Chapter 39: 039: Two Cobblers
Currently, major Chinese record labels do not include Huayi.
Nowadays, it is just an obscure small company in the music industry, far from matching Huayi’s influence in the film industry.
Past life.
Huayi Records’ rise began with signing Zhang Liangying at the end of 2005. After that, Huayi was unstoppable, signing many big names in succession.
In January 2006, Huayi released an EP album for Zhang Liangying—《Jane·Love》. This mini-album included three songs: 《Ray of Light》, 《To Be Loved》, and 《Counter-Clockwise》.
However, it did not become popular.
Afterward, Huayi invited Singaporean musician Li Weisong and others to tailor-make Zhang Liangying’s first official album—《THE ONE》.
Among them, 《If Love Goes On》, produced by Wu Mengqi, frequently appeared on major music charts and became one of Zhang Liangying’s early representative works.
The album was released on October 11th and sold 500,000 copies in less than a month.
By the end of the year, national sales reached 1 million copies.
At the same time.
Zhou Bichang and Li Yuchun, among others, also released their first albums around the same time.
Zhou Bichang’s 《Who Moved My Strings》 sold 800,000 copies; Li Yuchun’s 《Queen and Dreams》 sold 1.37 million copies.
It is evident how amazing the ‘corn’ fans are.
They were all willing to spend money to support Chun-ge.
But upon closer thought, compared to the luxurious production teams for Zhou Bichang and Li Yuchun’s albums—（Xiao Ke, Zhang Yadong）—Zhang Liangying’s producers, apart from Li Weisong, were practically invisible.
Her ability to achieve 1 million sales is a testament to her strength.
…
At this moment.
Facing the olive branch extended by Huayi, Shen Qing was not tempted.
Zhang Liangying felt the same.
Shen Qing replied faintly, “Manager Yuan, I apologize, but all contestants participating in the Finals must sign with Tianyu. The contract has already been…”
Yuan Tao had already inquired about the situation and knew Tianyu’s methods.
Since he was calling now, it meant he was sincere about paying the breach of contract fee.
“Haha, I know all contestants have signed with Tianyu, but you haven’t! Shen Qing, if you want to sign with our company, I’ll welcome you with open arms.”
“Furthermore, we are willing to pay Zhang Liangying’s breach of contract fee.”
“As long as Liangying signs with our Huayi, the company will definitely provide the best resources to promote her. With her unique singing skills, it won’t be difficult for her to become a Mainland China Little Heavenly Queen.”
This guy~
He’s already making promises for something that hasn’t even begun.
Shen Qing gave him a few perfunctory replies and hung up the phone.
He had no intention of signing with Huayi.
…
Huayi’s recruitment attempt served as a reminder to Shen Qing.
It forced him to carefully consider his next steps.
Previously, Zhang Lu from Taihe Rye Music had spoken with Shen Qing no less than five times, each time strongly urging him to join Taihe Rye Music.
In fact, Taihe Rye Music’s strength is quite good, at least for now… Pu Shu, Sha Baoliang, Zhang Yadong, and others are all under their banner.
Signing has its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that a large company has sufficient resources to find top music producers and possess better distribution channels.
But the disadvantages are also obvious.
Artists are subject to the company’s constraints, and more than half of their income goes to the company. After taxes, getting three to four tenths is considered very good.
This might be a good condition for ordinary artists, but Shen Qing was not satisfied with this.
After all, he was a genuine reborn individual.
Shen Qing: “Liangying, we need to consider this matter now. The national Finals are on August 26th, and after the Finals, you will officially debut.”
Zhang Liangying: “Why don’t we sign with a Taiwanese company? There are many big companies there, Rock Records, UFO Records, Warner, Sony…”
Shen Qing: “No, Taiwan has had many restrictions on Mainland artists in recent years…”
For example, in recent years, Zhang Guoli often went there to promote new dramas like 《The Grand Scholars》 and 《The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan》, etc. Each time he was asked not to accept media interviews, which was extremely frustrating.
In his past life, Li Yuchun went there for a performance in February 2006, and it was stipulated that Li Yuchun could only sing on stage, not accept media interviews, not participate in forums, and not make any speeches.
In the end, Chun-ge could only smile at the enthusiastic fans.
Shen Qing educated Zhang Liangying, making her so angry that she cursed, “Damn it! I’m not going there. Qing, why don’t we start our own company?”
Shen Qing smiled and said, “I was thinking the same thing. Although the process will be difficult and we will face exclusion from major companies, I believe we will succeed.”
Zhang Liangying held Shen Qing’s hand and encouraged him, “Don’t worry, we’ll work hard together, and we will definitely succeed. I have confidence in my singing skills, and even more confidence in your talent.”
Shen Qing nodded, “Let’s work hard together!”
To be honest, Shen Qing had not ventured into the entertainment circle in his past life and was not familiar with how to start a music company, needing to explore it slowly.
Therefore, he was not bragging too much.
Fortunately, he had the advantage of rebirth; he could freely take countless classic songs from his past life.
In fact.
Besides starting their own company, another relatively good option is to cooperate with large companies under the name of a studio.
Many artists adopt this model after becoming famous.
They leverage the resources of large companies without being deeply bound to them, engaging in dialogue through cooperation.
But it’s unknown which company would be willing?
After all, Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying are not major producers or big stars at the moment.
Although the few original songs they had created were good, they were still far from earning the title of “music genius.”
Famous seniors might just nod at Shen Qing and say casually, “Oh, this kid is alright, has some potential!”
…
After visiting Orange Isle, the two took a car to Hunan University and Yuelu Academy.
At Yuelu Academy, they encountered many fans of Zhang Liangying, who came up for photos, chats, or to offer various delicacies.
“In this land, talent flourishes.”
Shen Qing had seen the inscriptions on both sides of the academy’s main gate in books.
However, this was the first time he had seen them with his own eyes, both in his past and present life.
After strolling for over an hour.
Immersed in the cultural heritage of the thousand-year-old academy, Shen Qing was suddenly inspired and thought of a song with profound meaning he had once heard.
The song written by Master Hongyi, Li Shutong: 《Farewell》.
The lyrics for this song were actually completed by Master Hongyi in 1915, and the melody was adapted from the American song 《Dreaming of Home and Mother》, composed by John Pond Ordway.
The earliest popular singer in China to perform it was likely Pu Shu.
In 2013, this song was the end-credit theme for 《The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel》, sung with deep emotion by Pu Shu. It is said that Pu Shu even cried while singing it.
Shen Qing liked this song.
Standing at the entrance of Yuelu Academy, he began to sing softly.
Zhang Liangying looked at Shen Qing with admiration, “Wow, it sounds so good, but it’s a bit familiar… Did you write this song?”
Shen Qing smiled and said, “This song was written in 1915, but not many popular singers have performed it, so it’s normal if you’re not familiar with it. You can use it in the competition.”
