Huayu 2009: Who should we call the Heavenly King?

Golden Wind Yanjing Branch.

Inside the conference room, as the final notes of "Mountains and Seas" ended, a brief silence fell over the room. After a few seconds, the dealers present began to whisper and murmur amongst themselves.

Generally speaking, before a new album is released, record companies will invite distributors to participate in listening sessions.

If you're hoping someone will place an order, you should at least show them the goods, right?

Title track?

That serves both as a way to generate buzz and attract attention from the outside world, and as a way to showcase our strength to industry professionals.

What are you looking at?

Let's see how the market performs!

The performance of the two main singles, "In My Song" and "The Ordinary Road," needs no further explanation.

The fact that it topped various lists, received frequent media coverage, and sparked heated discussions among netizens is the most powerful proof of its success.

The opening performances of "Bubble" and "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" were catchy and of high quality, reassuring the dealers present.

The remaining six songs each have their own unique characteristics and form the cornerstone of the entire album.

This is a high-quality album made with sincerity, not a cheaply made money-grabbing work!

First of all, thank you all for coming.

A moment later, Zhang Yi, the Vice President and Marketing Director of Gold Typhoon China Region, stood up with a smile, said a few polite words, and announced the album's ordering policy on the spot.

"First, for orders exceeding 1 copies, a 5% rebate will be offered, along with priority access to Shen Yan's offline autograph sessions."

"Secondly, for orders exceeding 2 units, the rebate will be increased to 8%, and all promotional materials, including posters, display stands, demo discs, and photos, will be provided free of charge by our company."

"Third, this order supports a seven-day no-reason return policy. As long as the outer packaging is not damaged, a full refund will be issued. For unsold and unopened inventory after seven days, a full refund will also be issued."

Returns are standard practice in the record industry.

In the 80s and 90s, record stores had a 100% return policy, and the situation was pretty much the same both domestically and internationally.

The bootleg CDs that were all the rage back then were mostly unsold, returned items.

Yes.

Even the biggest brands can't escape the fate of returns. Record stores don't tolerate that; they'll accept returns without hesitation.

As is well known, there is no authoritative third-party sales statistics agency in China.

This return policy gives album sales figures a lot of room for manipulation.

Record companies always announce "wholesale orders" in their public sales figures, never mentioning the return rate.

As long as you're willing to invest the cost, you can easily inflate real sales figures.

Anyway, the production cost of CDs is very low.

The total cost of pressing, printing, and packaging a standard CD is only 2.5 yuan. Even if 50 copies are printed, the cost would only be a little over one million yuan.

Is it worth the gimmick of exchanging over a million for 50 "real sales"?

It was totally worth it.

After all, in the eyes of fans who are unaware of the truth, sales volume ≈ appeal ≈ star power.

However, industry insiders never judge a singer's status or appeal by sales figures.

Who knows how much of the sales figures are inflated?

Concerts are the most authentic "mirror" to reveal true nature.

Jay Chou's 07 world tour consisted of 42 shows, 24 of which were in mainland China.

Wang Lihong's MUSIC MAN tour included 16 shows in mainland China.

The other two members of Zhou Wang Tao Lin, Lin Junjie and Tao Jiji, can only hold 7-8 shows in mainland China.

Moving up the list, the most popular artist is Jacky Cheung. His "Jacky Cheung Light Years World Tour" in 07-08 consisted of 105 shows, 59 of which were in mainland China.

The highest-grossing singer in the Chinese music scene.

As for singers who came from talent shows like Li Yuchun, Chen Chusheng, and Zhang Liangying, they can only hold shows one at a time.

and so.

No matter how much hype there is, the number of tour performances is the true measure of a singer's talent. Of course, whether the venue is a theater, a stadium, or a gymnasium is another layer of evaluation criteria.

Although album sales are far less valuable than tour sales, and it's easy to get caught up in the hype, Gold Typhoon is still going all out.

At least it can fool people!

soon.

Order data is being released gradually.

With a 100% return policy, coupled with the album's good quality and the popularity of its two main singles, the total number of orders across online and offline channels surged to 150,000!

Upon seeing this number, Zhang Yi felt a happy kind of "trouble".

100% returns are not a panacea.

Orders require a prepayment, and the policy for this order fair is a 30% prepayment. If distributors don't have confidence in Shen Yan, they won't place more orders even if they are given a return.

Because the money spent on orders will tie up the distributor's operating funds.

Although it's a hassle, it's ultimately a good thing.

Shen Yan's self-titled album received 5 pre-orders in Taiwan.

With 5 + 15, plus more than 8000 orders from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, the initial sales figures truly exceeded 20.

The level of a "quasi-King"!

Damn it!

Let's get started!

Just as Zhang Yi was contacting the media to prepare for the publicity campaign, the music videos for "Bubble" and "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" were simultaneously released on major video platforms.

With the news of "The Ordinary Road" becoming a hit in Taiwan, many netizens have paid attention to these two music videos.

then.

"The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" has become a hit.

To be precise, the song is somewhat popular, but the actress in the music video is generating more discussion than the music video itself.

With her hair in a bun and wearing a floral chiffon dress, Nazha was radiant and full of youthful charm, captivating everyone's attention the moment she appeared.

Most of the men who watched the music video were discussing the actresses, while most of the female netizens focused on Nazar's outfit.

Especially hairstyles.

This hairstyle has a specific name: Half Bun.

It only started to become popular on the streets of Europe and America in 2014, and then quickly swept the fashion world, with Hollywood actresses following suit.

Then, this hairstyle spread to Asia, and female celebrities in China, Japan, and South Korea followed suit.

It wasn't until 16 that it became a global sensation and was seen everywhere.

The reason why the half-bun hairstyle became so popular is that it is simple to manage, suits all face shapes and hair types, has a significant age-reducing effect, and can be matched with various styles.

It's a cure-all.

Moreover, compared to the current trend of uniform bangs, thick bangs, air bangs, and big waves, this hairstyle is more novel and can give people a refreshing surprise.

In just one day, footage from the music video for "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" spread across major Chinese online communities.

The entertainment gossip and fashion news sections of Tianya have seen a significant increase in discussion posts.

Among her fans, Nazha was "besieged".

From a young age, she had a habit of being vain. She often posted selfies in the core fan group of the Yanmeng (a fan community), so the die-hard fans all know what she looks like.

[I'm so envious! Nazha actually starred in a music video!]

Haha, Naza is going to be a hit! We fans who admire her looks are getting some of the benefits too!

Wow, these are so beautiful! They look even better than my usual photos.

[Ah! Ah! Jealousy! It was actually Yan-ge who designed the look himself, why wasn't it me?]

[Everyone on Tianya and Tieba is talking about Nazar; you've really gone viral now.]

[Naza, Naza, teach me how to do this hairstyle!]

Just tie it like that.

【…】

Naza was overjoyed by all the compliments in the group chat.

Then, she typed away, sharing how to tie a half-bun hairstyle.

Before long, screenshots of the chat group were uploaded to QQ Space and Renren.com, and a popular fan even drew a simple tutorial on how to make a half-bun hairstyle.

Overnight, a large number of girls with half-bun hairstyles appeared in colleges and middle schools across the country.

Simultaneously.

The nickname "Girl with a Bun Hairstyle" was also given to Nazar.

……

Hengdian film set.

Cai Yinong pointed to Nazha on her phone screen. She had previously intended to sign Nazha, but her desire wasn't very strong at the time. Now, seeing the online buzz, she's had the idea again.

"Shishi, what do you think of this girl?"

"It's alright," Liu Shishi replied casually.

"Is it just okay?" Cai Yinong glanced at Liu Shishi again.

"yes."

Liu Shishi snapped out of her daze, her mind racing, when suddenly a brilliant idea struck her.

"Look, she looks too exotic, her acting roles will definitely be limited, and she won't have much room for development."

"Yeah?"

Cai Yinong looked at Liu Shishi with a strange expression. Why did she feel that Shishi was hostile towards this girl?

After all, this kind of appearance, even with its exotic flair, is hard to describe as ordinary.