Chapter 83

The cover of the single "Half Pot of Silk" clearly reads "Experimental Single."

Obviously, despite this being Li Qian's work and despite He Runqing's fondness for this piece, and even though she should have considerable confidence in her own singing and in Li Qian's song, she still lacked confidence in the market prospects of this song. Therefore, whether it was her own decision or the producer's suggestion, they ultimately chose to release the song as a single.

Perhaps, their goal, like Li Qian's, was to use this song to test the domestic music market's acceptance of this new style of Chinese music?

Li Qian could not be sure.

He only knew that, given He Runqing's status and position, this was a very cautious release strategy, which even hinted at her current lack of confidence. Therefore, she was being very careful.

Actually, it's easy to understand: an album with ten songs is usually priced at ten or twelve yuan, and the price that fans pay is roughly eight or nine yuan. So, each song actually costs less than one yuan. However, a single cassette tape is at least priced at three yuan, and a single CD can be priced at four yuan, with fans paying around two to three yuan... This simple calculation is something everyone can do, and of course, everyone understands that buying a single is not very cost-effective.

Therefore, in the record market, it is generally only new artists who are just starting out who, in the face of the record company's indecision, release a single to prove their strength and test the market's demand, thus preparing for the market positioning and promotion of their future albums. For example, Liao Liao before the release of her album "Liao Liao" was like this. As for established singers... unless they are really capricious, they rarely choose to release singles.

For this reason, the market for singles has always been very small. Even Dongguan Bookstore, for example, does not have a separate sales chart for singles but instead includes single sales in the album rankings.

Since the mid-1970s, when the domestic music market was liberalized, there have been many singles released over the past nearly twenty years, but the total sales of those that exceeded 500,000 copies are few, and those that exceeded 1 million copies are only about five or six in total over the past twenty years.

For example, Liao Liao's first single sold only about 300,000 copies, but it gave Changsheng Records a lot of confidence, leading to Zheng Changsheng boldly allocating a large production budget for her album.

Therefore, when Li Qian received the single sent by He Runqing through Cao Zhan and learned that they had decided to release the song as a single, he was somewhat disappointed.

The fact that it was released as a single largely determined that "Half Pot of Silk" would find it difficult to become a huge hit.

Although, in fact, Li Qian was also somewhat uncertain about the market prospects of this song, and he did not expect it to achieve a big opening success. However, at least he felt that He Runqing should not be so cautious.

Despite the lack of strong evidence in the current domestic record market, based on the development of the music industry in the time and space he had experienced, Li Qian still had some confidence in "Half Pot of Silk," which should still be considered a very novel Chinese-style song at this point.

Because Chinese-style music, especially moderately innovative Chinese-style music, should definitely have a market in the country.

And the facts seemed to be gradually confirming his predictions.

On November 30th, Tuesday, "Half Pot of Silk" was released.

In the first week, it debuted at seventh place on the Dongguan Bookstore sales chart, with a weekly sales of 4,733 copies!

It must be noted, this was just a single!

This performance undoubtedly shocked everyone and was so bright that it almost blinded people!

Later, when the national sales data was compiled, the single's national weekly sales for that week were as high as 104,211 copies! It became the third single in the history of the domestic music industry to break the 100,000 copies mark in a single week!

In the second week, after some market and reputation building, and with some promotion, the single advanced to the top five of the Dongguan Bookstore sales chart, ranking fifth with a weekly sales of 5,946 copies!

The national sales data later showed that its sales for that week again broke the 100,000 copies mark, reaching 109,871 copies! This time, it became the only single in the history of single sales to achieve over 100,000 copies in sales for two consecutive weeks!

Undoubtedly, although "Half Pot of Silk" had not yet become a nationwide hit, it had already become one of the hottest songs of the winter!

It was also during this week that it climbed to the eighth place on the China Radio Golden Chart!

By the third week, its sales slightly declined but remained within a normal range, still ranking eighth on the Dongguan Bookstore sales chart with 4,618 copies sold, and the national sales data remained at 88,559 copies!

In three weeks, exactly 20 days, it sold 15,297 copies at Dongguan Bookstore and 302,641 copies nationwide!

It must be noted, this was a single!

Just a single, a single with a clearly higher price and of an experimental nature, achieved such impressive results, and undoubtedly, the music critics, media, and the music industry were all amazed.

Although after three weeks of hot sales, the single's sales quickly cooled down, leading some to wonder if it was due to He Runqing's reputation effect that drove the sales of this single, but anyone with a clear mind could see that its future sales breaking 800,000 copies was not a problem, and surpassing 1 million copies was just a matter of time! This was not something that could be achieved solely by the name of He Runqing.

And the most crucial point was that "Unfinished Love" was no longer an isolated case!

For Li Qian, even before he saw the national sales data, just by seeing the song consistently rank in the top ten of the Dongguan Bookstore sales chart for two weeks, he had already completely confirmed his judgment: Chinese-style music would become popular!

As for its subsequent decline in performance, no one knew better than Li Qian. First, it was a single with a higher price, which would greatly limit its sales. Second, this was also related to the quality of the song.

"Half Pot of Silk" is a good song, there's no doubt about that. Even in the other time and space where Chinese-style music had become widespread, it still qualified as a competent, even excellent, Chinese-style work.

However, that's all it was.

First, its melody was too flat, which, while emphasizing the "Zen" feel of the song, still lacked market appeal for ordinary listeners and fans.

Second, its lyrics, although rich in ancient charm, were not as beautiful or profound as those of Fang Dajia's famous works, at least not on the same level.

Therefore, in the time and space Li Qian had experienced, although it had some reputation in the industry, on a national scale, it could not compare to the nationwide popularity of Zhou's Chinese-style music. Even compared to other Chinese-style music that was popular in certain circles, its performance was somewhat lackluster, and its fame in the pop music industry was almost negligible.

It can be said that the current impressive performance of "Half Pot of Silk" under He Runqing's hands was largely due to the lack of mature Chinese-style works in the current domestic music industry, making it appear so novel and unique, catching everyone's attention.

But this was enough.

For He Runqing, the impressive sales of this single were enough to restore her confidence in the market and make her realize that fans were not tired of her voice. The reason the previous album's sales declined so quickly was simply because people had lost their novelty with her consistent sweet songs.

What she needed to do next was to maintain her strengths while accelerating a moderate transformation.

For Li Qian, the sales performance of this single had already confirmed and reaffirmed his understanding and judgment of the domestic market, giving him a clearer idea of the path he needed to take next.

For the lyricists, composers, and singers in the domestic music industry... many people finally realized that Chinese-style music could indeed be done this way! Fans really do like this style!

Thus, not long after many people began to focus on light rock, many quickly shifted their attention to this novel Chinese-style music.

Of course, up to this point, the only works they could analyze, deconstruct, and even imitate were two.

Li Qian's "Unfinished Love" and Li Qian's "Half Pot of Silk."

What they didn't know was that for Li Qian, these two songs were only a basic introduction to Chinese-style music.

For the major record companies in the country...

Oh, so it's that simple to become popular! Look, He Runqing, who was already showing signs of decline, suddenly made a beautiful comeback!

Just a single, and even one that He Runqing, who had already become somewhat cautious, labeled as an "experimental single," could still achieve sales of over a million?

Find the reason, and it's easy to handle!

Everyone should go to Jinan to seek out Li Qian!

...

After putting aside his attention to the sales of "Half Pot of Silk," Li Qian's life remained as calm as ever.

He went to class, left class, recited, did problems, went to bed early, got up early, exercised more, and smoked less. He went to Wang Huaiyu's place to learn the suona every week, and occasionally performed at the restaurant managed by Chu Bingbing. He usually talked on the phone with Wang Jinglu every three to four days, each time for a few minutes, and they rarely said things like "I miss you." They just chatted about the interesting things in their lives and studies. Occasionally, when he met his new neighbor, Teacher Qi, going up or down the stairs, they would exchange a few simple words and then go their separate ways, each busy with their own affairs.

In short, it was extremely mundane.

By the end of December, it was already mid to late November in the lunar calendar. Whether in the countryside or the city, more and more people were getting married. City dwellers preferred modern and upscale weddings, and in recent years, Western-style weddings had become very popular, so they didn't look favorably upon the suona. Instead, they would invite Western orchestras, with instruments like trumpets, trombones, and military drums. Wealthy families would even hire someone to play a romantic violin piece, regardless of whether they understood it or not, just for the modern flair. However, the suona still had a market in the countryside.

Thus, although he had only been learning for about a month and was just familiar with the most basic pieces, Li Qian was pulled by Wang Huaiyu to hastily start his career as a wedding musician.

As Wang Huaiyu put it, this was the most typical example of applying what you've learned!

In the cold winter, a team of six people, with two suonas, two shengs, a pair of cymbals, and a wooden clapper, would get up around four o'clock, all dressed in thick down jackets, and then ride in Wang Huaiyu's old minivan to the countryside, arriving before 5:30 AM, before the sky was even light. The suona had to start playing, and although there would be breaks in between, they had to continue until around 2 or 3 PM, when the host had served the third round of wedding wine to the guests, marking the end of their work.

That wasn't all. When the bride's car arrived, according to the customs of the countryside in Jinan, they had to "block the carriage." They would place a long bench across the road, and Wang Huaiyu would sing a few segments of Shandong opera, preferably with a high-pitched part, to entertain the crowd and earn applause. The bride and groom would then hurriedly give red envelopes to "clear the way." Only then would the performance be considered successful!

According to the rules of Wang Huaiyu's band, the bride and groom had to give red envelopes three times each, which was a matter of maintaining their dignity and allowing the procession to proceed. Over the years, Wang Huaiyu's band had become well-known throughout Jinan, and being invited to perform at weddings and funerals was considered a matter of prestige, not just because of the quality of their instruments, but also because of their excellent singing.

After a day of hard work, they would drink a lot of water and endure the cold, eat two meals, and receive a small wedding gift bag containing a pack of cigarettes and a few pieces of candy... Their total cash income was 800 yuan!

It was said that this was the highest price in Jinan!

Wang Huaiyu, of course, was very enthusiastic, and Li Qian also felt that it was a great way to practice his skills, so whenever Wang Huaiyu called, he never refused, even though as an intern, he only earned 50 yuan a day.

Later, with the sudden popularity of "Half Pot of Silk," people started coming to Jinan to seek him out.

Actually, everyone in the same circle knew each other, and it was hard to keep any real secrets. Since Li Jilong brought Wu Xing Wu Su back to Shunfu, the news that Li Qian had made an album for the small group of Huasheng Records had gradually spread. Everyone understood that Li Qian's works were not just for Liao Liao, and he