FWTS Chapter 117: Only Given, Not Sold

The music collaboration platform for "War of Music" was Kdog. As soon as the concert ended, the song "My Sky" was available on the music platform, but only the concert version.

However, the original single of "My Sky" and the other nine versions were all released on Penguin Music. The reason was simple: Master Fifteen's studio mainly cooperated with Penguin Music. Regarding these matters, Hou Muyun naturally didn't understand and entrusted Master Fifteen's studio to handle it.

After the concert livestream, both the original single and the nine versions were available for online listening and downloading, and they immediately made it to the new song recommendation chart.

This was partly the result of negotiations by Master Fifteen's studio. Also, because Hou Muyun's participation in several songs on "Singer" was now on the charts, the music platform evidently had a lot of confidence in this new song, providing resources equivalent to those of top-tier artists.

After the concert, Hou Muyun cooperated with the music platform to post the information about the new song on Weibo and conducted a retweeting lottery, selecting 100 people to receive signed CDs from the retweets.

"My first original song, 'My Sky,' comes in ten versions, including the original. Hope you like them! Also, we'll randomly select 100 people from retweets to receive signed CDs."

Below Hou Muyun's Weibo post was a CD cover and a link to a player app, allowing listeners to hear all the versions at once.

Hou Muyun's Weibo followers had unknowingly reached 5 million, making him the most followed among online writers. Compared to some second or third-tier celebrities, he was not at all inferior. His Weibo reposts and readings were also very high, much higher than many big stars and influencers with over ten million followers.

For example, within an hour of Hou Muyun's Weibo post, the number of reposts broke 100,000!

"Just finished watching the concert livestream, reporting here!"

"I cried once during the concert livestream, and just cried several more times. This song is addictive!"

"Awesome! He wrote the lyrics, composed the music, and arranged it all by himself!"

"Why does the music monkey on the cover look so funny? Must be drawn by the monkey himself!"

"There are actually ten versions!"

"The original version makes me want to cry, the rock version makes my blood boil, and the folk version makes me intoxicated!"

"I love the jazz version the most!"

"The monkey can do R&B too!"

"Hahaha, I love the dance version the most!"

"You should really listen to the last purely instrumental version! It's so cool, like a symphony, totally a war anthem! I feel invincible!"

"I love all ten versions! I never expected one song to have so many versions. The monkey is truly amazing!"

"Wasn't the CD released? I just want to ask, is this considered a single EP or an album CD?"

"I probably won't win, but I just want to know where I can buy it! I searched for a long time and didn't find it. Has it not been released yet?"

...

After the concert livestream, Hou Muyun attended the celebration banquet of "War of Music," but didn't stay long. After drinking the necessary toasts, he and Xiao Pang went to another place, a bar that could accommodate about a hundred people. Strong Brother, Zhou Tingshun, Lao Song, and others from the "My Sky" group had already been waiting there.

"Drinking is no problem! Let's make it clear: you all must keep an eye on Strong Brother and stop him from drinking. It's too scary! Is there any AD calcium milk? Get three boxes for Strong Brother!"

The first words Hou Muyun uttered upon arrival made everyone burst into laughter and completely relaxed the atmosphere.

That night, Hou Muyun drank a lot and almost passed out.

Originally, he had intended to bring Xiao Pang along as his drinking buddy, but Xiao Pang betrayed him almost immediately.

Xiao Pang was now half a professional assistant and naturally couldn't drink in such situations. He had to stay sober and watch over Hou Muyun.

...

December 21st.

In an office building in Shanghai, Li Na yawned as she entered her office. Working overtime on weekends was too exhausting. After watching the final episode of "War of Music" livestream last night, she had to rush to finish her PPT until after 3 o'clock in the morning, leaving her completely drained.

"Na Jie, your package."

Shortly after she sat down, the receptionist brought in a package. Li Na opened it drowsily, then her eyes widened.

A CD!

The CD cover featured a music monkey against a pure sky!

There was also a note inside!

"Dear Li Na, Hello! Thank you for your support. I've never known how to express my gratitude. Recently, I made a CD and asked Wanshu.com to send it to you. I hope it didn't disturb your life, and I hope you'll like this CD! - Hou Muyun."

Upon seeing this note, Li Na instantly teared up.

She took a photo and posted it on Weibo: "As a hardworking member of the overtime club, receiving such a surprise on such a morning is simply too wonderful! Thank you @HouMuyun1225!"

At a university in Hangzhou, Zhang Lei was rudely awakened by a phone call on a rare weekend when he was about to sleep until the end of time. Hearing it was the delivery guy, he reluctantly got out of bed with bed hair and went downstairs.

"Hey, can you deliver it a bit later on the weekend? I know your SF Express boss gave everyone red envelopes, but you don't have to be so diligent, right? By the way, how much did each of you get in red envelopes? The internet has been buzzing about it these days!"

"Everyone got a different amount. I got 5,888!"

"That's a lot! Looks like the rumors online are true!"

"Why would they be false!"

After gossiping for a bit, Zhang Lei returned to his dorm with the package. When he opened it, he screamed.

"What the heck!"

"Stone, are you crazy?"

"I almost fell down from the shock!"

Ignoring the others, Zhang Lei continued to scream and dance around excitedly. "An album, an album! The monkey's album! It's from the monkey! Brothers, I'm so happy! I dreamed last night of buying the monkey's album! You know what they say, 'What you keep in your mind will one day come to life!' This is it!"

In Jiangning, Suzhou, Wenshi, Ningbo, and other cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, many people received Hou Muyun's album on this morning. This surprise quickly spread to other areas, including the Pearl River Delta, Jingjinji, the Bohai Rim, Wuhan, Changsha, and Chengdu.

Before the CDs were even finished burning, Hou Muyun contacted Wanshu.com, and 40,000 CDs were shipped to them. Through Wanshu.com's channels, they would be delivered to the "My Sky" group. Hou Muyun asked Wanshu.com to prioritize based on the number of physical novels and single volumes of the "Xuan Yuan Sword Master" series purchased, listing the recipients in that order until the 40,000 CDs were distributed. Additionally, he asked Wanshu.com to print a piece of paper with the names left by the "My Sky" members as a gesture of sincerity.

Naturally, Hou Muyun footed the bill for the additional workload and expenses incurred.

In addition, Hou Muyun asked the moderators in the management group to tally up the active members in each group and distribute 8,000 CDs accordingly.

Duplicates were inevitable.

Hou Muyun kept only 2,000 CDs for himself, which would be used for Weibo giveaways and other purposes.

In short, all the CDs were given away!

And depending on the situation, he would decide whether to print more!

As more and more people received the CDs, more and more people mentioned @HouMuyun1225 on Weibo, naturally attracting the attention of some people, who slowly began to figure out what was going on.

Hou Muyun's album, made up of ten versions of one song, was not for sale, only for free!

Later, it was revealed that Hou Muyun's CD totaled 50,000 copies. Wanshu.com would distribute 40,000 copies based on addresses left from book purchases, and some groups and TBs related to Hou Muyun were also compiling lists of addresses, with the remaining 10,000 copies likely to be distributed through those channels!

One was giving away 50,000 copies!

Based on online photos, some estimated that the cost of burning one CD alone was over 10 yuan, which meant at least 500,000 yuan for 50,000 copies, not including production costs!

Absolutely extravagant!

Some said Hou Muyun was a warm-hearted guy who gave out surprises, and that this was the type of star worth following. Not only did he write songs for fans, but he also produced albums and gave them to fans for free.

Of course, where there are people praising, there are inevitably people criticizing, and even some who come up with all sorts of conspiracy theories.

Some said Hou Muyun was just hyping himself up again, "praising" him as a master of hype, able to earn a good reputation with just 500,000 yuan when others spend millions on operations.

Others said the CDs were mainly distributed through Wanshu.com, meaning they were "attracting" fans to buy books on Wanshu.com. Since the CDs were only given away for free, it created an air of scarcity, naturally prompting fans to buy books on Wanshu.com. If you didn't buy books, how would you leave your address!

Five hundred thousand could be earned back in no time.

As for whether they would continue to give away CDs or if they would eventually start selling them - who knows!


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