Huayu 1995

Chapter 280 This is Word of Mouth

"Do you want me to sign it for you?"

Zhou Xun, holding the script, squatted on a chair and watched Su Chao write furiously.

It's just an album signature.

"Come on, if you're going to give something to your fans, you have to give them something worthwhile."

Su Chao shook his head.

"Hmph, who knows, maybe one day I'll be more popular than you, and your fans will say, 'Su Chao, can you sign Zhou Xun's name on your album?'"

Zhou Xun laughed at herself as she spoke.

"How about you go back and get Brother Chen to sign a contract so he can make an album for you too?"

Su Chao stopped and shook his wrist.

"I?"

Zhou Xun pointed to herself in surprise.

"Yes, there's a song that would suit you. I can give you a lead single, and then I'll have Brother Chen help you collect the others."

Su Chao doesn't think Zhou Xun's singing skills are that good.

But if Yang Mi could sing "The Offering of Love," what can't a sound engineer do?

"Damn, is this my lucky year?"

Zhou Xun was almost overwhelmed by the series of surprises.

"Resources are limited. With just one TV series and one record, whether you become famous or not is up to fate."

In the internet age, Su Chao has many ways to create hype.

Now all we can do is rely on our work.

There are also music videos and commercials.

They also plan to arrange some for Zhou Xun. If Zhou Xun becomes popular, the MV will generate a lot of buzz, which is also a win-win situation.

With Su Chao's album selling so well, his music videos have also become highly sought after.

Even Jiang Qinqin's side took the initiative to contact them, expressing that there was an opportunity to collaborate, even on a music video.

This is word of mouth!

Of course, Su Chao would definitely prioritize his own students.

Students can design their own music videos, and if they meet the requirements, they can shoot the music video during breaks from shooting commercials.

It is not limited to female students.

If the male trainees can design the music video storyline, they can also star in the music video as the main actors; at worst, Su Chao will not appear in the video.

He doesn't care about getting a little exposure.

"I'm sure I'll become famous. I can become famous without big directors promoting me!"

Zhou Honghong was full of fighting spirit.

Chan Kin-tim naturally had no objection to signing Zhou Xun.

The assistant was asked to draft the contract on-site.

Su Chao is now one of the company's owners.

He can sign whoever he wants.

Moreover, with Su Chao writing theme songs for people they want to sign, what's there to hesitate about?

Su Chao's creative work is now a well-known and highly regarded brand.

Andy Lau's new album will be released in mid-February.

The title track is "World's Number One".

It's selling very well in both Hong Kong and mainland China, but the biggest response has been in Taiwan.

Many media outlets praised it as a classic.

This album was also arguably the most popular album during the Spring Festival.

Su Chao's name continues to expand its influence along with the album.

Creators are typically behind the scenes.

Many people are passionately fond of a particular song, but if you ask them who wrote the lyrics or composed the music, they probably have no idea.

Su Chao is different.

He created music and released albums simultaneously, quickly accumulating a large fan base.

These fans are very proud of their idol's talent.

They promptly compiled statistics on the main tracks of newly released albums, identifying those created by their idols, and helped promote them widely.

Besides Andy Lau's album, Jacky Cheung and Kelly Chen also released new albums.

This is Kelly Chen's second album.

The first album was lukewarm at best, but the second album shone brightly in January.

"Notebook" has also become a classic song for the Spring Festival.

Even though Jacky Cheung's new album was released in the same month, she still made a great splash.

Jacky Cheung is getting married on February 15th. He sent an invitation to Su Chao beforehand, but Su Chao didn't attend because the wedding was in London.

That day was the 27th of the lunar year, and I really didn't want to go through all that trouble.

At the wedding, Jacky Cheung thanked Su Chao for composing the theme song for the wedding.

The song Su Chao sang for Zhou Xun was "Drifting".

Su Chao had actually seen this song before, but the discount wasn't great.

Moreover, Su Chao has no intention of taking Zhou Xun's original song.

Even if they had the resources before, they wouldn't have been able to help Zhou Xun release an album.

It's different now.

Su Chao is now one of the owners of Red Star Production Company. Although Zheng Jun left, Red Star Production Company rewarded Tian Zhen and Su Chao for the success of their albums and is now able to release albums for new artists.

As for the other newcomers in the company, not many will become famous, so we can leave it to Xiao Ke.

If Xiao Ke can't be promoted either, then there's nothing that can be done.

Su Chao is still hesitating.

Should we sign Jay Chou to Red Star Production Company? At worst, we could just set up a Taiwan branch of Red Star Production Company.

The main problem is that many people in Taiwan don't have a proper moral compass.

Even Jay Chou.

In the early days, he was able to express his views actively, referring to Taiwan Province, but his attitude became increasingly ambiguous as time went on, and he was surrounded by a lot of such people afterward.

If we sign him over, then it's like raising him only to kill him.

At most, it's just that they weren't as bad as Lin Xi.

Similar to... a power bank.

Of course, you have to find the right time.

Furthermore, the Red Star Production Company also needs to further enhance its reputation.

Even if Zhou Chuanxiong, who was frustrated and unsuccessful, had been invited to join the Red Star Production Company by Su Chao last time, he would not have agreed.

To abandon Sony and choose a small mainland record company, a small company that needs to rely on Rock Records' distribution channels to get its records on the shelves in Taiwan, is that not crazy?
Richie Jen is the same.

Unless Su Chao suddenly exudes an aura of dominance.

Alternatively, they could offer a few good songs as a condition to entice the other party to join.

But that would be pointless.

Ideally, it would be someone like Jay Chou who hasn't yet made a name for himself.

Give him a bite to eat and he'll work his life for him. When Su Chao was leaving, Chen Jiantian asked him if he wanted to take the fan mail with him.

Su Chao has not publicly disclosed his private address—in fact, he doesn't have a private address at all, and now he even relies on being a kept man to get a place to sleep.

After his album became a hit, letters from all over the country poured in like snowflakes.

Even people from Taiwan and Hong Kong wrote letters to the agency, which were then forwarded to the mainland.

It wasn't as exaggerated as storing a whole room full, but it was definitely filled with two large, half-person-high crates.

No wonder Zheng Yuanjie bought several houses just to store his fans' letters.

Su Chao was also having a headache.

"Let's leave it at the company if we can handle it. I'll look at it when I have time."

"I can put it down, but if you look at it yourself, you'll be exhausted. I'll have your two assistants look at it for you."

Chen Jiantian had met Su Chao's two assistants.

One had long hair, and the other had no hair, making them look particularly comical.

"Those two...now that you mention it, it's quite interesting. Giving them so much money, shouldn't they make the most of it?"

Su Chao simply couldn't imagine that those two roughnecks were flipping through sheet after sheet of paper, enduring the overwhelming love their fans had for him.

Especially the monk, he would get sleepy as soon as he saw a book.

"Go back early, it's windy tonight."

Chen Jiantian and Su Chao each picked up their coats; it was time to leave work.

Young people nowadays.

To look cool, I actually wore this wool coat in the freezing cold.

Don't you like military overcoats?

Since Chen Jiantian came to Beijing, he has fallen in love with military overcoats.

And it also had to be paired with a Lei Feng hat.

This thing should be promoted worldwide.

The only downside is that it's a bit heavy.

"Thank you so much, Brother Chen, for everything during this time."

Chen Jiantian must have swallowed his pride to be able to come to Japan, especially with such good conditions.

They rebuilt all the connections they had made during their Beyond days.

However, Su Chao only sells albums in Japan and has no plans to develop his career there.

He was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.

When I went to Japan for an event, every night I would sneak out while everyone else was asleep, cover my face, and go out to deal with a few Japanese soldiers.

"It's 68 now. Let's see if we can sell it for 100 million in a year, a real million."

The two walked together to the parking lot.

"It's unlikely to be popular anymore; everyone who wanted to buy it has already done so."

Su Chao's first album was released on the last day of September, and it's now late February of the following year, almost half a year later, and it has only sold 68 copies.

It's still quite a ways off from a million.

There's nothing we can do; piracy in mainland China is rampant, and we simply can't stop it.

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, they were ultimately using the channels of an agency.

The agency also has its own records to promote.

It's impossible to give all the resources to Su Chao.

If Su Chao had signed with PolyGram back then, making a million copies of his first album wouldn't have been a problem at all.

However, PolyGram's contracts are harsh.

The money earned in the end may not be as much as it is now.

“When you release your second album, you will gain many new fans. If these fans are loyal enough, they will go to record stores to see if they have your other albums. Therefore, I will continue to supply record stores with your music.”

Chen Jiantian is much more experienced than Su Chao.

"That does sound reasonable."

Su Chao's eyes lit up.

This can be considered a case of the new album boosting the old album.

It might not be of much use to others, and they would have to pay cooperation fees to the record stores, but Su Chao has great "potential," so doing this will definitely not be a loss.

"And your movie, isn't it going to be released soon? That will also boost album sales."

There's a reason why everyone wants to be a triple threat in film, television, and music.

Once this tripartite ecosystem is established, celebrities will achieve twice the results with half the effort in whatever they do.

TV dramas increase national recognition, movies make money and gain prestige, and both can boost record sales.

"It won't be released in the movie that quickly... After all, the idea is to release it simultaneously across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, which is very troublesome to coordinate."

Su Chao didn't know how much box office revenue he would get in mainland China.

The mainland Chinese film market is currently in a state of confusion.

However, since his main market is in mainland China, he naturally wants to release the film there as much as possible.

"You can attend during summer vacation, right?"

Chen Jiantian hitched a ride with Su Chao today; his assistant drove his car away.

"That's definitely possible, probably after the college entrance exam."

There is no definite news about Su Chao either.

He still needs to go to Hong Kong again to record the theme song for "My Sassy Girl".

Yeah, and there's also Lin Xi waiting for him to torture her.

"The college entrance exam, oh right, you're starting your art exams in March, right?"

Chen Jiantian doesn't really approve of Su Chao choosing which university to attend.

Many people in Hong Kong's entertainment industry lack formal education.

They are both superstars.

However, he also knew that Su Chao was in a heated battle with the authorities.

Since ancient times, going ashore has been the ultimate pursuit of the Chinese people.

Just look at Song Jiang and you'll know.

I wouldn't trade a street office job for a monthly salary of over a thousand.

Even a Maybach in a suit and tie is not as good as a Passat in an executive jacket.

If Su Chao wants to take the civil service exam in the future, he must have a university degree.

"Yes, it starts in March, and then I go back to Hebei to take the college entrance examination."

Su Chao could actually arrange to take the college entrance examination in Beijing, but that was really unnecessary.

He doesn't need to apply to Peking University or Tsinghua University; getting 300 points on the college entrance exam is easy for him.

"Events in the entertainment industry..."

Chen Jiantian felt somewhat heartbroken.

He finally found a promising prospect, but this prospect was only interested in becoming an official and making a fortune.

"Didn't I say before that it wouldn't be affected? I have an agreement with the school. Let's go quickly, my girlfriend is waiting for me to go to sleep."

Su Chao parked his car downstairs at Chen Jiantian's house.

Chen Jiantian was so angry that his stomach hurt.

(End of this chapter)