Chapter 46

Summer vacation is a very special period of time.

According to the latest census results, by the end of 1993, the total population in the country exceeded 1.1 billion, with 17.2% aged 0-14 and 8.3% aged 15-22, totaling 25.5%, or over 285 million people!

In other words, from kindergarten children around five or six years old to those in their early twenties who haven't yet graduated from university, all these people are in a state of great freedom for two months.

They have nothing to do!

They need to travel, they need to play games, they need to read, they need to watch TV series, they need to watch movies, they need to listen to songs, they need to go on dates, they need to release the excess energy in their young bodies...

For major TV stations, this is the only time of the year when programs after 10 PM have a chance to challenge the ratings of the prime 8 PM slot. Even during these two months, the ratings for morning and afternoon slots will see a significant boost. Therefore, morning and afternoon TV series are broadcast in succession, and various creative variety shows air in the evening! This is followed by a substantial increase in advertising fees!

For major film companies, from mid-to-late June to the end of August, the box office for these ten to eleven weeks will account for more than half of the total annual domestic box office! Therefore, various blockbusters, famous directors, stars, and large productions are vying to be released, hoping to carve out the largest piece of the grand feast!

And for the music industry, summer vacation is also the absolute decisive time!

Even more so, due to the long-term and continuous nature of record sales, the battle had already begun in early May. Almost every week, new songs were on the charts, and almost every week, new albums were released. Various concerts also began to be held one after another.

By June, the battle became even more intense.

And July and August, the two months of summer vacation, were the true decisive moments!

Almost all singers considering releasing albums this year would first consider doing so in these two months, leading to a cluster of major artists releasing their new albums.

Without mentioning the male singers, on the female side, on July 23rd, the "Queen of Sweet Songs," He Runqing, released her sixth studio album, "Starry Night," with a strong presence!

In just three days, "Starry Night" had already climbed to the fourth position on the Dongguan Bookstore's weekly album sales chart! At the same time, it was the only female singer's album to enter the top ten, naturally becoming the top-selling female singer's album of the week!

Meanwhile, the lead single from this album, "The Stars in Your Eyes," also soared to the seventh position on the Chinese Music Golden Chart!

Of course, it was also the only song by a female singer.

Undoubtedly, for the record market, this was a bombshell!

Perhaps for the few major male singers in the industry, this performance could be considered normal, but for female singers, except for Zhen Zhen, who hadn't released a new album for over two years, no one else could match her.

Even Zhou Mo, in her prime, only managed to reach the sixth position on the album sales chart in her first week!

However, this was the dominance of sweet songs!

According to Changsheng Records' publicity and distribution plan, starting from July 30th, Liao Liao and Huang Wenjuan began running around various radio stations and TV studios in the capital, promoting her new album with the lead single "That Summer," until August 8th.

Starting from August 12th, she would begin a nationwide tour, visiting several major provinces and markets to appear on programs and promote her new songs and album.

Of course, appearing on programs was a small matter, and the travel was manageable, but the most frustrating part was that many major artists were releasing new albums recently, so everyone was promoting. If you wanted to appear on a program, you had to wait!

Everything had to wait!

Don't talk about first come, first served. In the entertainment industry, there was no such thing. As a newcomer or a minor singer, you had to queue up, waiting for your turn and slot. Even after securing a slot, you had to patiently wait for others to finish recording in the studio... and if a big star came, they would definitely go ahead of you!

These big stars were usually hard to invite, and it was rare for them to release a new album and proactively appear on a program. Who would refuse? If you were impatient... OK, sorry, we did breach the contract. If you don't want to record, you can leave!

That's how it was!

So, during these promotional days, Liao Liao spent most of her time waiting, washing her face, reapplying makeup, and then waiting again...

Every night when she got home, she would collapse into bed!

This job was more tiring than writing songs or recording!

Finally, after what seemed like an endless ordeal, on August 6th, "Liao Liao" was released!

...

At midnight, in the Li family's living room.

Mr. and Mrs. Li were still awake, sitting in the living room chatting idly after their bath. They finally waited until 11:30 PM and quickly turned up the volume on the radio, their eyes wide open despite the bloodshot eyes, straining to listen.

A few days earlier, when Li Qian came over for lunch, he mentioned that Liao Liao's new album was about to be released, probably on August 6th. Mr. Li, knowing that Liao Liao would be promoting her new album on various programs, had bought a small tape recorder.

For a newcomer like Liao Liao, the company's efforts in public relations only secured her two TV appearances, one as a guest among many, without a chance to sing, and another with a one-minute singing opportunity. However, right after she finished recording, a big star came, and the TV station called the next day to postpone the broadcast by a week.

Therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Li could only follow Liao Liao's programs by listening to the radio.

And they were all late-night broadcasts.

"Liao Liao, hello! Welcome to the second segment of our Midnight Newcomer Show!"

"Hello, Sister Lei, hello everyone, I'm Liao Liao!"

"Last year, Liao Liao released her first single, 'Quiet You,' and I believe many listeners, like me, really enjoyed that song and her unique and emotional voice. Liao Liao, after more than a year, you're back on our Midnight Newcomer Show. What new works do you have for our listeners?"

"Um, yes, over the past year, I've been working hard on my first album. My self-titled album, 'Liao Liao,' is officially released today. Today, I'm bringing you the lead single from this album, called 'That Summer.'"

"That Summer... Is this a ballad?"

"Yes. This song was written by Mr. Zeng Zimo and composed by Ms. Guan Fei. It's a very beautiful ballad! Of course, whether it's good or not is up to the listeners!"

"Ha, Liao Liao is still so humble. Alright, listeners, let's listen to 'That Summer' first! I hope you'll like it! After the song, I'll have a deeper conversation with Liao Liao about this song and the story behind the album. OK, 'That Summer'!"

"In my wardrobe, the summer is your white shirt, in my photos, the summer has our smiling faces..."

As Mr. and Mrs. Li listened, they felt something was off. They turned to look at each other, "Why is it this song again? The program last night played the same song. Is she... why does she keep playing this one song on so many radio stations? This isn't even a song written by our Qian..."

Mr. Li had specifically asked Qian to write down the names of the songs he sold to Liao Liao, planning to buy her album and listen to them one by one when it was released. When they heard that Liao Liao would be promoting her new album on programs, they were so excited that they stayed up every night with the radio, afraid of missing the first broadcast of their son's work. However, after three nights and three programs, they heard "That Summer" every time.

Even though they didn't usually listen to radio programs, the content of these shows promoting new albums was similar. After listening to two programs, Mr. and Mrs. Li could even guess what would be discussed next.

What was the point?

They quickly lost interest.

Mr. Li rubbed his eyes and said, "Forget it, let's go to bed. I'll go around the city tomorrow to see if the music stores have it."

Mrs. Li yawned, "Alright, let's go to bed!"

Despite their words, neither of them moved.

Mr. Li lit a cigarette, his brows furrowed, and glanced at the radio, "Do you think the songs Qian wrote for her aren't being given much attention? If they were, with five out of twelve songs, at least one should have been played on these three programs."

Mrs. Li said, "Qian said the first wave of promotion is just for the lead single. What was it called... 'I Love My Hometown' isn't the second lead single?"

Mr. Li nodded, puffing on his cigarette.

"This song... isn't that great!" he muttered.

...

August 6th was a Friday.

Of course, during the summer vacation, the concept of weekdays only mattered to those who had to work. However, even without the working population, the sheer number of students on break was a massive market. But once the weekend arrived and the working population also started shopping, the consumer market would jump to a whole new level!

On August 6th, the distributor in Jinan received the shipment, and by August 7th, "Liao Liao" was already on the shelves of several major music chain stores. By August 8th, at least 30-40% of the music stores in Jinan had the album.

Early on August 7th, Mr. Li went to the largest music store in Jinan and contributed to the album's sales with five copies.

...

Early on August 9th, Zheng Changsheng obtained the previous week's album sales chart from Dongguan Bookstore through his connections.

Unlike the "Dongguan Weekly" which only listed the rankings without specific data, this internal chart provided precise numbers.

From August 6th to August 8th, "Liao Liao" sold 1,128 copies at Dongguan Bookstore.

It ranked 19th on the album sales chart.

Therefore, it didn't appear on the "Dongguan Weekly" which only listed the top ten.

Dongguan Bookstore is one of the largest chain bookstores in the country, and its data is considered highly significant in the publishing and music industries. According to the industry-recognized statistical method, multiplying Dongguan Bookstore's sales by 20 gives a rough estimate of the total sales across the country.

So, "Liao Liao" sold around 20,000 to 22,000 copies in its first three days.

While album sales, unlike movie box office, don't necessarily spike in the first week, especially for a singer like Liao Liao who has only released one single, it's normal for sales to surge after a week or two of promotion... However, selling 20,000 copies in the first week already signaled that achieving platinum status was unlikely!

Even if sales spiked in the next two weeks, selling enough to reach gold status within a year would be pushing the limits!

Zheng Changsheng rubbed his forehead, trying to console himself, "Wait, wait, at least we need to see the sales for the first three weeks." But as he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh.

Headache!

Not to mention the post-production, the production costs alone were 800,000 yuan!

Oh, that's not right, Liao Liao was thoughtful. Given 800,000 yuan, she didn't spend it all and even saved about 30,000... but what good was that!

Liao Liao was a newcomer, and the company decided to go for a low price and high volume strategy. Despite having twelve songs, eleven of which were new, the album was priced at just 10 yuan.

At this price, music stores sold to consumers at 80% of the retail price, distributors sold to music stores at 60%, and the record company sold to distributors at 50%!

50% off, 5 yuan per album!

Selling 500,000 copies would only bring in 2.5 million yuan in total!

After deducting production costs, manufacturing costs, promotional costs, and Liao Liao's 7% sales commission, plus a celebratory banquet, the album would at most bring in 500,000 to 600,000 yuan!

Just 500,000 to 600,000 yuan! With so many people in the company to feed and pay, including utilities, salaries, bonuses, benefits, and insurance... this would mean no profit at all!

Zheng Changsheng sighed again, his gaze shifting to the top ten on the chart.

In its third week, He Runqing's "Starry Night" maintained strong market momentum, selling 7,433 copies in one week! Ranking fifth!

If this data were extrapolated to the national level, her sales for the previous week would be around 150,000 copies!

Considering her sales of 160,000 copies the previous week and 130,000 the week before that... in just three weeks and seventeen days, she had already sold around 440,000 copies!

Without a doubt, she would break 500,000 next week! Breaking a million within two to three months was absolutely certain!

Even within a year, achieving double platinum for "Starry Night" was not a problem!

This was like a money-printing machine!

The higher the sales, the lower the cost per unit, a principle everyone understood. Once platinum status was achieved, it became a cash cow!

Shooting music videos, releasing greatest hits, and special editions... these were pure profit!

Even if we understate it, "Starry Night" could bring in several million yuan in profit for Sony Records!

Several million yuan!

Considering the various commercial performances and concerts... one He Runqing could bring in at least eight figures in pure profit for Sony Records in a year!

This was equivalent to the entire annual profit of Changsheng Records!

Zheng Changsheng rubbed his forehead, thinking, "I wonder when my Changsheng Records will have a He Runqing!"