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

Chapter 186 I'm working myself to the bone while you guys are living the high life. What am I doing this for?
"Ding ding dong dong..."

On stage, the sound system was blasting loudly, even affecting the control room. Niu Zhi, the chief director of "Chinese Music Awards: Red Song Season," who was monitoring the live broadcast from the control room, wasn't wearing headphones, yet he remained completely unaffected by the noise. Why?...

What do you think he's looking at right now?
At this moment, Niu Zhi was holding a tablet, staring at the data on the tablet with a look of ecstasy on his face.

Data shows that today's "Chinese Music Music Center: Red Song Season" program broke the historical record for viewership, with a peak of 50 million online viewers at the same time, and a total of billions of clicks!

The benefits that such a massive amount of traffic brings to the production team are undeniable. Even though they are currently filming, the staff just came to report that a large number of people have come to them seeking sponsorship, naming rights, and advertising opportunities for the show!

And many of them are national big brands!

The advertising fees for any single brand can reach hundreds of millions or even millions, and because of the high viewership of the program, many big brands can choose their advertisements at will!
Whenever he thinks about these things, Director Niu can't help but smile!

It's even harder to control than an AK!
Venom is jokingly referred to as having 13 items, okay?

"Judging from this, Teacher Ming'en can continue to stay on the show," said Zhou Yang, the assistant beside Niu Zhi, offering his congratulations. "As long as Teacher Ming'en is here, our show's viewership will remain strong for a long time!"

"Hehehe..."

Director Niu smiled and nodded. Although he didn't answer, his smile said it all.

So happy...

So happy!
Shen Ming'en had initially thought that the five rounds of competition in this episode of "Chinese Music Awards" would be a challenge, and he was still worried about it.

At the same time, Shen Ming'en was also worried about his relationship with those entertainment industry capital groups...

Shen Mingen refused to compromise with those entertainment industry capitals and insisted on terminating his contract. If those people cannot get rid of Shen Mingen, they will easily target their program and kill it, trying to "solve the problem at its root".

But now it’s different…

Now, it seems that the five rounds of competition have not stumped Shen Ming'en. If Shen Ming'en continues to pass the challenges, with the viewership and exposure of this episode, he will be able to attract even more sponsors!
As long as there are enough big sponsors, the capital groups in the Chinese entertainment industry can't do anything about their programs!

How can a mere domestic entertainment capital compare to so many big spenders?
Director Niu was overjoyed to realize this, and now he's praying that Shen Ming'en will continue to pass the levels so that their show can make even more money!

So happy, so happy... I'm so happy!

Not only Director Niu, but everyone in the control room was quite happy. The show was a huge hit, and as the saying goes, "When one person achieves success, even their chickens and dogs benefit," meaning they could all benefit from it.

In short, at this moment, the entire production team is quite happy and looking forward to Shen Mingen passing all five rounds of competition this episode and continuing onward.

But it was at this moment...

"Knock knock." A knock suddenly sounded at the door.

"Come in." At that moment, Director Niu did not realize the seriousness of the matter and thought that a staff member had come in to report the situation.

Director Niu was slightly taken aback when Shen Ming'en walked in, looking so fresh and vibrant...

"Teacher Ming'en?"

When they saw Shen Ming'en, everyone in the control room was slightly taken aback.

Obviously, no one expected that Shen Ming'en would come to the control room during the performance, while the non-performing guests were resting.

You should know that Shen Ming'en has never stepped into the control room before, even after recording so many episodes...

"Teacher Ming'en is here," Director Niu said with a smile after a brief moment of surprise, quickly gesturing to the staff around him to get a chair for Shen Ming'en...

At the same time, he stood up and offered his small chair to Shen Ming'en, saying very politely, "Teacher Ming'en, please have a seat."

Although no one knows what Shen Mingen's job is, he is currently their show's biggest asset. All the sponsors came because of him, so even the director has to appease Shen Mingen.

As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face, so Shen Ming'en didn't intend to confront Director Niu right away. Anyway, the performance of the eight singers would take time, and he was the last to perform. Since there was no rehearsal, he didn't need to prepare anything, so he wasn't in a hurry at all.

After sitting down, he glanced around the control room. To be honest, Shen Ming'en had always known that someone had been watching him from this control room before. Among those people were Wei Zihan, Ha Jiling, and many others who couldn't stand to see him doing well...

At that time, Shen Ming'en probably never imagined that he would one day be treated as a "distinguished guest" by the production team in the control room.

It's worth mentioning that when Shen Ming'en looked around, he was actually looking at the products of many advertising sponsors in the control room.

Not far away, there was a thick list of sponsors.

Generally speaking, the camera doesn't show the control room backstage, but even so, the control room was filled with all sorts of products, which is enough to show how much sponsorship and advertising there had become.

"With the performance going on, how come Teacher Ming En has time to come over?" Director Niu asked, "Is there anything you need?"

Back then, Director Niu's eyes were very innocent and sincere. It seemed that as long as Shen Ming'en needed something, Director Niu would do anything to help him.

Although at this stage, with Shen Ming'en's performance scheduled for less than half an hour, the production team can't offer much help...

"Well, there's nothing I need from you..." Shen Ming'en said casually, pursing his lips.

Yes, precisely because there's nothing that needs them, why let them take the lion's share?

So Shen Ming'en stared at the sponsored and advertised products and said directly:
"I just saw that your production team made a lot of money because of me, so I thought I'd come and ask if I could get a share of the profits."

As soon as he said that...

"..."

Director Niu was taken aback.

Let alone Director Niu...

"..."

Everyone in the control room was stunned.

Originally, because the performance was still going on in the studio, the staff backstage were busy running around, communicating various details, and talking on walkie-talkies, so it was quite noisy...

But after Shen Ming'en said those words, even the staff forgot to discuss the details.

She just stared blankly at Shen Ming'en, who was sitting opposite Director Niu.

Because he gave up his seat for Shen Ming'en, Director Niu was standing next to Shen Ming'en at this moment. Director Niu, who was standing in a half-squatting position, could be aptly described as "bowing and scraping".

It was precisely because of this flattering attitude that Director Niu appeared so humble. For the director of a variety show to be so humble would surely have made any ordinary singer or guest feel flattered...

But Shen Ming'en not only didn't, his words also made Director Niu feel absolutely... humiliated.

"Hahaha……"

moment.

Director Niu actually grinned.

He said, "Ming En, you're so funny, haha~"

Not far away, because of Shen Ming'en's words, the staff member who had helped bring the chair didn't dare to approach.

Seeing this, Director Niu took a chair and placed it opposite Shen Ming'en. He then sat down opposite Shen Ming'en, as if to tell him that they were "equals." Equals?

Shen Ming'en wanted to roar...

Without the reverse butterfly, you're a 6? You're fucking an equal?
"Who the hell is joking with you..." Shen Ming'en said bluntly, "I'm tired of recording this lousy show, 'Reverse Butterfly,' and all you people are doing is targeting this person and that person, which is disgusting. You guys can't help at all, and you're just sitting there eating and drinking like madmen..."

"If I had a lot of advantages, that would be fine, but the problem is, do I?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Ming'en placed his foot directly on the small table in front of him, staring intently into Director Niu's eyes, and asked:

"After singing every episode, I get nothing but appearance fees. I work myself to the bone while you guys live a life of luxury. So what am I doing this for?"

Shen Ming'en's words were righteous and resounding!

After a few brief words...

"..."

This left everyone in the control room stunned.

Apart from Director Niu and a few members of the main creative team, everyone else felt "unable to refute" what he said...

What Shen Mingen said was perfectly reasonable!

People work themselves to the bone every day, busy fighting against those capitalists. A slight misstep could lead to an abyss. In the end, what do they get?

Aside from that little bit of appearance fee, there was absolutely nothing else!

Yes!
Later, as Shen Ming'en became more and more "famous," the production team did increase his appearance fee a few times, but the problem was that the increase was not very significant, and most of the money went to Ruixing Entertainment...

Very little of it actually ended up in Shen Ming'en's hands!
Then Shen Ming'en would like to ask...

Why does he work so hard every day fighting against those greedy capitalists?

Is the picture showing how the production team is living the high life?
Or is he just trying to get those sponsors to give him more advertising money, even though they'll never give him a single penny?

Get sick!
Previously, Shen Ming'en was a nobody with little influence. Even though he wrote a few popular songs, without the "Chinese Music Promotion Center" and subsequent exposure, he was easily suppressed by capital for various reasons...

But now, the name Shen Ming'en is synonymous with traffic and popularity!
He doesn't need operations or marketing; he's always in the spotlight.

Being a trending topic magnet is no joke!
So, without relying on the production team, why should Shen Mingen contribute to their production team for free?

Shen Mingen is actually a kind person. He would even be willing to do some charity work if he could, even if it means using the money he earns for charity. He would never want to benefit the "Chinese Music Awards" program and the capital company behind it.

"..."

The meeting room fell into a long silence because of Shen Ming'en's words.

Occasionally, you could hear the staff talking on the walkie-talkie, but no one in the control room responded to them...

Because everyone's attention was focused on Shen Ming'en and Director Niu.

To be honest, Shen Mingen didn't give Director Niu any face at all, which made Director Niu feel that Shen Mingen was heartless and ungrateful, after all, he thought he had been very good to Shen Mingen during this period...

"Ming'en, what you're saying is rather heartless." Director Niu's face darkened, and he began to dredge up old grievances, saying, "Without the exposure from our program, do you think you'd be where you are today? Where would you be a spokesperson for revolutionary songs?"

"Whose father are you trying to morally blackmail me with...?" Shen Ming'en thought.

"So you're saying that with your show, I don't need to write songs to become famous?" Shen Ming'en asked with a smile.

You're really something, avoiding the important issues.

"But..." Director Niu still wanted to morally blackmail Shen Ming'en.

Unfortunately, Shen Ming'en had no intention of communicating with him at all. Standing up, Shen Ming'en stated directly:
"That's all I have to say about my attitude. There are still two rounds to go. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer before this round of performances ends. Otherwise..."

As he spoke, Shen Ming'en glanced at Director Niu and then swept his gaze across the entire backstage control room of "Chinese Music Show Center".

"Ha~"

He smiled.

No more words were spoken.

With his hands in his pockets, he kicked open the door and left the control room.

"..."

Shen Ming'en left, but the studio became unusually quiet.

"Director, director?"

Over the walkie-talkie, the people on site were still trying to contact Niu Zhi, but unfortunately, Niu Zhi no longer showed any interest in communicating with the others.

No one else in the control room dared to speak first.

Back then, everyone was probably a bit terrified...

Although Shen Ming'en didn't say the rest, everyone knew what he was going to say.

If you can't give me a satisfactory answer, then there's no need for us to cooperate. Do whatever you want with your program, but I'm not going to stay on your show anymore.

As for what will happen to your show after I leave, that's not something I need to consider...

Now you're getting tons of sponsorships and ads, making a fortune every day, and you're pretty happy all the time, right?

After Shen Mingen left, will these sponsors and advertisers continue to stay on their show?
They probably won't leave in the short term, since many have contracts, and the drop in traffic won't be particularly dramatic in the short term...

However, the problem is that many contracts also contain clauses such as "this is on the premise that Shen Mingen is on the Chinese Music Awards."

At most two or three episodes later, their show's popularity will plummet due to Shen Ming'en's departure.

By then!

Sponsorship gone, advertising gone, no more money to be made...

How can they possibly be okay?
So what should they do now?
First and foremost, we must exhaust all means to keep Shen Ming'en here.

How can we keep it?
Do you really want to share the sponsorship and advertising revenue with him?

They agree, but their companies and investors don't necessarily agree!

They are the capital!

There's no possibility of compromising with Shen Ming'en!
So now, what should they do?!

……

(End of this chapter)