Chapter 91: In My Song Tops the Charts, Hitting the Mark
Eight-thirty in the evening.
Central Radio and Television Station’s Hit Fm’s new music express segment, precisely on time, pushed Zhang Liangying’s new song to the world.
Liangying would be a guest in this live broadcast room tonight.
In addition, 21 radio stations across Asia were also playing In My Song at the same time, with a lineup only second to last year’s Nocturne.
“Music with zero time difference, only on Hit Fm.”
“For this work today, I believe many friends have been waiting for a long time… In My Song is one of the four title songs from Zhang Liangying’s first self-titled album. Tonight is the super premiere…”
…
Beijing.
The Curse of the Golden Flower film set.
Jay Chou turned on the radio as usual.
As soon as it turned on, he heard Zhang Liangying’s voice: “Hello everyone, I’m Zhang Liangying, welcome to listen to my new song—In My Song, I hope you will like it.”
Jay Chou: “Huh? Zhang Liangying’s new song~”
Fang Wenshan: “Her new album is finally here. Last time her compilation chased right after yours, haha, it made you and me nervous for quite a while.”
“Come on, Wenshan, I wasn’t nervous, I was just curious how a newcomer could be so bold~”
“Because she also has a producer as strong as me, that’s why she dares to release her CD on the same day as you.”
“Tsk tsk… Let’s listen to the song, listen to the song, I want to hear what kind of amazing song her producer wrote for her!?”
“Why don’t you ask him to write the lyrics for Curse of the Golden Flower?”
“No, Wenshan, have you run out of ideas?”
“Not at all, I just want to get to know that kid, he’s too strong! By the way, next month the 6th Music Fengyun List awards ceremony will be held in Beijing. They will definitely be there, I must go and strike up a conversation then~”
Jay Chou shook his head speechlessly, lying in the rocking chair with his eyes closed. This Wenshan guy is like an old gossip~
He quietly waited for the new song express.
It’s been six years since her debut~
Old Zhou has never seen such a brave girl!!
…
Shanghai.
Li Xiaoming got off work early today and returned to his rented room at exactly eight-thirty.
He lay on the sofa and turned on the radio.
He planned to listen to a few songs and rest before getting up to cook.
But he suddenly remembered that tonight was the recording day for the Super Boy 50-to-10 competition, so he quickly rolled over to grab the TV remote.
But at this moment,
the song was just playing from the recorder.
“Huh?”
“Is it Zhang Liangying’s new song?”
“Damn! The new album is finally here? The compilation I bought for seven yuan last time was really good, this album will cost at least ten yuan, right? So expensive!”
As he thought about it, Li Xiaoming forgot to turn on the TV. Zhang Liangying’s singing completely captivated him.
…
Chengdu.
With the song When You Are Old, Zhao Lei, who had successfully advanced to the top 10 in the Chengdu division, was listening to music with his roommate Chen Chusheng, as well as Wang Zhengliang and Wei Chen.
Lei Zi knew that tonight was the premiere of his senior sister Zhang Liangying’s new song, so he specifically invited them.
But Lei Zi also had his own troubles.
He couldn’t say it…
The day before coming to Chengdu, Shen Qing had instructed him: “What kind of repayment of kindness are you talking about? You’re going to compete in Chengdu, just don’t mention me, I’m at odds with Mango TV~”
Senior Shen, your intentions are so profound!
Lei Zi was deeply moved.
Soon, the song came from the radio.
“Without any preparation”
“Nor a trace of hesitation”
“…”
A simple beginning, without any flashy techniques, just the vocal and emotion made people unable to resist listening to the rest of the song.
Only two words to describe it: very strong!
Today’s Liangying, she is young, she has energy, her voice is tight, her teacher is strong, she has classic original songs… it can be said that she has reached her golden age.
A singer like this can easily handle any song.
Moreover, In My Song is not difficult; the difficulty lies in that particular emotion, and coincidentally, Shen Qing had always taught Liangying to sing with emotion.
At this moment, every line sung from the radio flowed like clouds and water, without pretense, easily drawing people into the song’s mood.
The four people in the room had expressions of admiration and envy, and at the same time, a sense of powerlessness that was beyond reach.
Only Chen Chusheng and Zhao Lei were secretly vowing: “We must train hard and diligently. Even if we can’t catch up to Zhang Liangying, we will become powerful singers.”
…
Hong Kong.
G.E.M.’s family sat in the living room, the TV wasn’t even on, they were all quietly listening to the song on the radio.
Little G.E.M. looked on with envious eyes.
When In My Song finished, G.E.M.’s desire for fame was irrepressible.
“Mom, did you hear? Brother Shen Qing is so amazing. If I advance to the finals of Absolute Singing, he can definitely write such amazing songs for me.”
“Grandma, I’m going to win the championship for you!”
…
Taipei.
19-year-old Jam Hsiao listened to In My Song, and his singing DNA stirred. He quickly searched for Zhang Liangying’s information online.
He spent two hours looking.
After that, he stayed up all night to prepare his resume and sent it via email to the Come On! Boys program group where Shen Qing was.
Later, he thought, Come On! Boys requires good looks and a proper appearance. Jam Hsiao looked in the mirror and had a realistic understanding of his own looks.
To be safe, he sent another application to Absolute Singing.
…
Meanwhile.
Zhang Liangying chatted with the radio host and fans for over half an hour, ending her first-ever radio live broadcast. She excitedly returned home with Shen Qing.
The effect of tonight’s broadcast would only be known tomorrow.
If In My Song appeared on the Baidu MP3 Ranking List tomorrow, it would mean that the broadcast had achieved its expected effect.
In 2006, the Baidu MP3 Ranking List was quite authoritative, and it reacted more quickly than manually compiled music charts.
But why wasn’t it recognized by the mainstream?
Because the charts were full of pirated copies. Singers worked hard to release albums, and MP3 versions appeared on Baidu the next day.
Free listening!!!
Every record company was frustrated.
But this was determined by the times, and no individual or company could completely change it.
Only with economic development and strengthened copyright protection could it be curbed.
Just as Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying returned to their small home in Beijing, Vice Director Li of Mango TV, who was far away in Changsha, received the ratings for tonight’s 50-to-10 competition.
—The ratings in 31 cities nationwide were only 1.57%, with a market share of only 2.12%.
Far below expectations.
It was even worse than last year’s Super Girl Hangzhou division 20-to-10 competition!
Damn it!
How could this happen?
Is Super Boy going to face a Waterloo?
Vice Director Li had a headache. The previous Super Girl was so popular, why isn’t this Super Boy season doing well? Did he misjudge? Do audiences dislike watching men?
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
How could female audiences dislike handsome guys?
Thinking about how he had confidently guaranteed to the top boss in the meeting that Super Boy would be even more popular than Super Girl, Vice Director Li felt a chill down his spine.
In any case, the first recorded broadcast was a complete failure.
After Vice Director Li returned home, his wife told him that Zhang Liangying had premiered her new song on radio across Asia at eight-thirty tonight, and he immediately felt something was wrong.
Why eight-thirty specifically?
Why did it clash with Super Boy?
Damn it, are they deliberately targeting me, Old Li?!
The next day.
Vice Director Li used his connections to obtain the listening rates from various radio stations and saw that the listening rates had surged during the eight-thirty period that night… making him grit his teeth in anger.
He was indeed targeted.
Although it was unscientific to attribute all the blame to Zhang Liangying, Zhang Liangying must have siphoned off some of the viewership!
The more Vice Director Li thought about it, the angrier he became.
At this moment.
Recalling the media’s attacks on Mango TV in the past few days, Vice Director Li angrily slammed the table, grabbed the phone, and yelled: “If the ratings for the Changsha division competition in two weeks are still not good, you, Wang Peng, will submit your resignation!”
…
Meanwhile.
A Sina editor, while organizing news, suddenly discovered two interesting points: one was that Super Boy’s ratings were below expectations, and the other was that Zhang Liangying’s radio broadcast listening rates were overwhelmingly leading.
These two events, which initially had no connection, became intriguing when combined.
This editor spent ten minutes writing an article of dubious authenticity. After it was reviewed and approved by the editor-in-chief, it was published on the website.
They originally just wanted to complete their daily task, but unexpectedly, the article became a hit as soon as it was published.
The comments and shares surged, and it became a sensation. The editor-in-chief immediately pinned the article to the homepage for full site display.
Mango TV: NND, don’t hit people where it hurts, you know?
“Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, the radio stole Super Boy’s ratings??? Mango TV really knows how to find reasons.”
“I can testify, I listened to In My Song last night and didn’t watch Super Boy anymore. Those kids’ singing was too trashy, not as comfortable as Liangying’s.”
“Liangying’s chart attack hit Mango TV where it hurts!”
“To be clear, Liangying didn’t intentionally target Mango TV. Not only did she dare to release an album on the same day as Jay Chou, she’s always been brave…”
“I’m going to listen to the song. Baidu has it for free, and Kugou has the resources too.”
…
As evening arrived, many shops along the streets were playing In My Song. As for internet cafes and billiard halls, even more people were listening to this song.
In My Song had climbed to fifth place on the Baidu Music Fengyun List’s New Song Chart. The top four were Invisible Wings, Seeking Buddha, Nocturne, and Perfume Has Poison.
Can’t compare, can’t compare.
The top four songs were all phenomenal. Except for Nocturne, the other three songs should be listed as the ‘Ringtone Trinity’ of the year!
But In My Song’s climb to fifth place overnight was enough to show that Zhang Liangying’s performance at this moment was very successful.
Achieving such results was not solely due to the fans’ efforts. In My Song had clearly broken through its niche. Only when passersby liked it would the ranking rise so quickly.
This radio charting campaign was very successful.
Next.
It was to continue to promote and expand its influence through channels such as television, online media, and newspapers.
These matters would be handled by Taihe Rye Music; Shen Qing only needed to focus on recording the album.
In May, they would sweep everything away.
