Huayu 2009: Who should we call the Heavenly King?

Chapter 109 The Last Myth of the Record Era (Please Subscribe)

[Working stiffs deeply resonate with "The Guide to Wasting Life": going to work at 9 am and leaving at 9 pm every day, a monotonous routine, exactly as described in the song!]

I originally came for "Orange Ocean," but I was really touched by "The Wind Rises"!

I cried while listening to "Goodbye," it reminded me of my ex-girlfriend whom I broke up with in high school. Those summers are truly gone forever.

Are the rumors about Liu Shishi and Shen Yan true? If they are, she's so lucky! [I want to go to the beach! To the beach!]

I've already ordered three physical copies from Dangdang.com: one for listening, one for my collection, and one as a gift for my best friend.

[A masterpiece in every track! The best Mandarin album of 2010!]

【————】

Seeing all the online discussions about Shen Yan, Xu Binqi, the planner of "Love Announcement," looked very unhappy.

The main investor in "Love Announcement" is Formosa International, whose founder, Guo Shouzheng, is the son of Guo Taiming, the richest man in Taiwan.

For his boss, this movie wasn't a big investment, but for Xu Binqi, the project was crucial to his future.

Unlike the previous hugely unprofitable film "Empire of Silver," this one was personally approved by the big boss, so the loss couldn't be blamed on him.

"Love Announcement" was a project he followed from beginning to end.

His strategy also includes promoting films and songs in a coordinated manner.

Everything was going smoothly at first.

On July 23, Wang Lihong released a preview version of the movie theme song "The Things You Don't Know" online, which garnered considerable attention.

It successfully attracted the attention of a large number of fans.

but.

changed.

In just a few days, the article "The world is so big, I want to go see it" swept across the entire internet, diverting most people's attention.

The discussions are all about escaping Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, resigning, taking annual leave, Shen Yan's new album, and so on.

Unfortunately, this was precisely the crucial promotional period for "Love Announcement," and he was caught up in this trending event, leaving him both amused and exasperated.

There is nothing we can do.

Yang Min, president of Huayi Brothers' film division, shares the same worries as Xu Binqi.

On July 22, "Aftershock," directed by Feng Gangpao, was officially released.

In just ten days, the film's box office exceeded 400 million.

According to past practice, when a singer releases an album, no matter who it is or which superstar they are, it has absolutely nothing to do with the movie's box office.

but.

This isn't just about one album.

Public attention and media exposure are essentially limited resources, and once they coincide with a hot social issue that is being discussed by the entire nation, they become extremely valuable.

Public attention will inevitably be diverted.

As a result, the film's promotional effect weakened, and box office growth slowed down.

Fortunately, "Aftershock" has been available online for more than ten days, and pirated copies of the film have already been widely circulated.

If this hot topic had exploded ten days earlier, there would have been no time to even cry.

Yang Min didn't cry, but Yuan Tao, the president of Huayi Music, did.

I'm so hungry!

In the 90s, Yuan Tao joined the mainland branch of Rock Records. Later, he started his own label, Warring States Music.

He immediately took a liking to the Yuquan duo.

Then, Yu Quan became an overnight sensation, and he also became famous overnight.

but.

Huayi Music hasn't had a breakout new artist for a long time.

Yuan Tao was so hungry he cried, while Huang Weijing was laughing so hard she cried.

"Ha ha!"

"Welcome, a warm welcome back to our great hero!"

That afternoon, Huang Weijing led all the employees of the Gold Medal Dafeng Operations Center to line up neatly at the entrance to welcome Shen Yan back to the company.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

The applause and whistles from the audience came in waves.

They are witnessing the birth of a myth.

How much has the mainland record industry shrunk?

In 2005, the total record sales in the mainland market were approximately 4500 million copies. By 2009, just four years later, sales had shrunk by nearly one-tenth, to only 500 million copies.

This year?

Even worse!

The estimated total sales for the year are only 3 to 400 million copies.

Huang Weijing would stake her life on it: the album "The World Is So Big, I Want to Go See It" is definitely the best-selling Chinese album of the year!

none of them!

"Sister Jing, this is too much."

Shen Yan smiled, with a hint of humility.

"I wouldn't dare accept that."

"You deserve it."

Huang Weijing laughed and directly announced a number that shocked Shen Yan.

"73 copies of the new album were shipped. Do you think that's a fair price to pay?"

"what?"

Shen Yan suddenly turned his head and glanced at Zhang Dandan beside him, only to see that the girl also had a blank expression on her face.

"Come on, I'll show you the battle report!"

soon.

Shen Yan saw the latest statistics.

30 units sold online in pre-orders!

Sony China has pre-ordered 10 units!

Starry Sky placed an order for 15!

Other mainland distributors placed a total order of 10!

Orders from Taiwan: 8!

Total pre-orders: 73 tickets!

Of the 30 pre-sold tickets sold online, the return rate should be less than 10%, according to industry practice.

Among the orders placed by Starway and other mainland distributors, the number of offline pre-orders exceeded 13, and the return rate for this part is even lower, estimated to be only 5%.

Yes.

Offline pre-orders are also possible. With the physical record market declining, distributors will stock up based on pre-orders from retailers.

They only stock up on albums that have been pre-ordered in large quantities.

No reservation?

I don't want any of them!

In other words, the actual sales of "The World Is So Big" both offline and online have easily exceeded 40 copies!

In the current slump of the record industry, this is an unimaginable achievement.

Miracle!

At this moment, Huang Weijing was extremely grateful for her decision back then.

Fortunately, I applied for the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) certification process in advance.

Although there is no authoritative record sales statistics agency in China, record companies can proactively apply for certification from IFPI.

This process is very complicated.

Not only must they provide Gold Typhoon's sales ledgers and dealer payment records.

IFPI will also conduct random sampling surveys to verify terminal inventory and sales receipts to confirm actual sales volume.

Finally, Gold Typhoon also had to hire an authoritative, independent third-party statistical agency to conduct an audit.

It's time-consuming, labor-intensive, and very expensive.

But Shen Yan is worth it.

"Haha, were you surprised?"

Seeing Shen Yan remain silent for a long time, Huang Weijing smiled broadly.

"To be honest, when I saw this data, it felt like a dream, Ayan, there are still five days until the album is released."

"According to the company's forecast, the number of pre-orders is likely to exceed 80 by the day of release!"

"80! Even with a 30% return rate, actual sales would still exceed 50!"

Huang Weijing became more and more excited as she spoke.

"If the total physical album sales this year are 400 million, you alone will account for one-eighth; if it's 300 million..."

"Ten thousand, you can get one-sixth!"

"Sister Jing, let me have a moment."

Shen Yan was truly astonished.

Although he knew beforehand that a total of 40 tickets had been ordered online and by Sony Ericsson, 40 and 73 were almost double the amount.

That's an exaggeration.

Is this still 2010?

Even when it coincided with a hot social issue and generated a lot of discussion, he still found it hard to believe.

Huang Weijing smiled gently and didn't urge him, just waiting patiently.

Shen Yan's reaction is perfectly normal!

Last year, the best-selling album worldwide was Susan Boyle's "I Dream a Dream," which sold 600 million copies.

The tenth-ranked album has sold over 300 million copies.

"The World Is So Big" has pre-sold 73 copies, with an estimated actual sales of 50+ copies. It looks cheap, but it's not.

The English album is aimed at the global market.

Moreover, many overseas countries have better copyright protection, so even in the era of rampant piracy, physical albums can still be sold.

The situation is much worse domestically.

In Shen Yan's memory, album sales in mainland China in 2010 were less than 400 million.

Yes.

With a population of over a billion, it's impossible to sell even 400 million copies a year. Therefore, claims that "The Era" has sold over a million copies are habitually inflated.

Most second-tier or near-first-tier singers with representative works only sell tens of thousands of albums.

One hundred thousand?

Rising stars.

Two hundred thousand?

Top-tier stars!

Five hundred thousand?

Miracle!

a long time.

Shen Yan took a deep breath.

"Jingjie, release the music videos for 'A Guide to Wasting Life,' 'Orange Ocean,' and 'Want to Go to the Beach' all at once."

"what?"

Upon hearing this suggestion, Huang Weijing almost strained her back.

this----

Now, the album's audio has been leaked, the only thing that hasn't been leaked is the music video, because the music video is larger in file size.

It's not as easy to copy as the original audio.

This is also their last bargaining chip for publicity.

"Consider it a way of giving back to the fans."

Shen Yan smiled and said in a relaxed tone.

"Anyway, the album will be officially released in a few days, so it doesn't matter whether it's released sooner or later."

"it is good."

Huang Weijing nodded in agreement almost without hesitation.

What are you hesitating for?

The top leader has spoken; to hesitate even for a second would be disrespectful to the 70 pre-orders!

That afternoon, Gold Typhoon officially released the music videos for all three songs.

Liu Shishi, who was far away in Hengdian, rushed back to Xiaobailou after removing her makeup after filming.

She hasn't seen the music videos for these songs yet!

A little tagalong followed her back home.

"Sister Shishi, are you done?"

Guan Xiaotong sipped her bubble tea while blinking at Liu Shishi.

She's a fan of good looks too!

pity.

When she joined the crew, Yan Ge had already finished filming.

"Okay, okay."

Liu Shishi walked out with a smile, carrying her laptop. She then opened an MV and watched it with Guan Xiaotong.

But as she watched, Liu Shishi's expression grew increasingly grim.

Especially after watching the music video for "Want to Go to the Beach," the smile on my face completely disappeared.

Excessive!

unacceptable!

What makes that girl named Tang Yixin so special?

Although there weren't any particularly intimate actions, the photos were so sweet, every smile and frown looked just like the real thing!

Liu Shishi certainly knew who Tang Yixin was.

Since the release of the Sony W20GG video, Tang Yixin has become a minor internet sensation.

Some people call her "sweetheart girl," while others call her "candy heart girl."

Tang Yixin also played the role of Zhao Erxi, the second female lead in "Love O2O".

Guan Xiaotong, standing to the side, was the complete opposite of Liu Shishi; her eyes were shining, her face full of longing.

This music video is so well made, so sweet, just like how love should be.

She was completely unaware of the change in Liu Shishi's expression.

How old is she?

How could a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl have such strong observational skills?