Chapter 167 - The Silent Majority

The numberof comments on Cui Zhengzhi’s “Provocation” on Feixun Music was over40,000. Attentive people who click on the comment area of the alb.u.m could findthat the comments there were obviously divided into two opposing sides.

More thanhalf were positive comments. There were a lot of "excellent" comments, such as"It's so good to listen to!”, “A wonderful alb.u.m!”, "SupportingZhengzhi Oppa", and so on. There were so many of such excellent comments likethis, and there were a lot of repet.i.tion of the same content.

The commentswere arranged in a very neat line in perfect order.

It smells likefaking success.

Of course,there were some detailed good comments, but compared with the negative comments,there was no doubt that there was a lot less.

The negativecomments with low score were more realistic than the positive ones with highscores. Many members who have bought the alb.u.m didn't have a high evaluation of“Provocation”. The general view was that this alb.u.m was too SouthKorean in style and gave them the stereotyped feeling, without too manysurprises and highlights. (TN: Stereotyped feeling - it sounds like any otherkind of South Korean song.)

Some people commentedthat they regret buying the alb.u.m. Although it was only 8 yuan, buying thesingle "Provocation" was enough. (TN: Since the songs sounded the same.)

Some peoplealso ridiculed that the songs on the alb.u.m were like Korean plastic surgery -they were all poured out in the same mold, and several songs were so similarthat they looked like twins.

There wereeven people clamoring for a refund!

By contrast,Lu Chen’s “You Who Sat Next To Me” has about 40,000 comments, which wasless than “Provocation”.

However,more than 90% of the comment for the alb.u.m were positive, and most of thecomments were meaningful, not the kind of stereotyped simple responses.

Some peoplelike “You Who Sat Next To Me”, some people like “Those Flowers”,some people appreciate “Love In The Wind”, and some people havelistened to “The Brightest Star In The Night Sky” dozens of times,but won't get tired listening to it.

A QQ Musicmember with an ID "Morning Star" commented, “I like Lu Chen’s alb.u.mbecause it brings me back to the good old days when I was on campus, reminds meof my first love, of my brother who slept in my upper bunk, of the people wholiked me and I liked, and the youthful times that I can't recall.”

“AlthoughI have heard of most of the live versions of the songs, but the complete alb.u.mis still very different. The arrangement and accompaniment are done very carefully.8 yuan is really good value for money. I hope I can buy the CD records.”

Another ID called"World Traveler" wrote: “I have long seen Lu Chen in "Singing China". Atthat time, I was really moved by several of his songs, so I bought anddownloaded it as soon as I knew the he had released the alb.u.m. I was notdisappointed. I feel really good.”

“Regardingthis alb.u.m, I want to say, Lu Chen, you are an extraordinary singer!”

There were alot of similar comments, and some people even talk about their youth.

This kind ofatmosphere in the comment area was in sharp contrast to that of “Provocation”!

At the sametime, it also stimulated someone deeply.

Bang!

An expensivebrand-name mouse was slammed heavily on the desk, and the plastic at the bottomwas suddenly torn apart, exposing the circuit board inside. He was perplexedwhen he saw it.

Cui Xiuyin,who heard the noise in the room, hurried over, holding her cell phone tightlyin her hand.

She lookedat her brother sitting in front of the computer with great concern and openedher mouth, but she didn’t know what to say.

Originally,she and Cui Zhengzhi should have left Huhai for Shacheng today. But this was delayedbecause of the alb.u.m sales, and the subsequent itinerary and noticearrangements have to be changed. The consequences were very troublesome.

It’s justthat Cui Zhengzhi was in such a bad mood that Cui Xiuyin didn’t even dare topersuade him.

She knew herbrother’s character too well. He was used to having things going his way. Oncehe encounters setbacks, he gets upset and irritable, and all kinds of badtempers follows. Breaking the mouse just now was still consider good.

On September11, Lu Chen’s alb.u.m “You Who Sat Next To Me” total sales volume brokethrough 150,000, and a big sales have become a foregone conclusion.

There waseven hope for [Platinum Record]!

CuiZhengzhi’s “Provocation” sales directly dropped, barely exceeding90,000. The gap was too big that it made people feel hopeless.

In a shortperiod of three days, he seemed to have fallen from heaven to h.e.l.l.

Even if hissales results were very good.

After awhile, Cui Zhengzhi asked, “Sister, has the company called youagain?”

Cui Xiuyinsighed and said, “Yes, the company is very angry. It has stopped promotingthe new alb.u.m and no longer buying list. So, you have to get to Shachengtomorrow, otherwise…”

“And ourparents also called to ask about your situation.”

Cui Zhengzhishut himself up in the hotel for two days. He didn't give any notice or answerthe phone. The company was furious.

Although heused the excuse of falling ill to evade, he could not hide it from others.

Cui Zhengzhireached out and closed the computer, rubbed his face hard and said in a hoa.r.s.evoice, “I see. We’ll go to Shacheng tomorrow, and you can reschedule therest of the itinerary for me.”

“Good!”

Seeing herbrother cheer up again, Cui Xiuyin was also very happy: “It doesn’t matterif you lose this time. You have plenty of opportunities to beat that Lu Chen inthe future!”

Cui Zhengzhinodded hard.

But his mindwas still full of those comments he saw on the Internet. The bad comments onhimself and good comments on Lu Chen seemed like a sharp thorn that drove himcrazy!

Lu Chen!

Cui Zhengzhifirmly remembered this name, and he vowed to wash away today’s humiliation oneday!

On September12, “You Who Sat Next To Me” sold over 180,000.

On September13, it broke through 200,000.

On September15, 250,000!

In sevendays, this alb.u.m has created the best weekly sales record in QQ Music in half ayear, and even surpa.s.sed a number of domestic first-cla.s.s singers’ alb.u.ms,becoming the best newcomer alb.u.m sales in recent years.

In contrast,Cui Zhengzhi’s “Provocation” was much inferior, with a total sale of110,000 in seven days, less than half of Lu Chen's!

At thispoint, there was a lot less voice about Lu Chen buying list on the internet.

The reason wasvery simple, because everyone knew that Lu Chen was an independent artist, andthere was no powerful entertainment agency behind him. It must be said thatalthough buying a sales volume of 20,000 to 30,000 was possible, but it wasquite different when it reached this level.

Online salesof singers’ alb.u.ms are different from physical alb.u.m sales. The sales in firstweek usually account for about 50% of total sales, and 250,000 sales means that"You Who Sat Next To Me" will probably break the 500,000 mark.

500,000copies meant [Platinum Record] certification, but also means 4 million sales!(TN: price of an alb.u.m is 8 yuan)

According tothe agreement, with his 50% share, and after deducting 10% of the tax, Lu Chen couldget a full 1.6 million!

The cost ofhis investment on this alb.u.m was estimated to be only a few hundred thousand.

All thesongs were written by Lu Chen himself.

He has madea lot of money!

It wasunknown how many people in the industry were jealous, and more people felt that.i.t was inconceivable.

Why is thisalb.u.m, which already has a live version and has not been heavily publicized andhyped, selling so well?

On theevening of September 15, Chen Guodong, an Inspur Blog V and certified as alecturer in "Music Department of Beijing Normal University", posted a long blogent.i.tled “The Silent Majority”.

As auniversity lecturer, Chen Guodong has little to do with the entertainmentindustry, but in the pop world, his name was widely known. He was a famousmusic critic, contributing to a number of amateur music websites and magazines.

In this longblog, he focused on Lu Chen’s alb.u.m, which has received widespread attentionfrom the industry.

At thebeginning of the blog, Chen Guodong said that on the 10th, he attended thefreshman welcome party of Normal University and heard four songs at the party.They were “You Who Sat Next To Me”, “The Brother Who Slept On MyUpper Bunk”, “Those Flowers” and “The Brightest Star In TheNight Sky”!

These foursongs were all from Lu Chen’s alb.u.m “You Who Sat Next To Me”, and allof them were welcomed by the students. The playing and singing of several boyseven attracted warm applause and cheers from the whole audience.

In contrast,several popular dance numbers have received lukewarm responses.

This causedChen Guodong to ponder deeply. Why is Lu Chen’s campus folk songs so popularamong college students and sell so well on QQ Music?

He a.n.a.lyzedthat the alb.u.m should have touched the feelings of the “silent majority”.

Theso-called “silent majority” is actually ordinary young people andordinary pop music lovers, who live around you and me, some on campus and someworking hard in society.

They like tolisten to pop music, but they don’t go after stars that much. if they want tolisten to songs, they will go to the Internet to search for free downloads oftheir favorite songs, and they don’t easily express their opinions.

This largegroup was often ignored by entertainment agencies when they do promotion,because they were not like the fan group of stars who can bring them hugeprofits.

So, the markettrend of pop music was to cater to the fan group. The most popular trend inEuropean, American, j.a.panese and South Korea was the best evidence. Entertainmentcompanies and singer stars are changing their style to meet the needs of thesepeople.

The declineof the original domestic music has a lot to do with this bias!

But is the“silent majority” willing to accept it pa.s.sively?

The answer wasobviously no.

They eveninclude some star fans, who have long been tired of those songs that imitate andcopy the entertainment atmosphere of Europe, America, j.a.pan and South Korea.They don't want to listen to the same fast beat and catchy songs, but there wasnothing they can do about it.

Becausethat’s what the whole market was.

However, LuChen’s appearance was like a fresh wind blowing into the pop music world, andhis original “campus folk” works undoubtedly made people see the newhope of local original works!

So, theenergy that has been saved for a long time broke out, and the most directresponse was to drive the sales volume of “You Who Sat Next To Me”. Therehave definitely been many people who usually listen to free songs that has willinglytake out 8 yuan to support Lu Chen.

Therefore,Lu Chen was able to crush his opponent Cui Zhengzhi with a devastating force.

The latter wasprecisely the representative of Korean music.

This was thesupport, the silent struggle, and the power of the “silent majority”.

At the endof the blog, Chen Guodong believed that the domestic pop music world shouldreally begin to reflect!

Don’t ignorethe "silent majority"!

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