Huayu: The young actress is heavily dependent on me

On November 5, 2014, "The Empress of China" officially premiered on Hunan TV's Golden Eagle Independent Broadcast Theater.

In Chen Li's memory, The Empress of China was supposed to air in December. How did it clash with his own drama?

Could it be that they're targeting me?

Chen Li thought about it with a touch of humor, but didn't really care.

After all, the two dramas are on different tracks.

No one could have predicted the storm this show would unleash.

On the day of its premiere, the show achieved a viewership rating of over 2 on the CSM50 city network and a national network rating of 2.14%, with a market share of 6.13%, ranking first in its time slot.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, the show's online viewership quickly surpassed 300 million, setting a new record for the fastest TV series to reach 100 million views.

It premiered at number one in ratings and became the biggest hit of the fourth quarter of 2014.

Fan Bingbing's portrayal of Wu Zetian as Zhang Jianzhi, Zhang Fengyi's portrayal of Li Shimin, and Li Zhiting's portrayal of the young Li Zhi—each of these characters trended on social media for a full week.

By the end of December, the online viewership of "The Empress of China" officially exceeded one billion, and the number of reads on related topics exceeded one hundred million from the first day of its premiere, truly becoming a phenomenal hit.

While "The Empress of China" was sweeping the ratings charts, another trend was quietly brewing online.

"Undyed" went from being a minor hit original single on Kugou Music to becoming a viral sensation that was covered across the entire internet.

Initially, only a small group of fans discovered that Fan Bingbing, the female lead in "The Empress of China," was actually the boss of Chen Li, the original singer of this song.

However, as the popularity of "The Empress of China" continues to rise, more and more viewers are flocking to the music video of "Undyed".

Many people left comments in the comment section jokingly saying, "Your boss is practically fighting to become the empress in the palace, and you're still singing here."

By the end of December, the popularity of "Bu Ran" reached its peak, ranking first on the Kugou New Song Chart and the Rising Chart. It was no longer just a hit, but a breakthrough that swept through the mainstream.

Chen Li sat on the sofa by his desk, listening to Bai Mengyan report the data and analysis to him.

"Boss, guess whether our 'Undyed' flopped or became a hit?"

Chen Li leaned back on the sofa, looking at her with a somewhat speechless expression.

When did the "not dyeing" become ours? Can't you have some awareness of copyright?

And the answer is practically written on your face, okay? Look how brightly you're smiling!

He put down his teacup. "So, how much?"

"Twenty-three million." Bai Mengyan chuckled.

She pushed the report forward and tapped her finger on the play count trend chart.

The curve started rising steadily from the day the series was released, breaking the KuGou Index peak every week.

Starting with over 8 listeners in August, coupled with the release of the first trailer for "Nirvana in Fire" and fans sharing individual clips of young Lin Shu on Weibo, the weekly search volume for "Bu Ran" and "Chen Li" on Kugou Music surged.

When "The Empress of China" premiered in December, it triggered a surge of new fans to "dig up" the show on Tencent Video, completing the third wave of promotion.

The total number of views eventually surpassed 2300 million, with the daily increase in views remaining stable at around 50, and it is expected to exceed 3000 million by the end of the year.

"Currently, KuGou Music charges 2 yuan per song," Bai Mengyan said, opening her laptop next to the report and switching to a self-made spreadsheet, where the revenue-sharing items were densely listed on the screen.

She meticulously broke it down point by point:

The revenue from ringback tones is split 70/30 with the operators based on the number of valid downloads, while the revenue from MV transcoding and distribution is split 50/50 with the platform.

The majority of the revenue comes from the GG subsidies matched with free listening on Kugou.

Because Kugou offered free listening to regular users and only charged for lossless downloads at the time, about 3% of the 2000 million plays were converted into paid downloads.

45% of the net profit after deducting platform channel costs will be allocated to Chen Li.

With all three combined, as of mid-November, the album "Bu Ran" (including MV transcoding revenue) had generated over 2.8 million yuan in revenue!

This can be considered Chen Li's first pot of gold in music!

"80% of the revenue comes from GG subsidies and streaming rewards, 3% from converting auditions into lossless downloads, and the rest from ringtone and MV transcoding and distribution."

"After weighted calculation, our studio ultimately received approximately 285 million."

Bai Mengyan listed the three sources of income in a table.

"285 million." Chen Li repeated the number, put down his teacup, and leaned forward slightly.

"The production cost of 'So Cute Us' was only a little over 200 million, and one song filled the hole in the whole show."

"Of course!" Bai Mengyan pushed the form towards him again, her tone revealing an undisguised smugness.

"Sister Jin said that at this rate, the net revenue from the single 'Bu Ran' alone will exceed 400 million by the end of the year, not even counting the long-tail revenue sharing from future film and television copyright purchases."

"Boss, if Sister Fan knew that one song of yours almost filled the cost hole of 'So Cute Us,' she would probably call you 'good enough' again."

My phone suddenly rang; it was Fan Xiaopang.

Speak of the devil and he appears...

"Your song is a hit!"

Chen Li: "Thanks to Sister Fan."

The other party replied instantly: "Come on, the song is definitely a good one. By the way, when are you coming?"

This is the final word, isn't it?

Chen Li sighed, "I've been busy lately, I'll talk to you in a few days."

Fan Xiaopang: ......

On the other end, Fan Xiaopang was already breathing heavily, glaring with her beautiful eyes and letting out a cold snort.

If that's how men are.

The more unattainable something is, the more precious it becomes. Next time he tries to do something, I'll definitely not do it!

I won't even give it to him after I sew it up!

"Boss, it's even worse over there when the wind picks up."

She tapped her finger on the viewership curve on Tencent Video.

"It's only been a week since 'So Cute Us' premiered, and from the third day onwards, the comments section was filled with questions like 'What's the ending theme song?' and 'What's the background music?' By the fourth day, the comments had completely transformed into 'A gathering for The Wind Rises.'"

She switched to the KuGou backend data.

The show "The Wind Rises" garnered over five million views in its first week and doubled in the second week.

"Now, 'The Wind Rises' is number one on Kugou's Rising Chart and New Song Chart, even more so than 'Bu Ran'. Zhou Shen's personal page has gained 15 followers in a week, and Tencent Video has asked us for his materials, preparing to create a separate singer section for him."

She turned to the next page of the report and tapped her finger on the data column for "Creative Innovation and Communication".

"There are also fan-made videos—nearly a hundred cover and mashup videos of 'The Wind Rises' appeared on Bilibili within 48 hours."

"There's a compilation of youth drama clips edited with 'The Wind Rises' as background music, and it got over 150,000 views in one night. The hashtag #TheWindRise# on Weibo has already garnered over 120 million views."

She took a breath and handed over a few printed copies of netizens' comments.

"Bu Ran cried while listening to the song, and then I cried again while listening to the song 'The Wind Rises'—I came here to listen to the song, not to cry."

"Was Chen Li venting some kind of emotion when he wrote the songs? The two songs are so different in style, yet they are both so good."

"I just found out Chen Li studied acting? Is this musical talent for real? It's better than many professional musicians."

"Bu Ran" evokes a melancholic, ancient style, while "Qi Feng Le" captures the regrets of youth—he can express these two completely different emotions so accurately!

"Chen Li is simply a musical genius whose talent was wasted on acting!"

Chen Li was taken aback.

How come my reputation as a musician is now greater than that of an actor?

"How much profit can we expect when the wind picks up?" Chen Li asked.

"Within two weeks of launch, the studio's revenue share is expected to be between 160 million and 180 million. Based on the current growth curve, it is conservatively estimated that it could reach more than 350 million by the end of the year."

She pushed the forecast spreadsheet over, "This doesn't even include the follow-up promotions from Tencent Video that created a separate singer zone for Zhou Shen!!!"