章 9: Chapter 8: Unworldly_1
The company's latest debut made it to the third place on the Emerging Artists Chart!
The news surged through Starlight Entertainment as soon as the Emerging Artists Chart launched, reinvigorating the spirits of the company's employees.
"Damn, finally a big shot has come and saved us."
"Will our music department's bonuses not get deducted this year?"
"Damn, even our film and television department have been given tasks. Everyone from each department must download 'Life Like a Summer Flower'. This year we finally have a third placer and it seems the higher-ups want to protect this momentum."
"Exactly."
"After all, Starlight is among the top three entertainment companies in the Qin Continent. If it fails in the Emerging Artists Chart, it will surely impact the company's image. You know, many music college graduates in Qin Continent choose their employer based on these wind vanes..."
There are countless entertainment companies in the Qin Continent.
Among them, the most prestigious three are undoubtedly Starlight Entertainment, Sand Sea Culture, and Brilliant Silver Fire.
In the past seasons for newcomers, the artists introduced by these three companies could almost dominate the top seats on the Emerging Artists Chart.
However, in recent years, while Sand Sea and Brilliant Silver Fire remained stable, Starlight Entertainment's performance has been lagging. This has led outsiders to start questioning Starlight's authority in the music field —
This impact is pretty severe!
That's why the company's senior executives pressured Zhao Jue, who was entirely responsible for this matter.
If it wasn't for this reason, under normal circumstances, the value of a single newcomer season would not be enough to upset the bosses of the company.
And with the company employees' discussions —
Xian Yu's name was naturally spread by everyone.
In contrast, there was very little discussion about Sun Yaohuo.
You must know, this is an era when ordinary people pay attention to composers, especially in an entertainment company—such a typical intra-industry environment!
The status of a composer is much higher than that of a singer.
Why else would there be a term "Maestro" in the industry?
Everyone knows one thing:
The success of a song often comes from the composer's melody touching the listeners' hearts.
In other words —
The success of 'Life Like A Summer Flower', created by Xian Yu, is not picky about the audience.
Even if the company had not chosen Sun Yaohuo and instead chose someone else to sing, anyone with decent vocal skills could turn this song into a hit with the support of company resources.
This is precisely why everyone admires the composers after the song becomes a hit.
Of course —
This doesn't apply to those singers with absurdly unique vocal traits.
These type of singers are extremely rare in the music world. Their vocal skills are so exceptional that they can make any song sound good — they are ace-level talents. Their status is high enough to rival those of the prestigious Maestros.
When these outrageously talented singers collaborate with god-like Maestros, they often bring out the best in each other, neither of them is expendable.
After all, not every song can be sung by everyone.
It's like bringing anyone to sing an opera in the studio is unacceptable.
Of course, this does not mean that the more difficult a song is to perform, the better it is. Some songs that everyone can sing are outstanding, and you can't deny the excellence of such songs.
...
Meanwhile, in the outside world —
The atmosphere of the emerging artist season, following the release of the Emerging Artists Chart, is spreading across the Qin Continent.
The attention of various companies has also temporarily shifted from Sand Sea Entertainment, which firmly holds the first place in the Emerging Artists Chart, to Starlight Entertainment, one of the top three entertainment companies.
"Wow, Starlight's newcomer has returned to the top three this year."
"After all, it's one of the established top three entertainment companies. Starlight Entertainment couldn't possibly fail every year."
"It's so true that the old top three leave no room for survival. Sand Sea is unbreakable as the first place, Brilliant Silver Fire delivering stable performance as the second, and then Starlight regains its glory as the third. While they feast, we smaller companies can only sip on the soup."
"..."
In addition to entertainment companies, music critics, of course, are also following the Emerging Artists Chart, especially the songs in the top three, which are the focus of many.
On Weibo,
music critics have launched an offensive, recommending their favorite new songs from the Emerging Artists Chart.
To everyone's surprise, the majority of music critics' choice for the recommended track is unanimously the third-place song, 'Life Like a Summer Flower'!
With such a wind, many netizens have also gotten interested in 'Life Like a Summer Flower', and the comment sections under the recommendations have also gotten lively:
"What a beautiful title."
"Life, like a summer flower, in its splendor. Death, like an autumn leaf, in its tranquil beauty. Even before listening to the song, based on the phrase, this song is beautiful."
"Among the ten music critics I follow, seven have recommended 'Life Like a Summer Flower'. I must go and give it a listen."
"I've listened to the song and it's pretty good. I'll download it."
"I've also listened to it. Personally, I think the song is average."
"It's true that personal taste trumps all. Anyway, I was stunned by 'Life Like a Summer Flower' on my first listen. This is the first time a song without high notes has stunned me."
"Wow, there's something about this song."
"Thanks to the recommendation from the critics, this song is probably my biggest gain in this year's newcomer season. Without further ado, I'll add it to my playlist and favorite it."
"..."
This is also something customary in the Qin Continent.
Every year during the newcomer season, nearly all music critics would take advantage of the season's popularity.
Either they recommend the songs they love, or they accept bribes from entertainment companies and post the drafts prepared by the companies in advance.
There are more of the former.
Less of the latter.
Because in the Qin Continent, music is seen as something holy, and the public is not stupid to let critics fool them.
This has to do with the unique characteristics of the Qin Continent.
In Blue Star, there are eight continents in total: Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, plus the "Capital" Zhong Continent.
Each continent has its own characteristic.
Among them, the Qin Continent is universally recognized as the "Land of Music" on Blue Star!
It is home to many musicians.
The neighboring Qi Continent is known as the "Grand Hall of Movies."
But official data has shown that most of the movie soundtracks in Qi Continent are produced with the help of Maestros in Qin Continental.
Meanwhile.
Eighty percent of composers active on the Blue Star arts stage come from Qin Continent!
Not just songs of various styles,
but also piano ... violin ... symphony ...
And so on.
All kinds of music art have a huge commercial space in Qin Continent.
Hence, it clearly shows that the people of Qin Continent are deeply passionate about music, which is why the New Singers Season has remained a traditional event here.
Growing up immersed in it,
people of Qin Continent pride themselves on having a "high taste in music."
If someone from Qin Continent brings up a topic related to music in front of people from the other seven continents, their sense of superiority would simply be off the charts.
...
Zhao Jue called Lin Yuan.
As the call connected, the chief agent excitedly said: "Lin Yuan, you'll be moving to the composers' department soon, also, congratulations on making it to third place on the New Talent Chart!"
"Am I third?"
On the other side of the phone, Lin Yuan thought for a while, then seriously asked, "Given the New Singers Season, is this rank considered good?"
...
Zhao Jue was stumped by this question.
It took her a while to digest it before realizing what Lin Yuan meant. She responded with a baffled: "Have you not been keeping an eye on the New Talent Chart today?"
"I think my classmate was following it." Lin Yuan said.
Zhao Jue was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. There were so many things wrong with Lin Yuan's answer that she didn't know where to start.
She forced herself to carry on the conversation: "Yes, third place is a great achievement, but today is just the first day. I will help you maintain your ranking going forward."
"Thank you, Ms. Zhao."
Lin Yuan treated Zhao Jue with due respect.
But Zhao Jue felt a little overwhelmed by Lin Yuan's calmness, which contrasted starkly with her own excitement.
Does this make me look like I've never seen the world before?
She had to abruptly change the subject: "Well, you should come to the company when you're free to sort out some paperwork. Also, your song's income will be transferred to your account at the end of the month. I'll hang up now."
"Okay."
Mentioning the income from his song, Lin Yuan's voice showed a hint of anticipation. This finally gave Zhao Jue a sense of "I have actually seen the world".
"This kid…"
Chuckling, Zhao Jue shook her head, hung up the phone, and shifted her gaze back to her computer.
It was the leaderboard for the New Talent Chart.
Since finishing her lunch, Zhao Jue had been staring at this page, not daring to take her eyes off it for a second.
She feared that with one blink, the third place ranking would be lost.
But as she kept watching, Zhao Jue sensed something was amiss.
Not that fourth place was catching up.
The fourth place song had only just under 30,000 downloads.
Compared to that, the number of downloads for "Life Like A Summer Flower", from this morning up to now, had already reached a whopping 50,000!
But something felt off here.
Seems like the download count for "Life Like A Summer Flower", was increasing a bit too rapidly?
Second place was a song by Brilliant Silver Fire.
"Aries", a song by singer Zeng Yi, composed by Li Yang, had 53,000 downloads.
When the chart was released, "Aries" had 43,000 downloads, and so far, it had risen by 10,000.
But "Life Like A Summer Flower" started with only 33,000, and by now it had increased by nearly 20,000!
What does this mean?
Could it be that Starlight is going to overtake Brilliant Silver Fire?
The moment this thought crossed her mind, it grew like a weed, her heartbeat quickened.
Refresh!
Refresh!
Refresh!
Moving the mouse, Zhao Jue repeatedly refreshed the webpage, and just like she suspected, the data for "Life Like A Summer Flower" and the second place song were getting closer, making her heartbeat race even more…
At six o'clock in the evening,
Just before closing time,
Zhao Jue didn't know how many times she had refreshed the leaderboard, but this time, she clearly saw that the second pace in the New Talent Chart was now:
"Life Like A Summer Flower"!
Downloads: 59,800!
The third place song, Brilliant Silver Fire's "Aries", had downloads remaining at 59,100, and was squeezed out of the top two!
At that moment,
Zhao Jue almost let out an ecstatic laughter.
While she was still thinking about holding on to the third spot, "Life Like A Summer Flower" had silently overtaken Brilliant Silver Fire and secured the second spot on the New Talent Chart!
Only the first is a bit out of reach.
In past New Singer Seasons, this achievement of "Life Like A Summer Flower" was equivalent to sweeping the entire New Talent Chart, and taking the crown outright!
Just then, the phone rang.
Zhao Jue answered it, asking knowingly, "What is it, Ol' Zhou?"
The voice on the phone said, "Could you open the door, please?"
Zhao Jue hesitated a moment before opening the door.
Outside the door, a middle-aged man was standing with an excited smile on his face, "Ms. Zhao, second place...no, I mean... it's been a while since we've had a meal together. Tonight, order whatever you want, it's on me! Also... when will Xian Yu be reporting to the composition department? We really need more people in our department."
"Oh."
Seeing Ol' Zhou's puppy-like behavior, Zhao Jue suddenly felt he was quite inexperienced.
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