They don't actually think I like them, do they?

Lin Han caught up with the petite, short-haired female trainee. "Hello, what class do you have later?"

The short-haired girl blushed when she saw it was orange jam, and said in a flustered voice,

"Today's classes are over. There's one hour of free practice time tonight at 7 PM, and class starts tomorrow morning at 10 AM..."

"It's over? That's way too short a course!"

Lin Han was shocked. He knew the trainees' courses were easy, but he never expected them to be this easy!

Today's vocal and dance lessons combined only lasted four hours!

This is a trainee training base, a place for idol trainees, not some extracurricular activity.

"That's a lot," the short-haired girl said. "Our company's curriculum is based on JY Media's. Which agency has more class time every day than us?"

Hearing this, Lin Han understood.

This is not just a problem with Pop Media, but a problem with the world.

Lin Han decided to go for something big.

"I think our trainees have it too easy," Lin Han said to Hu Yan.

035. What is an idol?

Lin Han had a fairly good understanding of the trainee industry from his previous life.

This stems from the fact that Lin Han studied at a media university before his transmigration, and he also had a girlfriend who liked Bigbang, so he inevitably learned some inside information.

If we were to rank the trainees from China, South Korea, and Japan by their strength.

South Korea is undoubtedly number one. Whether it's the standardization and scale of the industry or the overall quality and professional skills of its artists, it can be considered world-class.

The training of trainees in South Korea is comparable to military training. The trainees are really practicing their lives away in a group of tough guys, which is why they produce a lot of high-quality idol groups.

The domestic idol industry, whether it's variety shows, traffic hype, trainee training, or even the exploitation and oppression, is something that South Korea already did more than a decade ago.

After several years of learning from South Korea's strengths to control them, and through imitation and copying, China's idol industry has grown to a considerable size, and its system for training trainees is quite mature.

However, although China has almost completely copied the South Korean trainee training model, there is still a considerable gap between the trainees and idols in the two countries.

There are many reasons for this situation. For example, some people copy the practice methods but fail to reach the intensity of the practice. They learn the surface but not the essence. Coupled with the "mysteriously noble" atmosphere of domestic celebrities and the inexplicable "idol baggage" of minor stars, the entire industry is extremely superficial and disgusting.

Back then, Lin Han was dragged by his ex-girlfriend to watch a Korean talent show. Trainees from various agencies and organizations put on amazing performances, with explosive stage battles that left even this straight man, who had no interest in following celebrities, completely bewildered.

Then, full of anticipation, he went to find domestic talent shows, and as soon as he opened them, he saw "Candy is Super Sweet".

This made Lin Han wonder what exactly the idol industry had learned from its "Westernization Movement".

Driven by the pursuit of viewership, domestic talent shows have even included many untrained internet celebrities. These celebrities simply post a few singing videos on Bilibili and Douyin, heavily edit their voices to the point of being unrecognizable, and after being praised wildly by their fans, they think they are invincible. They then participate in talent shows, ultimately becoming clowns who contribute to trending topics and viewership.

As for Japanese idols, well, it's all up to fate.

As a veteran powerhouse in the idol industry, Japan is a breath of fresh air. Unlike China and South Korea, they don't care that much about professional skills!

Compared to the military-like training model of Korean idols, Japanese idols do not have high requirements for singing and dancing abilities.

It's okay if your singing isn't great, it's okay if your dancing isn't great, the most important thing is that you're cute! Being cute is enough!

This "kawaii" refers to an exceptional ability to energize the stage; bringing joy to fans through smiles and songs is the core tenet of Japanese idols.

The "singing and dancing" that Chinese and Korean idols consider their lifeblood is merely a tool used by Japanese idols to bring joy to their fans.

This is why phenomenal concerts with "thousands of people singing along and waving light sticks" are often only seen in island nations.

When have you ever seen a domestic idol yell at the audience on stage, "You bastards, you're so annoying, you bunch of perverts," and the audience below would scream excitedly?

The reason why other people's idols are like this is because they have decades of idol history and otaku culture.

If you in the Chinese entertainment industry don't have that kind of talent, then focus on practicing your singing and dancing. What makes you think you can compare your skills to others?

........

With this understanding, let's take a look at the idol industry in this world.

This is why Lin Han was surprised by the small number of classes the trainees had. His understanding of this system was still based on his past life.

Soon, he figured it out.

The reason why the idol industry in my previous life developed to that extent was because of the idol craze brought about by South Korea.

However, Han disappeared from this world!

More than 20 years ago, it was incorporated into the territory of the Celestial Empire and is now called Bangzi Province. Its subsequent historical development trajectory is completely different.

This directly led to the disappearance of "Korean idols" in the world!

As for the Sakura Province, although its influence is not as great as before, it still has a strong foundation in anime and manga culture and is doing quite well now. There are also idols in mainland China who follow that style.

For example, Mangzi's AWM girl idol group is a "cherry blossom idol".

Therefore, the current idol industry in China may seem quite large, but it is actually a complete mess. Both its professional skills and its money-making ability are far inferior to what they were in the past.

This is the big thing Lin Han is going to do—bring "Korean idols" to the world.

He drafted a simple 500-word training plan, went to the general manager's office, and handed it to Hu Yan.

"Are you serious?" Hu Yan was shocked when she saw the contents of the proposal.

Although the proposal was brief, it detailed the reforms to the training base.

Including but not limited to: increasing daily practice time to 14 hours; adding courses in spoken English, general English, communication skills, psychology, traditional Chinese music, tap dance, and long drum; establishing a completely new assessment mechanism; standardizing trainees with military-style management; drafting a new "Management Terms" and introducing a "credit system," with "card contract" benefits awarded to those who fail to complete courses within the specified time...

Many of the seemingly ingenious reforms here amazed even Hu Yan, an industry elite!

"These are some constructive suggestions I've summarized after a full day of classes," Lin Han said.

In fact, Lin Han had a backup plan and didn't reveal everything; the plan only included 80% of the content.

After all, Bubble Media wasn't his own company, so how much money it made was none of his business. Lin Han wasn't stupid.

He just wanted to use the company as a guinea pig to test the feasibility of "Korean-style training".

If it works well, we can implement it in all aspects after Lin Han has his own company. That will be the time for me to show my skills.

Hu Yan nodded slightly. These things had a huge impact on her, and she needed to calm down.

　“If this is implemented, the company will have to invest a lot of money.”

　“Using my method, the company will definitely be able to become a top-tier brokerage firm within a year,” Lin Han said.

These words instantly made Hu Yan lose her temper.

Juzi Jam, who has written so many hit songs, has come up with such a meticulous reform plan this time.

She looked at the boy in front of her, who looked to be just over eighteen, her eyes filled with fear.

"I'll give it a try at the next board meeting. But if this plan is successfully implemented, you'll be responsible for it."

"How will you take responsibility?" Lin Han asked, puzzled.

"I will serve as the producer for these trainees!" Hu Yan said, emphasizing each word.

036. "When You"

Lin Han was numb.

How come the whole company overlooked one thing? I'm still a trainee!

Is it okay to have a trainee be both a teacher and a producer? No, it's not!

"A raise?" Lin Han asked bluntly.

"If they debut, you, as the producer, will naturally receive a commission."

"Think about it. If you really pass, then come back to discuss it with me. My fees are very high," Lin Han said.

joke!

Who am I? The things in my head are priceless, and I would never use them to work for someone else.

Unless the amount of money offered is really large.

"Of course," Hu Yan said with a smile.

She had also heard about the two lessons that Orange Jam gave today from other sources. The trainees' feedback was excellent, and they felt very honored to have Orange Jam personally teach them.

The company has really struck gold!

Hu Yan increasingly felt that spending ten million to buy the orange jam was the most worthwhile business deal she had made this year.

If I had to pinpoint where we lost out...

Basically, Orange Jam has only released one album so far, and the performance-based agreement is already almost one-third complete!

When we initially drafted the performance-based agreement, we were clearly too conservative! In fact, some members of the board are already kicking themselves; they never imagined this online singer would be so amazing!

Once the agreement is finalized, Pop Media might truly become a freeloader working for Orange Jam. However, being able to use this opportunity to grow and expand the company is certainly not a bad thing.

"By the way, Ms. Ju Zi, your debut album, Yili Mengmeng Sweet Orange Jam, has already sold over 400,000 copies online," Hu Yan reminded Lin Han.

"I know that." Lin Han had been keeping an eye on the online album sales.

"Your new song 'Cheers' has recently topped the popularity charts on QQ Music. At this rate, keep releasing new singles. Once you have enough, your second album will definitely be another hit!" Hu Yan said earnestly.

"In that case, I'll write another new song."

"Since we're already here," Lin Han said.

After all, he doesn't come to the company very often, so since he's here, he might as well record a new song.

"Now?!" Hu Yan was stunned. "What new song are you going to write?"

"I don't know, let me think."

"Thinking about it now?"

Hu Yan was greatly shocked. In her understanding, she had always thought that a musical genius like Orange Jam would shut himself away when creating music, like a master in a fantasy novel who secluded himself to comprehend the Tao, and then a divine song would be born.

However, just because I casually mentioned it, is Orange Sauce going to immediately write a new song?

Lin Han found a pen and paper, went to the rest area, found a table, sat down, and began to write.

Hu Yan quickly put aside her identity as general manager and transformed into Lin Han's agent, sitting quietly beside him and watching.

Lin Han pondered for a long time about the new song.

When he wrote "Cheers," he really didn't expect it to cause such a huge backlash, which earned him the title of "Living Yama of the Music Scene."

Lin Han felt quite embarrassed, since no one wants their music to be used as a funeral song.

Lin Han feels guilty for the hard work of his Chinese fans!

This time, let's do something a little more earthy.

Lin Han may not care about the lives of his haters, but he still needs to care about the lives of his fans.

Countless fans listened to Orange Jam's "Cheers" with high hopes and expectations for sweet love songs, only to be utterly poisoned by its effects. Everyone exclaimed, "Orange Jam, you're a devil! When you're in a bad mood, you'll even stab your own fans!"

Lin Han quickly wrote the title on the paper: "When You".

Hu Yan, standing next to her, was dumbfounded. Who writes a title before writing a song? Is this some kind of essay?!

But how could someone like her understand the songs written by a master? She didn't dare to speak, she just stared blankly.

Soon, based on his memories, Lin Han used the [Music Skill Card] to write out "When You" in its entirety.

This song, "When You," was written by JJ Lin when he was 17 years old.

Yes, he's a year younger than Lin Han is now.

What defines a musical genius?

At that time, JJ Lin was still a year away from his debut, yet he wrote "When You" for Cyndi Wang. Although Cyndi Wang was the original singer, there is no doubt that it is JJ Lin's song.

Previously at the school festival, Lin Han used the [Bel Canto Skill Card] to imitate JJ Lin's voice and sang, with unexpectedly good results. Therefore, this time he decided to create a song by JJ Lin.

"That's it??"

While Hu Yan was still in shock, Lin Han had already stood up from his seat.

"To the recording studio."

Everything was going smoothly. The sound engineer set up the equipment for Lin Han, who put on his headphones and got ready.

"Um... Ms. Ju Zi, I won't accompany you. Good luck!" Hu Yan said, and then turned to leave.

The trauma from the last incident was so great that Hu Yan still feels lingering fear.