Huayu: From the Era of Ringtones to Becoming a Legend

At 3 PM, the topic took its first turn when music critics began to speak out in the mainstream music scene.

A well-known music critic posted an article on his blog with an eye-catching title:

[“There’s a Kind of Love Called Letting Go”: A Sign of Musical Decline or a Backlash from Industry Hegemony?]

The article states:

"Lu Jiuge used the most brutal method to expose the industry's veil of shame!"

When the quality of a song is no longer determined by professional judges, but rather by ordinary people on the street voting with their ears, what should those large companies that control distribution channels do?

"They chose to blacklist me! So Lu Jiuge chose an even more extreme counterattack: If you won't let me in, I'll scatter my songs in every corner you can't see."

"This is no longer just a musical contest; it's a war about who has the right to define good music!"

In Lu Jiuge's office, Lu Jiuge and Zuo Wei were reading this commentary article when the system in her mind suddenly reacted.

[Large-scale public opinion controversy detected, determined to be a battle for industry discourse power. Negative faith value +15000!]

Looking at the rapidly increasing negative faith value in the system, Lu Jiuge smiled at Zuo Wei and said:

"It seems this music critic is one of our allies!"

"Old Zuo, get your team to push this article to the top of the trending topics list immediately!"

"Okay, I'll get started right away!"

Under Zuo Wei's guidance, the article was widely shared, and more and more neutral music critics joined the discussion.

By 7 p.m., #ThereIsA Kind of Love CalledLettingGo# finally climbed to the bottom of the trending topics list.

Clicking on it reveals various videos filmed by ordinary people:

Night market vendors played the song on a loop through loudspeakers; dozens of computers in an internet cafe in the county town simultaneously played the chorus.

At one construction site, workers were even using their phones to loudly sing "There's a kind of love called letting go..." during their breaks.

Rough, authentic, with an earthy smell.

These are the kinds of promotional effects that Yawei Records couldn't buy even with a million yuan in advertising.

Lu Jiuge returned to the company at 9 p.m. after having dinner with her team.

The ringtone titled "There's a Kind of Love Called Letting Go" has been downloaded over 1.8 million times!

"At this rate, it'll surpass 'Road to Glory' in downloads by tomorrow morning!"

After reviewing the background ringback tone download data, the left side provides an objective analysis.

Lu Jiuge hummed in agreement but didn't say anything.

He was looking at the system panel in his mind.

[Negative Faith Value: 38742 (Continuously Increasing)]

[Source Analysis: Industry professionals (hostility), distributors (anger), some music critics (disgust), competitor teams (hatred)]

[Industry-wide hegemonic malicious targeting detected; Sentiment purity rating: A]

[Negative Faith Value is continuously increasing by 300%]

"It seems I'm on the right track; the more professional someone is when they criticize me, the more negative faith points they gain!"

"I get stronger by getting scolded?"

"No, I want to challenge the entire professional circle and become a top influencer by enduring criticism!"

"It's loved by over a billion ordinary people at the bottom of society; it doesn't matter if the professional community doesn't acknowledge it!"

……

"Xiao Lu, we just received a few notifications!"

Lu Jiuge was thinking when Liu Sixi pushed the door open and interrupted her.

"Teacher Liu, don't rush, sit down and tell me slowly."

They pushed a chair for Liu Sixi to sit down, and Zuo Wei stopped staring at the computer. The two of them looked at Liu Sixi.

"One is a notice from the Zhejiang Provincial Audio-Visual Distribution Association, which says that we are disrupting market order and demands that we immediately stop the free licensing practice."

"There's one more..."

Liu Sixi paused:

"I just received news that Li Huizhen, before signing with our company after her comeback, was already being targeted by another record label!"

After hearing the second piece of news, Lu Jiuge looked at Zuo Wei with a puzzled expression.

The left side is an awkward explanation:

"Mr. Lu, I really didn't know about this!"

Lu Jiuge nodded, without blaming him, and looked at Liu Sixi:

"Teacher Liu, which record company is eyeing Sister Huizhen?"

Liu Sixi stopped beating around the bush and answered directly:

"Yawei Records!"

"Yawei? The company Luo Zhiqiang works for?"

Lu Jiuge and Zuo Wei were both taken aback by this news.

The left image shows a frown:

"Mr. Lu, if that's really the case, the situation we're facing becomes far more complicated!"

"Given Away Records' industry standing and their calculating nature, they might very well join forces with other companies to form a blacklist against us!"

"Don't be afraid, their blacklisting is useless. Our distribution channels are not under the control of the record companies!"

Standing up and lighting a cigarette, Lu Jiuge walked to the window and looked down at the dimly lit street below:

"Old Zuo, tomorrow you contact the top 30 pirate CD factories in the country and tell them that they can get the master tapes of Qianxing Entertainment's next album for free, on only one condition:"

I need their distribution network to help me distribute the album to every county in the country!

On the left, the pupil constricts.

"Mr. Lu, what's wrong...?"

"I'm going to build a completely new marketing line!"

Lu Jiuge turned around and glanced at Liu Sixi and Zuo Wei:

"A distribution network originating from pirate workshops and infiltrating night market stalls, rural internet cafes, and rural fairs!"

"Once this line is completed..."

Lu Jiuge paused, her tone becoming even colder:

"Let's see who can blacklist me now!"

……

At the same time, in Shanghai, at the headquarters of Yawei Records in China.

The meeting room was filled with smoke, and the ashtrays were overflowing with cigarette butts.

On the projection screen, there is a data chart showing the spread of a kind of love called letting go through various non-mainstream channels.

"The ringback tone has been downloaded 1.9 million times!"

Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Zhao Mingliang, CEO of Yawei, said in a deep voice:

"At this rate, Zhiqiang's path to the title of 'King of Songs' will be overtaken by tomorrow morning!"

The conference room was deathly silent.

After looking around at the seven or eight people sitting in the conference room, Zhao Mingliang asked:

"The main topic of discussion at this meeting is whether we should continue to invest funds in promoting the song 'Road to Glory'?"

"The company's initial budget of one million for marketing and promotion is almost gone!"

When Luo Zhiqiang, who was sitting below, heard that the company wanted to give up the publicity, he panicked instantly.

Only after his agent wrote a note reminding him did he realize what was happening. He abruptly stood up, placed his hands on the table, and stared at Zhao Mingliang with bloodshot eyes.

"President Zhao! I admit defeat! But if the company can't even suppress Lu Jiuge, who will take Yawei seriously in mainland China?"

"Lu Jiuge beat them to it even though he knew the company was going to sign Li Huizhen. He's clearly not taking Yawei Records seriously!"

After Luo Zhiqiang finished speaking, his agent, who was standing next to him, added fuel to the fire by fabricating a story:

"Furthermore, I heard a rumor that Lu Jiuge deliberately hijacked Li Huizhen's deal to prevent Yawei Records from entering the mainland market!"

Luo Zhiqiang and his agent worked together, and sure enough, the senior executives of Yawei Records in the conference room started cursing angrily.

"Mr. Zhao, Yawei is at a crucial stage of its full-scale expansion into the mainland market. If we don't respond strongly, we'll be ridiculed by the industry and find it difficult to establish ourselves in the mainland in the future!"

"That's right, then Mr. Zhao will become a laughing stock in the industry!"

Two executives who sided with Luo Zhiqiang added fuel to the fire, putting Zhao Mingliang in a very difficult position.

Zhao Mingliang's face was grim. He tapped his fingers on the table, thought for a while, and then suddenly spoke:

"This matter certainly can't be left like this!"

He looked up and surveyed the conference room:

"I will immediately submit an application to the shareholders' meeting, mobilizing Yawei, Xinghai, Tianyin... and all the record companies we have cooperative relationships with to blacklist Lu Jiuge's Qianxing Entertainment!"

Zhao Mingliang paused, his voice turning cold:

"I want him to know that in this industry, offending Yawei Records means certain death!"

……

Less than half an hour after the Yawei Records meeting ended, Liu Sixi received the news and, pale-faced, handed his phone to Lu Jiuge:

"Xiao Lu, this is a message from our largest partner factory. Yawei has already notified them!"

"Anyone who dares to take our orders again can forget about ever getting any genuine master tapes again!"