Why bother writing songs? Fast forward to the "Don't Laugh Challenge"

Chapter 43 Two Lines Running in Parallel! Specialization Plus Abstraction!

As the person involved, he knows best what these words would mean if they came out of Lao Chen's mouth.

What kind of company is their basic style? They're basically a small company focused on fast food culture.

To put it bluntly, it can't be considered a record company or entertainment agency, not even that level. At best, it's more like a small MCN organization with a little bit of entertainment company attributes.

If the company were the kind of organization that only values ​​high-quality clients, they would have signed him on his very first visit. Why wait for the rest of the process?

However, it was Old Chen who brought up this idea on his own initiative.

With a production budget of 100 million, is this considered a big-budget production?

That's iron calculation.

This is a big production, not just for companies like Visual Effects Culture, but for most music productions, even within July Records.

Actually, making a song doesn't need to cost that much. After all, if you're a musician with lower requirements and don't have such high demands for equipment, sound quality, and the final presentation, a few thousand dollars is actually more than enough to make a song.

Even for most independent musicians, the cost of making a song is no more than ten thousand yuan, which is already the result of their frugal living.

Of course, there is a major premise: that is, it does not include music videos.

When it comes to music videos, there's no limit to how much money can be spent on them.

Some music videos featuring international superstars cost tens of millions of US dollars, with the actual cost being much higher than the song itself.

So when Lao Chen said those words, Xia Shen roughly understood what he meant.

"Is the company planning to shoot a music video?" Xia Shen asked.

“We do have that plan.” Old Chen nodded. “Actually, if the opportunity arises, the company is willing to try a premiumization strategy. After all, the company also wants to grow, and you happen to have the ability, so why not give you a try?”

That's the truth. If an entertainment company wants to develop, it still has to take the route of producing high-quality products. If it continues to stay in the current situation, it will never be able to stand out.

Unfortunately, they have never had this opportunity.

It wasn't until Xia Shen appeared that they saw an opportunity.

Xia Shen can create both high-quality and abstract works, and he has proven himself through his actions, which has been recognized by the market.

Well then, why not give it a try? If all else fails, we can always have Xia Shen do the same old thing again!
"Of course, even when creating a boutique album, we still need to consider market factors."

However, Lao Chen added, "I hope you can understand that this is the company's first attempt, it's like testing the waters, we need to do something that has a high market acceptance."

"I understand." Xia Shen nodded in agreement.

After all, such a big step is quite significant for their company, which isn't very large; they really should consider more factors.

In fact, it's already quite commendable that the company has innovative ideas.

"So what kind of album should we make?" Xia Shen asked.

Given the current situation, electronic music is out of the question; it's a completely niche genre in China.

Although electronic music has a great influence on modern music, the same is true in China. In fact, 90% of current popular music involves electronic music producers and electronic music technology.

However, the problem is that in China, pure electronic music is not listened to; it can only exist as an adjunct to pop music.

This can be roughly seen from the disastrous failure of the album's other single, "Still".

Of course, there's also the reason that he didn't do market research beforehand. He naively used the perspective of an industry professional to measure consumers, failing to realize that the relatively gentle style of future bass is not suitable for the current market. He made the same mistake as with "Give Me a Song's Time".

So, forget about making electronic music.

"Then let's go for the trend?" Xia Shen asked.

"Do not."

Old Chen shook his head and said, "Although the market for pop music is large and the audience is large, the competition is also fierce. The market is firmly controlled by those big companies. To put it bluntly, the audience for pop music is very discerning."

"The more popular the style, the more familiar the audience is with the faces. Assuming you don't go for abstract art, you can't compete with them." "So there's only one good style!" Old Chen continued, looking at Xia Shen: "Do you remember what I told you when we first met? What did you say you were good at?"

At this moment, Xia Shen already had an answer in his heart.

Then at the same time, the two of them said in unison: "Rap!"

Xia Shen also suddenly realized.

Indeed, just how popular is rap music now? This genre is no longer the underground music style of the past, but has experienced explosive growth over a period of time, thanks to its essence of rhythmic music that brings intense and exhilarating experiences, and its almost non-existent barriers to entry.

Anyone can rap. You don't need to know music theory, and you don't even need to have your own accompaniment. You can create your own music.

This led to the massive explosion of rap music we see today.

To be honest, this is indeed the best option right now. Unlike popular music, which is so solidified and difficult to break through, it has a huge user base and market, with a large wave of trend-conscious young people who like this kind of music.

Newcomers are more likely to succeed by creating high-quality content.

Moreover, he's not a newcomer; after a period of development, he has already gained a certain reputation in the internet world.

Of course, it’s not a good reputation.

“But there’s another problem with rap,” Xia Shen said. “Actually, this genre is quite homogeneous.”

The biggest problem with rap is that the themes are always the same: "I'm tougher than you" or "I'm better than you".

In addition, most rappers don't give off a very good impression, which has led many people to actually oppose rap.

Old Chen said, "We don't necessarily have to make this kind of content! You see, we can also play the differentiated track, just like I said when we first met, we make what the audience wants to hear, for example, the differentiated track!"

Localize it!

"Localization?" Xia Shen pondered.

"I admit I'm nitpicking a bit, and it's a bit as absurd as trying to localize American Peking Opera, but actually, if you can do it, it'll be a huge hit, really, believe me. I may not understand music, but I do understand a little bit about online traffic."

As he spoke, Old Chen held up two fingers, making a gesture that suggested he might lose the Korean market.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.” Xia Shen nodded.

"However, there's one more thing I might need you to do."

Old Chen then spoke with some difficulty.

"What?" Xia Shen asked.

"The company recently signed a new artist who sings pop songs, and he's missing a hit song. I was wondering if you have any good ideas to help him out. Of course, the copyright will still be yours."

His writing is abstract, yet not abstract enough; none of his poems have a sufficiently high "sweetness" level.

Finally, Lao Chen gave a summary.

As Lao Chen said, don't they know that what they're doing is ridiculous?
I know that all too well, but there's nothing I can do; money is hard to earn, and life is tough.

So all they can do is make fun of themselves.

"So you mean two lines running in parallel?" Xia Shen said, "I can give it a try. I'll find some time to meet that newcomer."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you!" Old Chen said gratefully.

"Talking about this kind of thing." Xia Shen waved his hand casually.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who I write songs for, whether it's for July or someone from my own company. Why can't I write songs for them?
Others need inspiration, but he doesn't.

More importantly, writing songs for the company's people doesn't involve as much work, because high-quality songs don't require that much work.

Just remember one principle: just keep injecting insulin!
(End of this chapter)