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

Chapter 950 Five Crowns, Two Yolks? Or Six Crowns to Open the World?

Both the speed and the number of records broken far exceeded the most optimistic group estimates.

Even the biggest hypester of the I Ching, when it sold over 1200 million copies globally in its first week, only dared to boast that it sold nearly 2000 million copies.

After all, for a superstar like Zhou Yi, album sales are the most important and highest-volume event, and ultimately, the first week is crucial. Generally speaking, starting from the second week, sales, if not halved, will at least experience a parabolic downward trend.

Of the most popular batch, over 70% were sold out in the first week. Although this time the I Ching brought in a group of people who bought tickets to make amends, this kind of marketing is still most effective before the official sale.

To everyone's surprise, the second week of the I Ching actually defied the trend and snowballed upwards—

"25" grossed over 430 million in North America and over 100 million in the UK in its first week, bringing its global total to 1215 million.

Although the trend declined in the second week, the decline was surprisingly small.

In North America, sales exceeded 287 million in the second week, breaking the two-week sales record once again.
In the UK, sales for two weeks remained at an unexpectedly high level of 80, dominating the market and completely breaking the previous records of the British music scene.

Including sales in Eurasian countries, global sales exceeded 912 million in the second week.

Over two weeks and 14 days, total sales reached 2127 million. If someone had said before August 15 that "25" could sell this well, even Zhou Yi himself would have cursed Sony and thought it was a complete charlatan.

Now things have turned out much better; these are sales figures that even a string of people couldn't have imagined.

"This isn't even a question of whether we can break 40 million, it's a question of whether we can even reach 50 million!"

"I'm not well-educated. Has there ever been a single album in the history of world music that sold over 50 million copies?"

"The Beatles, Michael Jackson? I can't think of a third artist whose single album has sold over 50 million copies besides those two."

"The value is different. The Book of Changes is from one era and they are from another. I still think the Book of Changes is more valuable."

“That’s right, and Zhouyi took even less time; it sold over 20 million copies in just 14 days…”

This time, Italian food lovers in China can be said to be celebrating the New Year together—

The more rampant the perpetrators are abroad, the stronger their sense of superiority becomes back home.

The key issue is that even Lian Chuanzi's past statements have been dug up and severely interrogated.

The notorious troll Beaver once made a sarcastic remark about 20 million copies sold before the release of "25," which sparked a heated argument at the time. Now, thankfully, there's no need for further arguments—

All that remains are the jokes about patting the beaver's head, which are classics circulating on the internet.

Twenty million copies isn't scary; what's scary is 14 days, and what's scary is the incredible, almost invincible, word-of-mouth!

老牌音乐杂志《滚石》时隔2年再度为周易的专辑打出了5/5的满星评价，并在这张《25》发行仅仅14天的情况下就再度发布公告，将其收录进了《最伟大的500张专辑》当中。

The last time the I Ching was included in a full-star rated album was in 2003 with "Forever Young".

Two years later, the man whose album song quality had declined for two consecutive years has delivered a surprising result this year as if he had a burst of inspiration!

PITCHFORK: 10/10!

Rolling Stone: 5/5!

Mojo (a long-established British music magazine): 5/5!

Even RC, the famous music critic who gave the album "Forever Young" a D rating last time, gave it a rating that he was convinced of this time: A!

As a representative figure of independent music critics in Europe and America, RC's ability to be ranked alongside established magazines like Rolling Stone by music fans despite being an independent writer speaks volumes about his influence, as his subjective ratings are unique globally.

“I have to say, Spike, you win.”

"Those who know me well know my value rating system and my preferences. I don't really like Britpop, heavy metal, triphop, new wave, and other music."

"That's why I gave Forever Young a D rating in 2003."

"But this time, I have to say Spike shattered my prejudices. My tastes told me that this album, '25,' would at most be a B or B+, but my heart told me that it was an A+ level super masterpiece album."

"My favorite song is 'Locked Out Of Heaven,' a reggae rock song in which Spike fully displays his charm as a superstar, truly achieving a perfect harmony between the artist and the album."

"This song is also one of my recommended tracks."

"Besides that, 'If I Die Young' is also a strong recommendation of mine—I have to say, there are just so many things worth recommending on this album. Spike's life was elevated by his miraculous experiences, and so was the album."

"The only song I find offensive is 'Whistle.' Having it on this album is like finding a row of rat tracks in cheese—disgusting. Spike should have cut it; it makes no sense."

"That's why I downgraded the rating from A+ to A. If Warner Music is willing to release a version with the song cut out, I'll be willing to rate it A+..."

Robert Christgau, or RC for short, is a professor of music at New York University and an editor of Village Voice magazine.

As the only music critic in the United States whose personal opinions are included in the overall media rating, his personal status in the United States today is self-evident, and he is hailed as one of the two most important living critics in the United States.

His evaluation system is also very comprehensive, and it hasn't changed over the years.

Starting from E, E-

E stands for the worst album, a complete piece of garbage;
"Bomb" refers to a lack of particularly good singles or an overall deficiency in the album;
"Scissors" belongs to the category below B-, indicating that there are good songs, but the overall album is not good, so he will "cut out" the good songs.

B+ represents the best in its category, A- and above indicate excellence regardless of the category, and A+ is a super masterpiece.

As one of the most demanding and outspoken music professors and critics in the United States, RC's previous sharp reviews have offended many people. However, this year marks the first time the public has seen RC proactively propose an upgrade path from A to A+.

All you need to do is cut one song.

It's easy to imagine that he genuinely disliked the song "Whistle," feeling that it was a single bad apple spoiling the whole bunch.

But clearly, his opinion did not gain the approval of a considerable number of people.

"Fuck! What's wrong with such a lighthearted song like 'Whistle'?! Isn't that how Spike lives? Doesn't he get girls to blow-whistle for him often?!"

"Judging from the number of scandals, I don't believe that the number is small. There are probably many behind the scenes."

"The double entendre in this song is used very well, and Spike's fluency in English is frightening. Considering his Chinese identity and the fact that English is not his native language, I think it should be upgraded to A+."

"I think '25' is even better than 'Forever Young' because this album truly made me feel the warmth of human connection. 'Forever Young' is strong, but the concepts and topics it explores are too far removed from my own experiences..."

"Sales figures speak for themselves! '25' is definitely a super blockbuster album!"

"Spike is still strong. I thought his albums last year and the year before had declined, and he could only rely on album concepts to win back the victory and reputation. I didn't expect that after being hit, he directly reversed my opinion this year with '25'."

"Spike spoiled my ears, he has to take responsibility!"

"This is the first time I've seen RC give this kind of evaluation. Is the toughest nut to crack in the American music scene finally being swayed?"

Big bang!

Big bang!

Big bang!

A truly massive global explosion!

With both critical acclaim and high sales, the dream album that countless music industry professionals have been working with has suddenly appeared right under everyone's noses—

"This is terrifying. To be honest, sometimes I wonder how much his sales would have inflated if Spike had debuted in the same era as me."

Mariah Carey, who experienced a major resurgence last year but was exposed by the media this year for acting arrogantly while attending an event in Japan, dismissed the news of her diva behavior and instead spoke highly of the I Ching.

As for things like having a few bottles of mineral water in the hotel or putting something in the bathtub, these are all commonplace things for her.

In her view, problems that can be solved with money are not considered being arrogant.

The only thing troubling her was the escalating lip-syncing scandal, which almost destroyed half of her improving reputation outside the United States.

"He shouldn't have lived in 2006, really. He's just not a musician of this era. When I saw the sales figures, I thought I saw God."

Beyoncé, a leading female singer of the new generation who was often compared to Zhou Yi and even had an Oscar singing competition snatched by him, spoke with admiration when asked by reporters: "It's hard to imagine that this is the kind of sales we've seen in 2006."

She thought she was already a big seller, but compared to a freak like Zhou Yi, the gap was too big, and she didn't even have the courage to catch up.

Avril Lavigne: "I'm not surprised at all; he always manages to create miracles."

Scarlett: "He is number one, without a doubt."

Eva Green, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Captain, and many other old friends of Zhou Yi expressed disbelief in interviews.

As filmmakers, and specifically within the Western film industry, this group ranges from second-tier to first-tier and even top-tier figures, possessing a clear understanding of American film box office revenue. The earnings from Zhou Yi's album far exceed those of these people who receive fixed salaries, and may even surpass the box office revenue of a blockbuster film.

Take the most popular captain among these people as an example. The global blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" grossed a whopping $6.54 million, enough to keep Disney champagne open for three days and three nights.

What about the Book of Changes (I Ching)?
Based on an average album price of $48, the total revenue from the 2127 million legal albums sold to date exceeds $10 billion.

14 days, 1 billion!
It's still the US dollar!

The physical retailers were moved to tears, practically kneeling down to kowtow to Zhou Yi and call him "father."

This world is too crazy. If this is a dream, they just hope they never have to wake up.

"That's insane, absolutely insane."

"Now I understand why Sony went to such lengths, even changing CEOs and leaders, to destroy Michael Jackson."

Seeing such a direct impact of $10 billion for the first time in such a short period of time, Qian Jiang pressed his hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

It truly lives up to its reputation as the most lucrative music industry in the past.

Thinking of Michael Jackson at the peak of his career in my previous life and all the copyrights he held...

Just thinking about it makes my heart race and my breathing quicken.

"He's too greedy. There's no turning back now; he's just going down a dark path." Although the initial excitement stimulated his brain, Zhou Yi, accustomed to the ups and downs of the stock market, quickly regained his composure.

"That's not necessarily true. He has now realized his problems and should be able to turn things around."

"He didn't realize anything. Only he would come up with such a roundabout way to acquire the company that owns the copyright to Eminem's albums." Zhou Yi curled his lip, speechless.

Many people later viewed this incident as Michael Jackson's revenge against Eminem for writing songs that insulted him, even at the cost of going to great lengths to complete the acquisition.

Then, this only added fuel to the fire.

Despite his often negative public image, Eminem's album copyrights are among the best of all male singers in the new century, and his status as the world's number one selling artist is still incredibly impressive.

As a result, Michael Jackson used various means to take it away. Eminem United resisted, but ultimately the resistance was ineffective.

What are you going to tell others?

This is why many people speculate that even after the child molestation case ended and he was exonerated, many singers still did not voice their support for him.

Besides Sony's vast resources, some influential singers also have complex copyright ownership structures and are afraid of being targeted by the King of Pop—they have a history of such actions.

"That's true."

Ever since following Zhou Yi in suppressing the West, Qian Jiang has truly understood the real value of controlling copyrights here. So many musicians and producers live off the royalties from just a few songs, driving luxury cars and living in mansions.

Of course, this is also why the copyrights of most Western singers are extremely fragmented, because often a song can have several names associated with its lyricist, composer, and producer.

Only those like Zhou Yi, who write and compose their own lyrics and music, can have the confidence in this area.

Later, Taylor Swift was manipulated by her record company, and in the end, she simply re-recorded the album as a songwriter to force her former company to make concessions and buy back the master tapes of her past albums. This is the same principle.

If she herself were not a creator, this would be a complete fantasy.

Another striking example is G.E.M. in China, who at one point had no way of learning from Taylor Swift's method to reclaim the copyrights to her songs.

In the end, we saw a glimmer of hope thanks to the copyright law in mainland China, and began a long and drawn-out struggle by taking a roundabout route.

“However, with the new week’s chart changes, another song from your new album has reached number one. I feel that this album can try to reach five number one singles again.” As he spoke, Qian Jiang handed him a document.

The battle for the top spot on the US Billboard charts is fierce—referring to the intense competition within the I Ching itself.

"Believer" held the number one spot for six weeks due to its early chart debut, before being dethroned by "Moves Like Jagger" after the album's official release. And this week, a new number one single has emerged—

Perfect.

The competition among the top ten songs on Billboard is extremely fierce. Even the song that tops the charts can fall from grace if it is not careful. The scores of all the songs are very close. This is unique in the more than half a century history of Billboard.

The man who created this miracle was Zhou Yi, who came from across the ocean.

"Your fans are very aggressive in boosting the numbers, and many people like each of your songs, which is causing serious internal competition."

This isn't the first time Qian Jiang has lamented the waste of the I Ching's resources, so this time it's just another routine sigh.

If an album's quality is inconsistent, given the intense competition, the singles from that album might not perform as well, just like the albums from last year and the year before. Although there were number-one singles, the phenomenal success of a single album with five number-one singles has never happened again.

This is due to internal friction and resource diversion.

In Qian Jiang's opinion, if Zhou Yi's albums had been dissected more conservatively, he would probably be the pop singer with the most number one Billboard singles in the history of world music, without needing to add the prefix of male or female.

"If we concentrate on pushing forward, there shouldn't be any major problems."

With that said, Zhou Yi also began to ponder the probability of a double-yolk egg.

While manipulating chart rankings is discouraged, some aspects are still within the singer's control. For example, if an artist wants to heavily promote a particular song for a certain period, they might frequently perform it on radio and at live events, promoting it as a main single.

Once the goal is achieved, immediately switch to the next song.

This sounds a lot like order boosting, and it actually is – except this time Zhou Yi will do it with unparalleled ease and comfort, as if taking a leisurely stroll.

The reason for this is that the scores of the top five, and even the top eight and top ten songs are not very different. With a total of 16 songs, "25" has contributed too many hit songs, filling the hearts of every listener.

With more songs available, there are more songs to choose from. Including the promotional period for "Believer," the record of having three number-one singles in eight weeks is practically unbreakable.

In the past, achieving this speed of winning a single order would have been nothing short of a pipe dream.

"Let's try these three songs first: 'Someone You Loved,' 'Locked Out Of Heaven,' and 'Whistle.'"

To be on the safe side, Zhou Yi chose these three songs that were already number one singles—the first two of which were seven and six consecutive number one singles, respectively.

Therefore, four songs, "Memories," "Teeth," "Attention," and "Maps," were selected as backups. If the three selected songs did not perform well on the charts, then songs from the backups would be immediately chosen to replace them.

At worst, you can still pick alternatives from the albums.

This time, they've really got plenty of material to work with—even if Zhou Yi's albums were great before, he didn't have that many songs to choose from for trial and error to climb the charts.

This is the only time that there are 16 songs that completely disregard martial ethics!

Take your pick, there's bound to be a song that suits you!
Let alone a five-title single, breaking the record for a six-title single is not impossible!

The news that Warner Music wanted to help Zhou Yi climb back to the top of the charts couldn't be kept secret from the industry, as it involved multiple parties and couldn't be kept entirely confidential. Therefore, with Zhou Yi's decisive move, Warner Music simply announced their chart-topping target for the new week—

In an instant, a single stone stirred up a thousand waves!

"Do they think we're not human?! Spike is talking about a number-one single so far in advance?! Aren't they afraid that other artists will seize the opportunity to release songs to counter him?"

"Insanity!"

After a heated discussion, the group of people sadly discovered that no matter how much they disapproved, it was useless, because for Guan Dan, seven out of the top ten were his own rankings, so what was the point of fighting?
Lying down and waiting to die is pointless.

With only three people left after the first ten miles, the pressure was immense, and they were almost portrayed as Don Quixote running towards the windmill.

Only The New York Times continued to express pessimism—

"Spike has no rivals left; his '25' will be invincible..."

There have even been a considerable number of rumors circulating online.

Comments like "For the future of the music industry, why don't we let your idol get shot too?" are rampant. Fans aren't scared, but the celebrities who are mentioned are stunned.

They didn't take it seriously at first, just treating it as a joke, but this online opinion received a lot of support from people who enjoy entertainment, and everyone supported the music industry getting more competitive.

But some busybodies actually took it seriously, and were even eager to try it out.

Especially the 50-cent guy—he actually survived a gunshot wound and often boasted about it.

Some die-hard fans actually went to find him in person, which almost scared him half to death!
Spike almost got shot and ended up with one ear, but then he released 16 songs that made a phenomenal album. That's Spike, what does that have to do with us?!

People cannot be generalized!

Don't come over here! ! !
(End of this chapter)