Why bother writing songs? Fast forward to the "Don't Laugh Challenge"

Chapter 41 The Truth About the Music Scene?
At home, Zhang Hao got out of bed very early in the morning. Actually, it's not quite right to say that; rather, he hadn't slept much all night.

How can one sleep in this situation?

The data for "The Legend of Immortals and Demons" is steadily climbing and becoming a hit across the internet. He had expected this. After all, with such a large audience, as long as the show doesn't make any silly or outrageous mistakes, it doesn't even need to be exceptionally good. As long as it performs normally, it's unlikely to flop. This amount of buzz is definitely inevitable.

But the problem is that, not only is the TV series a hit, but Zhou Yumeng's original soundtrack album has also become a hit!

What's going on here? Shouldn't it be that not many people pay attention to the background music in TV dramas?

With so many popular dramas, and many film and television works achieving good ratings each year, how many of their soundtracks are truly well-known and become viral across the internet?

This situation is extremely rare. This kind of song is different from internet hits. The genres are different, and it is very difficult to achieve widespread popularity. In fact, this kind of music does not rely on mass production to create value. It is more of an added value to the TV series itself.

So the current situation is actually quite abnormal.

And it's not just one song that's become a hit; several others have already broken records! They're all over short videos now! Their popularity has exploded.

The biggest problem is that the copyright of the original soundtrack album should belong entirely to the company!

However, due to some impulsive thoughts, he secretly used his brother-in-law's connections to sign a gambling agreement with Xia Shen!

At this moment, he began to question the meaning of life.

Who exactly is this Xia Shen? How could he possibly have such great abilities?
If you have such great talent, fine, but why are you still stuck on Douyin and Kuaishou producing a bunch of viral hits instead of focusing on writing high-quality songs and making a name for yourself in the Chinese music scene? Isn't the current state of the Chinese music scene so terrible because of these disgusting, fly-like garbage producers?

At that very moment, his room door was kicked open with a loud bang.

The sudden noise broke Zhang Hao's train of thought, causing him to look towards the door.

The person who came was none other than his brother-in-law, Chen Jiawang.

However, Chen Jiawang stared at him with a fierce look.

Brother-in-law Zhang Hao, drenched in sweat, greeted her with a weak voice.

"You still have the nerve to call me that?!" Mentioning this only fueled Chen Jiawang's anger: "Do you know what the situation is? Do you know how much damage your actions have caused the company?"

"It's just one album, it shouldn't be that serious, right?" Zhang Hao was also intimidated by Chen Jiawang's attitude and said, "I still have value, the company is so short of producers right now. I even wrote the title track for Song Anqi."

"Shut up!"

However, before he could finish speaking, Chen Jiawang impatiently interrupted him, saying, "Do you think you're something special just because someone in the company flatters you a bit? You think it's because you're talented that the company noticed you and that you got the opportunity to write a song for Song Anqi on your own, but have you ever thought that everything you have, the reason people are willing to flatter you and give you resources, is because you have connections. You're using my resources, and they're doing it because of me?"
Even without your hit songs, Song Anqi will still be a queen of pop, and that won't change. But what about you? If you don't write songs for Song Anqi, who will know who you are?

Talent, huh? Don't say anything yet. Just go on Spotify and see how many independent musicians have no listeners at all.

Where did they graduate from?

The Central Conservatory of Music! The Sichuan Conservatory of Music! The Shanghai Conservatory of Music! The Shenyang Conservatory of Music! And even your alumni, Berkeley!

Do you know where some of these people are now?
Apart from a small number who are still persisting and earning income from a handful of listeners, another group went to Douyin and Kuaishou. Now, among the three major "flies" of Douyin and Kuaishou, one is from Berkeley like you, and another is from the Central Conservatory of Music!
Oh no, now it's almost time to call them the "Four Big Flies," because there's another one who just started out, and because of you, he effortlessly got the copyrights to several hit songs directly from the company's library!

So, aside from these people, what are the professors at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music doing?

Gaining views on Douyin and Kuaishou by cosplaying and singing children's songs! Talented! What truly defines talent? Someone like Xia Shen!

Do you think that just because someone acquired a few copyrights from the company, the company will have a problem with him or they'll have a falling out? No way!
Because they've already proven their worth to the company! They can create hugely popular songs! And from their debut until now, their hit song success rate is extremely high! Do you know what that means?

This means that compared to Xia Shen as a person, the copyrights of these few songs are simply incomparable!

Zhang Hao fell silent, completely stunned by Chen Jiawang's words.

Finally, Chen Jiawang also lost his strength: "Forget it, there's no use saying anything more now. The company has decided to unilaterally terminate your contract. Don't even think about paying the penalty, because what you did was a breach of contract first."

And I was fired too.

"How could this be?" At that moment, Zhang Hao lost all strength and collapsed onto the bed.

What Chen Jiawang said to him today directly shattered his long-held beliefs, as well as his views on music and his own perspective.

Because he has always had a smooth and successful life, he has never thought about many things. He only thinks he is awesome and looks down on anyone who is making content for lower-tier markets. This has become a mindset.

Meanwhile, Xia Shen and Zhou Yumeng met up.

While Xia Shen was happy that several songs had broken records, he was also somewhat uncertain about the outcome.

Especially after hearing Zhou Yumeng say that July Records actually wanted to collaborate with him.

"Cooperate? I directly poached so many copyrights from your company, doesn't your company have any objections?" Xia Shen asked.

"How could that be?" Zhou Yumeng smiled with narrowed eyes. "To be honest, the fact that these songs broke the mark does prove that they are indeed valuable. But the company isn't stupid. The problem didn't happen to you, so naturally they'll find the right people to contact. And the value you created itself proves your ability."

Actually, large record companies are quite tolerant and friendly towards producers, especially talented ones.

Because what the company actually needs more is the ability to produce stable output, as well as higher quality.

That's the truth; it really wasn't because of Zhou Yumeng.

Currently, China is actually lacking producers, not producers who can create high-quality works. This is because anyone who has received formal training is generally quite good and can consistently produce content that is at least up to par.

The problem is that there are very few producers who understand what the market needs, who can tailor their approach to different people, and who know what products are suitable for which people.

For example, if you were a producer, and you wrote a song for a female singer who is known for her vulgar and promiscuous style, would you think that was appropriate? No, it wouldn't be!

The main problem in the Chinese music scene right now is that few people realize this. The output of people without formal training is unstable, while the works of people with formal training have a kind of "training flavor," which is to put it simply, a flavor of being overly educated.

A very standard melody is given 108 different embellishments according to textbook methods, making it flashy and impressive. That's fine, but when it's put into the market, the audience has proven that they don't buy into this kind of content.

The company's upper management actually has a very high opinion of Xia Shen and is willing to continue to extend olive branches to him, looking forward to in-depth cooperation.

As for the copyright of those songs, consider it as giving Xia Shen a good impression.

(End of this chapter)