Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

"The word 'idol' originated from ancient religions and refers to statues of gods or Buddhas made of earth, wood or metal for people to place their spiritual trust in and worship blindly."

"And the 'idols' I created, in this era, are gods that fans worship day and night, and are willing to give everything for!"

As the creator of a girl group and the founder of the "Idol Warring States" era, Manjiro Akimoto has a unique vision for building girl groups and composing songs. He also has extensive experience in fan management, traffic competition, and business model deconstruction.

This mediocre song "The One I Love Most" has easily entered the tenth place on the new song chart within less than an hour of its release through the sublimation of the "idol economy" and the support of all-round resources.

"But……"

"But what?"

Seeing that the staff member seemed to want to say something, Akimoto Manjiro, who was intoxicated with himself, asked impatiently.

Chapter 164 One Yen

2024-07-13

"But the paid download price for "I Once Thought of Ending It All" is one yen..."

"What... one... one yen?!"

The staff member said with a complicated expression, which made Akimoto Manjiro's smile freeze.

"Impossible, you must have seen it wrong!"

He took out his phone and refreshed the music library, and found "Once I Thought of Ending It All" was listed...

The paid download price is 1 yen, tax included.

"Their staff must have set the wrong price!"

"Quick, file a complaint to the platform as an ordinary user and remind them of this!"

Akimoto Manjiro gave instructions to the staff anxiously.

"When we saw it, we complained..."

"The platform customer service said that the price of "I Once Thought of Ending It All" was set correctly, which was one yen."

"Not only that, judging from the song details, they have also opened up 'non-commercial use authorization' for this song."

The staff shook their heads helplessly and gave out more important news.

"What? Open non-commercial license. Is Bethesda crazy?"

Akimoto Manjiro's face turned pale in an instant.

Non-commercial use authorization means that anyone, any company, and any media can play the song in public places, even on non-commercial programs.

For a new song, this means that consumers may listen to the song elsewhere and cancel their decision to pay for download, resulting in a halving of sales.

"For a song of this quality, and the last song of top singer Yayoi Tsuki, instead of taking advantage of the opportunity to make a quick buck, Bethesda set a price that's like giving it away for free, and opened up the copyright to non-profits. What on earth is Bethesda thinking?!"

He glared at the phone, his eyes gradually becoming bloodshot, but he still couldn't figure it out.

Not to mention the copyright issue, the price alone does not conform to "market logic".

In the 11th district where inflation and rising prices are rampant, even a hundred yen is not enough to buy a bottle of Coke, let alone one yen.

"I Love You the Most" has additional peripheral activities, so the paid download price is a bit expensive, at 120 yen.

In other words, it is one hundred and twenty times as much as "I Once Thought About Ending It All".

"According to the theory of supply and demand, and the invisible hand self-regulation law of the market economy, songs of this quality, coupled with the additional spiritual value given by the background story..."

"If it's only one yen, wouldn't the number of paid downloads break the historical sales record..."

"No, this is not just a matter of breaking the record. The entire new song market price system will collapse because of this..."

"By doing this, are you trying to completely destroy the existing market order and start over?"

Akimoto Manjiro's brain was working rapidly, his eyes were dull, his face was expressionless, his mouth opened and closed mechanically, and he muttered words that no one else could understand.

"Hurry up, give us a discount on our songs, 20% off, no, 50% off!"

Not knowing what terrible consequences he had in mind, he turned around and yelled at the staff.

"No, Director Akimoto!"

"We invested too much extra 'hidden costs' in the release of this new song. The council has long set a red line of selling at full price and no discounts."

A deputy nearby grabbed his trouser waist.

"That's right, Director Akimoto, calm down!"

"If Company B wants to do business at a loss, that's their business."

"Our costs are too high and we can't afford to lose money."

Upon hearing this, several other work representatives in the meeting room gathered around and began to persuade him frantically.

The number of members in "Tetsudo AK" is twenty times that of Yayoi Tsuki, and they are all popular idols who have debuted for a long time. The labor cost alone is a considerable expense.

In order to promote the new song "Tie Dao AK" and the live broadcast of the press conference that was temporarily added, the production committee has already invested a huge amount of publicity and promotion expenses...

Not to mention, in order to boost song sales, customized peripherals, handshake sessions, meet-and-greets, group photos and other follow-up activities also took up a huge budget.

According to economic calculations, even if the song is sold at full price, there must be a high volume of paid downloads so that the entire new song project can reach the break-even point.

"But, without the discount, our sales volume..."

Akimoto Manjiro picked up his phone and refreshed the real-time sales chart of his new song...

“…It’s too late to offer discounts now. Sales are about to be overtaken!!!”

As he expected, within just a few minutes of its release online, the paid download volume of "I Once Thought About Ending It All" had already caught up with "The One I Love Most Is You".

"These...worldly people...who have no faith...only care about price..."

"My idol economy... in the face of basic economics and market laws..."

"Is it so insignificant?"

Watching the rapidly rising paid download volume of "I Once Thought of Ending It All", the battle-hardened Akimoto Manjiro's eyes gradually became confused...

He never thought that the "idol economy" that he had carefully built for many years would be vulnerable to the most basic "good quality and low price".

……

The next day, Shinjuku, B Company Music Club.

In the early morning sunshine, Minister Yamazaki's office was filled with the aroma of tea as usual.

"Mr. Xia, please take some time out of your busy schedule to come here today. There's nothing special to do, I just want to chat about my work experience."

"I heard from President Dongye that apart from studying, you have been filming commercials and TV dramas recently, and you are also planning to participate in a talent show later..."

"I've been there before, so I understand..."

"Young people have many interests and hobbies, and their minds are full of thoughts. It's inevitable that they prefer jobs that put them in the spotlight, and they think writing songs in front of a computer is too boring."

Yamazaki Hiroshi carefully poured water, washed the tea, brewed the tea, and then handed it to Xia Fan who was sitting opposite him.

"When I graduated from Waseda University, I didn't want to live a boring life in the workplace. I walked around Tokyo bars with my guitar, introducing myself one by one, and finally only one 'Muscle Man Bar' agreed to let me perform as a resident singer."

"Later, after escaping from the temptation on the edge of forbiddenness and nearly starving to death in the rented house, I decided to find a stable job and sent my resume to Company B..."

"I remember that I had specially marked on my resume that I hoped to be assigned to a department that knew many female artists and had sufficient reception funds...but in the end I was assigned to the music department..."

After making himself a cup of tea, he shared his "work experience" with Xia Fan in a kind and calm tone.

"But after working in the entertainment industry for decades, I realized that for a talented person like you, music creation is actually a good job to make money without doing anything."

"Look, no matter if they are idols, singers, actors, models or comedians, they all work very hard before becoming famous, while others rely on their image, talent, personality, background and resources..."

"After becoming famous, I have to run around for announcements, appear on TV shows, and perform. I also have to spend time and money to maintain my image. I can't date or go to nightclubs. I will be recognized by fans wherever I go. There is also the risk of being stabbed to death by sasaeng fans at any time..."

"Look at the producers in our office and the masters in the studio next door. They are a bunch of fat nerds who don't care about their appearance. They are late and leave early every day. No one complains even if they don't come for a month. No one cares if they go out to collect materials in the red-light district. Even if they lie down and rest for a few years, the royalties from a few hit songs can guarantee them food and clothing..."

"Even if we compare income and industry status, music producers are at the top of the entertainment industry pyramid..."

In his words, he skillfully described the hardships of being an "artist" and touted the benefits of being a music producer.

Chapter 165: Billions of Dollars in Royalties

2024-07-13

"Well, Minister Yamazaki, I understand your good intentions."

Understanding the implicit meaning of Yamazaki Hiroshi's words, Xia Fan took a sip of tea and cleared his throat.

"I also like music creation and have no intention of giving up this industry. As for other part-time jobs..."

"Ahem, as you know, the key to creating something is to experience all kinds of life. My life experience is too shallow, and part-time work is a unique way to collect materials, which can help me better experience life and gain inspiration."

Being stared at by Yamazaki Hiroshi with eager eyes, Xia Fan found a "relatively reasonable" reason.

I can't tell the other party that I have no bottleneck in my creation and I go out to show myself in public just to earn more faith and money to save my life, right?

"It's good to experience life and draw inspiration, but I'm afraid that I will be too obsessed with 'drawing inspiration' like Master Kishimoto did before. After all, human sperm..."

"Ahem, I mean, my energy is limited. What if I waste my precious golden period of creation..."

Yamazaki Hiroshi picked up the teacup and chose his words carefully.

After all, when it comes to creative efficiency and quality, no one in the entire music department can compare to Xia Fan, and he has no right to accuse others of "wasting time on trivial things."

"Minister, we've reached the summit!"

"'I Once Thought of Ending It All' has surpassed 'Sakura' on the New Songs Chart, and it's only been online for less than 24 hours!"

The producer named Shi Jiurang rushed in, waving his thin arms and roaring.

"puff!!!"

Hiroshi Yamazaki, who was pretending to sip tea and thinking about how to PUA Xia Fan to concentrate on writing songs, suddenly spat out a big mouthful of tea back into the teacup.

"So, the producer from Down to Earth is here too! Congratulations, it's another hit song!"

"After the press conference last night, I fell asleep listening to the song 'I Once Thought of Ending It All'. When I woke up, my pillow was soaked with tears!"

"Also, you generously gave up the subsequent royalties, allowing this song to be spread more widely and encourage more people. This makes me see something more valuable in you than talent!"

Seeing Xia Fan in the office, Shi Jiurang held his hand tightly and praised him endlessly.

"Although it's Yayoi Tsuki's 'retirement work', the quality of the song is also excellent...but it's only been a day, and it's already topped the new song chart, it's a bit too exaggerated..."

Hiroshi Yamazaki, who was standing by, took out his mobile phone and stared with wide eyes at the number of paid downloads of "I Once Thought About Ending It All".

It is a normal phenomenon in the industry that new songs by new artists are instantly outsold by new songs by famous artists.

This is why all major companies tacitly put the "main song season" one month after the "new song season" in order to leave room for new artists and new songs to attract fans.

Now that the new song season has just passed, the new song chart is basically filled with songs that were entered into the "Tokyo Newcomer Music Awards". With top-tier artists such as the limited-time group "Tetsudo AK" and the peerless singer Yayoi Tsuki releasing songs one after another, it is only a matter of time before the new song chart is reshuffled.

But in less than 24 hours, it was a little bit "extraordinary".

"But if there is no royalties, what's the point of selling a song that only costs one yen?"

Recalling that the song was priced almost "for free", he suddenly felt sad for having missed out on hundreds of millions of dollars, and for a moment he didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

……

"If it was the normal price of 100 yen, even if the sales were one-tenth of that, it would still be..."

"No, stop, Xia Fan. It's just a few hundred million royalties. Once you figure out this number, you will definitely not be able to sleep tonight!"

Although he knew that Lesson 9 would consider giving him some "copyright compensation funds", after returning to the apartment from the music club, seeing the sales of "Once I Thought About Ending It All" growing without any sign of stopping, Xia Fan gradually began to understand Yamazaki Hiroshi's heartache.

Yesterday, Yayoi Tsuki sang "I Once Thought About Ending It All" live at a new song release conference. With the promotion of official forces and the support of omni-channel broadcasting, the ratings reached 85%, breaking the record of 81.4% set by the Red and White Songs Festival in the "golden age of television" in the s.

In an era when the economy has been in a downward spiral for decades, with class stratification, soaring prices, soaring unemployment and a serious aging population, this song depicts darkness without hesitation, yet conveys the commitment to light. With Yayoi Tsuki's heartfelt singing, it moved countless people in front of the screen to tears.

At the end of the press conference, Yayoi Tsuki frankly admitted the fact that she was "deaf" and announced that she would "suspend her music activities indefinitely", which was like sprinkling cold water drops into boiling oil.

The audience was extremely shocked, but also suddenly realized...

It was only by completely pouring her personal experience and true emotions from despair to hope into the song while being almost "inaudible" that Yayoi Tsuki was able to perform the song to such a perfect level.

After the song "I Once Thought About Ending It All" was released, it was made available for free non-commercial licensing, and was sold at almost free "one yen", which completely ignited public opinion.

Combined with Yayoi Tsuki's words at the press conference, "Even if I can't hear it anymore, I will sing this song to everyone in the end", people's evaluation of her has risen to another level again...

There was no pre-launch promotion, no hype, no high prices for profiteering...