this man is not calm

Chapter 407 Outside the Territory
There are some things that you can’t experience in China. Only when you come to this holiday island thousands of miles away do you realize that becoming famous really depends on the right time, place and people.

The influence of national idol Dai Yiqun is so great that it beats several small bands in East Asia, but the situation is completely different outside the country.

Just like now, a few people went to find a place to eat, and they saw a group of young people gathered in a seaside food restaurant set up with a shed in front. It was probably the place where Mei Fengchun, Li Xuan and others reserved seats.

After temporarily storing the diving equipment, Jin Shang and Zhang Yunying approached and saw Mei Wenhui, who had arrived earlier, with his arms folded across his chest, watching men and women of different skin colors line up, waiting to take photos with their idol and ask for his autograph.

I have been here for a short time and have encountered this kind of incident more than once. Basically, a fan spots a familiar face, goes up to ask for confirmation, and then the news spreads, and the young men and girls nearby come over to say hello to the rarely seen singer.

Zhang Yu, who joined the team the latest, is the least famous, has few representative works, and lacks a sense of presence. However, as a team member, everyone is still very nice to her.

Mei Fengchun's two songs "Dreams" and "Venus" are the most famous. Fang Hua is even more amazing. His foreign language songs such as "Yesterday Once More", "La Isla Bonita" and "Rolling In The Deep" are very popular. Yuan Xiu's works such as "My Stupid Heart", "Lemon Tree", "That Girl", "Moonlight Flower" and "The Spectre" are also not bad. He even received more attention because he released more foreign language songs.

It took more than ten minutes for the enthusiastic fans to disperse and call the waiter to bring the dishes to the table. Only then did everyone begin to relax and comfortably enjoy the leisure time after moderate fatigue.

There are still many tourists on the holiday islands in the South Pacific this season, including Asians from the north, as well as many from Western Europe, the east coast of the Atlantic, and South America.

As the fringe area of ​​the influence of the Central Plains cultural circle, it has always been a region where various ethnic cultures have blended together, and it has been very receptive to foreign art works. It is natural that a movie that is popular in East Asia would be introduced here.

No matter how high the box office is, you can't make much money. It's basically outsourced to local distribution companies or bought out, so they get the cheaper price.

Not only cinema movies, but also videotapes, DVDs, novels, books, music albums, etc. are basically all at a fixed price.

If the distribution channels are not established, don't expect any profit-sharing clauses. How much you earn depends entirely on what others say. There is no way to control piracy or counterfeiting, so it is better to leave it to the local tyrants to deal with.

"I didn't expect to meet my fans in a place like this."

Mei Fengchun took a few bites of the cream cake, and then said to Jin Shang with great emotion,

"I don't think... it doesn't seem like a place that has never seen the world. Many celebrities come here for vacation every year, and I haven't heard of any celebrities chasing after them at the table."

“It’s rare to see stars coming from the country.”

On the first day he arrived, Jin Shang saw a famous tennis master from Southern Europe. It seemed that it was not his first time here. He was familiar with the locals, but no one came up to him to ask for his autograph or take a photo with him.

In addition, there were many celebrities such as sports athletes, entertainment stars, retired politicians, and out-of-date comedians, but they did not cause much commotion. However, people like Jin Shang who came for the first time caused a little stir.

"In other words, foreigners like the songs you create more?"

"You can't say that!"

Jin Shang thought about it, shook his head and said:

"Chinese pop music, especially rock, electronic music and hip-hop, is suppressed in China. In comparison, folk music has a larger market."

Since traveling through time, Jin Shang has realized that there is a huge gap between this life and his previous life in China. The traditions are more stubborn and the inheritance is more complete. It is impossible to make things easier.

It is considered good now. More than ten years ago, the works of singers of the last era on TV and radio were like the lingering echoes of the phonograph era. Jin Shang still remembers that when he was in elementary school, the style of mainstream songs was like a mixture of the era style of popular jazz and court ritual music.

If we need to make an analogy, it would be like the NEETs of the Reiwa era listening to enka from half a century ago. While they think it is amazing, they also feel a sense of disappointment that they cannot really appreciate it.

As for the very popular live dance music, referring to the very retro song "Night Shanghai", mainstream audiences think it is very good, and the awkward feeling that they think should have been eliminated thirty years ago has always lingered.

Fortunately, there have been frequent exchanges at home and abroad in recent years, and even rock music, which has been in the underground music circle for a long time, has begun to enter the mainstream. Otherwise, it is unclear whether all the popular golden songs that Jin Shang brought over from his previous life would be of any use.

The economy began to develop at an accelerated pace, the international situation stabilized, and the arts and literature, which had been suppressed for a time, began to shine with extraordinary brilliance. The country was large and the people were proud, and it had its own self-consistent theoretical support, so its desire for external development was no longer so urgent.

Even the most radical cultural reformists only went as far as "Chinese learning as the basis, Western learning for practical use." For example, the advocacy of total Westernization after the "Black Ship Attack" was simply impossible to survive.

The golden songs that were popular in China from the 1980s and 1990s to the first decade of the 21st century were basically works that had withstood the test of domestic and international markets and were accepted by the East Asian cultural circle with a semi-colonial and semi-feudal history. It was natural that they were accepted in the mid-to-late 1990s in this world. In essence, their spiritual cores are very similar.

But purely foreign language songs still have some problems. The biggest obstacle is that there are far fewer people who understand English than in the same period in the previous life. They can't understand them, hear them less, and have difficulty accepting them. But for foreigners, it is just right.

As for the influence of the Xiaomazha Band and Dai Yiqun on the domestic music scene in the past two years, it can be compared to the singing and dancing of "A Fire in Winter" on the Spring Festival Gala in the 1980s, the popularity of the Beyond band among young students who pursued coolness in the 1990s, and the emergence of Chinese style in the early 21st century.

Before Dai Yiqun sang "A Man Should Be Self-reliant", no one would make a pop adaptation of a classic song like "The General's Order"; after Mei Shuying became famous, the music industry realized that girls could also play rock and roll without being non-mainstream at all; Yuan Xiu's HipHop single "Happy Worship" opened the eyes of fans, and they realized that pop songs could be sung in this way.

The styles of domestic popular music have gradually become more diverse, and the Xiaomazha Band and Dai Yiqun have made great contributions to this.

Jin Shang has listened to some music albums released in China in the first half of this year. Not only is there a flourishing of various genres, but the quality of many songs is no worse than that of the years around the millennium in his previous life.

After all, this is an era in which traditional culture has not been interrupted, fans have experienced fine things, and the level of musicians is still relatively online. As long as Jin Shang opens the door for them, other colleagues will be able to widen this small path into a broad road.

Talking about the current situation in China, Mei Fengchun and Fang Hua, who graduated this summer, were also deeply moved, especially the latter, who said that as a young girl who had just started working, she had endless things to say.

"My predecessors told me that my domestic colleagues have realized the problem, but they are afraid that the people will not be able to accept it if they learn from mature foreign experience on a large scale. It is obvious that the previous path of blindly looking for innovative inspiration in local operas and unpopular mountain instruments has come to an end. We need to inject new elements into the music circle, just like a stagnant pool of water that needs to be filled with fresh water. Otherwise, we, who are like fish in the industry, will have no great future."

The Xiaomazha Band and Dai Yiqun let people know what kind of innovations ordinary people accept. Those seemingly impossible music styles are actually not that unorthodox, and the fans' preferences are much wider than imagined.

“This is also because the foundation of the domestic music industry is already very good. As long as we find the right direction, we can achieve rapid development.”

Unlike the foreign environment where several sub-genres emerge every now and then, the Chinese music market is larger and has great potential. There are all kinds of fans, and as long as the music is not too different from the original, it can basically do well. In layman's terms, there are all kinds of birds in the forest, and it is based on a huge fan base, the absolute number of which is not small.

Of course, the fact that Dai Yiqun and the Xiao Maza Band were able to spread their fame so smoothly abroad is closely related to the hot sales of MP3 players and the follow-up of Jinxi Music, which provided authentic electronic music and gradually created momentum.

One thing may be very counterintuitive. VCRs, DVD players and walkmans are not available everywhere. Even DVD videotape rental and sales stores for data carriers are not that common abroad.

The South Pacific tourist resort island at our feet is okay. There is a cinema, electricity is not lacking, and food, clothing, housing and transportation are also very convenient, but it does not have all the necessities of life and daily necessities.

Even if it is pirated, the materials and costs must be taken into account. The cost of a pirated album is not high, but it is not so cheap to transport it from the production place to this island.

For families with good financial conditions who have purchased computers and have broadband access to the Internet, the electronic albums provided by Jinxi Music are available faster than physical pirated discs, and the MP3 players bundled with them have become the most fashionable and popular portable music players.

A player is just a medium. If it wants to be effective, it must have enough high-quality songs.

Unfortunately, not only foreign record companies, but even domestic record companies are boycotting Jinxi Music, which they believe will seriously infringe on their vital interests and is worthless. They are not willing to authorize the playback of their music library on the Internet and are even more cautious about the so-called electronic albums.

In this case, Jinxi Music's music library is not that large and not that diverse. Among the limited genuine electronic albums, songs by Dai Yiqun and Xiao Maza Band occupy half of the market. It is only natural that their presence has become stronger in the hearts of domestic and foreign online fans.

There are only so many top ones, if they are not popular, who will be popular?

After graduation, Fang Hua officially announced his withdrawal from the Xiaomazha band. He currently works in a public institution. He is not too busy, but not idle either, as he has tasks to complete from time to time.

This time we were able to travel together after the on-the-job training and enjoy this year's high temperature holiday in advance.

The work there mainly involves singing performances, but also includes theoretical research in music art. As an excellent student, Fang Hua is an expert in this field. His solid theoretical knowledge, combined with Jin Shang II's rich experience as a person, has enabled him to put forward many innovative and novel ideas.

It is completely sufficient for writing water papers and reports.

Mei Fengchun, who graduated in the same year, plans to continue on the path of a pop singer. If all goes well, he will leave the Xiao Ma Zha band and go solo in the first half of next year.

"Everyone is leaving one after another, what a pity."

Zhang Wu said with some regret,

She has had a fulfilling life in the past two years. Apart from the nerve-wracking preparations for the college entrance examination, the development of the Xiaomazha band has been very smooth, which made her think that it will continue to be like this in the future.

Unfortunately, time waits for no one, and when the day comes, there will always be a time to say goodbye.

"It's not like we won't see each other anymore. We're all in the capital, so we can still get together from time to time."

Mei Fengchun, who doesn't have many friends, realized long ago that the group had reached its end. In addition to the lead singer, the band also has other members with a strong presence, so it is inevitable that he will go solo when the time is right.

Over the years, Jin Shang has made a lot of money with her three girls. From a student who used to be reluctant to buy a walkman worth two or three thousand yuan, she has now become a wealthy woman with a net worth of tens of millions. The change is quite big.

Fortunately, our friendship has not deteriorated.
-
At the dinner table, everyone divided into several small groups and chatted idly. After eating and drinking, they rested for a while. The girls took a few children to the beach to pick up shells and build sand castles.

"We are all beginners. Some diving activities require certificates, so we can't do it. We can only rent a submersible to see deep-water coral reefs and fish schools."

Mei Wenhui, who has some experience, introduced:
"The yacht for sea fishing is ready and will be available in the next few days."

A slightly salty sea breeze blew over, and Jin Shang felt a little dry in his nostrils. He wiped the bridge of his nose and responded in a muffled voice:

"Just arrange it. I can do it any day."

"Paragliding will have to wait. It's the peak tourist season and there are still a lot of people. It's not easy to make a reservation. I would have prepared earlier. I didn't expect it to be so popular."

"Um……"

The few of them chatted idly until they reached a cliff near the sea. Looking at the waves crashing towards the shore, Jin Shang suddenly remembered something.
"I heard that cousin Wenhui is getting married in the second half of next year. Why didn't I see you bring your girlfriend here?"

"We had agreed on this, but something came up, so we can only do it next time."

"Oh? What kind of thing is that? I have never seen it before..."

"An ordinary teacher's family, a relative of my grandfather's old subordinate. We have known each other since childhood, and we are familiar but not close. Later, a few uncles got drunk and half-jokingly asked for a matchmaking..."

"And that's the result?"

"It must be fate! There's no dramatic story, it just feels plain and natural."

That's good!
Ever since he was old enough to understand, Mei Wenhui has been preparing to become his father Mei Yingnian's assistant and successor. Logically, it would be better for him to find a wife who is of equal social status or can help his career.

However, it would be nice to have a beautiful girl who can manage the household well.

The most important thing is that Mei Wenhui himself is quite satisfied.

He is already 27 years old. As the successor trained by Mei Lao Er, it is not a bad thing for him to get married early.

(End of this chapter)