en's move, but one thing he was very clear about was...

This kid has really created a huge problem for the company!

To know!
Now, because of Shen Ming'en's sudden rise to fame, countless brands have approached Ruixing Entertainment wanting Shen Ming'en to be their spokesperson and advertise for them!
Leaving aside the top international luxury brands like Chanel and Diablo, let's talk about domestic brands. Recently, a large number of endorsements for cleaning products have expired, and many well-known personal care brands, such as HiFes, Sharon, Qingyang, Pantene, and Powder, have all sought out Shen Ming'en.

and!

They all offered higher and higher prices than the last!

To put it bluntly, every single one of them came with the utmost sincerity!
As the big spender, they've already lowered their standards considerably!
In this situation, it would be very offensive to not choose Shen Ming'en as the spokesperson!

Can they not let Shen Mingen be their spokesperson?
can also!

They could easily tell them that the company had not reached an agreement with Shen Ming'en and that there were still contractual issues.

They could even tell these brand owners that the company offered Shen Ming'en a 91% contract, but this guy is shameless and refuses to sign it; he wants to terminate the contract!
But the problem is...

Do people even believe that?!
These brand owners aren't stupid. They definitely think that since the contract for 91 has already been opened, there's no way Shen Ming'en wouldn't sign it!
Unless your company is planning to exploit other areas and cut corners...

If that's the case, then it must be a problem with your company!

We don’t know or want to know what problems your company has with the artists’ contracts. All we know is that you’re making it impossible for us to find that artist to be our spokesperson because you’re trying to cut back on their earnings!

That!
This is all Ruixing Entertainment's fault!
That's for sure, these brands will collectively target Ruixing Entertainment!
Should I say it or not...

Shen Ming'en's move was truly a top-tier "open strategy" of our time!

Back then, when Shen Ming'en refused to sign the contract, Lin Bei hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation. He just thought the kid was ungrateful and didn't know what was good for him, and was simply angry...

totally unexpected!
The story has an unexpected and surprising sequel!
"Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin," the secretary scratched his head, making a headache-ridden expression, and asked Lin Bei, "Now... what should we do?"

As she spoke, she pointed one finger towards the door and said:

"Right now, the reception area downstairs is packed with representatives from various brands, all demanding to see you. They even said..."

The secretary paused at this point, a little embarrassed to continue.

"What did you say?" Lin Bei frowned.

"They said..." the secretary hesitated for a moment before continuing, "that they could offer more endorsement fees to make up for the problems we created for Shen Ming'en in the contract, and that we should stop targeting him and try to achieve a win-win situation. Then..."

"boom!"

The secretary didn't finish her sentence.

Because Lin Bei, that "byd," started with zero frames and smashed the iced Americano on the table onto the ground again.

Poor floor, it took a hit from an air conditioner remote and then from an iced Americano. It's a miracle it wasn't damaged.

"We never dug a pit for him!!" Lin Bei was furious, gritting his teeth!
Please!

The contract they gave Shen Ming'en was almost entirely in accordance with their wishes, except for the work arrangements which required him to follow the company's instructions.
Both sides have their own little schemes, and they both know it. To put it bluntly, the price of giving Shen Mingen a 91 contract is that he has to do more appearances to exchange quantity for quality. And this is not excessive in the Chinese entertainment industry, because if he does more appearances, he will earn more!

This guy is unwilling to sign the contract, yet he's constantly scheming against the company and digging traps for it!

Now the company is in a really tough spot, what kind of mess is this!

At this very moment, downstairs at the company, a group of brand representatives were waiting. To put it bluntly, none of them could be offended by Lin Bei and his team!
The Chinese entertainment industry is only so big, yet just one of these companies can rival the total market capitalization of the entire industry...

This!
What do you have to compete with them in an arm-wrestling match?!

They're all big spenders, and you can't afford to offend any of them. If you don't agree to their demands for Shen Ming'en to be your spokesperson, it's like...

We'll offend them both!
What is Lin Bei supposed to do now?!

After a moment of contemplation...

Lin Bei gritted his teeth, as if he had made a huge decision, before saying:

“Send all those endorsements to Shen Ming'en, draw up special contracts, give him 91... no, give him all the endorsement fees directly, let him take as many as he can.”

"Huh???" The secretary was stunned. "But if that's the case, what about the board of directors..."

The board of directors will be furious!
Please!

Given Shen Mingen's current status and his almost "peak" position in the Chinese entertainment industry, the endorsements he receives are all long-term contracts of one, two, or three years, with annual endorsement fees in the tens of millions!
According to the original contract, the company would have taken the lion's share, even 91 Company would have made a profit. But now you've given it all to Shen Ming'en, and you haven't made a single penny. It would be strange if the higher-ups didn't blame you!

"...What else can we do?!" Lin Bei was also exasperated: "Tell me, besides this, what other way is there?!"

He was well aware that Shen Mingen's actions were nothing more than forcing the company to endorse him.

You have to understand that at this stage, the power of the conversation has long since shifted away from the company. If Shen Ming'en doesn't accept endorsements, no matter what the company says, no matter what they say, they will be collectively targeted by those outside the industry's brands and capital!

The consequences will be most severe then!
By following Shen Ming'en's lead, Lin Bei could at least protect himself; it was the only option he had.

At this moment, Lin Bei probably never imagined that even though he had compromised with Shen Mingen to this extent, he would still be outmaneuvered by Shen Mingen in the end!

……

(End of this chapter)