HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 171 [171] What does it mean to be a walking CD? One million EPs sold in a single day!
On May 5th.

Several songs from the EP were sent to radio stations across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong for pre-release promotion.

The songs that topped the charts varied by region. In Hong Kong and Guangdong, the songs that topped the charts were "Next Year Today" and "Next Stop, Superstar".

Taiwanese people, and mainland regions outside Guangdong Province, chose "Ten Years" and "Queen".

On this day, Qi Yuan's music resounded on countless radio stations across China.

Countless listeners heard Qi Yuan's singing.

"You waver between coldness and passion, having everything taken from you yet still having to accept it with a smile. I envy your love, so powerful and unstoppable, like a superstar with ever-increasing popularity. But what you want isn't me..."

"May I not suffer from insomnia again this time next year, may my bedding be changed, and may we meet by chance..."

As a pop king, Qi Yuan's release of an EP already garnered attention from countless fans.

After these songs were released on the radio, they topped the request charts on major radio stations in just two days.

In Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, "Next Year Today" is number one.

In Taiwan, "Ten Years" is number one and "Queen of Heaven" is number three.

This dominance left record companies in the industry speechless and fellow singers envious. What kind of monsters are these?! Prolific output, every song is a hit.

Some singers who originally planned to release albums soon have chosen to postpone their releases.

That's terrifying. If you get close to Qi Yuan, you'll be drained dry.

……

Hong Kong.

Nicholas Tse and Mani Fok were still shaken!
"Fortunately, we were cautious and did not release the album's release date to the public."

When Huo Wenxi saw the charting data of Qi Yuan's new song on Hong Kong radio, she was stunned. She thought, "Give up. In music, Nicholas Tse will never catch up with Qi Yuan. Fortunately, Nicholas Tse has movies. The film industry is Nicholas Tse's main battlefield."

Taiwan.

Record companies such as Rolling Stone, Sony, and Forward Music are all predicting the sales figures for Qi Yuan's EP.

With eight songs, a near-album-level configuration, exceeding the production cost of an album, yet sold at the price of an EP, including five Cantonese songs and three Mandarin songs, this EP has a strong market in Taiwan and mainland China.

Each company set a sales target of 500 million copies for the EP "Next Year Today".

……

5 month 15 day.

The "Next Year Today" EP and Pepsi Wish Concert live will be released simultaneously.

All record companies underestimated the impact of the slogan "Young people's first EP".

This EP is really cheap. For example, in the mainland market, a disc with ten songs and music videos costs 58 yuan, but this EP with eight songs and music videos only costs 38 yuan.

This is normal. Most EPs only have 3 to 6 songs, and it is normal for them to be priced 30% to 40% cheaper than albums. Qi Yuan's "Next Year Today" is an outlier in the EP world.

Discs are cheap, cassettes are even cheaper, albums sell for 9.8, and "Next Year Today" is only 7.8, so you can take it home. Even students can afford it if they save their pocket money.

In some ways, this album, "Next Year Today," is truly the first official EP for young people.

High quality, low price, and a popular name – all the elements are there.

Zhou Jianhui was stunned when the sales figures for the first day were released.

Sales in mainland China: 540322 copies; Taiwan: 219230 copies; Hong Kong: 132200 copies.

Seeing these sales figures gives one the illusion that the Chinese music market has come back to life overnight.

With 89 copies sold in a single day, even for a relatively inexpensive EP, this figure is still incredibly impressive. Only 5 copies of the "Pepsi Wish Concert Live" were prepared; only die-hard fans would buy it, and it was priced higher than the "Next Year Today" disc.

Qi Yuan has a large number of die-hard fans, including many wealthy female fans. These discs, which have a certain commemorative value, sold out within a day.

Therefore, Qi Yuan's record sales reached more than 94 copies in one day.

Zhou Jianhui, beaming with joy, immediately sent out the battle report.

[Warner Music's pop king, the walking CD, Qi Yuan, saw his EP sell over one million copies nationwide on its first day of release.]

When it comes to advertising, you always have to exaggerate a bit.

Countless people in the industry secretly cursed Zhou Jianhui for being shameless after reading Warner's battle report.

Millions sold daily? Warner Music actually dares to boast like that? Shameless! Has China ever had an EP this good?
The colleagues immediately gathered information, preparing to use data to thoroughly refute Warner and Zhou Jianhui.

Then... they discovered that Warner and Zhou Jianhui weren't exaggerating.

They sold 94 copies in one day. Don't forget that Qi Yuan's second album, "Qi Yuan," is still on sale. The claim that they sold 100 million copies in one day is not an exaggeration.

Hey!
Why is he so fierce?
Record companies have raised their sales forecast from 500 million to 800 million. 500 million is definitely not enough to contain Qi Yuan; this kid is too fierce.

Record companies were deeply impressed by Qi Yuan's EP sales, and some sharp-eyed people noticed that Warner's marketing this time was very effective.

Who came up with such a down-to-earth and catchy promotional slogan for a young person's first EP?

Who came up with the title "Walking CD"? It's sophisticated and unconventional.

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, superstars are so commonplace that anyone who sells two million records can be called a superstar. Everyone's tired of seeing them.

The title of "Walking CD" is great; it distinguishes him from other superstars.

Sony reacted the fastest. When Wang Lihong was going to release a new album next month, they immediately followed Warner's marketing strategy and gave Wang Lihong the title of "music-man," which can be translated into Chinese as "Music Superman."

Honestly, this title suits Wang Lihong quite well. Wang Lihong is multi-talented, playing violin, piano, guitar, composing, arranging, and more... he can do it all, making him a true master of all kinds of musical skills.

In fact, Wang Lihong did release an album later called "Eighteen Martial Arts".

Alpha, a small workshop, quickly followed suit, and Wu Zhongxian called Zhou Jielun a musical genius on a variety show.

……

"These people are quick on their feet, both manly and geniuses. They're all learning from our walking CD."

Zhou Jianhui angrily denounced these colleagues for being shameless, copying each other faster than the last.

Qi Yuan didn't find it particularly strange.

These titles were originally conceived by Taiwanese people. To be fair, people in Hong Kong and Taiwan are indeed very good at packaging and marketing.

The claims of "top-of-the-line all-in-one Chinese music player," "walking CD player," "powerful vocalist," "healing diva," and "musical genius" are all products of their marketing.

In comparison, the packaging in mainland China is quite poor. Nayoung only has the title of "Queen of Pop," while Sun Nam is a little better, with a platinum record.

Despite his strong creative talent, Hu Yanbin doesn't even have a title of success. When people mention him, they only think of him as Zheng Shuang's ex-boyfriend and Tao Ze's line, "Hu Yanbin, you made me cry."

If Hu Yanbin and his company had been more proactive and had learned even half the skills of Taiwanese record companies, Hu Yanbin wouldn't have faded into obscurity.

The benefits of marketing this kind of title are obvious: it can deepen the memory of the product.

Qi Yuan wants to earn the title of "Walking CD" so that people will associate this title with him in the future.

In the days to come, Qi Yuan will be very busy, with various autograph sessions, promotions, and events to attend.

(End of this chapter)