Chapter 165: Chapter 165 It’s Best to Invite Both Together Chapter 165: Chapter 165 It’s Best to Invite Both Together If it were just one or two songs, it wouldn’t matter if Mo Mo agreed, and the points wouldn’t make much of a difference.

But composing for television generally requires more than one song, including the opening, ending, and several interludes, at least three or four songs.

If the director is very demanding, it might require even more.

That’s quite a lot.

It definitely isn’t worth it to spend so many points just for the money, but there is a way.

Mo Mo thought for a moment and then said, “I can write the songs, but I have to sing them myself.”

Hmm, if the points from songwriting aren’t enough, he could make it up by singing.

However, this condition seemed to exceed Director Wang Ren’s expectations, and he paused before saying, “I need to go back and ask.”

Mo Mu was slightly surprised, but he wasn’t surprised that Director Wang Ren didn’t agree on the spot.

Normally, OSTs for TV dramas are sung by specific singers, and it’s difficult for ordinary singers, especially newcomers who haven’t sung before, to fit in. It’s normal for the director to have doubts.

It wasn’t even about his abilities, mainly because his voice might not necessarily match the themes of the series, not to mention considerations like appearance fees.

But even with all those considerations, logically Director Wang Ren should have said he would think it over, not that he would ask someone?

It felt like Director Wang Ren, a well-known director, seemed to have little say.

With a slightly puzzled heart, Mo Mu didn’t voice his thoughts but simply nodded.

As they talked, the food hadn’t even arrived yet. Wang Ren thought it over and decided not to eat, departing right away.

This left Mo Mu and Lin Qingyue to dine together.

Lin Qingyue looked at Mo Mu and chuckled with a tsk, “You don’t seem very enthused. I thought introducing you to Wang Ren’s project would be an opportunity for you.”

Mo Mu smiled lightly, “No, thank you, Director Lin.”

He obviously couldn’t say he disliked the low number of points, so he made an excuse.

“It just feels like the money from just writing songs is too little, not very interesting.”

Lin Qingyue looked at him helplessly and sighed, “It’s not just about the money. Director Wang Ren’s first TV series is quite popular in the industry. If the songs you write are good and stand out, it would help boost your reputation and you could get more opportunities to compose in the future.”

As someone who had been keeping an eye on Mo Mu’s situation, she had thought a lot about him.

Since his career had stalled, Mo Mu had stabilized his decline through three programs: “Singer-Songwriter,” “Star Agency,” and “Masked Singer.”

The impact of his career stalling was still there to some extent, but he no longer had to worry about not finding work over it.

And since he wrote good songs and sang distinctively, and the programs were a success, his popularity remained at a high level.

But the variety market is just a part of the entertainment market after all; many viewers don’t watch variety shows or follow variety stars.

The popularity has a limit.

Being popular in variety shows, in industry terms, is akin to being a variety star.

Thankfully, Mo Mu is a singer who can write and sing songs, which keeps him from being solely a variety star, like Wang Xiaotian.

But even so, because he’s only proven himself on variety stages, the industry’s recognition of his status is sluggish to improve.

Mo Mu needs to adjust his focus now.

This adjustment could be moving more towards being a singer—releasing singles and albums, holding concerts, taking the path of a professional singer.

Or he could move towards being an actor, seeking opportunities to participate in various dramas and movies.

Alternatively, he could do both, balancing acting, singing, and appearing on television.

Mo Mu understood all this, but he wasn’t a normal star and had no real plans to rely on being a star for his livelihood.

He relied on the system for his livelihood; all sorts of popularity and status were abstract to him, while system points were concrete.

With enough system points, using hundreds of Performance Cards, there wouldn’t be any limits on his status or popularity; he’d be known even in African tribes.

So, Mo Mu just nodded to show he understood and changed the topic, “Isn’t Director Wang a film director? Why is he directing TV dramas now?”

A film director, especially one known for art films, switching to TV dramas was indeed rare.

When this was brought up, Lin Qingyue chuckled, “His last film lost too much money; his company almost went bankrupt, and he racked up a lot of debt, so he had no choice but to turn to TV dramas to make money.”

That explained why Director Wang Ren seemed to have so little authority.

Mo Mu realized.

Well, his losses weren’t surprising at all, based on the film they had watched at the previous gathering, which normal people wouldn’t appreciate.

…

While Mo Mu and Lin Qingyue were dining and chatting, Yang Rongfa, the producer of Wang Ren’s drama project, also received news about Mo Mu’s demand to sing the songs he wrote.

Sing the OST himself?

Yang Rongfa slightly furrowed his brows. Honestly, it didn’t feel entirely inappropriate.

After all, Mo Mu had proven himself in both songwriting and singing.

He was mostly concerned whether Mo Mu, who had never sung an OST, could mesh well with their series.

And this request was somewhat beyond his expectations. Initially, he had planned to ask Mo Mo to sing the songs.

Mo Mo had high popularity and was a veteran OST singer who had worked with many production units in the industry and had a good reputation. Having her sing would undoubtedly be reassuring.

Actually, he had initially planned to have Mo Mo write the songs.

It was only because Director Wang Ren had been recommended Mo Mu by Lin Qingyue that he thought having Mo Mu write the songs and Mo Mo sing them seemed like a good idea, so he had agreed.

But he hadn’t expected Mo Mu to plan on singing himself.

As Yang Rongfa looked at Director Wang Ren, who was sitting silently, he considered and asked, “Who do you think we should go with?”

Director Wang Ren thought, “Getting both would be best; we could do more songs.”

Yang Rongfa’s eyes narrowed slightly, planning to invite both? The last project went way over budget and nearly bankrupted the company; is he planning to do that again?

This time, he had to keep the budget under control!

“Just get one! We’ll decide who later.”

Yang Rongfa’s decision was delayed, but Mo Mu’s new episode of Star Agency was about to air.

To make Star Agency hit the popular variety shows, Beijing TV Station was willing to spend money, pulling out all stops on advertising and marketing.

They bought trending spots for the previews several times.

Moreover, originally planned to be shown in two parts, the team, after reviewing the edited footage and feeling it was somewhat disjointed, decided, led by Xiong Guanglin, to adjust the schedule and release it as a special episode instead.

Yang Rongfa happened to come across news of the new show and decided to watch Mo Mu’s new performance with Director Wang Ren.