When everyone present heard about the new project that Shinichi Iwahashi proposed, they had all their thoughts.
It seems unrealistic for a little-known company to plan such a large-scale project without any shame.
Only Watanabe Mayumi, who has been with him all the way through "unrealistic" experiences, will listen to what he says and be willing to let go and take risks with him whenever she sees a little bit of feasibility.
However, for an inch-and-a-half-inch long insect, being small also has its advantages.
Precisely because they are not well-known, the current team of record companies are mostly newcomers to the industry, or stalwarts who have some experience in other companies.
There are no old-fashioned people who are too conservative. In this way, even if they disagree, the opposition will not be so strong.
It's because the soul of this company is Shinichi Iwahashi, and he has the highest prestige, which makes his words have stronger power.
When giving ideas to others, you can just light up the firecrackers and run away without thinking too much about the difficulties in implementing them. But when it comes to your own affairs, you have to solve the reality in front of you.
To attract singers from other companies to participate, on the one hand, they need to be able to persuade the singers, and on the other hand, they need to solve the differences between different companies.
The former requires Shinichi Iwahashi to contribute, while the latter requires Wanyumi Watanabe to seek help from Watanabe for production and processing. However, any cooperation must first be organized and then win-win, otherwise the relationship will be useless.
GenZo is a small company and does not have much of an advantage when negotiating cooperation with big record companies. Therefore, when he discussed with Watanabe Manyumi, he made a plan to transfer benefits and spread risks.
With the ultimate goal of completing this project, we will consider additions and subtractions of other parts, and discuss everything that can be discussed.
Iwahashi Shinichi thought clearly, "To seek cooperation and help from other companies, we must first make concessions and release the copyright of the single, and we will negotiate based on this."
In this way, GenZo's role is somewhat similar to that of a production company. The singers who will be invited are products "manufactured" by GenZo. This will offset some of the differences in influence caused by different affiliations.
obstacles to come.
Of course, giving up the publishing rights also means giving up a large portion of the revenue from the collaborative single.
However, when I decided to do this project, rather than considering profits, the focus was still on promoting my own band. Through this kind of integration, the road to becoming a phenomenon for the band would be smoother.
By cooperating with music forms other than the band, there is an additional way for audiences who are not originally interested in the band to pay attention to the band.
In addition to this, another focus is to take advantage of this opportunity to find ways to increase the company's popularity, increase cooperation and contact with other record companies, and integrate into the industry, rather than being isolated and acting as a de facto underground label.
Promoting singers step by step is the basis for running a record company, but this alone is not enough. A small isolated record company and several important music industry-related associations will not even open their doors to them.
Not being able to enter this circle, at its most basic, means that singers who belong to GenZo are not eligible for many awards. It is not fair to say that it is fair and impartial, but most awards in the industry are based on the power behind them before awarding them.
However, when he retired, Iwahashi Shinichi did not intend to lose money and make a profit. He only wanted to gain fame and not profit. If not, he would not have persistently planned to release a compilation album after the single was released.
What he focused on was not the song copyright of this project, but the distribution rights of the final collection album.
Once various record companies are connected, the copyright ownership of the single will be scattered everywhere because the singers belong to different camps. Iwahashi Shinichi's GenZo, as the company that planned this cooperation, is the only "common link".
When it came time to release a compilation album, the partners wanted to find a balance, so GenZo became the best choice.
This kind of plan requires multi-party negotiation. When finalizing the plan, you must set aside your own bottom line in your heart.
…
In this meeting, in addition to mentioning the new project for the first time, they also discussed ZARD's new single promotion plan, matters related to the release of the first album, and BOLAN's debut.
Compared with the project that sounds illusory, seems to be a bit overestimating its capabilities, and may not be very profitable when implemented, ZARD's next step and BOLAN's first step seem to be more practical.
Therefore, compared to the new project that was just announced, everything went smoothly with the arrangement of the two bands.
ZARD's new single and debut album have been produced at the same time, and the new single is scheduled to be released on March 31st, which is this Friday.
Today, Monday, the record company has received the finished single.
The Yuejiu TV series just ended a week ago, and the TV series is finished, which means that ZARD's debut single has been out of the promotion period, and then it is time to rely on word of mouth to drive sales.
While the public is still lingering in the aftertaste of the song, the company and the band must begin to prepare and launch new promotions.
To consolidate the popularity and increase the public's impression of the band, we need to continuously release works.
Choosing to release the work on the 31st actually involved the battle in April.
There are many companies releasing records in April. In the record release information, gods fight and mortals fight. ZARD, a young bud that has just broken out of the ground, has no hesitation in joining.
Fortunately, new bands don’t have any baggage. They don’t have to worry about not getting a good ranking on their debut, and they don’t have to worry about whether other bands will cut off their path to the top of the charts.
Travel lightly, choose a date, and as long as the production can be completed on time without delays, it won't be a problem.
The band's new single still continues the style of the debut single. For a singer, if the debut is not successful, the company will have to stop and take stock and decide what to do next.
However, the debut performance surpassed that of most newcomers, and the feedback from the audience was also good, which proves that this path is feasible. In this way, just follow the steps, maintain the same style as the previous work, and continue to release it.
When the new single is released, the debut album will follow three weeks later, in late April, to further showcase the band's style and musical concepts to the public.
There is no more direct way to see how good a band is than listening to one of their albums.
ZARD's debut single was used as the theme song for the Yuejiu TV series, and the results were pretty good. Among the many promotional methods for the song, the one that won Shinichi Iwahashi's heart the most was the TV series theme song.
TV series have full plots, and because they are suitable for all ages, the content is often not too far away from reality and is easier for the audience to relate to. When the audience's emotions are brewing to a certain point, if a song appears just right, the effect will be undoubted
.
For a regular TV series with ten episodes, it takes more than two months to finish broadcasting, and the promotion cycle is also very long, which can continue to provide publicity effects.
However, the four major TV stations have as many TV dramas as they want throughout the year, and the promotion of TV drama theme songs is a very sought-after resource. If they can provide the band with the theme song for the drama "Yuejiu" for their debut, they have a good relationship with Fuji TV and can provide them with it.
In return for a new program idea, and Kameyama Chihiro selling favors, it all adds up to the opportunity.
It's too difficult to vote for two consecutive seasons and then another one.
I can only think of another way.
Most of the publicity for ZARD's debut was arranged by Shinichi Iwahashi. At that time, Star Office was quite negative about the band's prospects and only arranged a necessary level of publicity.
By the time of the second single, Xingchen Agency had tasted the benefits and finally became more serious and started to take action.
However, the sedan was carried at both ends. The Star Office was responsible for providing their publicity. On the record company side, ZARD's team also continued to work hard. Each side arranged its own arrangements——
But after arrangements are made, they need to communicate with each other to make sure there will be no conflicts in the itinerary.
If there was a car accident, I would have to go to the TV station and talk to the person in charge.
Abandoning the TV theme song, this time the focus of the team's efforts is on TV advertising and radio singing. In fact, the traditional publicity methods are nothing more than radio and TV stations, movie theaters, plus magazines and newspapers. No matter what method is used in the future,
Everything is added or subtracted based on this.
If we want to see a big revolution in propaganda techniques, we must first have a big revolution in mass media methods.
The debut single performed well, which gave the company the confidence to negotiate.
In the early stages of a new singer's career, he should focus on fame rather than profit. Iwahashi Shinichi and Xingchen Office encouraged the team to actively contact interested advertisers. As long as ZARD's songs can be used as promotional songs, they are willing to accept only a nominal fee.
fee.
A band that had just gained a bit of fame was willing to provide the use of songs at a low price in exchange for publicity opportunities, which was quite tempting to many companies. The final deal was a promotional song for a drug and cosmetics advertisement.
The band sang the theme song for an idol drama when they debuted. The female lead singer is a beauty, and the lyrics are also life-like and close to urban men and women. It is only fitting to cooperate with such an advertisement.
Starting from the 29th, record stores will begin to stock the band's new singles, and as soon as April enters, the advertisements will start airing.
Before ZARD debuted, in order to avoid the national mourning, they temporarily shifted the focus of their promotion to Osaka, which made the band quite popular in the Kansai area.
The popularity that you have finally accumulated must be firmly grasped.
The same goes for the release of a new single this time. The company actively contacted Kansai. Shinichi Iwahashi personally called the producer Igarashi of Kansai TV. Before the single was released, a sound schedule was decided for promotion.
In addition, there is also the theme song of "Kitchen" which was decided as early as last year.
"The movie was released on the same day as the new single. It just so happens that after watching the movie, I went to buy the single." After the meeting, Iwahashi Shinichi and Watanabe Manyumi returned to his office together.
Watanabe Manyumi told him, "One hundred and twenty-five halls were opened."
"It's pretty good, it's the first time after all." Shinichi Iwahashi thought so sincerely.
Watanabe Wan Yumi smiled, "Yes, the first time."
"At the previous internal screening, the reporters and film critics who were present gave the movie pretty good reviews." Watanabe Manyumi told him, "Umezawa Tomio-san's acting is just right, and even though Inamura is a newcomer, his performance is also well received."
Banana Yoshimoto herself also went to watch it. After watching it, she praised the movie and praised Inamura Izumi's presence in the movie.
"There is also AMUSE's Fukuyama-kun. The two of them play together, and their temperaments are quite matched." Watanabe Manyumi mentioned.
Iwahashi Shinichi said "Oh", "It's so attractive. If I had known about the day of the internal screening, I would have put aside what I was doing and followed over to see the finished product."
Watanabe Manyumi joked to him, "It's not too late to go to the cinema to see the finished product later."
"That's all."
"I hope other people who read the movie review think the same thing as you." Watanabe Manyumi made a little joke.
Iwahashi Shinichi cooperated, smiled, and said to her: "The reputation is good, Wan Yumi-san is half the success."
Watanabe Manyumi also thinks so, "Of course Inamura still needs more training, but based on the potential she has shown in movies, there is no problem that "Kitchen" can be her calling card."
"When it comes to acting, it mostly comes down to talent," she said. "Inamura has that kind of aura."
Iwahashi Shinichi praised her, "Wanyumi-san didn't make a mistake."
Watanabe Manyumi smiled. Thinking of something, she mentioned it to him, "Shinichi-kun has a good eye for actors, and Takashima-san's current acting skills are also impressive."
However, when she entered the industry, she was a bit overage, her appearance was mature, and her height was a bit taller than the average actress. It was not easy for her to be a leading actress. It is the same now, she is still playing supporting roles.
"But not necessarily."
Although Watanabe Manyumi positions Takashima Reiko as the backbone of the agency, she does not think she will miss the lead role. "The creative content of TV series will become more and more abundant."
Iwahashi Shinichi thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "In reality, women's roles in society are becoming more and more diverse."
At this time, the waiter brought the coffee in.
"In short, I still hope that the actors and actresses of Wanyumi-san will become popular and become starring roles." Shinichi Iwahashi said, "When the time comes, we will be able to negotiate the theme song of the TV series first."
"Thinking far enough." Watanabe Manyumi teased him.
Iwahashi Shinichi smiled and pointedly said, "It's hard to say whether it's long-term or not, but it's a reality."
Watanabe Manyumi knew the meaning behind his words.
ZARD's debut single paired with the theme song of the TV series has achieved good results, which proves the feasibility of this publicity method. As long as someone uses the same publicity method with good results, it will be taken seriously by other companies.
As competition increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to get this publicity.
If the singer's status is not high enough, it depends on the efforts of the company behind him. If each company has its own power, then it depends on how connected it is.
The lead actor in the TV series and the singer who came to compete are from the same company, which is a strong support.
This is also an important reason why Shinichi Iwahashi actively participates in variety show production.
Produce programs and maintain good relationships with TV stations to avoid falling behind when competition in the industry becomes increasingly fierce.
Watanabe Wan Yumi still has a lot of things waiting at the office, so it is not convenient for her to stay for a long time.
"When I get back to the office, I can see the band's sales data." She remembered and mentioned casually.
The band here naturally refers to DREAMS COME TRUE.
