Chapter 50

Ma Xiang, the deputy manager of the production department, entered the office. Seeing so many people in the general manager's office, he was initially taken aback, but quickly realized they were all familiar faces from within the company. He immediately began to complain, "General Manager Zheng, Manager Sun just called me, asking me to come and see if you could help. Sony is refusing to schedule production, saying that even at the fastest, they can only start on Friday! You see... they're just trying to hold us back! It's even worse, their own company's records aren't even in a rush, and even if they are produced, they'll just be piled up in the warehouse. But they keep producing! Our album 'Liao Liao' is almost sold out, and we still have to wait! Manager Sun went there early this morning, but it was no use! They're just insisting on the queue! General Manager Zheng, could you maybe give Sony a call or something...?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Changsheng slowly nodded and turned to sit down.

The situation seemed to be getting more and more complicated, with various abnormalities and unexpected events occurring. However, at this moment, Zheng Changsheng suddenly became calm. He picked up the delivery notice on the desk and waved it, saying, "It's not just almost sold out; it's already sold out!"

Ma Xiang was taken aback and quickly went over to take the delivery notice. After just one glance, he couldn't help but click his tongue and exclaim, "This is too scary... I remember it hasn't even been two weeks since the release, right? I seem to recall... Oh, Old Liu, I remember you mentioned in a meeting before that the sales at Dongguan Bookstore are about 20 times the overall market sales. Now that Dongguan Bookstore is sold out, does that mean our first batch of 200,000 cassettes and 20,000 CDs are also sold out?"

Liu Zhongxin nodded in response, "It's probably about that."

But at this moment, Yang Fan interjected, "Actually, besides delivering this survey result, there's another matter. Just now in the office, I received calls from four provincial distributors, all urging for more stock. According to them, they are already experiencing widespread shortages. I estimate that many more will call today!"

Everyone looked surprised and then almost simultaneously turned to look at Zheng Changsheng.

Zheng Changsheng's fingers slowly tapped on the desk. Despite the turmoil in his heart, his expression was unusually calm. After a moment, he opened a drawer, took out a small humidifier box, and then opened the box to take out a cigar.

Several people in the office stared at him with various expressions.

But Zheng Changsheng acted as if nothing was wrong, slowly took out a cigar cutter, cut the tip, struck a match, and slowly lit the cigar, puffing it to get it going.

The smoke was thick.

The air conditioning continuously dispersed the smoke, spreading it evenly to everyone in the room.

Most of the people in the room were old smokers. The aroma of the cigar was not only not irritating but also quite enjoyable. Only Zhao Meifeng instinctively covered her nose and then coughed a couple of times.

Then, the room fell silent.

Clearly, several people were anxiously waiting for something, but no one spoke, leaving the room silent except for Zheng Changsheng's puffs on the cigar and the gentle hum of the air conditioning.

Suddenly, Zheng Changsheng lifted his head, seemingly about to say something, but then turned to Zhao Meifeng and asked her, "Meifeng, do you have something to say? Or are you here for the album as well?"

Zhao Meifeng fanned away the smoke and said, "I'm here for this."

As she spoke, she handed over the newspaper she was holding.

Zheng Changsheng frowned, but then took the newspaper and immediately squinted his eyes.

It was the music section of the "Artists Weekly," the front-page headline, and an article signed by Xie Jinshun!

This old man was known as the "Father of Pop Music"!

In the 1970s, when domestic pop music was just beginning, it was this old man who lobbied hard, eventually leading the government to relax its control over the music industry and open up access to private capital, thus creating the wave of prosperity in domestic pop music that began in the 1980s.

Moreover, it was this old man who first discovered the Flying Band, then made Liu Mingliang a star, and then Feng Feifei... Oh, right, he was also Zhou Mo's mentor! It's said that Zhou Mo pestered him for over a month, and in the end, the old man reluctantly agreed to produce an album for her, which made her a star!

To this day, the old man has long retired and no longer participates in production, and even in recent years, his musical works have almost stopped. However, the entire domestic music industry still regards him as the top promoter of pop music! It is rumored that the total sales of various albums he has produced have already exceeded 100 million!

Undoubtedly, he is the true pillar of the domestic music industry!

It is said that even after he announced his retirement, people still waved checkbooks, asking him to comment on works or albums, and some even offered 300,000 yuan per thousand words to write a review, but the old man never spoke lightly.

However, now he has published a directly signed article in the "Artists Weekly," highly praising a newcomer's first album!

Although not directly responsible for this, Zheng Changsheng, who was not very familiar with the industry, knew that with the company's status and connections, it would be impossible to get this old man to come out of retirement!

So, he must have purely liked and supported the album!

Zheng Changsheng held the newspaper, quickly scanned the content, and understood the general idea. He couldn't help but look up at Zhao Meifeng, "Wow! This old man... This article must be around 2,000 to 3,000 words, which means... 600,000 to 700,000 yuan!"

Zhao Meifeng nodded and said, "I was also shocked when I saw it. I never thought the old man would praise it so much! Uh, the PR department should have the newspaper, right? Wang Xiao should have it too. Did you not see it before?"

Her words made Liu Zhongxin and Yang Fan, from the PR department, feel a bit awkward.

But at this moment, Zheng Changsheng waved his hand and said, "This isn't their fault. Everyone knows I have a low level of education and don't like reading newspapers, so they gradually stopped bringing them to me! A few days ago, Old Liu even had Wang Xiao bring me a newspaper to read a review, but I just glanced at it and threw it aside! In the music review industry... to be honest, everyone knows it's just a matter of talking. They know more than the average person, but how many people actually buy records based on their reviews?"

Zheng Changsheng was just making a casual comment, but as he spoke, he slowly stopped and tightly furrowed his brow, seemingly thinking of something difficult.

At this moment, Zhao Meifeng continued, "That's true, the music review industry mainly influences people in the industry, not the fans. But we can't completely dismiss it. There are still many people in the review industry who have a very accurate grasp of market trends. For example, this retired old man, I read his article several times, and I have to admit, when I was producing the album with Liao Liao, I didn't see the potential of songs like 'Zhuo Zhe' and 'Ye Hua'! Fortunately, I didn't stop Liao Liao..."

She kept talking, and it was unclear whether she was self-criticizing or boasting about her achievements. But before she could continue, Zheng Changsheng suddenly raised his hand to interrupt her, "Stop, stop, Meifeng, stop for now. You'll have plenty of time to self-reflect later! I, I think... I've caught something..."

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Liu Zhongxin, "Old Liu, you and Yang Fan, go and find all the newspaper and magazine reviews related to Liao Liao's album from the past two weeks, since the album's release!"

Liu Zhongxin and Yang Fan exchanged a glance and then turned to leave.

A short while later, they returned with a stack of materials and placed them on Zheng Changsheng's desk.

The magazines were stacked together, and the newspapers were in a pile. Clearly, these materials had already been organized, and even the pages with the reviews were opened.

Zheng Changsheng picked them up and started flipping through them. Perhaps because Liao Liao's status wasn't high enough to warrant critical reviews, almost all of these reviews were highly praising the album "Liao Liao." Some praised Liao Liao's singing skills, some celebrated the return of folk songs, especially "I Love My Hometown," some cheered for light rock, almost elevating "Zhuo Zhe," "Ye Hua," and "Gan Bei, Pengyou" to the heavens, and some highly praised the Chinese style of "Wei Le Qing," considering it the ultimate direction for Chinese music!

Of course, there were a few supporting "That Summer," but not many.

Zheng Changsheng quickly flipped through about twenty of them, then put them down and looked up at everyone, "Wang Xiao, Meifeng, Old Liu, Yang Fan... come over, each take a stack, and categorize these articles. I want to know how many there are, and what aspects they are praising, and how many for each... get to work!"

With a snap, everyone was drafted into the task.

About twenty minutes later, Secretary Wang collected everyone's data, combined it, and completed the statistics. He then reported to Zheng Changsheng, who was standing by the window, "General Manager Zheng, the results are in. There are 43 reviews, all positive. 16 focus on the overall quality of the album, calling it a rare masterpiece in recent years, with 7 specifically praising Liao Liao's singing skills. Additionally, there are 27 single reviews: 8 for 'Zhuo Zhe,' 6 for 'I Love My Hometown,' 5 for 'Ye Hua,' 4 for 'Wei Le Qing,' 3 for 'Gan Bei, Pengyou,' and 1 for 'That Summer.'"

Zheng Changsheng turned around, his eyes shining, and asked Liu Zhongxin, "How many did we buy?"

By "bought," he meant the articles written by music critics who were paid by the company. Liu Zhongxin, who handled this, knew the details and immediately answered, "We bought four. But as you know, for many famous music critics and professors, we don't pay them, but we do include small gifts when we send them the test CDs."

Zheng Changsheng slowly took a puff of his cigar and then slowly exhaled.

It's done!

The fog has cleared, and many things are now clear!

First, about 39 music critics wrote positive reviews for the album "Liao Liao" without the company paying for public relations, indicating that the album is highly favored by professionals;

Second, according to the survey results, nearly half of the fans bought the album based on recommendations from friends, and the influence of the company's promotion was less significant than the word-of-mouth effect;

Third, whether analyzed from the survey results or the number of reviews, it is clear that the true impact of the album lies in "I Love My Hometown," "Zhuo Zhe," "Ye Hua," "Gan Bei, Pengyou," and "Wei Le Qing."

With things this clear, if he still didn't understand, he might as well hang himself.

In a daze, he suddenly recalled the day Liao Liao brought in five songs, and he scolded her, almost terminating the album.

Now, thinking about it, he felt a bit scared!

If he hadn't held back and had directly scrapped the album...

Now, looking back, the 400,000 yuan spent was really worth it!

Thinking of this, his thoughts shifted, and he suddenly remembered Liao Liao's insistence on those songs.

Yes, when Liao Liao returns, there will definitely be a celebration. Should he suggest that Liao Liao invite the high school student as well?

Hmm, it's still early, it's still early!

Liao Liao will be back, but it will take some time.

But thinking about this, his mind gradually became clear.

It's not about being prepared for the future; he has been preparing for years. Now, regarding Liao Liao's future and the future of Changsheng Records... Zheng Changsheng suddenly felt that he had grasped something essential!

***

I've written 5,000 words, but there's still more to write for this chapter. Time is up, so I'll have to split this 4,000-word section into a chapter and release it first.

If you're still eager for more, then please vote for more recommendations! I'll release the remaining half tomorrow.

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