1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

The so-called golden age of Hong Kong's music scene was half supported by Hong Kong's star power and the other half by Japanese melodies.

That's absolutely right.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hong Kong record companies had to release dozens of albums a year. Local composers simply couldn't keep up with the demand, so they had to buy ready-made songs from Japan, add Cantonese lyrics, and release them directly.

The result of this deception was surprisingly good. Cantonese has nine tones, and when spoken, it has its own rhythm and cadence, perfectly matching the melody of Japanese pop music.

Miyuki Nakajima, Koji Tamaki, and Keisuke Kuwata are names that have supported half of the Hong Kong music scene.

Among their popular hits, six or seven out of ten are adaptations of their original songs, such as "The Long Road of Life," "The Wind Continues to Blow," "A Thousand Songs," and "Loving You More Every Day"...

The theme song of "The Great Era", "Easily Hurt Woman", is also adapted from Miyuki Nakajima's 1977 song "Ruge".

A couple of days ago, Wai Ka-fai received a substantial budget, and during a production meeting, he even suggested, "Shouldn't we buy the theme song?"

"There's no rush."

Yuan Yingming smiled and said, "Adam Cheng and Vivian Hui are both singers, so we can give priority to their songs."

"That's not enough; it would be best to have three songs for the three love stories."

"Okay, then we'll see which style we like after the final editing, and then we'll buy it."

At the time, Huo Sheng was busy organizing the scene script and didn't pay attention.

Seeing this group of people online talking about Japanese song copyrights suddenly struck me, and I slapped my thigh, exclaiming, "Damn, how could I have forgotten about that!"

In an instant, a feeling of excitement, like finding a bargain at Panjiayuan, washed over him. He hugged the brick-like computer screen and shook it several times, as if he had won the World Cup lottery.

In the original timeline, the copyright for this song was first bought by Cinepoly Records, then Faye Wong sang it, released an album, and after it became a hit, it was finally bought by TVB as the theme song.

Now, Huo Sheng could easily position himself between Pony Canyon and Cinepoly Records, preemptively securing the exclusive Hong Kong adaptation rights to the song, and then simply wait for the record company to come knocking on his door to negotiate.

This is a highly profitable business.

First of all, the song "Luju" is not very popular in Japan and is quite old, so Pony Canyon will not charge too much, only tens of thousands of yen.

Secondly, the song "Easily Hurt Woman" became a huge hit, selling four platinum records, sweeping award ceremonies, and propelling Faye Wong to the ranks of top-tier singers alongside Sandy Lam and Sally Yeh overnight.

This must sell incredibly well!

Huo Sheng straightened the brick-shaped screen in his arms, logged back into the hk.entertainment forum, and carefully searched for relevant news. He then asked Ning Wan to bring him several past issues of "Hong Kong Television" and "Ming Pao Weekly".

Unfortunately, there was no information about which company acquired Miyuki Nakajima's song.

Of course, this kind of thing probably won't be published in the newspaper.

Huo Sheng thought for a moment and decided that he couldn't delay, as Xin Yibao might take action at any time.

He hurriedly left the production building and ran towards the photography studio, where Wai Ka-fai was coordinating the distribution of boxed lunches. They were shooting on location today and needed to deliver the lunches.

"Ah Sheng, what's wrong?"

Wei Jiahui saw him from afar and asked with a smile.

"Brother Jia Hui, do you know any companies that handle Japanese music copyright agency?"

Wai Ka-fai was the only person he thought might have connections with the copyright company, since as a producer, he needed to purchase insert songs, theme songs, and the like.

"Why are you looking for them?" Wei Jiahui asked, bewildered.

"Asking for a friend."

Huo Sheng remained unfazed.

"oh."

Wai Ka-fai nodded, not asking any further questions. After a moment's thought, he said, "I don't know about companies that specialize in Japanese copyrights. However, there is a company that is a joint venture between Golden Harvest and Pony Canyon Japan. They hold the copyrights to most Japanese songs. If you want to buy any copyrights, just contact them."

Which company is it?

"Call it Jiayin Records. Your friend can go to them and mention my name. I usually talk to them."

"I understand!"

Huo Sheng didn't go immediately. He first looked up the address of Jia Yin Records in the Yellow Pages, and then went to the library to look through relevant industry magazines to get a general idea of ​​Pony Canyon's business model in Hong Kong.

In the early 1990s, Pony Canyon Japan had already set up offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, systematically licensing the works of singers such as Miyuki Nakajima and Yumi Matsutoya.

Hong Kong record companies that want to cover songs basically have to go through them.

Moreover, there's an unwritten rule in the industry: the same Japanese copyright holder only gives record companies a limited number of cover song slots. Usually, there are three quotas allocated worldwide, and whoever grabs them first gets to keep them.

This means that if someone has already acquired the adaptation rights to "Luju", it will be too late for him to do so.

The sooner the better.

He made a decisive move and appeared at the entrance of Jiayin Records the next morning.

The company is located in Central, in an old commercial building.

Huo Sheng changed back into the only decent-looking gray suit he wore for the interview. His old leather shoes were polished to a shine, and his composed demeanor made him appear several years older.

He went straight to the front desk and handed over his business card.

"TVB?"

The receptionist was suspicious, but his identity was genuine, so she led him to the office of the relevant person in charge. Inside was a man in his thirties, surnamed Chen, with a slightly balding head, whose business card read "Copyright Department Manager".

"Hello, Manager Chen."

Huo Sheng shook hands with him and said, "It's like this, our production team wants to buy the adaptation rights to Miyuki Nakajima's 'Luju.' As you know, Japanese songs are very popular now."

"'Luju'...isn't that a song from decades ago?"

Manager Chen was also puzzled. Usually, those who buy adaptation rights look for songs that have been released in the last two years. "Luju" was published twenty years ago and is long outdated.

"Our crew happened to be filming a story from the past, so the old songs were just right."

Which movie?

"The Greed of Man, produced by Wai Ka-fai".

"Wai Ka-fai?"

Manager Chen nodded, his attitude much more conciliatory than before, and asked again, "When TVB bought this song, did you plan to find someone to sing it yourselves, or did you collaborate with a record company?"

"Let's buy it first and talk about it later!"

Huo Sheng knew he was still worried, so he gestured and said, "Producer Wei said that if it's suitable, we can find singers from PolyGram or Warner to sing it. If that doesn't work, our station also has its own Capital Artists record label. In short, we won't let the songs sit idle."

His words put the other person at ease.

Now that his identity was legitimate and his reason was valid, Manager Chen's expression relaxed slightly, and he became much more enthusiastic. He opened the files on the table and asked, "Which part of the copyright for this song do you want?"

Huo Sheng nodded. "Exclusive adaptation rights in Hong Kong, including lyrics, recording, and distribution, all of it."

"Probably, the quota for this song isn't full yet," Manager Chen said, getting up and walking to the filing cabinet. He opened a drawer, pulled out a stack of files, and slowly flipped through them. Suddenly, his finger stopped on a page, and his brow furrowed slightly.

"Why?"

He pulled out the paper, examined it from all angles, and asked疑惑地问道, "Why did someone ask about this old song a few days ago?"