HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 393 [393] English first-month sales, number one in Asian music history!

Warner, Zhou Jianhui and other senior executives were very angry.

They anticipated all sorts of outcomes, but they never expected the Golden Melody Awards to pull a stunt of feigned retreat, putting Chi Yuan in a very difficult position. This move was incredibly insidious.

It's not that they lack imagination; the main reason is that the Golden Melody Awards have been held for so many years and nothing like this has ever happened before. Qi Yuan has made history.

Zhou Jianhui first greeted the Golden Melody Awards judging panel, then turned to Qi Yuan and said solemnly, "A Yuan, we must stay calm and not fall into their trap."

A singer on the rise should, in principle, never back out of accepting an award; it's practically suicidal!

As a seasoned professional, Zhou Jianhui understands how important awards are to a singer on the rise.

Hong Kong singers compete for the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs, Taiwanese singers compete for the Golden Melody Award, and Western singers compete for the Grammy Award. They fight tooth and nail for every single one of them. Do they really think it's all for a worthless trophy?
Winning the trophy signifies that the singer's music has risen from being liked by fans to being recognized by the industry.

With this industry recognition, you can attract more casual fans to become your followers.

Ordinary people blindly believe in authority. They don't understand what constitutes good music; they only know that an album or singer is awesome because they won a major award!
A typical example is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which performed poorly at the box office in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong when it was released domestically.

If ordinary viewers really think it's good, why not rush to the cinema?

Once the film won an Oscar, all sorts of film reviews and reflections analyzing the film's details immediately appeared.

It's a very simple principle: if I can appreciate the prestigious awards given to me, it means I have good taste.

Furthermore, winning awards can enhance fan cohesion and pride, and can also rapidly boost a singer's prestige and commercial value.

It is not possible to withdraw from the award.

Zhou Jianhui said those things to Qi Yuan mainly because he was worried that the young man was too proud and might say something like "I don't want to accept the award" in public, which would cause a lot of trouble.

Qi Yuan was very clear-headed: "They want to force me to withdraw from the Golden Melody Awards, but I will not. This tactic of praising me to death won't work on me."

Zhou Jian breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that Qi Yuan had this understanding.

The problem now is to curb the momentum created by the Golden Melody Awards and Taiwanese media, and not let those news stories about pressuring Qi Yuan continue to appear in the news.

Zhou Jianhui could guess how happy the person who orchestrated this whole thing must be right now.

However, by May 13th, these people were no longer happy.

On this day, all the articles urging Qi Yuan to withdraw from the Golden Melody Awards disappeared; more accurately, they were suppressed by new big news.

On this day, Warner Music (USA) announced the first-month global sales figures for Qi Yuan's English album "23".

It sold approximately 840 million copies worldwide in one month.

Of these, approximately 280 million were sold in the US market, accounting for one-third.

Canada had just over 40, Japan 75, the UK 82, and European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Australia had tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of prints.

The albums have sold a significant number of copies even in countries like Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.

This is the power of a single English major card; it can basically cover half the globe.

There are some sales in Africa as well, but it's hard to say whether Warner will receive payment in those countries, since there are many wise and benevolent rulers there.

The moment these sales figures were announced, the whole country was in an uproar.

The Golden Melody Awards judges' remarks on the show and the news of their alleged power grab instantly went unnoticed.

Compared to news that has made Asian music history, what is the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards?
[A first in Asian music history, their first English album sold 840 million copies worldwide in its first month—an unprecedented achievement!]

[From Asian Superstar to Global Superstar: Qi Yuan's Rise to Fame!] [Global Superstar: Qi Yuan Becomes Warner Music's Mobile Money-Printing Machine!]

……

Numerous reports about Qi Yuanying College appeared, dominating all entertainment news pages.

They didn't even spare small media outlets like Warner, spending a large sum of money to suppress all the press releases that were trying to force the government to resign.

This made those behind the Golden Melody Awards furious and cursing!

Holy crap! Is this how you play it?
We spent a lot of money and effort to generate this buzz, and you've just suppressed it like this?
They admitted that using English major sales figures to suppress the pressure was indeed a very effective tactic.

However, this tactic only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause. If Qi Yuan doesn't announce his withdrawal from the award ceremony, they will pressure him again once this storm has passed, until Qi Yuan announces his withdrawal.

To their surprise, on the same day the album sales figures were announced, Qi Yuan held a press conference and actually announced that she was withdrawing from accepting the award.

It was completely different from what they had imagined, which made them even more annoyed.

……

The scene of the press conference.

Qi Yuan sat in the middle, with a table in front of him. Zhou Jianhui, Chen Zeshan, and several other Warner executives sat beside him. Warner Music (USA) headquarters also sent a foreign executive.

"Recently, there have been some voices saying that I should withdraw from the award ceremonies of the Taiwanese music scene and give more opportunities to the young people behind me."

I wonder if the person who said these things ever considered that I'm only 22 years old, and a newcomer who's only been in the industry for three and a half years.

The reporters below laughed after hearing this, but as they laughed, some of them almost cried.

He rose to fame with his first album, became a king with his second, evolved from a Mandopop king to an Asian king, and is now a global superstar.

After all that partying, you're telling everyone you're only 22? That's just fucking outrageous!

Qi Yuan's achievements make it easy to overlook his age.

Many people are 22 years old and are either in college or have only been in the workforce for a few years.

Qi Yuan glanced at the reporter's sour expression and continued, "I heard all those voices, and I personally agree with them."

The key point has finally arrived. The reporter looked at Zhou Jianhui, who was sitting next to Qi Yuan, and found that Zhou Jianhui was actually smiling.

How can you even laugh like that? Didn't Zhou Jianhui stop him? Judging from Qi Yuan's tone, it seems he really wants to withdraw from the award ceremony.

Would Warner allow a rising cash cow to ruin its own future?

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "I looked into it. Xueyou retired at the peak of his career at the age of 39 and announced that he would no longer accept awards."

Mr. Li Ming and I have a good relationship. I admire him for his kind heart and his consistent commitment to charity. He was 33 years old when he announced that he would no longer accept awards.

I hereby announce that I will follow the example of these two predecessors and will cease accepting all music awards from Hong Kong and Taiwan when I turn 32. I hope everyone will supervise me then!

reporter:"……"

Now they understood; they finally knew why Zhou Jianhui hadn't stopped Qi Yuan.

You call this withdrawing from the awards ceremony? So you're withdrawing? You're just getting nothing out of it, aren't you? 32 is ten years from now. Are you going to dominate Hong Kong and Taiwan music award ceremonies for another ten years?

Qi Yuan and Zhou Jianhui both laughed happily. "You want me to step down? I'm announcing my withdrawal."

You chose these idols! You absolutely mustn't regret it!
(End of this chapter)