DAEYTT ## Chapter 013: Explosive Data, Talent Won't Be Buried

The sky was darkening.

The workday was over.

Even the extended 996 work hours had passed.

Yet, Zhang Xiaocheng hadn't left work.

He sat in his office, eyes fixed on a set of comparative data on his computer screen.

In the morning:

- "Once You" had 1080 listens and 1070 downloads.

- "Ordinary Road" had 1200 listens and 1200 downloads.

Just now, the data had updated:

- "Once You" had 12,156 listens and 11,890 downloads.

- "Ordinary Road" had 13,287 listens and 13,210 downloads!

In just one day, the data for these two songs had increased more than tenfold.

The most astonishing part was the terrifyingly high conversion rate.

Zhang Xiaocheng rubbed his eyes, realizing it was impossible to quietly acquire the rights to these two songs now.

Picking up his desk phone, Zhang Xiaocheng made a call: “Schedule a small recommendation for the independent original songs 'Once You' and 'Ordinary Road' tomorrow.”

The voice on the other end replied, “Mr. Zhang, tomorrow's recommendations are already fully booked.”

Zhang Xiaocheng firmly said, “Then replace two of them.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Zhang Xiaocheng hung up and continued to monitor the data for the two songs.

In that short time, both songs had added dozens of paid downloads.

He sighed, regretting not securing the rights to these songs earlier.

It was clear that once these songs gained popularity, they would become cash cows.

...

Wang Qian didn't stay long at the hot pot restaurant. After having lunch with Tang Feifei and a few employees, he left.

In the afternoon, he went to Zhou Xuehua's record company and recorded a simple version of "Alive," with basic music processing. It wasn’t as good as the original version he remembered, but he planned to re-record a better version when he had time.

For now, his goal was to complete and upload the song as quickly as possible.

Back home, Wang Qian immediately uploaded the completed song "Alive" to the Tengfei Music website.

As soon as he entered the backend, there was a ding.

The system sent a message:

"Congratulations, Qianqian Junzi! Your two works, 'Once You' and 'Ordinary Road,' have received a text recommendation for new entries in the original song category..."

It was a recommendation from the website.

Wang Qian clicked into the independent musician's original category page and found the text recommendation to be so small it was almost negligible.

Fortunately, he didn’t really need the recommendation now.

These two songs had already gained some popularity.

"Once You" had 15,460 listens and 15,123 downloads.

"Ordinary Road" had 15,809 listens and 15,450 downloads.

Both had surpassed 15,000 listens and downloads.

Wang Qian knew this was definitely due to the exposure from singing in Su Feier's live stream at noon, which led many viewers to search for his work.

That’s why there were so many listens and downloads.

Not bad!

Wang Qian logged onto Weibo and immediately noticed that things were not so simple.

The notification count in the Weibo backend was maxed out at 999!

His follower count had reached over 700,000.

Bless his heart, he had initially registered this account to advertise his Haidilao restaurant, and he rarely used it, only posting some Haidilao promotional pictures.

As a result, his follower count was pitifully low, seemingly only in the hundreds!

Now, it had surpassed 700,000 in just an afternoon?

Because of strict internet regulation in this world, the cost of faking data was extremely high, and thus, zombie followers had no market.

Every follower count had a traceable origin.

Therefore, everyone was very meticulous about managing their accounts. Celebrity and internet celebrity data weren’t exaggerated.

Top-tier celebrities barely had over ten million followers.

Super popular internet celebrities had around five million followers.

Wang Qian’s 700,000-plus followers were not low. If he managed it a bit and crossed the million mark, he would be considered a popular internet celebrity.

Seeing that there were hundreds of thousands of comments under his Weibo posts in just one afternoon, most of which were teasing the titanium straight man topic, while others discussed his original songs.

“Titanium straight man, respect!”

"Uncle Straight Man, I'm at your shop. Come out and serve the customers..."

"Uncle, your original songs are awesome! I've recommended them!"

"Uncle, I really love 'Once You.' When can I request you to sing it live?"

The number of private messages in his inbox was countless.

Many were inquiries from celebrity studios wanting to buy the rights to his songs.

There were also many female fans who sent photos confessing their admiration...

Wang Qian hadn't expected to become somewhat famous in this way. He immediately posted his first Weibo message in over a month:

"Thank you all for your support, I'm flattered! I studied performing arts in university but chose to settle down and start a family instead of pursuing a career. I've been through a divorce and am now a bona fide second-hand uncle.

"I never imagined I would gain some popularity now, and I appreciate everyone's support. Thanks to the beautiful Su Feier...

"There's not much else to say, just that I'm grateful for your support. However, I hope everyone directly supports my music. I'm currently planning to make a comeback, even though many doubt me.

"But I firmly believe that talent won't be buried!

"If you like my songs, please support them. If you don't, there's no need to force it!"

He didn't post any photos, just a simple message without much editing.

Wang Qian clicked 'post.' Within a minute, it had received hundreds of likes, several comments, and a few shares.

It surpassed the total engagement of all his previous promotional posts combined.

"Uncle has had such a rich life already? I'm still single, and Uncle is already divorced? But I like second-hand uncles!"

"Uncle, I just downloaded 'Alive!' I really love your music; it's heartfelt and not like those inexplicable pop songs nowadays. You're definitely going to make it; talent won't be buried."

"Uncle, keep it up! I've already signed up for a Haidilao membership and recharged a thousand."

"At Haidilao right now, how can I run into you, Uncle? Waiting online."

Wang Qian couldn't help but laugh.

He hadn't expected that, even as a divorced man, he would still be so popular.

In just this short time, the newly uploaded "Alive" had garnered hundreds of listens and downloads.

Buzz...

His phone vibrated.

Wang Qian immediately answered.

It was He Dongming calling.

"Qianzi, come to sign the contract tomorrow?"

He Dongming asked.

Wang Qian: "Yes, didn't your assistant director already confirm it?"

He Dongming: "Yes, that's the process. You have great talent, and the director's team is optimistic about you. But today, Director Zhou mentioned that he wants you to sign with his entertainment company, Jianghua Entertainment."

Wang Qian raised an eyebrow, knowing there had to be more to it: "Heh, what's the deal? I’ve been thinking about signing with an agency to get a professional manager to handle the entertainment industry stuff. How is Jianghua Entertainment?"

He Dongming: "Hey, can't say much, but it's a company known for exploiting people, with a bad reputation in the industry. They don’t sign big names, just contestants from 'The Voice' over the years. They sign them before they get popular, then exploit them for money once they are, without proper career planning. Several good contestants have been ruined this way.

"I don't recommend signing with Jianghua. Sign with a few big companies instead. You can wait until you gain some fame on 'The Voice,' and then the contract terms will be better."

Wang Qian understood: "So, if I don't sign, are there restrictions?"

He Dongming laughed: "Of course. If you're not one of them, it’s tough to get a good ranking. But this year, there's an international competition, so 'The Voice' has more attention than ever. They won't dare to be too blatant. If you're really good, they can't ignore you completely."

Wang Qian: "Got it. Have you eaten? Want to grab something?"

He Dongming declined: "No, still busy. Come early tomorrow to sign the contract. The crew might leave in the afternoon, and filming starts next week!"

Wang Qian: "I'll be there first thing."

"See you!"

He Dongming hung up.

Wang Qian sighed as he looked at the phone.

The entertainment industry was still the same!

He stroked his chin, glancing at the growing number of comments and messages on his Weibo.

Maybe, he should just be an independent musician?


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