Chapter 8: Unseen World
The company has a new rising star ranked third!
The moment the new rising star list was announced, the news spread throughout Starlight Entertainment, invigorating the entire staff.
“Wow, finally a big shot has come to save our reputation.”
“Does this mean they won’t cut our music department’s bonus this year?”
“Well, our film department was tasked with everyone downloading ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’ at least once. Now that we’ve finally got a third place, it seems they’re determined to protect it.”
“Of course.”
“Starlight is one of the top three entertainment companies in Qinzhou. A poor performance on the new rising star list greatly affects our company’s image. Many graduates from music academies in Qinzhou choose companies based on these indicators…”
There are countless entertainment companies in Qinzhou.
Among them, the most renowned are undoubtedly Starlight Entertainment, Sand Sea Entertainment, and Brilliant Silver Fire.
In past rookie seasons, the newcomers launched by these three companies usually dominated the top of the new rising star list.
But in recent years, while Sand Sea and Brilliant Silver Fire have remained stable, Starlight Entertainment’s performance has been consistently poor, leading to doubts about Starlight’s authority in the music field—
This has a very negative impact!
That’s why the company’s higher-ups have been pressuring Zhao Jue, who is fully responsible for this matter.
If it weren’t for this reason, under normal circumstances, the value of a rookie season wouldn’t be enough to make the company’s boss so anxious.
As the company’s employees discussed, the name Xian Yu naturally spread among everyone.
In contrast, there was little discussion about Sun Yaohuo.
It’s important to know that this is an era where even ordinary people pay attention to composers, let alone in an entertainment company, which is a typical industry ecosystem!
The status of composers is far higher than that of singers.
Otherwise, why is there a saying in the industry about “Master Composers”?
Everyone is clear about one thing:
The success of a song often lies in the composer embedding their melody into people’s hearts.
In other words, Xian Yu’s creation, “Life Like Summer Flowers,” is a song that doesn’t require a specific person to sing it.
Even if the company didn’t choose Sun Yaohuo and instead picked someone else to sing this song, as long as they had a decent voice, they could become popular with the company’s resources and promotion.
This is why, after a song becomes popular, everyone favors the composer.
Of course, those singers with exceptionally unique voices are another story.
These singers are rare gems in the entire music industry, with naturally gifted voices that make any song sound good. They are considered trump cards, and their status is high enough to rival those famous Master Composers.
Some extraordinary singers and those incredible Master Composers often achieve mutual success when they collaborate, and neither can do without the other.
After all, some songs aren’t for just anyone to sing.
It’s like you can’t just pull any singer into the studio to sing “Opera.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the more difficult a song is to sing, the better it is. Some songs can be sung by anyone, but you can’t deny their excellence.
Meanwhile, outside the company, the atmosphere of the rookie season has spread throughout Qinzhou with the opening of the new rising star list.
The attention of major companies has finally shifted from Sand Sea Entertainment, which firmly holds the first place on the new rising star list, to Starlight Entertainment, one of the three major entertainment companies.
“Oh wow, Starlight’s newcomer is back in the top three this year.”
“After all, it’s one of the three major entertainment companies. Starlight Entertainment can’t be underwhelming every year.”
“So the old three don’t give us a chance. Sand Sea is unbreakable in first place, Brilliant Silver Fire is stable in second, and now Starlight has regained its glory in third. They eat the meat, and we small companies can only drink the soup.”
“……”
Besides the entertainment industry companies, music critics are also paying attention to the new rising star list, with the top three songs being the focus of many.
On Weibo, music critics are actively recommending their favorite songs from the new rising star list.
As a result, the vast majority of music critics ended up recommending the third-place song, “Life Like Summer Flowers,” in unison!
This trend piqued the interest of many passersby in “Life Like Summer Flowers,” and the comment sections under many recommendations became lively:
“The song title is quite beautiful.”
“Life is as splendid as summer flowers, and death is as serene as autumn leaves. Even before listening to the song, based on the recommendation, this song seems the best.”
“Seven out of the ten music critics I follow recommended ‘Life Like Summer Flowers.’ I have to listen to it.”
“I listened to the song, and it’s pretty good. Downloading to support.”
“I also listened, and personally, I think the song is just okay.”
“Indeed, personal taste is everything. I was blown away by ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’ on the first listen. It’s the first time I’ve been moved by a song without high notes.”
“Wow, this song has something special.”
“Thanks to the music critics’ recommendation, this song is probably my biggest discovery of this year’s rookie season. No more words, adding it to my collection and playlist.”
“……”
This is also a tradition in Qinzhou.
Every rookie season, almost all music critics will seize the opportunity to ride the wave of the rookie season’s popularity.
They either recommend their favorite songs or accept some bribes from entertainment companies to post pre-written press releases.
The former is more common.
The latter is relatively rare.
Because in Qinzhou, music is still considered a sacred thing, and the public isn’t foolish enough to be easily swayed by music critics.
This is related to Qinzhou’s unique characteristics.
Blue Star has eight continents: Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and an additional “capital” of Blue Star, Zhongzhou.
Each continent has its own unique features.
Among them, Qinzhou is recognized as the “Land of Music” throughout Blue Star!
It produces many musicians.
The neighboring Qizhou is known as the “Palace of Film.”
However, official data shows that most of the film scores in Qizhou are composed by Master Composers from Qinzhou.
At the same time, eighty percent of the composers active on Blue Star’s art stage come from this land of Qinzhou!
Not only various styles of songs but also piano, violin, symphonies…
And so on.
All music arts have a significant commercial space in Qinzhou.
Therefore, it’s evident that Qinzhou people’s love for music is not just a little bit, which is why the rookie season in the music industry can become a traditional reserved project in Qinzhou.
Growing up in such an environment, Qinzhou people also like to pride themselves on having a “high musical taste.”
If a Qinzhou person brings up music-related topics in front of people from the other seven continents, the sense of superiority is overwhelming.
……
Zhao Jue called Lin Yuan.
When the call connected, the chief agent’s voice was filled with excitement: “Lin Yuan, you’ll soon be able to transfer to the Composition Department. Also, congratulations on reaching third place on the new rising star list!”
“Am I in third place?”
On the other end of the line, Lin Yuan thought for a moment and seriously asked, “Is this ranking considered good in the rookie season?”
“……”
This question left Zhao Jue momentarily speechless.
It took her a while to recover, and then she realized Lin Yuan’s underlying meaning, somewhat surprised: “You haven’t been following the new rising star list today?”
“My classmates seem to be following it,” Lin Yuan replied.
Zhao Jue couldn’t help but laugh and cry. Lin Yuan’s words had so many points to critique that she didn’t know where to start.
She could only chat awkwardly: “Yes, third place is an excellent result, but today is just the first day. I’ll help you maintain the ranking.”
“Thank you, Sister Zhao.”
Lin Yuan was still respectful to Zhao Jue.
However, Zhao Jue felt that the conversation was a bit awkward, with Lin Yuan’s calmness contrasting sharply with her excitement.
It seemed like I was the one who hadn’t seen the world?
She could only forcefully end the topic: “Well, when you have time, come to the company to handle some paperwork. Also, the song’s revenue will be transferred to your account at the end of the month. I’ll hang up now.”
“Okay.”
When the song’s revenue was mentioned, Lin Yuan’s voice suddenly showed a bit of anticipation, which finally made Zhao Jue feel like she had some “worldly experience.”
“This kid…”
Zhao Jue shook her head with a smile, hung up the phone, and turned her attention back to the computer.
This was the interface of the new rising star list.
Since finishing lunch, Zhao Jue had been staring at this interface, not daring to leave for a moment.
She was afraid that if she blinked, the third place would be lost.
But as she watched, Zhao Jue felt something was off.
It wasn’t that the fourth place was catching up.
The fourth place’s download count was less than 30,000.
In contrast, the download count for “Life Like Summer Flowers” had already increased to a full 50,000 from morning until now!
But the strange thing was right here.
It seemed that the download count for “Life Like Summer Flowers” was increasing a bit too quickly?
The second place was a song from Brilliant Silver Fire.
“Aries,” sung by Zeng Yi, composed by Li Yang, with a download count of 53,000.
When the list first opened, “Aries” had a download count of 43,000, and it had increased by 10,000 so far.
But “Life Like Summer Flowers” had only 33,000 downloads when the list opened, and now it had increased by nearly 20,000!
What does this mean?
Could Starlight be about to surpass Brilliant Silver Fire?
The moment this thought appeared in Zhao Jue’s mind, it took root and grew wildly, causing her heart to race.
Refresh!
Refresh!
Moving the mouse, Zhao Jue began to refresh the webpage continuously, and sure enough, she saw that the data for “Life Like Summer Flowers” was getting closer and closer to the second place, making her heart beat faster…
At six o’clock in the evening, as it was nearing the end of the workday, Zhao Jue didn’t know how many times she had refreshed the list, but this time, she clearly saw that the second place on the new rising star list had become:
“Life Like Summer Flowers”!
Download count: 59,800!
The third place, Brilliant Silver Fire’s song “Aries,” had a download count of 59,100 and was pushed out of the top two!
At this moment, Zhao Jue almost laughed out loud.
While she was still thinking about maintaining the third place, “Life Like Summer Flowers” quietly surpassed Brilliant Silver Fire, becoming the second on the new rising star list!
If it weren’t for the exceptional first place, in past rookie seasons, the performance of “Life Like Summer Flowers” would have swept the entire new rising star list and directly won the championship!
Just then, the phone rang.
Zhao Jue answered, feigning ignorance: “Old Zhou, what’s up?”
The voice on the phone said, “Open the door.”
Zhao Jue was momentarily stunned and opened the door.
Outside, a middle-aged man smiled excitedly: “Sister Zhao, second… I mean, well… it’s been a while since we last got together. Feel free to order whatever you want tonight, my treat! Also… when will Xian Yu report to the Composition Department? We’re really short of people in the Composition Department.”
“Oh.”
Looking at Old Zhou’s fawning expression, Zhao Jue suddenly felt that he hadn’t seen the world either.