Anime Crossover: There are a lot of beautiful girls who like me.

However, she still held Kitagawa Yu tightly with both hands and did not let go. In fact, because she was looking down, her head was pressed against Kitagawa Yu's body.

This made Kitagawa Yu smile bitterly to himself.

However, after hesitating for a moment, Kitagawa Yu pretended that nothing had happened and calmly took over the topic.

"After recording, we still need to mix and tune the audio, but I already have a idea of ​​what the final result will be like, so this part of the production will be relatively quick. If all goes well, we should be able to finish the production today and release it on Spotify."

"What about on YouTube?" Tsukimi Eiko asked curiously.

"The YouTube release will probably be delayed for a while. Even though I originally planned to put the music video on the free channel, as our first single, it needs to be of a high enough quality. Otherwise, when we launch the paid channel, even fans might not be willing to pay to subscribe," Kitagawa Yu explained.

The Spotify in this world operates on a similar model to the main world, using a paid membership model, meaning that after paying for a membership, you can listen to all songs for free.

Independent musicians and music companies that upload their works can receive corresponding revenue based on the number of plays their songs receive.

Large, established music companies can sign separate agreements with Spotify to adjust the revenue sharing ratio, while for independent bands and musicians, the revenue sharing ratio is a fixed 50%.

However, Spotify's streaming revenue is very high; 100 million streams can generate 190 million yen in revenue, so even if you only get 50% of the revenue, it's still a considerable amount.

To give a simple example, Yoasobi's "Running Towards the Night" had over 6 million plays on Spotify in its previous life.

Even with the independent musicians receiving 50% of the revenue, their actual take-home pay for this song would be a whopping 5.7 million yen.

However, this revenue model may not be very friendly to independent musicians who lack popularity, since their songs may not even get a thousand or two plays.

It takes a lot of time and effort, but you can't even earn a thousand or two yen. It's better to work in a restaurant or convenience store.

In contrast, YouTube, which operates on a per-person channel basis, allows users to freely choose between a 'free' or 'paid' model, making it more flexible.

First of all, the free channels on YouTube are truly free. Although you need to watch ads, unlike Spotify, you don't have to pay a monthly membership fee of 1540 yen to be 'free'.

However, YouTube's revenue from streaming is correspondingly lower than Spotify's.

Free channels primarily generate revenue through ad revenue sharing based on video views.

The creator's share is 55%, so the actual income from 100 million views is about 60 yen.

That's only 60% of the 95 yen net income from a million streams on Spotify.

Therefore, many high-quality video creators who make a living from this, as well as idol groups who like to amass fans, prefer to set their personal channels on a paid model.

To watch the channel's content, you need to pay an additional subscription fee.

Furthermore, the specific subscription fee can be set by the creator, even if it is set at 10 yen per month for a single person.

In addition, creators can receive 70% of the revenue.

Even idol groups with only a couple hundred real fans can earn a considerable income every month by posting videos on YouTube, as long as they are ruthless enough.

Although Kitagawa Yu didn't intend to be so ruthless in exploiting his fans, he did plan to put all his music videos on a paid channel and set the monthly subscription fee at 150 yen.

In the Japanese music scene of the past, there were fifty or sixty singers, bands, and groups with more than one million subscribers on their YouTube channels, and more than thirty with more than two million. The highest number of subscribers was Kenshi Yonezu, who had 7.3 million subscribers.

Ado and YOASOBI's personal channels also have 700 million and 680 million subscribers respectively.

With the help of these people's works from his previous life, it shouldn't be too much to say that he has more than 600 million channel subscribers, right?

In this way, with 150 × 0.7 × 600W, he can earn a whopping 6.3 million yen every month just from YouTube!

That's 75.6 billion yen a year!

It has to be said that in Japan, singers definitely have a better financial future than actors.

No wonder there are so many people playing music here.

Kitagawa Yu originally planned to start making the music video after finishing "Sunflower". He would shoot some footage himself first to see the effect. If it didn't work, he would find a professional photographer and editor, or simply find an artist to make the kind of animated music video that was very popular in his previous life.

However, due to a sudden invitation from Ginjiro Yoshida, the production plan for the music video had to be postponed slightly.

"Speaking of which, Sony Music's previous channel, THE FIRST TAKE, on YouTube was quite popular, with over four million subscribers... So, could we perhaps take a look at that 'model'?"

THE FIRST TAKE refers to a 'non-reproducible way of enjoying music', which simply means imitating the recording studio environment, giving the singer only a microphone, a pure white background, and a camera position, without any audio editing or tuning.

Let the singer perform a one-shot, no-NG performance in a quiet, simple environment to see what level of singing ability the singer really has.

To be honest, playing like this would really be a torture for some singers and idols.

However, if this method could be used to shoot music videos, it would undoubtedly be much simpler.

"Hmm... when Eiko-chan is recording her song later, I'll film it this way too!"

"Even if it can't be made into a music video directly, it might be used as material when making a music video later."

"Or we could just put it on the free channel as bonus content..."

While chatting with Tsukimi Eiko, Kitagawa Yu was silently making plans in his mind.

Because Tsukimi Eiko's two full Devil Fruits were pressing down on him, and the two thin layers of B-grade material in between couldn't block out that amazing C-grade sensuality, he could only keep calm by distracting himself with these thoughts.

Fortunately, when the tram arrived at the station, although Tsukimi Eiko was reluctant, she still took the initiative to let go of him.

This finally made his breathing, which had been somewhat difficult due to the heavy weight, return to normal.

Then......

The two had barely stepped out of the subway car when Tsukimi Eiko once again took the initiative, blushing as she linked arms with Kitagawa Yu.

She was actually incredibly shy, and her hands and feet were even trembling a little, but she was still absolutely determined not to let go.

This caused Kitagawa Yu's eye to twitch involuntarily, as if a crow had flown overhead.

Chapter 90 An Awkward Encounter

"My God, am I opening it wrong?"

"He was perfectly normal when he was eating breakfast, so how come he's become so bold as soon as he goes out...?"

"Was it some kind of buff that I don't know about?"

I feel that if I were to pull my arm away now, Tsukimi Eiko would definitely collapse because her legs would give way.

Kitagawa Yuya had no choice but to reluctantly let Tsukimi Eiko hold his arm so affectionately.

Then, as if fate wanted to remind him, some choices, if taken wrongly, will lead to a series of wrong choices afterward.

He and Tsukimi Eiko had only walked a short distance from the subway station when they ran into Kawara Momoka and Anwa Subaru, who happened to be walking out of a building on the side of the road.

"Huh? It's you!?"

Obviously, as someone who had only met her the night before and was the only 'fan' to have bought her CD in the last three days, Momoka Kawahara, who always claimed to cherish her fans, recognized Yu Kitagawa at a glance.

"..."

To be honest, even with Kitagawa Yu's intelligence and thick skin, he was at a loss for words at this moment.

As a result, the atmosphere visibly became somewhat awkward.

"Hello, I'm Anwa Subaru, a friend of Momo (Momoka). Do you know Momo-chan?"

Fortunately, An and Subaru, as the 'Little Angels of the Thorn Gang,' stepped forward in time before the atmosphere escalated to an even more awkward situation.

"So, I'd say we know each other, right?"

Kitagawa Yu regained her composure and introduced herself in a serious tone: "My name is Kitagawa Yu. Last night, when I was at the station with my classmate, I happened to see... Momo-chan's performance and bought one of her CDs."

"By the way?" Momoka Kawahara, whose brows had just relaxed, couldn't help but frown again upon hearing this.

"And who is this?" Anwa Subaru stepped forward again and looked at Tsukimi Eiko.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Tsukimi Eiko, and I'm the lead singer of the Yu Band." Tsukimi Eiko glanced at Kitagawa Yu first, then introduced herself with a slightly distant air.

Then......

"band?"

"Singer?"

As expected, Momoka Kawara and Subaru Yasuhiro showed expressions of surprise after hearing this.

Immediately afterwards, the surprise on Kawara Momoka's face quickly turned into suspicion, as if she suspected that Kitagawa Yu was a conman who used the band as a front to deceive young girls' feelings.

This made Tsukimi Eiko, who was unaware of the inside story, feel extremely dissatisfied.

To defend Kitagawa Yu, the usually timid girl unusually bravely declared, "That's right, I'm the lead singer of Yu's band, and we even received a ticket to Shinjuku... Shinjuku L..."

"It's Shinjuku LOFT~" Kitagawa Yu reminded him from the side, somewhat amused and exasperated.

"That's right! We even received an invitation from the manager of Shinjuku LOFT to perform there!"

Now, Momoka Kawahara, who had been looking suspicious, and Subaru An, who had just calmed down, were shocked once again.

“Shinjuku LOFT!?”

"Are you not mistaken?"

"That's one of the most famous performance halls in Shinjuku. People who can perform there are at least some well-known figures in underground indie bands. You... you weren't fooled by this guy, were you?"

Kawahara Momoka asked three questions in a row, and even An and Subaru, who were standing next to her, couldn't stop her.

“This is the business card of Yoshida Ginjiro, the manager of Shinjuku LOFT. I also have his friends on Line, including the band Psychopathic Hacker, who are the mainstays of their band. Would you like to take a look?” Kitagawa Yu said with a frown and a blank expression.

If Momoka Kawahara hadn't added that last sentence, he might have just laughed it off and thought there was nothing wrong with her kind heart.

But then Momoka Kawahara added that last sentence, which completely changed the nature of the situation.

"This...is this really Manager Yoshida's business card!?"

Momoka Kawahara had performed at Shinjuku LOFT a few times when she was with Diamond Stardust, so she immediately recognized that the business card in Yu Kitagawa's hand was genuine.

Coupled with Kitagawa Yu's confident and assertive demeanor, she had no choice but to believe that Kitagawa Yu was not lying or deceiving Tsukimi Eiko.

As for Kitagawa Yu's alleged two-timing... according to Yamada Ryo in "Lonely Rock," this is nothing unusual in the underground band scene.

Just like smoking, drinking, and getting perms, the vast majority of people in the underground band scene are into alcohol, women, and rock and roll.

And so... this is awkward!

Kawara Momoka couldn't help but scratch the corner of her mouth, her face showing obvious embarrassment. However, she was too embarrassed to apologize to Kitagawa Yu.

As a result, the atmosphere between the two sides froze once again.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive Momo-chan, she really didn't mean any harm!"

In the end, it was An and Subaru, her close friend, who stepped forward and bowed deeply to apologize to Kitagawa Yu on her behalf, thus resolving the awkward situation between them once again.

However, this made Kitagawa Yu less likely to argue with Kawaraki Momoka any longer, but it also made him even more disdainful of her.