From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

On February 29, 2004, a peculiar scene unfolded in North America—

On one side, the Academy Awards ceremony focused the attention of the entire United States, with bustling and vast gazes converging from all directions.

This marked the first time in three years that the Oscars were held smoothly without external interference, and it was also the first time the Oscars had been moved to the end of February, signaling an impending shift in the film market.

Undoubtedly, this was the focus of all attention, and whether "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which had dominated the nominations, could break the curse of the Academy's disregard for fantasy films was a topic of discussion everywhere.

Since the millennium, digital music sources had been rapidly gaining popularity, gradually evolving into a new way to listen to music, directly leading to a decline in physical album sales—

The appeal of the "Midsummer Midnight" Special Deluxe Edition was naturally not as great as before, after all, the album had been released for more than a year, even achieving an astonishing five million in sales, its market potential had been almost completely tapped, and people were truly only concerned about "Another Light."

It was precisely because of this that "Another Light" completely dominated the news headlines.

Over the past few years, more and more digital music sources had been launched on different music platforms, including iTunes. When singers released new music, they had to consider the issue of digital music sources, because online piracy was infringing on their direct interests—

Either keep up with the times, or be eliminated by them.

However, this was the first time that a singer/musician had collaborated exclusively with a platform, not only granting exclusive authorization but also officially announcing the release of a single in digital format.

An unprecedented first.

Shock, astonishment, impact, spread everywhere.

Had other singers never done this before?

The answer is yes.

The fundamental reason still lies in the environment of the times. Currently, the Billboard Hot 100 chart's ranking method still does not include digital music download sales.

Of course, Billboard also had its own difficulties. There were simply too many digital music platforms, both legal and illegal, countless in number. Coupled with pirated downloads, they had never been able to conduct official statistics. If digital music sources were not uniformly standardized, Billboard would not be able to incorporate this data into consideration.

To this end, Billboard had also been looking for solutions. They could not ignore the rising trend of digital music sources. In order to maintain Billboard's authority, they had to keep pace with the times; but so far, they had no clue.

In short, Billboard had not yet included digital music downloads in the data statistics of the singles chart, which also affected the choices of record companies.

Radio airplay, physical sales, and other data were still the main components of the Billboard Hot 100 chart rankings.

Therefore, whether it was singers or record companies, releasing digital music sources was to keep up with the times and avoid piracy eroding their interests as much as possible. This was a defensive measure; but their focus was still on physical albums, which was a tradition and also a reliable means to ensure rights and interests—

In addition, it was still the correct way to ensure that singles could achieve good chart performance on the Billboard charts.

Until now, the August Thirty-First Day Band appeared.

This band had been demonstrating its uniqueness from the moment its members met, and every footprint was impressive, constantly bringing surprises.

Everything, as Apple expected, iTunes instantly stood under the spotlight, becoming the focus of attention, with millions of eyes converging.

So, what does this mean?

Is iTunes officially becoming the official platform for legal downloads of digital music sources? Is iTunes standing out among a众 digital music download platforms?

Currently, it is not yet known, and it is a bit too early to discuss these things; but what can undoubtedly be 100% certain is that, thanks to the attention and discussion that "Another Light" garnered at the Grammy Awards ceremony, when the August Thirty-First Day Band announced that the digital music source of this single would be exclusively released on iTunes, the shock to the entire market was clearly audible.

The reason is very simple—

Those listeners who complained about, resisted, and even boycotted the money-grabbing move of releasing the "Midsummer Midnight" album in a special deluxe edition, perhaps they were not fans of the August Thirty-First Day Band at all, and refused to buy an album for just one song, have now finally found a solution.

Digital music source, 0.99 US dollars per song.

Economical and straightforward.

If you like the song "Another Light," just download and listen to it separately.

This is equivalent to the August Thirty-First Day Band giving the general public a second choice. "Smart people" said that they would not be foolish enough to buy an album. Isn't it better to download a single for $0.99?

However, they were completely unaware that, for just one single, they might need to buy an iPod, install and download iTunes, and be tied to the iPod in the future. This is another consumption trap, which is much more expensive than buying a special deluxe edition of an album.

Or rather, they noticed it, but didn't care, using this as an excuse to replace their equipment, lock their Walkmans in drawers, and embrace the new digital music players.

Bustling, clamorous, and heated discussions unfolded in all directions.

Not only the general public, but also news media and music industry professionals have turned their attention to see how things develop—

There are no less than eighty to one hundred digital music platforms on the market, a mixed bag of good and bad, with genuine and pirated versions intertwined, it's a complete mess, and no platform has been able to stand out and sort out the market order.

Now, the August Thirty-First Day Band has chosen to cooperate exclusively with iTunes, so, what will the sales be like? Can they break the barriers and create good results, or will they be swept into the chaotic currents of the times and disappear in the blink of an eye?

What if "Another Light" flops?

It's not that there's no confidence in the August Thirty-First Day Band, but the current chaos of digital music platforms is disheartening. Standing in front of the tide of the times, individual strength is insignificant. How many users does iTunes have?

The number of users on one platform may only be one-tenth or one-twentieth of the entire market. "Another Light" is only released exclusively on iTunes, and the number of digital music downloads may only be one-tenth of the August Thirty-First Day Band's market potential, so isn't a flop inevitable?

It was against this background that the release of "Another Light" sparked a lot of discussion, even in the face of the vast momentum of the Academy Awards ceremony, it did not back down.

After all, the red carpet is still early, and paying attention to the release of music doesn't affect anything.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the "Midsummer Midnight" Special Deluxe Edition physical album and the "Another Light" digital music source download were launched simultaneously, and the entire North America was silent, iTunes was carrying unprecedented attention and hope.

A download button is very likely to become the focus of a turning point in the times.

Facts have proved that this possibility really happened—

Pushing open the door to a brand new world.