I became a music industry godfather by writing confidantes.

Chapter 164 Life is Like a Summer Flower

February 21, 23:55.

In an apartment in Shanghai, a burly man, a vinyl record connoisseur, is staying up all night waiting for the midnight release of "Life is Like Summer Flowers" and "Moonlight".

There are five minutes left until midnight.

Unfortunately, the competition among music critics is fierce these days.

Besides comparing skill level and theoretical knowledge, being able to accurately and simply explain what's good and bad about a song, why it's good or bad, and providing appropriate interpretations, the release time is also very important.

Back in the print media era of ten or twenty years ago, music critics would never have waited for songs to be released online like they do now.

Back then, when record companies released albums or singles, they would send demo discs to music critics' homes a few weeks or half a month in advance.

Then, a few days or a week later, the music review will slowly appear in a print magazine column.

On the one hand, this is the normal work rhythm; a song needs to be listened to repeatedly, savored, written down, revised, and polished. On the other hand, it is also to maintain the style.

If a singer rushes to publish music reviews right after releasing a song, their peers will laugh at them behind their backs, saying it lowers their status.

The internet has changed the way music reviews are done and the rules are set.

Now, time is money, speed is value, and even controversy can create value when necessary.

When a highly anticipated new song is released, whoever publishes their review during prime time will be the first to gain traffic and popularity.

Especially in a situation like tonight, with "Life is Like a Summer Flower" and "Moonlight" clearly competing against each other, the viewership will be exceptionally high.

Whether you're a casual observer, a fan, a music critic, a music blogger, or a marketing account, there's no reason not to miss it.

The conflict between Jiang Yinglan and Yang Du has been the subject of much speculation online. Some say it was Jiang Yinglan suppressing her juniors, while others say it was just normal criticism and correction.

As industry insiders, vinyl record experts see things more clearly. It's nothing more than a battle between two major music companies, Jinshi and Yunge, with Jiang Yinglan and Yang Du simply being pushed to the forefront by their respective camps.

You could say Jiang Yinglan is arrogant, takes advantage of her age, and acts all high and mighty, but you can't say she's incompetent; she definitely has real talent.

As I pondered, midnight arrived.

The vinyl expert was the first to play Tang You's "Moonlight".

To be honest, he was quite curious about what kind of chemistry Jiang Yinglan and Tang You, this combination of classic and popular styles, could create.

As expected, the moment the verse of "Moonlight" came out, it was clear that Jiang Yinglan was a master of arrangement.

Tang You has always had the appearance and temperament of a fairy sister, and the most distinctive feature of her voice is its gentleness and ethereal quality. Of course, her shortcomings are also obvious. Once she reaches the high range, her voice sounds thin, weak, and feeble.

However, in "Moonlight", Jiang Yinglan used a lot of classical elements as a foundation, and managed to transform this thinness into an ethereal and otherworldly feeling in the high range.

A four-minute rendition of "Moonlight" truly evokes the image of the Moon Goddess softly singing under the cool moonlight.

The effect of sometimes singing loudly.

"Excellent production," the vinyl expert thought. "No matter when it's released, 'Moonlight' will always be a chart-topping track. Tang You's weaknesses are hidden, while her strengths are amplified. Giving it an 8.5 is perfectly reasonable."

At the same time, vinyl record experts immediately realized that the landscape of female singers born in the 00s had already taken shape, with Tao Cheng standing out from the crowd and ranking among the four little divas.

Tangyou followed closely behind, firmly securing her place in the top tier.

If Sun Qingning doesn't produce another convincing work in this century, she will definitely be the first to fall behind, and fall behind in a serious way.

In the music industry, standing still is tantamount to falling behind.

Following them are other female singers born in the 00s, who are either still struggling in the second or third tier, or still following the path of popularity, either in groups or girl groups, singing and dancing, relying on their youth.

After listening to "Moonlight", the vinyl record expert didn't rush to play Yang Du's "Life is Like Summer Flowers". Instead, he lit a cigarette to give his ears and brain some time to cool down.

During a break from smoking, he clicked on Yang Du's homepage.

Unlike other singers who have released singles or albums, Yang Du's homepage is empty, with only one song, "Life is Like Summer Flowers".

But this one single has put the entire music industry, especially male singers, on high alert.

As predicted, apart from recording, mixing, and mastering, all the production information for "Life is Like Summer Flowers" is attributed to Yang Du.

Such near-omnipotent production ability is extremely rare even in the industry. Currently, Yang Du's only weakness is his singing ability, which is still unknown to the public.

An excellent behind-the-scenes producer may not necessarily have a golden voice.

Moreover, no matter how good the arrangement or how brilliant the lyrics and music are, if the performance falls apart, the effect will only be worse, leaving people with a sense of regret for wasting such a wonderful piece.

For Yang Du's enemies, this is also a powerful point of attack: why should he become a singer and waste a good song?

After finishing a cigarette, the vinyl record expert lit up "Life is Like a Summer Flower".

"SIWOLAQIUMU, SIWOLAQIUMOA————"

After a few drumbeats that seemed to come from a primitive tribe, a humming song took the lead.

"Hmm, what language is this?" The vinyl record expert instinctively began to analyze. "Tibetan? Doesn't seem like it. Yi? Doesn't seem like it either. What kind of minority traditional language is it?"

But he soon ran out of time to think about such questions.

Accompanied by humming and percussion, a wild, passionate, unrestrained, and primal vitality shines forth as intensely as the rising sun.

The vinyl expert instantly got goosebumps.

"Great!" He couldn't contain his excitement and cheered.

There's a saying in the music industry: the intro is killer.

This refers to a song that can grab the listener's attention with just a few seconds of intro, and even make them like it immediately.

Strictly speaking, the humming in "Life is Like Summer Flowers" does not belong to the category of intro, but the effect and impact it creates are similar to the killer intro.

"I don't know how long I've been asleep in the darkness, or how difficult it will be to open my eyes—"

According to the usual listening process of vinyl record connoisseurs, the first time is definitely to listen to the overall effect and enjoy the melody, the second time is to savor it with the lyrics, and the third time is to break down and analyze the singer's singing skills and the details of the arrangement.

But tonight, his professional habits were completely disrupted by Yang Du.

To be more precise, Yang Du brought many surprises. After a stunning humming, the verses were equally impressive.

Before Yang Du's official performance, the vinyl record expert had considered many scenarios.

I thought Yang Du might have secretly practiced hard for a period of time to improve his singing skills, and I thought Yang Du might have done post-production processing on the song in the recording studio to make up for any shortcomings.

However, the voice of Yang Du coming from the speakers now—young, energetic, magnetic, and passionate, with effortless enunciation and breath control—overturned all his assumptions.

This was actually sung by Yang Du?

Yang Du's singing skills are actually that good?!

This unscientific!