HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 298 [298] Before even going to Japan, he already had a group of Japanese fans.

Qi Yuan and Ning Hao were busy filming the music video.

Warner Music Japan has started to ramp up its efforts, building momentum for Qi Yuan's entry into the Japanese music scene.

Qi Yuan hadn't done much promotion in Japan before; her fame was only known within the Chinese community and among international students.

To quickly gain attention in Japan, we need to be more aggressive in our advertising.

Warner Music Japan adopted the title of "Emperor" given to Qi Yuan by mainland media, claiming that the emperor of the Chinese music scene is about to descend upon the Japanese music scene. Can Japan's kings and queens withstand this impact?

Warner Music also dug up and heavily promoted the old news from the beginning of the year, in which Asia Times magazine claimed that Feng Qi was the new king of Asian pop music.

With titles like "Emperor" and "New King of Asian Pop," these titles are quite impressive and have attracted the attention of many Japanese netizens.

Upon learning that the emperor was Chinese, many Japanese people were quite disdainful.

Japan is the world's second-largest record market, and Japanese music is the best in Asia.

Our most popular singers, Mai Kuraki, Ayumi Hamasaki, and Hikaru Utada, are just the three great divas of the Heisei era, at most they can be called the three queens of pop.

Who do you think you are, a singer from China? You dare call yourself an emperor? Where do you get your confidence from?!

Japanese netizens began to mock and ridicule Warner and Qi Yuan.

"Laughable Warner, laughable Chinese, what emperor? When Ayumi Hamasaki topped the Japanese public trust charts for five consecutive weeks, this emperor was still nowhere to be found."

"Warner's strategy is so outdated. What era are we living in? They're still using such a shameful title as the Emperor."

"Ha! Let's look at the sales figures. Utada Hikaru's 'First Love' broke the record for album sales in Japan. This is Utada Hikaru's debut album. May I ask how many copies that emperor's debut album sold?"

"He is arrogant and conceited. Everyone should boycott him and never support his singles. Let him get out of the Japanese music scene."

Warner Music Japan's marketing strategy was quite successful.

Although it might provoke some hatred, it has generated a lot of buzz and attention.

Fans of singers such as Mai Kuraki, Ayumi Hamasaki, Hikaru Utada, and MISIA have been constantly hurling insults at Qi Yuan and Warner Music.

Even negative traffic is still traffic. With more people paying attention, Warner Music Japan launched its second round of marketing, releasing the cover of Qi Yuan's English single and a series of high-definition posters and photos.

The single's cover art is predominantly blue and white, featuring Qi Yuan wearing white headphones and a white jacket, with a vast blue ocean in the background.

Qi Yuan only showed her profile on the cover, but her high nose bridge and flawless facial contours perfectly showcased her beauty.

In those posters and photos, Qi Yuan showed her face. Her outfits were carefully designed, focusing on simplicity, comfort, and naturalness, with a touch of Japanese style, making it easy to attract Japanese female fans.

As soon as these eye-catching photos were released, some of the female fans of the three divas immediately switched sides.

Many female netizens in Japan have also become fans of Qi Yuan's looks.

Warner Music Japan seized the opportunity to piggyback on the popularity of Takuya Kimura, stating that Qi Yuan is China's 'Takuya Kimura'.

Kimura Takuya's fans were furious. How dare he try to piggyback on my idol's fame? In Japan, Kimura Takuya's name is synonymous with handsome. How dare you... Hmm... This guy is indeed handsome, but he has a different style from Kimura Takuya.

As it turns out, being handsome is very useful, according to information provided by Warner Bros.

After the marketing campaign was launched, Qi Yuan's Chinese album sales in Japan increased, with most customers being young Japanese girls.

Qi Yuan is based in Taiwan, and has already started attracting Japanese female fans with her good looks.

This is a good start. Once Qi Yuan's single is released in Japan, at least a group of real Japanese people will pay attention to it.

By venturing into the Japanese and Western music scenes, Qi Yuan certainly hopes to attract genuine foreign buyers.

If he releases an English single in Japan, and most of the buyers are Chinese, wouldn't he be like Li Wen in his previous life, making a wasted effort? Zhang Hao said to Qi Yuan, "Your reputation in Japan is a bit polarized. Japanese men, especially young men, are very unfriendly towards you, and they are the most vocal in their criticism of you online."

Young women in Japan have a good impression of you, and sales of your book "As You Wish" and photo posters are rising rapidly in Japan.

Especially the photo albums and posters, which sold out in some areas.

"As You Wish" is, after all, a Chinese album, and not all Japanese people can appreciate it. To be precise, the vast majority of Japanese people cannot appreciate it.

The same applies to Japanese songs in China; the most popular Japanese songs are only popular within a small circle.

Photobooks and posters are different; as long as someone is handsome and pleasing to the eye, that's enough.

Both China and Japan are countries with a predominantly yellow population, and the people of both countries share some similarities in terms of aesthetics.

There's a classic line that goes something like this: trust the second son's judgment.

The beauties Yui Aragaki, Masami Nagasawa, and Satomi Ishihara, who are recognized as beauties in Japan in later generations, also have a group of fans in China.

Those who are even more enthusiastic, not to mention the Japanese language teachers, are beautiful in Japan, and the 'students' in Japan feel the same way.

The same applies to men. Takuya Kimura, who is recognized as the most handsome man in Japan, is also considered handsome in China.

Similarly, if Qi Yuan, who is widely recognized as the most handsome man in the Chinese music scene, were to go to Japan, the Japanese would also agree that Qi Yuan is handsome.

Male fans of the three Heisei divas are unhappy that Warner Music is trying to piggyback on their idols' fame.

They'll criticize Qi Yuan's music as garbage and Warner Music for its opportunistic marketing, but they rarely criticize Qi Yuan's appearance.

At most, people might say something sarcastic like, "Qi Yuan definitely had plastic surgery, and he doesn't deserve to be compared to the all-natural Takuya Kimura."

"Your appearance is a great advantage in East Asia, but it's hard to say about Europe and America, where they prefer tough guys."

Zhang Hao is optimistic about Qi Yuan's performance in the Japanese market.

With a handsome face that fits the aesthetic of young Japanese women, coupled with Qi Yuan's good physique, he's already one-third of the way to success.

It's hard to say about Europe and America.

In Zhou Jianhui's words, achieving some success in the Japanese music scene would be enough to elevate Qi Yuan's status.

With the markets of East Asia and Southeast Asia under his control, plus a portion of the Japanese market, Qi Yuan and Warner could live a life of luxury.

Europe and America? It would be best if we could break into those regions; if not, we'll reign supreme in Asia.

After listening to Zhang Hao's words, Qi Yuan became more confident about her entry into the Japanese music scene.

Qi Yuan turned to Ning Hao and made a big promise: "Mouse, make sure the MV is good. If it becomes a huge hit in Japan, I'll give you a big red envelope."

"Watch me perform; I won't let you down, Mr. Qi."

Ning Hao was full of confidence.

Yesterday, Li Xue returned to Taiwan and reported her work situation to Qi Yuan. Ning Hao happened to be standing next to her.

Ning Hao was incredibly excited to learn that Starry Sky Company had acquired the film and television rights to a batch of South Korean comics and novels.

This shows that Qi Yuan and Xing Kong have great ambitions and may invest in multiple TV series or movies in the future.

With more projects invested in by Starry Sky Investment, wouldn't his opportunity come? First, prove his ability, then strive to take on a leading role, and finally persuade Qi Yuan to invest in him so he can film what he wants to film.

Thinking of these bright futures, Ning Hao told the photographer to go and rest, and he carried the camera himself.

(End of this chapter)