CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 120: CAN’T SIT STILL, RELEASING ALBUMS COLLECTIVELY?

"How many copies has Xu Qingqiu’s album sold so far?"

In the headquarters of Huamei Music, the largest music company in the mainland, Group President Lin Changxiao asked as soon as he entered the office.

"President Lin, after consolidating data from six platforms, the sales are almost 2.3 million now."

"How much?"

Lin Changxiao, thinking he had heard incorrectly, tilted his head and asked again.

Perhaps due to the sternness in his tone, the secretary hesitated for half a second before responding.

"Around 2.3 million. That’s the sales figure for the online digital album."

"2.3 million? 2.3 million!"

Lin Changxiao muttered to himself, standing in front of his desk and repeatedly thumping the back of his executive chair with his right hand.

"Heh, not bad. This young lady has some skills. Ye Zhonghuai exerted so much effort, making overtures and pulling all sorts of strings, yet she still managed to rise."

"So, President Lin, are we continuing with our project?"

"Continue! Why wouldn’t we? Let them do their thing. What’s it to us?"

"Got it." The secretary acknowledged and began to gather her things to leave.

Lin Changxiao sat back down in his chair, his face pensive. As he watched the secretary turn to leave, he suddenly said, "Hold on. Go call Teacher Yang over."

"Yes, President Lin."

Lin Changxiao watched the door close slowly, his mind preoccupied.

It wasn’t long before a knock sounded from outside. He called, "Come in," and an elderly man with gray hair walked in smiling.

"President Lin, what brings you to summon me today? Is there something you need?"

"Haha, Teacher Yang, you’re so busy every day. I wouldn’t want to bother you if it wasn’t important. About that, you’ve also studied Xu Qingqiu’s album, haven’t you?" Lin Changxiao didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly.

"More than just studied it; the young people in the department have analyzed it back and forth several times."

"Oh? And? Any findings?"

"Findings? Isn’t it obvious? The song quality is solid, the singer’s skills are on point, and the producer’s control is exceptionally tight. The overall album is definitely top-tier."

"That high?"

"High? Not at all. Just look at their data, and you’ll see; the market provides the best answer. President Lin, you’ve been in the industry for more than a year or two. In the past twenty years, have you ever heard of anyone’s physical album being snapped up like this?"

"Never mind domestically, how many international megastars can even achieve this?"

"This isn’t just due to the singer’s fame; the quality of the songs is paramount! Only if the quality is high enough will people pay for it," Teacher Yang said, his face briefly reflecting his emotion and heartfelt agreement.

Lin Changxiao listened for a while with a frown, sensing that this was different from what he had expected.

"What’s the deal with the physical album? Isn’t that just a collector’s item nowadays? Besides collectors, who would buy it?"

"Calling it a collector’s item isn’t wrong. But as for who would buy it? As long as it’s excellent, people will always be willing to purchase it—like those who genuinely love music."

"President Lin, you don’t mean you still don’t know?"

"Know what?"

"The physical album! Xu Qingqiu’s album has already sold nearly two hundred thousand copies physically! This isn’t the nineties anymore!"

"Two hundred thousand copies?!" This truly shocked Lin Changxiao. Two hundred thousand! Forget physical albums; many singers can’t even sell twenty thousand digital albums. In the age of the mobile internet, a singer’s physical album sold two hundred thousand copies? Even the Arabian Nights isn’t that far-fetched, is it?

Initially, I felt a bit anxious, hoping for a positive response, but why is my confidence sinking even more now?

"So, Teacher Yang, do you think Xu Qingqiu’s success can be replicated? For instance, if our A-list singers, or even a King or Queen, were to release something, could they achieve this level?"

Why ask this? Jealousy, of course! Who the hell wouldn’t be? In just a few months, nearly one hundred million raked in! Even after deducting shares and taxes, there’d still be twenty to thirty million left. And what was the total investment? Besides not knowing the price for the songs from Youmeng, just a bit for recording and the music video—a few million should be enough, right? Even after deducting those few million, that’s still a net profit of twenty million! This is just one singer’s achievement in two months, and only from online album sales. And mind you, this is album sales, not including singles, physical copies, commercial licensing rights, or revenue sharing from short videos on online platforms. Just the online digital album, in two months, a net profit of twenty million! If you add in all the other miscellaneous income, isn’t it heading towards one or two hundred million? With such a high return on investment, who the hell wouldn’t be green with envy? Making a movie, after all the trouble for half a year or a year and taking huge risks, might not even earn this much! Of course, I want a piece of the pie!

Seeing his expectant gaze, Teacher Yang paused and said with a troubled expression, "Replication is possible, but to produce so many high-quality songs all at once... it’s difficult, very difficult."

"Not just difficult, but also not worth it."

"Not worth it? What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, if we were to release songs of this quality, firstly, the risk of market acceptance is high. It’s not like listeners will buy into every excellent song."

"Secondly, Xu Qingqiu was experiencing a severe decline in popularity and was also blacklisted. She had no choice but to take such a drastic measure; calling it a do-or-die effort wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The effort she invested was undoubtedly immense, perhaps even excessive."

"If this album were in our hands, released by one of the company’s A-list singers, we could easily split it into three or four albums. With the company’s marketing and the singer’s own fame, achieving the current level of success would be possible."

Teacher Yang elaborated further. After listening, Lin Changxiao fully understood: song quality was crucial, but marketing was equally important.

At the same time, he became even more determined to enter the fray. Given the company’s substantial resources, they could afford a potential loss; it was definitely worth a try.

Meanwhile, at Visha Center, inside the headquarters of Baise Entertainment, Ye Zhonghuai’s expression was equally sour.

"Damn it, that bitch really managed to bounce back! Even after all that, she still rose up!" Furiously, he threw down the data report in his hand. Ye Zhonghuai got worked up just looking at that series of figures. Qin Xiao spent a good while soothing him and offering him water before he finally calmed down.

"It’s just an album, right? I’ve already settled things with Habes. They’ll get Lin Dong and Huang Yaoqiu to team up with you and craft a brand-new album," Qin Xiao said.

"They’ve brought out some gems from their old stock, and they’ll also tailor-make a few songs for you. Just do your best. When the time comes, we’ll collaborate with Habes on promotion, aiming to crush that vixen!"

"Really?! Mwah! Bro, you’re the best! I’ll definitely work hard!"

"Hmph, you little enchantress..."

One album, and suddenly all the major players couldn’t sit still—Baise Entertainment, Huamei Music, and Habes were just the ones operating openly.

There were also Weide Media, Goya Records, Huanya, and Chidori.

One renowned music group after another was spurred into action.

Previously, due to a market downturn, everyone had tacitly observed a lull. No one expected Xu Qingqiu to exploit this opening and explode in popularity.

If that’s the case, regardless of whether it was due to Xu Qingqiu’s efforts, now was the perfect time to release an album, taking advantage of the current market fervor with all eyes focused here. The outcome was anyone’s guess.

Who knows?