Chapter 599: Waterloo?

"What's wrong? Isn't this just selling an album?"

Warner, offline signing event in the capital.

After seeing off the last excited fan and finishing the morning's first signing session, Zhou Yi shook his aching right hand, smiled, blew out a breath, and rubbed his hands as he faced Qian Jiang's constant muttering about public opinion: "Just tell me if you sold any."

This whole setup, in later times, had a more familiar name—brand collaboration, follow-and-share giveaways.

The most typical example: "Black Myth: Sun Wukong" had collaborated with countless cross-industry products, using its own attention and traffic to boost other partnered brands while simultaneously gaining even greater visibility.

Even in the mobile internet era, many people didn't immediately pay attention to news outside their interests, let alone back in 2003.

He had released an album—this "brand"—and many fans knew it, but many passersby didn't.

At this point, conducting brand collaboration sales was about stacking visibility, further expanding the original circle, achieving a breakout, and making more people aware of one thing—so that through that thing, they'd learn about the partnered joint event.

Follow-and-share giveaways were even simpler—everyone subconsciously wanted something for nothing, so even if they knew their chance of winning was minuscule, many still happily kept sharing.

Even those who hadn't paid attention before would first hit follow before sharing for the giveaway, and in the process, they'd learn who this person was and what they did—a latent way to gain followers and expand the circle.

Paired with the classic e-commerce live-streaming tactics—"Family, I've slashed the price for you," "This is the benefit I've secured for you all"—it was impossible not to recall, that little flavor, that tiny emotional tug, instantly rising.

"These people pride themselves as internet elites—won't they be seen through? Isn't this a bit too obvious?" Qian Jiang frowned: "Could it damage your reputation?"

As his agent, his focus remained on Zhou Yi.

"The internet elites aren't these people now—they were the original ones. Don't be fooled by just a few years; the online world has already iterated twice." Zhou Yi, now wearing gloves and a scarf, got into the car, his tone mocking.

Students, office workers, and those who fancied themselves superior and loved showing off online were now the mainstream of this internet era.

Were there real elites?

Of course there were, but their numbers had been crushed by ordinary netizens.

The rise of internet cafes and illegal black internet cafes allowed even ordinary small-town youths to transform online into self-proclaimed internet gods, pontificating on world affairs and acting with bold authority, enjoying the thrill of being idolized.

The "Muzimei" incident, which brought blogs into the public eye, had already shattered the lofty image of so-called internet elites.

Tianya's descent into a hotbed of rumors began precisely during this period.

And it was precisely this group that was most easily blinded by a single leaf and swallowed marketing whole.

Just as, after the arrival of the mobile internet era, those who constantly mouthed "capital" this and "capital" that were often the most easily swayed and quickest to become echo chambers—their understanding of "capital" was essentially something implanted in their minds through marketing.

And Zhou Yi, right now, was simply using these marketing tactics to continuously stack his new album's influence online, achieving a breakout effect where 1+1>3—

"Because those who studied journalism won't let go of the hot topic that I personally spent millions—or even tens of millions—of my own money. Even without bribing them, they'll automatically track and report on it.

"They chase trends; the truth doesn't matter—they only care about KPIs and attention."

Leaning back in his seat with one leg crossed, Zhou Yi calmly opened a tabloid and hungrily devoured the gossip—

Because the filming budget for "New Police Story" had begun exceeding its original estimate and kept spiraling further over budget, Jackie Chan and his longtime partner, Chen Ziqiang, with whom he'd weathered thirty years of storms, were rumored to be splitting up.

…………………………

"Split up? Let them split up!"

WLMQ, inside a restaurant.

Dao Lang sat in silence, wrapped in a thick coat, gulping down 1.5-yuan bottles of Xingyou Daqu, while the members of the Bingdian Band around him each smoked cheap cigarettes, smoke curling as their eyes grew slightly red.

They were all longtime collaborators.

In early November this year, Dao Lang and his agent Li Songqiang had gone to the XJ Women's Basketball nostalgia celebration and performed four songs for free, sparking the idea to leave WLMQ and enter the mainland music market—

Because Dao Lang and his agent were astonished to discover that among the mainland visitors, his songs were unexpectedly popular.

"Go ahead and try it, but be careful—those distributors are ruthless bastards who eat people and spit out bones; they're basically pirates themselves. Now the anti-piracy movement on the mainland is raging—don't get yourself caught up in it."

The elder drank his last sip of liquor and gave a warning.

The person who approached Dao Lang was a distributor.

More accurately, several pirate distributors.

They believed Dao Lang's music differed from the current popular styles in the mainland music scene and might have potential, so after the celebration, they approached Dao Lang and his studio to discuss things.

Dao Lang was hesitant, but still found the future they painted somewhat appealing.

"Using pirate distributors to enter the mainland market? You'll never be accepted by the mainland music industry. Not only won't you be accepted—you'll be harshly criticized.

"I've already thought it through: if you succeed, sign with a Hong Kong company—like Universal Records or Sony Records. Don't go to Warner—because Zhou Yi is now the leader of mainland music; as long as he's there, Warner won't sign you."

Agent Li Songqiang analyzed the pros and cons of entering the mainland market via pirate distributors and helped Dao Lang eliminate one wrong option.

One general's glory rests on ten thousand bones; using pirate distributors was already a done deal for Dao Lang—even if he was rejected by the mainland music scene, he accepted it.

He couldn't resist the temptation of fame; even in the quiet of night, he fantasized about moving out of WLMQ the moment he became famous, into a big villa, buying two or three luxury cars.

As for becoming world-famous like Zhou Yi…

He'd thought about it too, but still felt it impossible.

His music style was too narrow—mostly rugged and coarse—and in the mainland music scene, it might only be fresh for a few years.

"What shape is hope in the eyes of children, is it…"

The restaurant's speakers played Zhou Yi's new album "Gui Cang" track "Zhi Zhan Zhi Shang," but soon drew complaints from diners—

"What the hell is this? Turn it off, turn it off! Play something a real man would listen to."

"Alright, alright, I'll turn it off, I'll turn it off."

At the same moment, in a dormitory at a boarding arts school in WLMQ.

Gu Lina'er Bai and Ti'ear, having bought Zhou Yi's new album at a music store, nodded hurriedly under their roommates' urging.

"Da Qian Shi Jie," "Dan Zhi Yi Hui Jian," "He Shan Da Hao"…

"What kind of songs is Zhou Yi singing on Side A? Only 'New Earth' and 'He Shan Da Hao' are listenable, but I still don't get what they mean."

"What the hell is that opening track on Side A, 'Sunzi Bingfa'? Did Zhou Yi get his brain kicked by a donkey overseas?"

"Same here—I'm even more confused than his last album. Last time, Side A had 'Dad and Mom,' which I clearly understood."

"…."

For a group of eleven- or twelve-year-old girls, you can't expect them to understand music—they follow only their hearts and ears; if it sounds bad, it's bad, no matter how much you hype it up.

High pitch and few followers is a problem for you singers, not for us listeners who paid to buy the albums.

Besides, they scraped together their pocket money to buy the albums specifically for Zhou Yi's title of "World Superstar"; shouldn't a World Superstar at least sing well?

"Why do I feel like Zhou Yi went abroad for a stroll and lost his brain overseas?"

On Mop, several posts expressing deep confusion over Zhou Yi's album appeared silently—

"Let me state upfront: I bought the genuine copy, but I have no idea what Zhou Yi is thinking. I couldn't even make it through Side A of this album. What is he singing? Is 'Sunzi Bingfa' something a human being should sing?"

"And those songs later on, I only understood one: 'He Shan Da Hao'. On the surface, it tells me not to be an internet addict, but actually it tells me not to worship foreign things; I understood that one."

"Agreed. I skipped tracks until my finger went numb, but I do like the melody of 'Tan Zhi Yi Hui Jian'. Looking at the lyric booklet, it seems to tell the story of Su Wu herding sheep."

"What's going on? Did Zhou Yi crash and burn? It can't be that bad, right?"

Those who hadn't yet managed to grab a copy of Zhou Yi's album felt a sudden shock in their hearts upon seeing these posts—

"Isn't 'Qi Li Xiang' quite pleasant to listen to?"

"Could it be that only the song 'Qi Li Xiang' is good?"

Did Zhou Yi go to France and suffer a Waterloo?