Chapter 48: Striving and Struggling

PS: This book will start being recommended tomorrow. Two updates a day, asking for recommendations and investments.

A rare good song!

This was everyone's first impression. Most of the people present were not professional musicians, but they had the most basic aesthetic. Although there was no arrangement, just the a cappella was already extremely catchy!

"This is the title track of this album. It should fit the market taste very well, right?" Although it was a question, Miss Luo Quan's tone was incomparably firm.

Not to mention anything else, the song "First Love" definitely deserves to be called a divine song level.

As the title track of Utada Hikaru's debut album, this song was a well-deserved masterpiece. Whether it was the quality or the singer's interpretation level, it was the peak of solo female singers in that era.

Based on the popularity of only two released singles, this album sold 2.2 million copies in the first week of its release, breaking various relevant Asian records in one fell swoop.

The final sales of the album reached as high as 7.65 million copies, which no one has been able to break to this day, and it is called an epoch-making album by the Japanese music scene.

To break the record, one must use songs that have had such honor. "First Love" was the only choice, which was also the reason why Miss Luo Quan positioned it as the title track.

"Absolutely no problem!" Tachibana Yuka was full of excitement. "This is a typical J-pop style, the favorite of people over 25, which is also the group with the strongest consumption power in the market!"

Miss Luo Quan stood up with a smile: "I can start recording songs immediately. As for the promotion, I will leave it to Director Shi Cun."

Director Shi Cun nodded: "You can rest assured about the promotion. As for the contract, let's give it at the highest market price, is that okay?"

Miss Luo Quan was curious: "What is the highest market price?"

"Global exclusive authorization, package price... 150 million yen, record sales are calculated separately." Director Shi Cun pondered for a while and gave a sky-high price.

In China, for a top-tier singer, a 10-million authorization fee for a new album is actually not uncommon, but the distribution method of the album is almost all digital albums. Those with more fans sell at a price of ten or twenty yuan, most are VIP on-demand, and some even allow free listening directly.

For Chinese music platforms, spending a lot of money to buy exclusive authorization is a complete loss-making business. It is almost impossible to make a profit by selling records. Platforms value the fan users and traffic brought by the star effect, which is the bulk of the revenue.

But Japan is different. Although the record market is now declining and not as prosperous as before, the camel is still bigger than the horse. Japan's record market is still a solid second in the world and first in Asia, with physical record sales reaching 200 billion yen and sales volume easily exceeding 100 million.

In such a market, the revenue brought by a hit album is incomparably terrifying, so as long as the album sells well, there is no need to worry about not being able to recoup the cost.

Take Miss Luo Quan's first mini-album as an example. The sales volume is now 2.4 million copies, with a total sales amount of 3.1 billion yen. After deducting taxes, promotion expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses, the net profit is still more than 2 billion yen.

And more than half of this large sum has to be taken away by the company, then the record store takes about 30%, and the remaining 15% is divided by the producer, composer, lyricist, Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, and the singer.

Among them, the producer gets the most, 10%, while the singer gets the least, only 1%, not even as much as the lyricist and composer.

This is the ecology of the Japanese record market. The album's producer and creator can get the most money besides the publisher and retailer, while the singer who truly attracts fans to pay gets the least, which is almost completely reversed compared to China.

This is also the reason why most Japanese singers have good creativity. Few people will completely outsource their albums. Even if they can't write good songs, they will rack their brains to write lyrics for the songs. After all, if they just sing, the money they get is really too little.

After all, not everyone is like Miss Luo Quan, who can sell an authorization fee of over 100 million before an album even starts recording. This is already the treatment of a big-name female singer.

It is worth mentioning that all of Miss Luo Quan's songs to date have been completed by her alone, from instrument timbre collection, arrangement, to recording. This work belonging to the producer has not been shared by outsiders.

So in a few days, when Sony Corporation "divides the gold and silver by weight," Miss Luo Quan will be able to get a very large income, even more than this sky-high authorization fee.

Miss Luo Quan walked to the door: "Then I'll go record the songs first. I'll record the title track first. I need to find other materials for a while, and it will be completed in about three days."

If she worked harder, she could get it done in a day and a half. After all, Miss Luo Quan knew how to produce an album by heart, and there were no technical difficulties.

But if she could slack off, why work overtime? She wasn't a corporate slave...

By the time Miss Luo Quan got home, it was already eight o'clock in the evening. Although she said she didn't want to work overtime, she still sat in the recording studio for more than ten hours, and her lunch was just simple instant noodles.

Probably every Chinese person has diligent genes in their bones. "Taking hard work as an honor, taking laziness as a shame" is a life creed that every young person has been reciting since elementary school. Although Miss Luo Quan didn't have a high education before, she still knew these principles.

Having drifted for half her life, now that she had something to do, she definitely had to work hard. This was a very simple value; otherwise, she would really become a parasite of society.

Miss Luo Quan, who returned home, found that the dinner of the two "parasites" at home was also very simple: spinach and lean meat porridge. The spinach had no leaves, and the lean meat was not cut.

"Luoluo, you're finally back~~~" Wen Xia and Junzi were dazed around the table. Seeing Miss Luo Quan walk in the door was like seeing a savior.

Junzi was full of expectation: "Starving to death, did Quan-chan bring us anything to eat?"

Miss Luo Quan was stunned: "Didn't I buy vegetables and meat for you?"

Eating takeout often is not nutritious, so considering that she often had to go to the company, Miss Luo Quan bought a lot of food a few days ago and put it in the refrigerator, enough for Wen Xia and Junzi to eat for a week.

"Isn't this big pot of porridge fragrant?" Miss Luo Quan looked at the spinach and lean meat porridge that was still steaming and looked good, very puzzled.

"You taste a spoonful yourself." Junzi handed the spoon to Miss Luo Quan.

Looking at the two women suspiciously, Miss Luo Quan found that Wen Xia's little face was as red as a monkey's butt, as if she had done something shameful.

Lowering her head, she scooped a spoonful of porridge. As soon as she put it in her mouth, Miss Luo Quan spat it out immediately:

"Pfft! Is this pig feed?!"

It was mushy and salty, and it carried a slight meaty smell. It was obvious that the porridge had been cooked for too long, and the meat hadn't been cooked through. It was so unpalatable that it was simply impossible to eat.

"You cooked it?" Miss Luo Quan held the spoon and asked Wen Xia for verification.

Wen Xia nodded embarrassedly: "I watched it on my phone. It looked pretty good. Who knew the taste would be so strange."

Miss Luo Quan laughed dumbly: "You'd better be an idol who doesn't touch the kitchen. These things ruin your persona too much. Let me cook for you today!" ===== CHAPTER 49 =====