1993 My China Entertainment Age

Chapter 37 Art Examination and Pancake Painting

In the following days, Jiang Xiaofeng, Lao Lang and others held autograph signings and publicity for the album "Campus Folklore 1" at major video stores, shopping malls and other places.

During this period, Taohong was not idle either. From February to March, she was busy taking the art exam.

For insurance reasons, Taohong applied for three major drama academies at the same time, namely the Central Academy of Drama, Yanjing Film Academy, and Shanghai Theater Academy.

To say that Taohong is truly a chosen one, some people find it difficult to get into even one school, but Taohong actually passed the preliminary and re-examinations of these three schools with ease.

As for whether Taohong can finally be admitted to these three schools, we will have to wait until mid-April to know.

While Taohong was waiting for the results, she had no time to study. She would go to the Huiyuan Apartment of the Asian Games almost every day and have a tryst with Jiang Xiaofeng in the rental house.

This morning, my eyes were bright.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Jiang Xiaofeng ate the soy milk and fried dough sticks that Taohong brought him. He felt inexplicably satisfied and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

Seeing Jiang Xiaofeng giggling while eating fried dough sticks, Taohong said in a dumbfounded voice: "Why are you laughing? Can you be so successful just by eating soy milk fried dough sticks?"

Jiang Xiaofeng smiled and sighed: "You don't understand, soy milk and fried dough sticks were the breakfast I most wanted to eat when I was a child. My ideal perfect breakfast is soy milk and fried dough sticks."

"To me, abalone and bird's nest are not as delicious as soy milk and fried dough sticks, not to mention, you personally brought this to me for breakfast. Of course I am happy,"

After hearing Jiang Xiaofeng's words, Taohong also looked moved, and then said seriously: "Then I will bring it to you every day from now on!"

Jiang Xiaofeng smiled and replied: "No, you will get tired of eating delicacies from the mountains and seas every day. If you bring them to me once or twice occasionally, I will be very satisfied."

After chatting for a while, Taohong asked Jiang Xiaofeng: "Is the album "Campus Ballads" selling well?"

Jiang Xiaofeng didn't hide it from Tao Hong, and said calmly: "It's not very good. I feel that no one listens to it, and the sales are not good."

"How could this happen?" Taohong said in disbelief, paused, and then added: "I think the songs in it are all very nice, so no one should appreciate them."

Jiang Xiaofeng smiled bitterly and sighed: "I thought so too, but the reality is that no one listens to it, and no one buys it. It has been a month since it was released, and only a few thousand copies have been sold."

The fact is, as Jiang Xiaofeng said, according to rough calculations by record dealers in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, the total sales of "Campus Ballads 1" in the third week of its release were about 8,000 copies, and even the small goal of 10,000 copies was not achieved.

There are many reasons why the sales of "Campus Ballad 1" are so dismal, but the first thing to rule out is piracy.

There is a saying that some people are snatching the beheading business, and no one is doing the loss-making business. For a record like "Campus Ballad 1" that no one cares about, pirates will lose if they take another look at it.

In fact, in the mid-to-late 1980s and the early 1990s, there were almost no pirated records of mainland singers. The ones that were pirated were those of Hong Kong and Taiwan singers.

There are even many mainland singers who made their debut by imitating Hong Kong and Taiwan singers.

Take Tian Zhen, for example. When Tian Zhen first debuted, she became famous for imitating Teresa Teng. However, Teresa Teng's singing voice was very sweet, while Tian Zhen's voice was hoarse and thick, so she could only pinch her throat and use a clip to sing to imitate Teresa Teng.

For example, Naying also made her debut by imitating the famous Taiwanese singer Su Rui, and gave herself the stage names "Su Bing" and "Su Ran" to catch up with Su Rui's popularity.

So on the cover of Naying's tape at that time, Su Rui's name was written in big letters. The cover showed Naying wearing sunglasses and imitating Su Rui's look. Su Bing, as Naying's stage name, was placed in a small corner.

…

From the fact that Naying imitated Su Rui's image on the cover, we can see that during this period, the mainland record market had a relatively common and traditional marketing method - using record posters and covers to attract listeners. This method was

Drawing on early film promotion methods.

The main feature of the posters of this period was that they featured singer covers from records, along with advertising slogans, recommended songs, and some also included important text in the copywriting.

However, a superstar like Andy Lau could easily sell hundreds of thousands of copies of the album "True Love" released in 1993 in the Mainland with just one handsome photo of him without any copy on the cover.

, not including pirated sales.

The primary reason for the dismal sales of the album "Campus Ballad 1" is that it doesn't sell well. The cover is made of light yellow kraft paper with a few simple sensational words. There is not even a photo of the singer, and the production of the cassette is poor.

Quite rough.

Then there is the imperfect record industry system in the mainland. Mainland singers lack a platform to showcase themselves. Unlike Hong Kong and Taiwan singers, there is a mature record industry system and an assembly line-like star-making system behind them.

Furthermore, Dadi Records has limited capabilities and did not do enough to promote the album "Campus Folk Song 1".

As the saying goes, the smell of wine is also afraid of the deep alley. Since the release of "Campus Folk Song 1", it has only held a few book signings and sporadic promotions on radio stations. It is not even qualified to be listed on the TV station.

The reason why it can't be on TV is also very simple, because the album "School Ballad 1" is only recorded on tape. In order to save money as much as possible, not even a song MTV was filmed. You can't let the TV station play the tape directly, right?

Fortunately, Dadi Records is not sitting still, and is also working hard to negotiate and communicate with local TV stations to see if they can give singers a chance to sing on stage, even if they show their faces.

All in all, due to various reasons, "Campus Ballad 1" only sold more than 10,000 copies in the first month of its release, and less than 20,000 copies.

Faced with such dismal sales results of "Campus Ballad 1", several singers including Lao Lang, Yu Dong, and Shen Qing have silently accepted the reality and no longer have any illusions. Only Jiang Xiaofeng is brooding.

, I can’t figure it out.

In Jiang Xiaofeng's past life memory, he clearly knew that "My Deskmate You" was a hit song that became popular all over the country. Now that "Campus Ballad 1" is not popular, it doesn't matter. There is no reason for "My Deskmate You" to be so popular.

The song is not popular either. This is something Jiang Xiaofeng cannot figure out no matter how hard he thinks about it.

April 6, morning.

Jiang Xiaofeng was invited to Moyan Culture Company to communicate with Zhang Peiren about the new album.

After a few pleasantries, Zhang Peiren asked with great interest: "Xiao Feng, have you written enough 10 songs now?"

Jiang Xiaofeng thought to himself, let alone 10 songs, if you say you want 100 songs, I can write them for you in minutes.

The problem now is that even if Jiang Xiaofeng writes all the songs, Moyan Culture cannot arrange or record them immediately, because the recording studio is currently used by Dou Wei and Zhang Chu, and He Yong has to queue up to record songs.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaofeng replied: "Mr. Zhang, if I write ten songs, can I go into the recording studio to record songs immediately?"

Zhang Peiren showed an awkward yet polite smile and comforted him: "Xiao Feng, well... you also know the situation of our company. After all, it is just a branch of Rolling Stone. Compared with Rolling Stone headquarters, the conditions in all aspects are definitely better.

Worse,"

"But don't worry, it will be here soon. According to the current progress, Xiao Dou and He Yong's new album should be successfully completed by the middle of this month,"

"Next month, I promise you, you and He Yong will be able to go into the studio to record songs by the next month at the latest. How about you endure it for another month? You can just seize this time to polish your work.

Polishing..."

When he met Zhang Peiren for the first time, Jiang Xiaofeng thought that Zhang Peiren was quite reliable. After all, he was also the vice president of Rolling Stone Records. He had no ability or real ability and could not sit in that position.

However, after several contacts with Zhang Peiren, Jiang Xiaofeng suddenly realized that in fact, what this guy is best at is painting cakes. Every time Jiang Xiao asked him when he could start recording songs, he said that it would be no problem next month.

As a result, Jiang Xiaofeng waited for half a year, the next month and the next month, and the next month and the next month.

Fortunately, Jiang Xiaofeng has not been idle in the past six months. He has composed (plagiarized) 23 songs in total, including "Blue Lotus" and "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky".

These 23 songs are all songs that Jiang Xiaofeng personally loves and is familiar with. Most of them have the potential to become hits, while a few are unpopular songs that he personally prefers. As for the quality of the songs, it is a matter of opinion.

Jiang Xiaofeng organized these 23 songs in a thick notebook as his own secret music library, which he can publish at any time when he needs it.

Frankly speaking, for Jiang Xiaofeng today, it is not difficult to write the lyrics and music of the song. What is difficult is the arrangement of the song. At his current level, he can only make a simple guitar score.

If he wants to complete a mix of several instruments or a more complex arrangement, Jiang Xiaofeng is still under pressure for the time being and needs the assistance and guidance of a professional producer.

ps. Thank you to Book Friends Time 1979 for your reward support, thank you, and thank you to everyone who left a message for this book, voted for monthly votes, and recommended votes. Thank you all.

(End of chapter)