"I am very happy that we have reached a cooperation agreement with Sony Music for overseas distribution. Li Hyuk's new album will soon meet with overseas audiences. We will work hard to promote Chinese music. In the future, we will work hand in hand with Sony Music to encourage each other." -
Fantasy Studio official Weibo.
As soon as this Weibo announcement of the cooperation was posted, it aroused heated discussions inside and outside the industry. Many music industry leaders were not optimistic about Li Hyuk's overseas release trip.
"I think Li He is a little anxious this time. Chinese music has not been popular in the Asian market for many years. This is a big strategic mistake." Musician Lan Tianhua said.
"According to internal information, Sony Music's share is 40%, and Fantasy Studio may not even make a penny from overseas distribution. It still needs to be carefully considered," No. 2 Li Chui Gao Dasong said.
No. 1 Li Chui Cui Jianze said: "Although this overseas release is likely to fail, I admire Li Hyuk's determination to go out. After so many years, the Chinese music scene can hardly hold on to the local market. I hope
Li Hyuk succeeded."
On the surface everyone disagrees, but secretly many musicians sneer at Fantasy Studio's release plan.
Some people even ridiculed that the two young bosses of Fantasy Studio did not know the difficulties of overseas distribution at all, and relied solely on wishful thinking. They later knew it would hurt when they suffered a bloody blow...
Some record companies think this is an opportunity. Recently, due to the acquisition of Huang Records, Fantasy Studio is somewhat overstretched. If overseas distribution fails, then everyone's opportunity will come.
With assets as high-quality as Lee Hyuk and Guns N' Roses under its umbrella, it's hard not to be excited.
Li He and Fan Nuoxuan also understood that this was a risky decision, but they still bravely tried it. If they are always timid and afraid of this and that, the company will never grow big.
The comments from netizens are diverse, some are supportive, some are opposed, and some are even linked to patriotism, because Sony Music is a subsidiary of Sony, and Sony is an island company.
Cooperation between Chinese people and Japanese record companies is somewhat controversial.
But this part of the argument is actually a bit over the top. Sony Music is one of the largest record companies in the world, and Fantasy Studio has few options.
Moreover, making music is not selling out state secrets, but threatening national security, so it makes no sense to go online.
If this principle is followed, many Chinese companies that have dealings with island countries should be closed down.
Therefore, although the cooperation with Sony Music caused some controversy and attracted criticism from angry youths, the actual impact was not significant. After all, island music also has a domestic market, and island idols also have many fans in China.
On the contrary, the popularity of China's younger generation of stars in the island country is not very good. This time Li Hyuk can go out, many netizens still support it.
After getting the distribution contract, Sony Music immediately promoted it in the East and Southeast Asian markets. The first step was to promote songs. SBC Radio, the island country's famous music station, played pop music from China for the first time in more than ten years.
"Good evening everyone, this is SBC Music Radio. Recently there is a new singer-songwriter from China, his name is Li Hyuk.
His music caused a big stir in China, and he has also come to the island country, let us enjoy this song "Love Is Very Simple" together."
As the host's voice fell, Li Hyuk's music entered the ears of the island country's listeners for the first time. Many listeners of the island country's SBC channel were stunned.
Chinese music? Is there still popular music in that place? As early as the 1990s, Chinese music was no longer popular, and a lot of music in the 1990s was copied from songs by island singers.
Although they are biased, many island listeners found something wrong after listening to it. Why is this music so good?
It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the lyrics, the melody is catchy and instantly captured the hearts of the island nation’s listeners.
In the next few days, Lee Hyuk's singing voice was heard not only on SBC radio, but also on many music TV programs. In Tokyo's most prosperous commercial plaza, posters of Lee Hyuk's "Jay" album were hung on the entire commercial building, and countless people came and went.
Everyone on the island can see it.
The same thing happened in the Bangzi Seoul area. The people of Bangzi, who have always felt that the universe is the country of Bangja, surrendered to their ears for the first time. Good music has transcended national barriers and attracted the ears of the audience.
In a training room, the trainees had just finished contacting each other and were taking a rest. Ren Jiajia was sitting alone in the corner, having no communication with her surrounding teammates.
Since following Cui Jinghui to Bangzi, Ren Jiajia almost fell into the devil's cave and was sold.
At the last moment of sliding down the abyss, Ren Jiajia woke up and escaped from Cui Jinghui's control. She was penniless and did a lot of work in Seoul to barely make ends meet.
It's not that Ren Jiajia has never thought about going back, but the news came from China that the band they once were good sisters has become very popular. Ren Jiajia felt jealous and resentful in her heart, and she didn't have the shame to go back.
Later, by chance, she signed up for an audition with a second-tier entertainment company in Seoul and signed a ten-year trainee contract.
But unlike other trainee teammates who are 14 or 15 years old, Ren Jiajia is already 22 years old, and will be 32 when the contract ends. If she fails to achieve results in these ten years, she will be finished.
Recently, the company plans to launch a twelve-member girl group and is currently selecting it. Ren Jiajia is also working hard to win the opportunity.
She could only rely on herself. These bad guys didn't regard her as a teammate. They were always on guard and laughed at her. Ren Jiajia could only break her teeth and swallow it in her stomach. She had cried several times in secret.
While resting and rubbing her sore legs, Ren Jiajia paid attention to the conversations of these stick teammates. She has learned Korean, at least she has no problem listening and speaking.
"Zaiyan, have you seen that poster? That Oppa is so handsome." A girl with long legs said.
"He is from China, I guess. I have never seen him before. Do you want to come here to develop?"
"I don't know, but I heard his song played on the radio yesterday. It's called "Lovely Woman". It sounds great!"
"What? This guy named Li He is just a Chinese, how can he be as powerful as Oppa Zhilong? I don't think highly of him!"
Li He and Ren Jiajia were stunned when they heard this name. She had not heard this name for more than half a year and did not want to hear it.
Is Li Hyuk already so famous? It has spread to Seoul. Ren Jiajia smiled bitterly, feeling that she was getting further and further away from her dream.
Sony Music's promotion was very effective this time. Li Hyuk relied on the excellent quality of his works and good appearance to attract the attention of a group of potential fans and fans.
After Tokyo Fashion Week, "Jay" will be officially released in Japan and Bangzi, and Southeast Asia will also be released in February.
After registering on Twitter, Li Hyuk's personal Twitter has a lot of fans named Oppa or Onii-chan. In addition to being an assistant, Qiao Meiying is also responsible for running Li Hyuk's Weibo and Twitter.
After opening Twitter, Qiao Meiying uploaded several photos of Li Hyuk, which attracted a large number of fans of Daguo and Bangzi to like them.
Even if the music is not good, Li Hyuk can attract many fans in a short time just by his appearance. What's more, Li Hyuk's music is really good.
In addition to attracting ordinary listeners, Sony Music also launched its music review magazine to contact well-known musicians and carry out commercial bragging work.
After listening to the "Jay" album sent by Sony Music, Ayumi Hamasaki, the famous singer in the island country, personally posted a message praising the album, saying it was the best Chinese pop music album he had ever heard.
Ayumi Hamasaki is a singer of Asian diva level. She stood up to support Lee Hyuk and instantly attracted the attention of a large number of music fans.
After Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese idol star Airi Suzuki also supported Lee Hyuk and posted several photos of herself and Lee Hyuk.
Ayumi Hamasaki was arranged for commercial promotion, but Airi Suzuki took the initiative to transform into tap water, which was an unexpected surprise.
In addition, Japanese drama king Kimura Takuya, well-known singer IU Lee Ji-eun and other stars have supported Lee Hyuk's "Jay".
From here we can see Sony Music’s strong connections and channels. Which Chinese record company can persuade so many well-known international stars to support a Chinese singer?
Therefore, although Sony Music demanded a high share of the revenue, Fantasy Studio still reluctantly signed the contract.
In the long run, as long as Li Hyuk continues to release high-quality albums, he can maintain the popularity brought by this promotion and eventually turn it into his own foundation.
And can Li Hyuk maintain high-quality, high-intensity, and continuous creation?
Musicians in the industry have this doubt, but Li Hyuk is full of confidence.