The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 914 The Time Has Come to Atone for One's Sins with Zhou Yi

As an album that serves as a summary of a certain stage, "25" can be considered Zhou Yi's "last gasp" in terms of quality.

Throughout his career, only his second English album, "Forever Young," could surpass it with its pure New Age rock and musicality.

In this album, "25," which is a summary of a certain stage, the public can see Zhou Yi singing folk songs for the first time in his own album—that was the starting point of Zhou Yi's music career before his debut.

This is why he placed "Perfect," a folk song that can be described as a love fairy tale, as the first track on side A.

Folk and rock were the starting points for his establishment in Beijing's music scene.

Now that Zhou Yi has achieved legendary status through rock music, it's practically a certainty that he'll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when he gets older. So, it's only natural that he would officially revive folk music in his autobiographical album, "25".

Although the domestic folk music scene has evolved into his staunch critics over the years.

The song "Gardenia Blossoms," which I wrote for He Jiong, swept the country back then and is still sung on campuses today, allowing everyone to once again glimpse the peak of campus folk songs back then—and then, it seems that there was no more.

Although He Jiong has achieved his signature work in music, he did not intend to continue to pursue music after his hosting job on "Happy Camp" stabilized. After all, he released this album simply to have an extra foothold in that uncertain environment.

After helping his old friend He Jiong, Zhou Yi seemed to have forgotten about folk music again, not even giving it a second glance. Even in the theme album "Elegant and Popular Appreciation," which is full of folk songs, there wasn't a single folk song. As a result, many folk music fans became loyal supporters of the "Free Beaver Series."

For no other reason than to strengthen public opinion and reputation regarding Zhou Yi, preventing him from having an easy time. The constant praise makes them uncomfortable, like a corpse with a lingering unease.

The most important thing in life is not to forget your roots!
"Would they be overjoyed to know that there's folk music in your album?"

The following day, Qian Jiang, watching Warner (US) executives arranging Shakira's signing, couldn't help but laugh out loud, remembering Zhou Yi's stellar reputation in the domestic folk music scene.

"About half and half, I guess."

Taking a bite of the peach, juice splashing everywhere, Zhou Yi, chewing the fruit, mentally simulated the possible scenarios: "Some people will be overjoyed, thinking that I have finally forgiven folk songs, and will start to look forward to folk songs appearing in my next Chinese album, after all, I wrote a folk song for Shao Han last year."
"Some people think that I look down on the Chinese folk music scene because I only include English folk songs in my own English albums."

"You know, the smaller the circle, the more messy rules and definitions there are, and the more obsessed people there are."

Commonly known as the "niche superior guy".

Not to mention folk music, which once occupied a niche in the mainland singer scene in the last century.

It is precisely because they have had their peak that people in the industry seem even more obsessed after their decline.

It's about reminiscing about past glories.

Qian Jiang, seemingly also thinking of that scene, clicked his tongue twice: "Sounds similar to the rock scene."

Zhou Yi shook his head: "That's far from the truth. When the folk music scene was at its peak, it was generally harmonious. When the rock music scene was at its peak, the fan groups and even the artists themselves were fighting each other even more fiercely than they are now."

At its peak, the rock scene in the West was filled with super fanatics. The fact that the artists were constantly disowning each other and tearing each other apart was enough to completely obliterate folk music. Fans could only follow behind their idols, waving flags and shouting "666".

Zhou Yi's current rock music also has a lot of critics, but they are all drowned out by his extremely high popularity.

However, from another perspective, Zhou Yi's battles actually enhanced his rock and roll identity, gaining recognition from many so-called veterans who didn't approve of his rock songs but recognized his rock and roll identity.

After all, in the eyes of these old-timers, if you're a rock singer who doesn't fight or argue, how can you call yourself a rock singer?
If you're going to be all friendly, you might as well go back to singing pop.

Among the new generation of rock musicians worldwide, Zhou Yi is currently the only one who has openly and frankly engaged in public feuds in the media, emphasizing authenticity and a lack of tolerance.

“That’s true, otherwise Shakira wouldn’t be your girl.” Qian Jiang’s wicked grin made Zhou Yi give him the middle finger without turning around, and then he went back to his lounge.

"Otherwise, I can't imagine that a Latin American superstar under Sony would so directly sign the English distribution rights to Warner."

"What are you talking about? Couldn't I have gone through all sorts of hardships and used my silver tongue to sign her? Warner Music can't just rely on a newcomer like Rihanna for its global female singers."

“Isn’t there still Yanzi?”

"That's not true. At most, she'll be a shooting star globally, using her English major to establish herself and give fans room for imagination so they can compete for a higher ranking in the Chinese-speaking world, like Elva."

Zhou Yi, who plopped down on the sofa, said leisurely, "I'm an exception."

If he hadn't found a loophole from the beginning and consistently delivered high-intensity output while handling everything himself, he wouldn't have been able to rise to fame in the Western music scene.

Even though English is Sun Yanzi's native language, her living and growing environment is still within the Chinese community.

Not everyone can be as gifted as him.

"You're the authority on this, so you have the final say."

Qian Jiang, sitting on the creaking sofa, pulled out a document and spread it out, saying, "This is the team's promotional plan for your new English album. Take a look. Although we're not planning to include the Coca-Cola World Cup ad song this time, we can still use the World Cup's popularity to give you a boost..." Unlike his first English album, "The Attitude Show," which included the Coca-Cola ad song "Wavin Flag," this new album, "25," does not include the ad song "Try Everything."

Qianjiang can understand.

After all, in his view, although Zhou Yi understands business and knows how to compromise on albums, he is still a musician with aspirations at heart. The reason he included advertising jingles on his first English album was because he had to take advantage of the hype, so he compromised.

But things are different now. Zhou Yi has achieved great success, and to put it more mysteriously, the divine fire was already ignited last year. This year's album "25" is aimed at making the divine fire burn even more brightly, so purely commercial advertising songs will naturally be abandoned.

"...Overall there are no major problems, but I think we still need to add one more step."

"What part?"

Qian Jiang immediately perked up.

Everyone calls him a marketing guru, but only a handful of people know that he is merely a figurehead standing in the spotlight, shielding the real marketing masters from the storm.

"The process of selling indulgences."

Zhou Yi closed the folder, placed it back on the coffee table, and raised his index finger: "Take my experience of being shot in the US last year, change the concept, and then expand it to the point that Americans owe me an indulgence, and buying my new album is buying an indulgence to apologize to me..."

"?"

"The United States is a country where religious sentiment is very popular, that much is undeniable..."

Using religious themes for marketing and promotion is not uncommon in the history of the Western music scene, especially among singers and creators of gospel songs and albums, who are all seasoned pros at this.

But Zhou Yi is the only company in the world that dares to directly market indulgences like this.

The atmosphere was built up to this point, and if you really want to market it this way, you can't really say there's anything wrong with it.

I ask you, didn't Zhou Yi deliver a progressive manifesto on American university grounds, only to be shot by a gunman in America and nearly meet his end?

It was only because of God's protection that Zhou Yi only suffered an ear injury—oh no, it wasn't even a minor injury.

The logic of the phoenix myth has been established. So, I ask you American believers, do you want to pay money to atone for your sins?

"Another point is that in the past, many people in the West listened to pirated copies of my albums, far more than the originals, that's undeniable. Now that I've released a new album after being shot, shouldn't they buy an original copy to support me, as a kind of atonement for their past piracy..."

Contrary to popular belief, the market for pirated music in Europe and America is also very extensive—it's just that the overall level of marketization and industrialization means that the legitimate market can still survive.

For example, the birth of sampling culture actually originated from a group of black bros who were so poor they were practically selling their pants but still wanted to listen to and make music. Where were they supposed to buy legitimate albums? They ended up buying wholesale pirated copies.

Once they became famous and the official labels came knocking, they had all made money, and then they started paying for official tickets and began to unite to legitimize this behavior step by step. As a result, it flourished for decades, taking advantage of the predicament that modern Western pop music genres had reached their limits, and thus sampling culture became the mainstream of the music scene.

Despite the huge piracy market in the United States, Zhou Yi's albums topped the charts for four consecutive years.

In this situation, shouldn't you guys take out your money and buy an official copy of "25" this year as an atonement?

Don't even mention that it's been more than four or almost five years, and you still can't even make the money to buy a copy of "25" to support the I Ching?

The I Ching is a phoenix certified by a shooting incident!

He is the incarnation of God!
His music is the gospel that the Lord is spreading to mankind!
Even after being shot, Zhou Yi persisted in his musical dreams and maintained the tradition of releasing an English album every year, generously forgiving the American market. Shouldn't you guys who listen to pirated CDs also buy a legitimate copy to show your support?
Can your consciences rest if you don't buy it?!

How can I still ask God for blessings with a clear conscience?!

Will I still be able to go to church with a clear conscience in the future?!
Can you still say "God bless you"?!
It's worth noting that Zhou Yi was actually protected during the shooting!

To put it bluntly, it's an American variant of Stephen Chow's "owe a movie ticket" marketing strategy, but with enhanced power.

In other words, the quality of "The Mermaid" failed to meet public expectations for Stephen Chow's films, leading to a backlash against its reputation after this marketing campaign.

But this hexagram from the Book of Changes, number 25, is different.

In terms of album quality alone, "25" ranks second in his current career. As his fifth English album, it far surpasses his fourth album last year, and even his third album the year before. Doesn't that make it well worth the price?

Oh no, I should say it's excellent value for money!
"..."

As he listened, Qian Jiang was filled with respect—it really was you, A Yi.

You young people studying law are really smart!
(End of this chapter)