China Entertainment 2000

A sudden wealth caught everyone off guard.

Judging from the sales figures given by Qianjiang, Zhou Yi wondered for a moment whether the Americans were suffering from some mental disorder.

As the most refined and information-containing text in the world, if Chinese pop songs composed of Chinese characters are translated into other language versions, including English, the original structure and rhythm of the song will basically be lost. .

This is also an insurmountable pain point that Chinese singers encounter when they want to perform.

In the Chinese context, people who are familiar with Chinese can easily capture the rhyme of the lyrics under each melody. But once translated into English or other foreign language versions, the original very concise Chinese lyrics will be instantly expanded into a long string——

A typical example is the song "In the Name of the Father".

"The once innocent picture, cruel tenderness appears

"The time for sin has come, let's pray together."

This is a passage with extremely obvious rhyme in Chinese, but once it is translated into English, the original beauty of the sentence is completely destroyed in an instant.

Not only that, because the melody of this section is perfectly adapted to the Chinese lyrics, after the translated foreign lyrics lose their original rhyme and beauty, they will appear extremely inconsistent with the melody that should match the Chinese rhyme. , which is also commonly known as the lyrics are hot.

If it is not about translation but overturning and rewriting, the English lyrics written by domestic lyricists are basically English lyrics written based on Chinese thinking, which is still not good.

Therefore, when Warner originally wanted to put his Chinese album on shelves in Europe and the United States, Zhou Yi was actually not optimistic about this behavior. Even though his English album became popular, the sales volume of the first two Chinese albums in the English circle was just that, less than 100,000 copies combined.

At that time, he felt that he wouldn't be able to sell much anyway, so he didn't object to the outrageous price of $69.9 for the deluxe version.

You must know that the price of the deluxe version of his popular British album "Attitude Show" did not reach this amount. The price set for a Chinese album in North America somewhat reflects Warner's heart.

Who knows the result...

Now the sales of these 130,000 deluxe edition records alone have reached more than 9 million US dollars...

"This is just the beginning."

Qian Jiang spread out the document and handed it to Zhou Yi. He was so excited that he almost salivated: "The ninety-minute musical movie version of "In the Name of the Father" has a very high praise rate. According to the sample survey specially conducted by the company, the sample More than 77% of the people actually bought this musical movie because of its plot and lens language.

“They don’t care about so-called Chinese at all, they just watch movies.

"So the company has now made a decision. They plan to launch a special English version to test the waters in North America. This special version of the album features the 90-minute DVD of the song "In the Name of the Father", and other content in the album. The Chinese songs are just a tack.

"At the same time, they will compare you with Tom - ah, Eminem again, in order to build momentum for you in public opinion." Qian Jiang, who said the wrong name, spat at the headquarters. The plans were laid out one by one.

To put it bluntly, it is to rebrand Zhou Yi's "Lian Shan" in the United States - now it is a music album, but as long as it is changed in a different direction and turned into the "In the Name of the Father" movie soundtrack, wouldn't it be able to drive sales? ?

Just like Eminem's musical movie "8 Mile", his movie soundtrack also exploded in sales as the movie became a hit.

Warner's idea is also very simple - isn't Eminem awesome at "8 Mile"? Is it hot?

You gained early popularity by dissing Zhou Yi during your previous promotions, now it’s time to contribute your own popularity!

Although the length of "In the Name of the Father" is only ninety minutes, which is somewhat insufficient, there is still no problem in calling it a musical movie. In this way, the equation between Eminem's "8 Mile" and Zhou Yi's "In the Name of the Father" is established!

You must know that this is the time when the movie "8 Mile" is the most famous in North America. At the same time, because the movie has just been released, even if Warner arranges for trouble, it will not increase the box office of "8 Mile". It is purely pure. of blood-sucking.

"Besides, I don't know, Ayi, whether you understand the North American disc market."

Qian Jiang's face became a little weird when he said this, as if he wanted to laugh but was holding back his laughter: "Your "In the Name of the Father" is now getting a lot of buzz and is considered promising. They plan to make this music Put the DVD of the movie on the disc market, thereby expanding your influence and sales.

“This can also lower the price of a single DVD, which is equivalent to buying a single and getting a 90-minute long MV.

"As for channels...you know, under the parent company Time Warner, there is a subsidiary called Disip China."

"..."

Selling discs is okay.

Zhou Yi himself wanted to laugh a little after hearing this.

Warner Pictures, a friend of Warner Records, is nicknamed "Disc Hua" because it can often make a profit on movies that do not have box office success in the disc market.

"But if you do this, because you are using Warner Pictures' channels, you must give them a share, otherwise they will definitely not agree."

After saying that, Qian Jiang handed the choice back to Zhou Yi.

Once it becomes a "single DVD", the profit will obviously not be as huge as the deluxe version, and it will have to rely on strong promotion through channels to increase sales.

Brothers still have to settle accounts.

"That's no problem. Even if I just rely on the sales of singles or albums through music movie DVDs, the reputation bonus this can bring to me far exceeds the profit I share with them."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yi made a decision.

Different from English songs, the song "In the Name of the Father" is a real Chinese song.

At that time, no matter how you sell it or how you sell it, as long as you successfully enter the foreign market, it will be a huge boost to his reputation and the sales of his new album.

"Okay, then I'll make arrangements."

After getting the promise, Qian Jiang left with excitement, leaving Zhou Yi sitting alone on the leather chair in the conference room not knowing what he was thinking.

On December 22, 2002, the disc channel of Warner Pictures and the disc channel of its partners quietly put the "album" of "In the Name of the Father" on the shelves.

Warner, which did not need to re-record it at all, directly dismantled most of the deluxe edition's inventory, put it in the original DVD package of "In the Name of the Father" and served it directly on the dining table. It was a response to the emergency first and then waited for the factory to produce new products. , and it’s also a test of the waters.

If the effect is good, you can add more.

In terms of marketing, Warner mainly focuses on two targets - one is the popular "8 Mile" and the other is the classic movie "The Godfather".

"A classic tribute to the Godfather!" Spike Week’s latest musical film In the Name of the Father! 》

"Completely Comparing Eminem?" Spike Week's latest musical movie is actually based on The Godfather! 》

"Tom is a low-level gangster and Spike is a gangster godfather?" This is a double crushing of personality and demeanor! 》

"..."

New York, USA.

Eminem, who had just participated in the celebration of "8 Mile", felt stupid when he saw the overwhelming reports in the newspapers -

What kind of thing is a low-level gangster godfather?

Those of us who play hiphop are called the bottom—well, we seem to be really gangsters.

"What the hell is Spike doing? He also made a movie? Is it released?"

Eminem frowned at this Chinese man who had rarely disgraced himself. As a result, his brother who was traveling with him told him no, it was just a music movie expanded from the MV, but the inspiration was obviously from "The Godfather".

The price of each DVD is US$13. Although it is indeed a bit expensive compared to the mainstream discs on the market, it also comes with a song, which means that for a low price of just a few dollars more, you can get a new song by Spike. Make money with blood!

That's what Warner advertised.

While promoting, we also don’t forget to diss a lot of music that doesn’t work at all into Eminem’s movie soundtrack. It’s just a money scam. Unlike our Zhou Yi, there aren’t many people to be honest, and there’s only one song for each song. Songs will never be sold forcefully.

It was also at this time that, with the help of Warner's disc channels, "In the Name of the Father", which paid tribute to "The Godfather" and competed with "8 Mile", won a lot of market attention when it debuted——

In terms of musicality, Warner even paid tribute to another master and publicly promoted the disc's section of Zhou Yi playing "Nocturne".

Don't worry about whether you've finished playing or not, just ask if you've played or not and that's it. It's not like Eminem, who just swears.

Eminem's mouth was so angry that he was so angry——

"Warner is a piece of shit!"

Eminem, who felt like he was being prostituted for nothing by Zhou Yi, a son of a bitch, couldn't express his pain.

On the 25th, after several days of warm-up, when the first-day results of Warner's various disc channels were summarized, he was even more angry and took more medicine——

Two hundred and eighty thousand!

Relying on the popularity of the exchanges between Zhou Yi and Eminem, he added the well-known "Eight Mile", the classic "The Godfather", and "In the Name of the Father", a Chinese disc specially provided for North America. Relying on the high quality of DVD movies to carve out a bloody path!

"The highest-selling Chinese song in the history of the North American music industry! The highest-selling Chinese song in the history of the Chinese music industry in the United States!"

"The world has changed! Chinese songs have entered the US market?!"