Business Closed Loop: Starting with Ringback Tones to Take Down Giants

The photoshoot for the admission brochure was scheduled for the last day of the May Day holiday.

A holiday? Nobody mentions it; that would be a desecration of productivity.

The filming location changed from the teaching building to the library, and then from the library to the rehearsal theater. Wang Song followed the changes three times, and his face was stiff from smiling so much.

Jiang Yilei is quite dedicated; every time the camera pans over, he immediately strikes a pose of focused work.

"With acting skills like yours, it's a shame you're not in a performing arts program."

Wang Song handed him a bottle of water.

"That's what you call professional," Jiang Yilei said, unscrewing the cap and taking a sip.

"Look at Ma Xiaojun, when he was asked to act out a scene of him seriously typing, he managed to portray the feeling of constipation."

Not far away, Ma Xiaojun was pretending to be deep in thought in front of his computer, but the first chapter on the screen hadn't moved for ten minutes.

Liu Jianjun whispered a reminder from the side, "Brother Ma, why don't you write something?"

"I...I'll try my best."

People come and go in the shot, but the two most central positions remain empty.

Thousands of kilometers away in Changsha, the Super Girl competition in the Changsha division, where 50 contestants were narrowed down to 20, is being recorded.

From this morning until now, apart from a brief statement that everyone is safe, there has been no news whatsoever about the match results.

In the corner, Li Ran and Zhou Tao leaned against the wall. They had stayed up for fourteen nights and revised the two songs seven times before finalizing them.

Whether these two songs can stand the test of time, and whether the two singers can advance, all depends on today's recording.

Wang Song saw all of this and was just about to say something to ease the tension.

The director of the school office walked over and patted Wang Song on the shoulder: "Xiao Wang, come over and let's talk."

He lit a cigarette and slowly asked, "The studio has grown into a company now, how does it feel?"

"It's alright," Wang Song said honestly. "With the school's support, things are more standardized than before."

"That's good." The director of the school office exhaled a puff of smoke. "There's something I need to make clear to you, so you won't misunderstand later."

Wang Song looked at him.

"The studio has grown into a company, and it's not appropriate for the school to interfere in its commercial matters," the director of the school office said calmly.

"But we will definitely support copyright and innovation and entrepreneurship. This is the bottom line of the school and also its honor."

Wang Song nodded: "Understood."

"Good, I understand." The director of the school office patted him on the shoulder. "Go on, we're waiting to film the final group shot."

Filming continued for another half hour when Wang Song's phone, which was in his pocket, suddenly vibrated.

The screen displayed Yao Beina's name, and everyone present immediately gathered around.

"Boss, the competition is over." Yao Beina's voice was a little hoarse from the competition.

"Sisi and I both passed unanimously and advanced to the top 20."

After a two-second silence, the courtyard erupted in chaos.

Li Ran and Zhou Tao leaned together, and the anxiety that had been hanging over them for almost a week finally eased.

Those two songs, which had been polished for over a dozen nights, finally stood firm on the most crucial stage.

The photographer, standing nearby, was both amused and exasperated: "Guys, can you wait until we're done taking the picture before you get excited? This is the last one."

The group of people laughed and joked as they stood back in their positions, and then, with a click, the image was captured.

The director of the school office looked at the noisy group of young people and waved his hand with a smile.

"Okay, let's stop filming here for now. We won't disturb you young people any longer."

"Thank you, teacher!!"

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

At 8 p.m., the people in the studio were already sitting in a circle, with a large screen connected to a TV signal, and barbecue and cola piled on the table.

Even legal counsel Zhao Lan and finance manager Luo Dan put down their files and ledgers and squeezed into the crowd to wait for the broadcast to start.

"Liu Jianjun, stop browsing your crappy forum and come here."

"Wait, wait."

He clicked on the homepage of the Central Academy of Drama's official website, where he saw the school's official statement, along with a copyright registration receipt.

He opened four or five more web pages, browsing through Tianya, Xici Hutong, and university BBS forums one by one, then looked up and smiled at everyone.

"It's completely cleaned up; all those smear posts are nowhere to be found now."

"Absolutely." Ma Xiaojun munched on sunflower seeds. "I've already been promoting Sister Na and Sister Sisi in the reader group."

"By the way, boss, they've been urging us for more merchandise in the group chat again. This time, we want autographed items."

Wang Song smiled and shook his head: "Let's watch the game first, we can talk about other things later."

"Here it comes, GG is over!" Jiang Yilei exclaimed.

In the corner, Li Ran and Zhou Tao sat side by side; no one cared more about the recording than they did.

Last year, Li Ran worked odd jobs and ghostwriters at bars, and his creative ideas were stolen.

Zhou Tao visited every recording studio in Beijing, but his demos disappeared without a trace, and he couldn't even get a basic credit.

The right of attribution belongs to the creator permanently.

Even now, the weight on their hearts is still not lifted.

On the screen, one contestant after another finished singing, advancing or being eliminated.

Finally, the host's voice rang out: "Next up is our original song, 'The Wind Rises'."

Lyrics by Wang Song

Composer: Yao Beina

Arrangement: Li Ran

The studio fell silent.

Chang Sisi appeared on the screen, dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, standing on the stage, her hand holding the microphone trembling slightly.

Li Ran sat up straight, as if trying to etch the less than five-second prelude into his mind.

All the grievances of the past year were released at this moment, turning into tears welling up in my eyes.

"We traveled along the way, stopping and starting, following the trail of the boy's drifting journey..."

"I hesitated for a moment before stepping out of the station."

Everyone's attention was focused on the screen; for many of them, it was the first time they had heard the full version.

"I was once overwhelmed by the vastness of the world, and also indulged in its delusions..."

The camera cuts to the judges' panel.

Teacher Shunzi leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, completely immersed in the melody.

She turned her head and whispered to Eric Moo, "The lyrics are really well written, not something a twenty-year-old could write."

Eric Moo nodded, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, his eyes full of appreciation.

"In the name of love, are you still willing?"

As the last note faded, there was a two-second silence, followed by thunderous applause.

"Thank you, teacher." Chang Sisi bowed, and her voice was choked with emotion.

Teacher Shunzi was the first to raise her sign: "I'd like to ask, is the story in these lyrics based on your own experiences?"

Chang Sisi's voice was still trembling slightly.

"It's the experience of a group of people in our studio, and it's also the story we want to sing to all young people."

The two judges exchanged a glance and simultaneously raised their placards.

"Advanced!"

It is only when the results are truly presented before our eyes that the impact is truly awe-inspiring.

Coke bottles clinked together, barbecue skewers flew everywhere, and Ma Xiaojun spun Liu Jianjun around in his arms.

The newcomers, Luo Dan and Zhao Lan, watched the group of people making a ruckus with smiles.

They said, "That's wonderful."

In the corner, Li Ran finally loosened his clenched fist. Zhou Tao patted him on the shoulder, and his own eyes also felt a little hot.

It's Yao Beina's "The Light Chaser".

He could clearly see his own name.

The song ended.

The judge's comment was succinct and impactful:

"That was the best performance of the night! You absolutely deserve to be on the national finals stage. You advance!!!!!"

Two songs, two consecutive advancements, the cheers and applause in the room almost lifted the roof off.

The long-silent studio landline suddenly started ringing loudly, and Wang Song's computer was buzzing with incoming emails.

The people in the studio exchanged glances, then burst into even louder laughter.

……

The Super Girl competition has ended, but the online buzz is just beginning.

Honestly, which original song was the best in this season's Super Girl Star City regional competition, where the top 50 were narrowed down to 20?

"RT, it has to be 'The Wind Rises,' the lyrics are truly amazing. It captures the feeling of first encountering this world, and then traversing it. First-rate."

"But am I the only one who thinks the singer is pretty? Hehehe."

"LS is right, but 'The Light Chaser' is also a contender. The shadow chasing the light in a dream is quite apt."

"But, it seems like all of these were made by the same company."

"I did some digging and found out that it's a student studio supported by three art colleges, spanning music, online literature, and video, and the key is that they've succeeded in doing everything."

The post kept getting higher and higher

Some people started digging into the singers' pasts, while others speculated on how far they could go in the Super Girl competition.

At this moment, on the East Third Ring Road of Yanjing.

In a hotel suite, the TV was still on Mango Entertainment Channel, but the screen had already switched to GG.

A young girl leaned back on the sofa, staring at the computer screen, scrolling down line by line.

She flipped through it very slowly, going through it three times from beginning to end.

She finally convinced her family to let her go into this industry and decided to debut with a record label.

After asking around at all the top record companies, all I got were either mass-produced, generic pop songs or resource swaps tied to domineering management contracts.

Hit the wall everywhere.

Just now, she came to her senses, slapped her forehead, and rushed barefoot to the door of another room in the suite.

"Sister Lin! Sister Lin!"

The door opened, and her manager, Sister Lin, looked puzzled: "My dear lady, what's wrong so late at night?"

The girl grabbed her arm: "Tomorrow! Tomorrow morning, you have to take me to the Central Academy of Drama! I need to find Xianming Studio!"