HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 59 [059] Assembling the Arrangement Team, Cantonese Hit Song
In 1996, Nicholas Tse signed with Fitto Records, a company under Yang Shoucheng, which was the predecessor of Yinghuang Entertainment.

In 97, Nicholas Tse released his first Cantonese music album, "My Attitude," which ranked third in Hong Kong IFPI record sales. Several of the album's hit songs are still on various popular music charts in Hong Kong.

Like Qi Yuan, he was successfully shortlisted for the upcoming 20th Hong Kong Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards.

Entering 98, Nicholas Tse's career took off even faster.

According to Yinghuang's plan, Nicholas Tse will achieve success in both film and music this year.

In the film and television sector, Yinghuang plans to cast Nicholas Tse as Brother Hao Nan.

There's no need to elaborate on how powerful Brother Hao Nan is; he single-handedly propelled Zheng Yijian to a position of popularity second only to the Four Heavenly Kings.

For Nicholas Tse's new Cantonese album, Yinghuang will hire the best team in the industry to produce it.

It's fair to say that Yinghuang provided Nicholas Tse with some of the best resources among the younger generation of artists in Hong Kong.

Perhaps Yinghuang was inspired by the Qi Ren joint incident in January, so it had Xie Tingfeng tied to Qi Yuan again.

And you know what? This tactic worked really well, giving Nicholas Tse a huge boost in exposure.

Nicholas Tse's name frequently appears in Hong Kong newspapers and magazines.

Qi Yuan is the pride of the mainland music scene, and Nicholas Tse is the pride of the younger generation in the Hong Kong music scene. Qi Yuan's debut Cantonese EP and Nicholas Tse's new Cantonese album will be released in March or April of this year.

Nicholas Tse is also a talented songwriter. He wrote his first song, "Miscalculation," when he was 15 years old, and many of the songs on his first album were written by himself.

Taiwan's music scene has Richie Jen, the mainland's music scene has Qi Yuan, and Hong Kong's music scene has Nicholas Tse.

A New Landscape in the Music Scene: Ren in the South, Qi in the North, and Ting in the Center

……

Zhang Hao bought more than a dozen of the latest newspapers from a newsstand on the street.

"Ah Yuan, look at this, it's all Yinghuang's doing. They're so greedy," Zhang Hao said angrily.

Zhang Hao had assumed that Qi Yuan would be just as angry as he was.

To his surprise, Qi Yuan himself reacted calmly.

"Let him try to freeload. We freeloaded with Xiao Qi and Rolling Stone last year too. We can't be hypocritical. If we can freeload off others, they can freeload off us too," Qi Yuan said nonchalantly.

When you're at the top, there will always be challengers.

When Jay Chou was at the height of her popularity in her previous life, she also had a group of challengers.

Wu Kequn even publicly stated that he would surpass Zhou Jielun within five years.

When the tide goes out, it will be clear who's been swimming naked.

Besides, being used by Yinghuang and Nicholas Tse right now might not be a bad thing.

"What do you think of Nicholas Tse's potential?" Qi Yuan didn't look at the newspapers; she pushed them all aside.

"To be honest, he has great potential. Yinghuang is determined to make him famous and is allocating resources to him with the goal of creating a new generation of Hong Kong superstars."

I did some research on Nicholas Tse. He really likes to show off and act cool, and his music style is rebellious and unrestrained.

Young people in Hong Kong really like this style, and coupled with his good looks, many young people in Hong Kong now imitate his hairstyle and clothing.

Zhang Hao analyzed it carefully.

As a professional agent, when someone tried to extort Qi Yuan, he naturally investigated the other party thoroughly.

To be honest, if he weren't managing Qi Yuan, he would genuinely worry that his artist would be trampled down by Xie Tingfeng and become a stepping stone from which they could never recover. "Isn't that settled? I also think Xie Tingfeng has potential, and Yinghuang is willing to invest resources. As long as he performs well, he will become very popular. We can respond by saying that we welcome challengers and are never afraid of challengers," Qi Yuan said with a light smile.

He knows all too well how popular Nicholas Tse will be in the next few years.

Having achieved success in film, his Mandarin album "Thank You for Your Love 1999," to be released next year, is selling very well in both Taiwan and mainland China, with official sales exceeding one million copies.

In the year 2000, Yinghuang once again made a strong effort, sending the twenty-something-year-old Nicholas Tse to the Spring Festival Gala.

Nicholas Tse's popularity reached its peak, and he became a true sensation throughout China, with countless young people imitating him.

If Richie Jen was the most popular Taiwanese singer in the years leading up to the millennium, then Nicholas Tse was the most popular Hong Kong singer in the years leading up to the millennium.

Most importantly, in a few years, Nicholas Tse will be involved in a cover-up case and forced to temporarily retire from the entertainment industry.

With the cover-up case exposed, isn't Qi Yuan the ultimate winner?

The more hype Yinghuang generates, the greater the benefits Qi Yuan will reap after Xie Tingfeng's incident.

Of course, this is on the premise that Qi Yuan cannot be suppressed by Xie Tingfeng before Xie Tingfeng gets into trouble.

As long as Qi Yuan can maintain his dominance over Xie Tingfeng, all of Yinghuang and Xie Tingfeng's efforts will ultimately benefit him.

Zhang Hao didn't know these things, Yinghuang didn't know them, and even Xie Tingfeng himself wouldn't know.

“Alright, sending a response that shows we’re not afraid of challenges demonstrates our magnanimity,” Zhang Hao nodded and said.

"Let's leave Yinghuang and Xie Tingfeng's matter as it is. Did you manage to invite the people I asked you to go back to Taiwan to invite before the New Year?"

Compared to Yinghuang and Nicholas Tse's attempts to piggyback on each other's fame, Qi Yuan is more concerned about his own music arrangement team.

"They're all signed, Huang Yuxun and Hong Jingyao. I don't understand, why did you hire them? Doesn't Warner Music have its own arrangement team? If you just ask, the company can hire the most famous arrangers from Hong Kong and Taiwan." Zhang Hao was very puzzled.

These three people are not well-known in the Taiwanese music arrangement industry.

Huang Yuxun was a contestant on Qi Yuan's episode of "Super Newcomer King".

Hong Jingyao is a second-generation star and has a little bit of fame. In 95, he arranged music for his brother's Taiwanese album. The work was well-received but not commercially successful, after all, Taiwanese songs have limited reach.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe these people as nobodys.

Even slightly popular singers might not look up to them.

“Many people who are currently popular weren’t born famous. Huang Yuxun did a good job in the arrangement segment of ‘Super Newcomer King.’ Hong Jingyao’s arrangement for his brother was also good. He’s very talented, he just lacks a platform with a lot of exposure,” Qi Yuan said calmly.

Hung Ching-yao is incredibly talented; he later won the Best Arranger award at the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards multiple times.

Huang Yuxun is not as good as Hong Jingyao, but he is still quite good. As long as the people who use him don't slack off, he can perform very well.

Qi Yuan formed his own music arrangement team mainly because music arrangement is too time-consuming.

He could compose it himself, but there was no need. More demanding pieces would take a month or even several months to compose; "The Seventh Chapter of the Night" took more than half a year to compose.

He only needs to compose the music, control the overall direction, and lay out the framework; he doesn't need to do everything himself.

"The company has already bought them plane tickets, and they will arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow," Zhang Hao added.

Qi Yuan nodded slightly, then laid out the five songs she had prepared to develop the Cantonese record market on the table.

Solo and duet versions of "Loving Too Late", "Good Hearted Breakup", "Under Mount Fuji", and "Rogue".

(End of this chapter)