Chapter 625

As the current highest-rated entertainment variety show in China, "Happy Camp" has become a mandatory appearance for artists promoting themselves on the mainland.

For example, Lin Junjie, the junior disciple of the "Undercarriage God" Ah Du, debuted this year with simultaneous releases across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the mainland; to break into the mainland market, his first move was specifically to appear on "Happy Camp."

A Chinese Singaporean, he's a fellow countryman of Sun Yanzi;

He composes music and writes lyrics, and has received Zhou Yi's approval.

Ah Du's junior disciple.

These are the three key labels Haidie promotes.

Lin Junjie himself expressed excitement and gratitude when mentioning Zhou Yi on "Happy Camp," making many young mainland viewers familiar with this newcomer who rose to fame with "Frozen."

"Actually, I hadn't even gotten a debut opportunity yet—I was still writing songs for other singers at the company. Then one day, someone from the company came over and told me, 'Hey, you know JJ? Your song was chosen by Sun Yanzi.'"

"I was completely stunned, frozen in place for several seconds."

"In that instant, many thoughts flashed through my mind—maybe they were pranking me, maybe it was a mistake—until I heard that Zhou Yi had picked my song while helping Sun Yanzi choose tracks."

"Wow, my head nearly exploded then…"

On screen, the young Singaporean with his messy side-swept bangs and wild, spiky hair smiled with eyes nearly shut as he recounted the story: "I said, 'That's Zhou Yi—the most popular singer in all of China—don't mess with me.'"

"Only when the company transferred money to my account did I realize it wasn't a dream. After that, I became even more determined to pursue music, and officially debuted this year…"

Lin Junjie's debut story, tied to Zhou Yi, naturally carried its own heat—

Many Zhou Yi fans, by extension, found this little fanboy, whose appearance posed zero threat to their idol, quite likable.

Especially since this little fanboy paid tribute to Zhou Yi live on "Happy Camp," medleying two of his songs—"It's Me" and "Jiangnan."

One was Zhou Yi's debut song; the other, his chart-topping hit.

Honestly, he sang them pretty well.

"Haidie really picked two strong singers—Ah Du first, then Lin Junjie."

Qian Jiang still held considerable admiration for this Singaporean talent who could both write and sing.

With that look, if he made it as a debutant, he was definitely a real powerhouse.

"Too bad he's with Haidie and signed a long-term contract. If only we could poach him—it'd be perfect. Then after our restructuring next year, we'd have another powerhouse."

Qian Jiang sighed regretfully: "Otherwise, we could've set up a 'Heavenly King Hall' to rival the 'Empress Palace.'"

Warner's resources now far surpass Haidie's; besides the outlier Zhou Yi, launching three male singers at once is no problem.

The key is, all three can write their own songs—so the biggest cost drops to zero.

Currently, the singers Warner has promoted—

Zhou Yi alone handles all lyrics and music for his entire album; Pu Shu alone handles all lyrics and music for his entire album; Wang Feng alone handles all lyrics and music for his entire album; Hu Yanbing alone handles all lyrics and music for his entire album;

On the Taiwan side, the F. I. R. band, previously introduced by Zhou Yi on the China-Korea Music Festival, is also preparing for their debut next year, and their album's lyrics and music are entirely self-produced by the two male members…

A regular company would consider itself lucky to find even one artist capable of handling everything alone; Warner has found a whole string.

As a result, Warner is now jokingly called "the company that Zhou Yi spoiled"—they now recruit singers solely based on whether they can write and produce everything themselves.

With this model, launching five or six such artists isn't a problem—Warner's promotional resources can handle it.

Chen Ze Shan's failure with the "Empress Palace" plan stemmed from the fact that all the female singers he recruited lacked strong, lasting creative abilities and required massive company resources just to select songs, leading to internal competition and conflict.

To achieve results, Qian Jiang, now newly appointed, has been nurturing a plan called the "Heavenly King Hall"—besides Zhou Yi.

After all, Zhou Yi is now the company's boss after the restructuring; Qian Jiang can't use the boss's achievements to pad his own performance metrics.

Thus, the "Heavenly King Hall" plan was born.

But unlike Chen Ze Shan, Qian Jiang, having learned from failure, is extremely selective for this "Heavenly King Hall" plan—he demands artists who can handle everything themselves, or at least write their own music or lyrics.

Only then will the "Heavenly King Hall" plan avoid the same fate as the "Empress Palace" plan.

For female singers, he's already found Deng Ziqi and Zhang Jingying.

Deng Ziqi, who writes her own lyrics and music, won't conflict with Sun Yanzi; and even if Zhang Jingying never gains creative ability, as long as she becomes famous later, Warner can afford it.

"Wang Feng is a man with strong opinions. If your 'Heavenly King Hall' plan requires him to renew his long-term contract, he won't agree—he's already a famous singer."

Zhou Yi shook his head: "If you want to do this, my advice is to wait for the internet music explosion. The current music scene is just mediocre."

Hu Yanbing is easier—he's still a newcomer, and was signed to a long-term contract from the start.

The only mainland musicians who meet this high standard are the trio who rose after the internet music explosion.

Xu Song, Wang Sulong, Xu Liang—any of these musicians with Hong Kong or Taiwan roots would already be hailed as legends. Each handles lyrics, composition, arrangement, and even produces their own crude MVs—they're talents among talents.

"Internet music explosion?" Qian Jiang frowned.

Zhou Yi gestured for him to come closer, closed the forum webpage, opened a music site called "Decibel Net," and pushed his laptop toward him: "This music site was launched in June this year, and within just one month, its daily traffic reached thirty thousand visits."

"Not only do ordinary people upload their cover songs here, but independent musicians are already uploading original songs—you should pay attention."

Many might not know Decibel Net, but if you mention two names, you'll understand the true value of this original internet music birthplace—

Of course, the site's owner isn't exactly a good guy.

"What the hell are you listening to? 'Mice Love Rice'?"

Seeing the playback progress bar clearly halfway through the song title, Qian Jiang frowned: "It's a new song? Uploaded two days ago? What kind of stupid name is that?"

"I found this site while browsing online—you know I always lurk in fan chat rooms; many of my fans upload their covers here."

Zhou Yi shrugged.

Qian Jiang sighed helplessly.

Regarding Zhou Yi's habit of creating fake accounts to lurk in fan groups, chat rooms, and forums, even sometimes steering the conversation himself, Qian Jiang's only comment was: "He's got too much time on his hands."

"I love you, I love you, just like mice love rice???"

Qian Jiang wiped his face, uninterested: "Anyway, Jianhui told me the reason you weren't invited to the China-Korea Music Festival this year is because Japan needs you more."

"?"

"Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the friendly treaty; Japan has proactively contacted our association to organize a China-Japan Music Festival, but an awkward incident occurred when Ayumi Hamasaki acted like a diva."

"The higher-ups' plan is: since you've appeared twice on the China-Korea Music Festival, now you should appear twice on the China-Japan Music Festival—keep it balanced. Of course, Jianhui's suggestion is that if you can completely dominate the Japanese music scene, that'd be even better."

Qian Jiang winked and raised his eyebrows: "You should understand what I mean by now?"

Before, no one could compare, but now, do we lack big names here?

Bring someone, Zhou Yi!

(End of this chapter)