Chapter 253: The Chef's Luck Is Stolen

For Zhou Yi, this award carried far more weight than the pile of so-called first MTV Asia Awards from Hong Kong, since it was a genuine ranking based on sales figures without all the nonsense.

Once sales hit the qualification threshold and you get the album sales certified by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, then you go collect it.

Precisely because of this, the award has basically never been much of a suspenseful event.

After the initial nomination list was announced, basically every record label only needed to check the artists' actual sales data to know exactly who would win.

Rather than an awards ceremony, the World Music Awards at this time were more like a pure show—those coming to receive awards received them, those coming to perform performed, and those coming to ride the wave rode the wave. Everyone took what they needed, and no dramatic messes arose.

As a result, due to the single criterion of sales, this award actually became the place where many boastful singers were exposed for who they really were.

"Because this award was founded in 1989 by a wealthy man from Monaco, the venue has always been there; this year is no exception.

"Starting March 6, we need to depart no later than March 1."

Since Zhou Yi had no performance duties, he did not need to go to Monte Carlo in Monaco for rehearsals early; arriving about six days in advance would be enough.

"Oh, by the way, once you get there, you should interact more with the artists and groups belonging to Warner's headquarters and its branches."

Seeing that Zhou Yi seemed to be treating this trip as a vacation, Qian Jiang still offered a reminder: "Your single received follow-up support and backing in Europe and America, and they contributed to that."

As a Chinese person, after breaking into the Billboard top ten for the first time on January 16 this year, by today, February 26, Zhou Yi's English song had stayed in the top ten for five weeks.

Meanwhile, with the support of Warner and artists from various labels under Warner, "The Lazy Song" continued to break historical ranking records for Chinese and even Asian artists on the Billboard charts, relying on its quality and an extremely catchy music video—

and this time, he even surpassed Xia Qila's best-selling single "Whenever, Wherever," climbing to seventh place.

After officially launching global sales on February 14, up to now, the song has entered the top 80 on music charts in Spain, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, Australia, Denmark, Canada, and other countries.

Among these, the performance on the UK pop charts was far better than in the other countries, with a current outlook of entering the top 50 by the end of February.

One can only say it is no wonder they exist as co-rotating father and son with the United States.

"Currently, the domestic US sales of your English single have reached 1.24 million copies; adding Japan, the global sales have reached 3.13 million. This is still far from the limit of this single. According to estimates from Warner headquarters, the sales of this song can at least reach over 4.6 million copies.

"Their message is that the single has not yet reached its limit, so there is no need to rush releasing the album for now. If you have confidence, you can release another single right after the potential of "The Lazy Song" is mostly exhausted; preferably one with a sports atmosphere, since you can ride the World Cup wave, and you happen to have a Coca-Cola commercial song."

Qian Jiang flipped through the suggestions given by Warner headquarters.

Thanks to the excellent legitimate mechanisms of the European and American music markets, generally speaking, releasing an album all at once cannot maximize profits in the European and American markets.

Many big-name European and American stars usually release an album every two or three years, not because they are lazy or particularly perfectionist; maximizing profit is the most important reason.

Assuming an album has three to four hit-level songs, the artist will usually take about two out to chart, not releasing them all at once; instead, after the potential and heat of one song nears its limit, they release the next one.

Doing this serves two purposes: first to broaden fame, and second to sell single sales first.

Once the two hit singles have mostly sold out, they then strategically release the album containing those singles to drive another wave of sales; for more discerning buyers, they offer a discount on the album price.

This way, because the goal is to squeeze the single's potential to the extreme, the release schedule of the artist's album naturally slows down, making a release every two or three years the norm.

As for those who are not particular...

Looking at the price set by Warner for his future English album in the proposal, Zhou Yi could only grin.

After all, who would ever complain about having too many dollars?

"I wonder when the domestic market will have soil for singles to survive." Qian Jiang, having witnessed the maturity of the European and American markets, felt somewhat emotional.

Although Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi's albums were selling like hotcakes, the domestic album market as a whole was still sliding uncontrollably, let alone the single market.

The drawbacks of Chen Zeshan signing Zhang Huimei and Na Ying to Warner in one breath to form the "Goddess Palace" with Zheng Xiuwen and Sun Yanzi were already beginning to show—

because the overall market was sliding, their respective sales only reached the minimum expectations; after entering 2002, a trend of shortage in promotional resources among the members of the Warner Goddess Palace appeared.

"This situation will improve in the future."

Zhou Yi, who had absolutely no need to worry about promotional resources affecting himself, smiled and patted his own manager's shoulder.

Because the legitimate market in the domestic music scene was quite distorted, the living space for singles was currently almost non-existent, which caused a batch of album-focused competitors.

The brief spring for singles had to wait until the ringtone era officially exploded, then declined along with the decline of ringtones, only to indirectly catch up after the mobile internet era arrived.

However, this catch-up came with a very obvious head-effect, where the winner takes all.

The most typical example is Zhou Jielun's "The Greatest Works of Art," an album containing five songs that were old singles released a year, two years, or even three or four years ago.

To be honest, putting in old singles from three or four years ago is an operation that would count as extremely perfunctory even in the European and American music scene.

"Let's hope so."

Watching Zhou Yi pack the trophies one by one into bags, Qian Jiang also held high hopes and expectations for the future market.

On February 28, Zhou Yi, who was on his way to the airport, received a phone call he did not expect—

a call from Elva Hsiao.

"Zhou Yi, when are you arriving in Monte Carlo? I'm so bored being here alone."

"What are you doing over there?"

"Attending the World Music Awards."

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow in surprise: "Don't get me wrong, but with your sales figures last year, you couldn't even beat my domestic sales, let alone considering I have overseas sales from my English single added on; you didn't even make the nomination list, right?"

"... Nonsense, who could compare to you in domestic sales last year!"

In Monaco, Monte Carlo, inside a luxury hotel suite.

Leaning by the window, Elva Hsiao said grumpily: "I was invited by the organizing committee to present the award to you alongside other guest presenters, because I am the winner of the 2001 World Music Award for Highest Album Sales by a Chinese Artist.

"Because both you and I are Chinese, and our relationship is close enough to frequently make the news, the organizing committee invited me. So, show some respect to your senior, little Zhou Yi."

"..."

Hearing Elva Hsiao say this, Zhou Yi finally remembered that in the early 2000s, her album sales were truly insanely high. Her full-year sales in 2000 even surpassed Xie Tingfeng, allowing her to win the 2001 World Music Award for Highest Sales by a Chinese Artist in one fell swoop.

She was the only one among the "Four Big and Three Small" who dominated sales from debut, trampling over both male and female singers, becoming so popular she had no friends.

This was also the reason why his initial consumption of the fanbase diversion benefit from Elva Hsiao attracted so much attention.

Xie Tingfeng should have overtaken her in 2001 and won this proof of sales at the 2002 World Music Awards, but unfortunately, he met Zhou Yi.

"Why aren't you speaking? Are you very nervous? Honestly, I'm a bit nervous too; this is my first time here after all."

"First time? Then how did you win the award last year?"

"They officially air-freighted it to me. My teacher was managing me, telling me to go to Japan for recording and not to attend the awards ceremony to avoid distraction, so I didn't go. I actually felt quite regretful."

"Including the Golden Melody Awards registration, I actually wanted to sign up too, but my teacher said he is about to reconcile with the Golden Melody Awards and will join the judging panel. Since I'm so popular now, to avoid people whispering about rigged operations behind my back, he simply didn't let me register."

Speaking of this, Elva Hsiao's tone was full of regret.

"... As long as your teacher is happy."

Yao Qian's personality was like that; Zhou Yi couldn't say anything bad about him. This man and Hai Die's Lin Qiuli's thick-skinnedness were two extremes.

Due to scheduling conflicts and her reputation, it was somewhat a pity that Elva Hsiao, who debuted at her peak, wouldn't accept major awards, wouldn't appear on the Spring Festival Gala, and wouldn't register for the Golden Melody Awards.

Elva Hsiao, who debuted with the image of an urban arts diva, once nominated for the Golden Melody Awards, wouldn't just be a top contender for the award; at the very least, she wouldn't lack nominations.

Instead, the less famous Jiang Meiqi was registered by Yao Qian for the Golden Melody Awards. Because her fame was low, she wouldn't win anyway, so no one would accuse Virgin of rigging the results.

Of course, the main reason was that Yao Qian truly treated Elva Hsiao like his own daughter, so his management was exceptionally strict. He didn't want her to carry any negative music-related news; as long as she focused on making the album well, the market would accept it.

"My teacher is good; at least recently he's willing to let me out as a guest. Let me tell you, Dior even sponsored a bag for me to carry, hehe."

At this moment, Elva Hsiao was like a naughty child liberated from her parents' high pressure, showing off her delight at being allowed to go out and play over the phone.

"Then why don't you quickly say thank you to Brother Zhou Yi."

"Eat shit!"

Hearing Elva Hsiao's half-learned Cantonese over the phone, Zhou Yi laughed out loud: "No, are you repaying kindness with enmity? I'm just asking if you used my name to persuade your teacher."

…………………………………

No?!

How could he be here?!

Warner. When Ning Hao, who was selected as the MV director, pushed open the conference room door, he found a famous figure in the circle sitting conspicuously at the conference table—

Jiang Wen.

Disbelieving, he instinctively confirmed with a glance. Just that one glance caught Jiang Wen's attention. Turning his head, he frowned and sized him up from top to bottom: "Who are you?"

"... Hello, Mr. Jiang. I am the MV director, Ning Hao."

"Oh, Director Ning, right? Come, sit."

Jiang Wen had an epiphany, welcoming him with a look that said "don't be polite."

Ning Hao: "..."

Why did he feel something was off?

The living world!

One more chapter!

(End of this chapter)