Chapter 43: The Eldest and Second Fight, the Third Is Gone

"Don't say it, this really has that flavor. There's a reason 'First Weekly' can sell like crazy."

Zhou Yi, who had been stunned into laughter, casually tossed the weekly magazine on the coffee table in the lounge, shifted his body sinking into the sofa, chuckled lightly, and said, "However, if I recall correctly, isn't it famous for being a paparazzi rag over in Xiangjiang?"

"That's right, but your achievements are too dazzling. Now, whether online or in reality, the discussion about you never stops; naturally, they won't let go of this hot topic."

"To be honest, I originally thought Sun Yanzi was already hot enough, but I didn't expect you to be even hotter than her."

A slightly heavy figure sat on the fabric sofa, holding an itinerary, as Qian Jiang sighed with admiration, "You make me feel like I'm not managing a newcomer, but a Guo Tianwang."

Which newcomer's debut can take on a bunch of Guo Tianwang and Li Yijie and win?

"What's the background of this Zhou Yi?"

Rock Records building in the Taiwan Province, conference room.

Duan Zhongtan, the head of Rock Records, made all the documents and data he had obtained fully public, while sitting on both sides of the conference table were the famous figures within Rock Records—

Luo Dayou and Li Zongsheng.

These two figures, who can be called godfathers of the Mandarin music scene, jointly created the brilliant prosperous age of the Rock Music Dynasty; at their peak, Rock, under their protection, once drove the several international record giants stationed in the domestic market into节节 retreat.

However, at this very moment, these two music godfathers were helpless against a young man from the mainland.

"A student Zhou Jianhui dug up from the mainland, still in university, just finished his junior year, from Peking University."

Li Zongsheng adjusted the glasses frames on his nose bridge, looking at the string of data on the report, his words full of praise: "It's incredible; a young man of only nineteen has single-handedly opened up a new path for the music scene and excavated a new musical style direction."

Album: 'Zhou Yi'.

Lyricist: Zhou Yi.

Composer: Zhou Yi.

Arranger: Zhou Yi.

Singer: Zhou Yi.

The album has a total of eleven songs, all written about Zhou Yi.

Perhaps to others there might be suspicion of fraud, but in front of someone of Li Zongsheng's caliber, whether it is true or false is just a matter of asking a few questions.

The circle is this small; if such epoch-defining songs were written by someone else and then bought by Warner for Zhou Yi, they would definitely not be able to sit still.

"Now is not the time to praise him, Zongsheng. You need to know, he is our threat right now."

Duan Zhongtan had a bit of a headache, then turned his head and cast his gaze toward Luo Dayou on the left: "What do you think?"

"We can't stop him; this child named Zhou Yi has already gained momentum."

Luo Dayou, speaking with a broken gong voice, shook his head, casually threw the documents in his hand onto the conference table in front of him, raised his eyes, and looked at the man sitting diagonally opposite him—

"Guo Tianwang Killer" Zhou Huajian.

"Huajian's 'Possessed by Ghosts' and Ruoyin's 'Love You Very Much' were beaten without a chance to fight back; now 'Later' might not even stay at number one for long."

Luo Dayou felt somewhat emotional.

He, who had persisted in Mandarin music for half a lifetime, now had a mix of flavors in his heart and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Because the melody of 'Later' was bought from RB.

This also means that the reason 'Later' can still firmly sit in the top seat without being knocked down by Zhou Yi is purely a case of bullying.

You've combined China and Japan, while Zhou Yi wrote everything himself, purely self-produced and self-sold.

"I have listened to his album; the songs inside gave me a huge shock. It even made me feel a bit lost, lost that songs can actually be sung this way, and elements and melodies can actually be fused this way."

"Old Duan, give up; if we fight over this album, we will gain nothing but loss."

As an elder figure under Rock Records, Zhou Huajian, who could sit in this private meeting, naturally had the qualification to express his own opinion.

"... I still want to try."

As the head, Duan Zhongtan was obviously still a bit unwilling.

In the nearly two years since Rock reorganized, some new investments failed one after another, plus the arrival of the financial crisis, the company's layoff volume was about to approach 50%.

If it weren't for the Guo Tianwang and Li Yijie under the company being enough to hold up the scene, Rock would probably go bankrupt directly.

Duan Zhongtan regarded this album by Liu Ruoyin as the golden work that could make Rock completely turn the tables; watching a child surpass it with his own eyes, he couldn't swallow this breath of anger.

"No need."

At the critical moment, Li Zongsheng frowned and stopped him, saying, "Warner hasn't played any outside tricks up to now; we don't need to do this."

"Besides, Zhou Yi is only nineteen; he is still very young, and his psychological endurance is not like those old sharks from the eighties and nineties. Do you want to ruin him?"

"He is a genius; his success means the music scene has another new market waiting for successors to cultivate together; you can't do this."

The bottom lines of Li Zongsheng and Luo Dayou, who managed to bring Rock to the point of half the Jiangshan, were factors that could not be ignored.

"Yes, besides, 'Later' occupied the first-mover advantage for more than half a year; in the end, we might not lose." Zhou Huajian, laughing, comforted him: "And we can also use this wind to market, right?"

Under the circumstances where these brothers were all serious musicians, the Rock head who had entertained crooked thoughts was finally persuaded back.

On July 16, Rock, unwilling to be ridden over the head by a newcomer, also went full throttle on marketing, while smartly strengthening the image of Liu Ruoyin as the queen sitting on the Wang Zuo waiting to be challenged, subtly and overtly boosting Liu Ruoyin once more.

The artists of the Rock faction also stood up one after another to wave flags and shout for the company's Li Yijie.

Facts proved that Rock, which truly had the power of half the Jiangshan in the past, was powerful enough. In just two days, many people who didn't pay attention to the music scene's disputes knew this matter—

A newcomer singer named Zhou Yi had fought his way through all obstacles, knocked down the Four Great Guo Tianwang, and arrived before Liu Ruoyin, preparing to launch a charge at her Wang Zuo.

Many people who only listened to songs and bought pirated copies without paying attention to so-called status, upon seeing this news, the first thought that popped into their heads was—

Is Liu Ruoyin this awesome?

Even the Four Great Guo Tianwang are not opponents?

Wasn't she previously suppressed dead tight before?

How is this newcomer named Zhou Yi also this awesome?

"..."

And when the newspapers were filled with comparisons of sales, play rates, and even various charts, this group of pirate audiences, who were originally the song recipients, suddenly became interested.

People are generally fond of making a scene, and the bigger the scene, the more they like to join in.

In this battle that swept through the entire Chinese music scene, many consumers who had bought pirated copies felt somewhat guilty; under Rock Records' subtle hints, they believed their purchase of pirated discs had caused their favorite singer to be knocked off her throne by a young upstart.

This simply wouldn't do.

What kind of joke is this? When our Liu Ruoying was struggling in the music scene, how old were you, Zhou Yi?

And at this moment, Liu Ruoying's foundation as a Heavenly Queen, built over years of struggle in the music scene, finally came into play—

With the vast user base of pirated disc buyers right there, even converting a tiny fraction was enough to stimulate the data growth of "Later."

Just like that, relying on hype, Rock Records, which should have been barely surviving under Zhou Yi's domineering chart sweep alongside other labels, miraculously managed to elevate Liu Ruoying's status.

Moreover, this hype campaign by Rock Records also officially placed Zhou Yi on the table as the sole competitor, eliminating the possibility of other rivals slipping in through the back door.

This left the other record labels, which were indeed barely surviving, stunned, especially PolyGram Records, which had only Zhang Xueyou as its remaining trump card.

Wait, by what merit does your Liu Ruoying get to climb above my God of Song?

Just on the strength of one song, "Later"?

Comparing peaks, my Xueyou still has "Kiss Goodbye"!

Unfortunately, suffering from the disadvantage of its release year, PolyGram could only suffer in silence.

To speak reasonably, in the new album Zhang Xueyou released at the end of '99, "She Comes to Listen to My Concert" absolutely qualifies as a classic.

But alas, it first encountered "Later," and then encountered "Happy Worship," a unique phenomenon in the entire Chinese music scene with no current substitute, leaving it able to maintain face only within Xiangjiang itself.

And even more anxious than PolyGram was Emperor Entertainment, which had been full of confidence in early July—

Wait, where is our Xie Tingfeng?!

Rock and Warner, are the two of you colluding to commit fraud?!

Our Xie Tingfeng's "Because of Love, So Love" is also a classic-level hit; sales are currently at the 160,000 level, and the ranking is within the top ten; why aren't we included in the fun?

Xie Tingfeng's manager, Huo Wenxi, attempted to enter the fray and stir the waters to push Xie Tingfeng onto the table, but only a small number of people paid any attention.

Even though Xie Tingfeng, relying on his immense popularity, pushed "Because of Love, So Love" up to the third position.

After all, when the first and second place are fighting, very few people pay attention to the rankings behind those two.

On July 19, "Later," which had started the battle first, leveraged the return of pirated users converted from its high heat over this period, along with repurchases from new and old users, once again widened the gap with "Happy Worship" and firmly secured the first Wang Zuo.

On July 20, Warner, copying the style, also stirred up this so-called "Battle of the New and Old Kings of the Chinese Music Scene."

Elevating Liu Ruoying was not only a return favor for her helping Zhou Yi elevate his status but also successfully affixed the label of "Strong One" onto Zhou Yi.

Similarly, many young people who had bought pirated copies of "Zhou Yi" were ignited by a dream in their hearts—

In this moment, Zhou Yi in their minds seemed like a manifestation; it was as if they, following Zhou Yi, launched this charge against the older generation holding the power of speech.

How could they not support this?

I've already been sick of my bald boss (teacher) who likes Liu Ruoying!

Young people never yield!

It's just a CD; buying an official copy won't hurt; buy!

Those who can afford CDs buy CDs, those who can afford cassettes buy cassettes; give as much as you can!

Thus, under this thoroughly heated "Wang Zuo" struggle, the data for both sides, which had been profiting handsomely, officially began to soar—

On the 22nd, Liu Ruoying's album sales data miraculously revived, and "Later" rose with the tide.

Unfortunately, before Rock Records could be happy for long, "Zhou Yi," which was catching up with great effort, caught up again; the data for "Happy Worship" also rose rapidly, leaving the third-place "Because of Love, So Love" far behind.

On the 26th, "Happy Worship" officially surpassed "Later" in the statistical data from channels such as Baodao Popular Record Store, Rose Record Store, Baodao Popular Radio, and Taipei Music Radio, officially ascending to the number one spot!

The official sales of the "Zhou Yi" album directly broke through the 280,000 mark, heading straight for 300,000!

In contrast, the popular Heavenly King Xie Tingfeng had a huge portion of his market eaten away; his album sales had only just broken through 220,000, and his title track "Because of Love, So Love" still ranked below "Later" and "Happy Worship" on various charts.

However, at this point, aside from Xie Tingfeng's own fans, no one was paying attention to his songs or his album anymore.

People were clearly more interested in the back-and-forth surpassing between "Happy Worship" and "Later," wishing they could bring a small stool to watch the two singers fight on a boxing ring.

On one side, Liu Ruoying was running promotions; on the other, Zhou Yi was holding a signing event; the two companies, using no outside tricks, began a head-on clash.

On July 28, 2000, "Happy Worship" hadn't sat firmly in the number one spot for two days before "Later" reclaimed its first Wang Zuo;

The next day, less than 24 hours had passed, and "Later," whose bottom hadn't even warmed the seat, was kicked down again by "Happy Worship."

Zhou Yi felt his hands were about to smoke from writing signatures.

Liu Ruoying, for the first time in her many years in the industry, felt that promotion was so exhausting.

How is this newcomer so fierce?!

She is a veteran Heavenly Queen!

On July 30, "Later" reclaimed the first Wang Zuo again; the exhausted boss of Rock Records even wanted to start cheating, but fortunately, Li Zongsheng, Lo Ta-yu, and others held him back;

On July 31, the tenacious "Happy Worship" once again overturned Rock Records' small stool and, strutting arrogantly, put on the Wang Guan.

The fight between first and second place brought Rock Records a wave of new popularity, the album recouped a large sum of funds, and Liu Ruoying's exposure skyrocketed;

Zhou Yi even stepped directly on the ladder handed over by Rock Records, relying on this music scene battle with Liu Ruoying that started in mid-July to remove the "just debuted newcomer" hat from his head, and his popularity rapidly ascended to the first tier of the music scene.

Unconvinced?

If you're unconvinced, go try fighting with "Later" yourself?

Throughout July, the only one hurt was Xie Tingfeng, who ranked third, because starting from mid-July, the attention on his newly released album plummeted, and all the heat was sucked dry by the first and second place fighting above him...

"Because of Love, So Love" even dropped to sixth place.

Yang Shoucheng of Emperor Entertainment was so angry he almost pulled out a knife to go spar with Warner's Zhou Jianhui and Rock Records' Duan Zhongtan.

Damn it, those two old bastards are not playing by the rules of martial arts; they are playing dirty here.

Regarding this grandiose so-called "Music Scene Battle," if he didn't believe these two had secretly communicated, he wouldn't believe it.

August 1st,

On the day the monthly charts were set, "Happy Worship" still suppressed "Later," continuing to maintain its position as the number one.

At the same time, Warner officially announced to the outside world that the sales of Zhou Yi's self-titled album "Zhou Yi" had broken through the 300,000 mark.

A newcomer to the music scene leaped straight into the three-hundred-thousand club, becoming Warner's top-selling artist of the year in just one month.

Regarding this, Zhou Yi's mood was a mix of pain and joy.

The pain came from the sheer exhaustion; running promotions across the island meant treating the artist like a beast of burden.

As for the joy, that was naturally the joy of counting money.

Moreover, the most important point was that he didn't have to split songwriting and composition royalties with anyone else; he swallowed the entire share himself!