On the last day of May, the production company's office received records and gifts from Lin Jiashu.
When Shinichi Iwahashi went to the production company to handle things, the clerk delivered the package he received. When he opened it, he found a beautifully wrapped gift box inside.
The record sent was "Blue Blood", X's first mainstream debut album.
When X was negotiating with Sony to sign a contract and debut, one of the conditions proposed by Lin Jiashu was to summarize the band's underground music and produce an underground album in the name of his own record company.
Iwahashi Shinichi's production company took over the production commission for this album, and then the underground record company funded by Lin Jiashu's mother was responsible for the release.
When negotiating the terms of the contract, Lin Jiashu insisted that the underground album must be released first before releasing the debut album. Therefore, although the production of the underground album and the debut album are almost at the same time, when the band can make their mainstream debut depends entirely on who is entrusted with the album.
When will the album produced by Iwahashi Shinichi be completed?
Iwahashi Shinichi thought that Lin Jiashu would urge him to keep an eye on the progress - but he didn't expect that during the production, the album was polished over and over again, with one version of the arrangement and then overturned. The most common song was mixed with more than a dozen versions in one go.
.
With everything ready-made, the album was delayed until mid-May before it was released on the shelves. Sony was worried about it, but they finally breathed a sigh of relief when the production was completed.
Sony is also assisting with the release, so that this underground album can be put on the shelves as soon as possible - so that the promotion of the debut album can start as soon as possible.
As for Shinichi Iwahashi, when he collaborated with
It is not easy to work with this dreamy noble man. Not only do you have to have talents recognized by him, but you also have to act according to his ideas to the greatest extent.
During the underground band period,
The album was produced with the idea of summarizing the period of the underground band. While it was snapped up by music fans, it also used this album to spread the word about the band's immediate mainstream debut.
Lin Jiashu also deliberately controlled the shipment quantity of the album, printing only a few thousand copies, and only releasing cassettes. With their appeal, a few thousand cassettes were naturally not enough to sell. This whetted the appetite of music fans.
Ten to ten.
Advertising spread by word of mouth is more effective than advertising learned from album information when you go to buy an album. After all, information will be embellished when it is disseminated.
Sure enough, two weeks later, the band's debut album was released, and the fans who were eager to support them pushed "Blue Blood" to the fifth place on the album chart the same week the album was released.
Bands that were very popular in the underground era often achieve good results with their first albums when they debut in the mainstream. But this "blue blood" can achieve such good results, firstly, thanks to Sony's publicity, and secondly
, Lin Jiashu’s advertisements buried in that underground album also contributed a lot.
Of course, the quality of the album itself and the reputation the band accumulated in the underground era are fundamental to the effectiveness of publicity and advertising.
But this kind of self-promotion strategy was still thought up and managed by Lin Jiashu himself. This dreamy noble man has a clear business mind and is by no means a "Her Royal Highness" who doesn't like fireworks.
Because Shinichi Iwahashi helped produce the album, he paid extra attention to the band when it debuted. Seeing the trend of the band, I had to admire Lin Jiashu.
There are so many great musicians, and there is never a shortage of great talent in the music industry. However, there are very few people who can be both great musicians and have a good business acumen.
And when you have both - the future is limitless.
In addition to the album, Lin Jiashu also gave an additional gift to Iwahashi Shinichi. When he opened the gift box, he found a gold tie clip and a beautiful handwritten letter:
"My longest greetings, Iwahashi-san. I have been grateful for your kindness in the past, so please accept this small kindness."
Iwahashi Shinichi looked at the gorgeous gift in the gift box, the card with beautiful handwriting, and then looked at the album. Thinking about Lin Jiashu's usual behavior, he secretly complained in his heart: In a sense, the name "blue blood"
, a perfect match for Lin Jiashu, who is as gorgeous and dreamy as a princess.
However, by producing an underground album for the popular X before their mainstream debut, the production company's name gained a strong presence among bands and fans in the underground metal circle.
The quality of the products produced is reliable, and there are connections to the mainstream industry, as well as Iwahashi-san.
This is the legendary GENZO.
"Legendary" is not necessary.
But I can't help but say that the Japanese tend to exaggerate and describe their characteristics at every turn. Even if you are a Japanese metal fan, you are still Japanese.
Iwahashi Shin put the album and gifts aside and wrote a note at the back of the itinerary, remembering to thank Lin Jiashu for the gift later.
Then, he continued to look through the backlog of letters, and there were all kinds of things. Usually, if there was something important, the clerk would contact him directly. If it could be backlogged for a week and a half, waiting for him to read, it was not a big deal.
It's not even June yet, and it's already looking like the rainy season. It was cloudy when I went out early in the morning, but now, looking out the window, it's drizzling.
Weather like this makes people feel listless and has no energy to do anything. It is good to watch something unimportant.
In the evening, the pager rang. When I called back, I found Fengdao over there.
The content of the call was not that big of a deal. It was that two brothers from Kamikyo, Ibaraki Prefecture, wanted to join a production company as musicians.
"The two brothers' surname is Kurosawa, the elder brother is Kenichi, and the younger brother is Hideki. They are both good at piano and guitar. The two brothers formed a band together in their hometown and made an appointment to go to Tokyo together."
Minedao said with a smile, "I was originally scheduled to go to Beijing last year, but my brother had an accident while skateboarding and had to take a year off to recuperate."
"This brother is very trustworthy." Iwahashi Shinichi also smiled.
Once you sign in with the production company, they will help with promotions and introduce them to other singers' concerts to be part of the performance team, or to participate in the recording of songs. But again, necessary commissions are indispensable.
Musicians with wide connections can find work on their own, but musicians who have just come to Beijing and have a hard time finding work have to find work on their own. If they are not careful, they will go hungry and plant grass in flower pots to eat as vegetables.
Two brothers who had just arrived in Beijing had no place to stay for a while. They had to either join a hometown association or find a company to recommend themselves.
However, although Ibaraki Prefecture is still in the Tokyo area, its presence is sparse. Counting on the Ibaraki Prefecture hometown association with two or three kittens and puppies, the two brothers will be hungry sooner or later and return to their hometown.
Mineshima made a special call. The two brothers' skills must be up to par. Shinichi Iwahashi didn't care, "If Mineshima thinks it's okay, let's make a decision first."
The production company takes very low commissions from the musicians, and Iwahashi Shinichi has never thought about taking money from the touring musicians. Signing people and introducing jobs are not only casting a wide net to recruit new people, but also accumulating contacts.
and reputation.
In addition, there is also a simple idea of helping musicians who plan to engage in this industry to make a living.
"Do you want to meet these two brothers?" Fengdao agreed and asked again.
Iwahashi Shinichi heard his tone and didn't mean to strongly recommend it, so he pushed back and said, "It won't be too late to see them again next time I invite them to perform at LIVEHOUSE."
It’s not interesting to just meet people. If you want to see musicians, you’d better go to the performances first.
When he said this, Fengdao didn't say anything.
I hung up Mineshima, and not long after, the pager rang again. I called back, and this time it was Imai from Kanzaki Real Estate.
"It's about what you said last time."
Imai told him, "I asked around, and there doesn't seem to be anyone who suddenly wants to sell their land at this juncture."
"Yeah?"
Iwahashi Shinichi didn't expect such a reply, and was stunned for a moment. He was curious in his heart, whether it was because the little gangster was full, or maybe the land in his hands was particularly different, so it was demolished at such a juncture of demolition.
People want to buy?
"However," Imai changed the topic, "there was another thing that happened in that neighborhood."
"oh?"
"I heard that there was a dispute over a house that was under demolition negotiations. The general situation is that the land owner agreed to sell the land, but the house was rented to someone else. Now, the tenant has the lease contract and refuses to move out."
The owner of the land agrees to sell, but as long as the lease contract is still within the term, the tenant has the right to refuse to move out of the house. In other words, the people who own the land must be dealt with first, and then the people who use the land.
"It's really troublesome." Iwahashi Shinichi said casually.
"That's right! When buying or selling a house, what you are most afraid of is encountering something like this..." Imai sighed with emotion, but hesitated to speak.
There was silence on the phone for a moment.
Iwahashi Shinichi waited for a while, but he was a little curious and asked, "Is there anything else?"
"It doesn't count." Imai denied it and changed his question: "About the entrusted sale, you..."
Iwahashi Shinichi didn't ask further questions, and thought for a while, "Let's put that matter aside for now. If I have plans later, I will directly visit your company."
"Okay, I understand." Imai agreed.
After putting down the phone, Iwahashi Shinichi had just come to his senses when suddenly, the pager at hand rang again.
I felt bored when I was reading the letter just now, but as a result, I answered Fengdao's phone calls, one after another, as if some switch was turned on.
Shinji Iwahashi calmed down, picked up the phone for the third time, and dialed back.
This time——
"Shinichi-kun!" Miwa-chan's energetic voice came from the other end of the phone.
No matter what time, this little fox seems to be carefree. Hearing her voice, Iwahashi Shinichi also feels cheerful.
"Tomorrow is your birthday, Shinichi-kun!"
"Of course I know this." Iwahashi Shinichi said. Miwa-chan declared proudly, as if she was the one celebrating her birthday.
Unlike the female star Miwa-chan, who has people celebrating her birthday a week or two in advance, Shinichi Iwahashi, the man in black behind the scenes, has not eaten an extra bite of the celebration cake until today.
"I have carefully prepared a gift in return for you." Miwa-chan paused as she said this, "Do you want to know what gift I have prepared for you?"
Iwahashi Shin thought of her explosive aesthetics and denied, "I don't really want to."
"At times like this, even if you want to cooperate, you should say, 'I'm really looking forward to it~ What exactly is it?'" she taught earnestly.
Shinichi Iwahashi asked, "If I said I wanted to know, would you tell me?"
"You can tell me once and see, maybe I'll tell you." Miwa-chan dug a hole for him.
Iwahashi Shinichi knew her well and was determined not to be fooled. He thought for a moment, "It's boring to know now. I'd better keep some expectations until tomorrow."
"That's right." Miwa-chan was reasonable.
There is a tour meeting tomorrow morning, so we can definitely meet up then.
"Shinichi-kun."
"What?"
"Can I call you at midnight?" she asked.
Iwahashi Shinichi said "Huh?"
"This reaction is quite rude."
"It's rude to call someone at midnight." Iwahashi Shinichi couldn't help but complain about her.
Miwa-chan laughed on the phone, "That makes sense...but I want to be the first to say 'Happy Birthday' to you at midnight."
"I'll accept your offer. There's no need for the zero point."
She agreed with "Yeah, yeah", "Of course, I'm just talking about it, how could I actually do it. I'm not the kind of person who is messy and unreasonable."
"Really?" Shinichi Iwahashi expressed doubt.
Miwa-chan could hear his disbelief and didn't care. After finishing her words, she happily said goodbye to him: "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow!"
tomorrow.
I don’t know what kind of gift Miwa-chan has prepared. Rather than looking forward to receiving her gift, Iwahashi Shinichi is more curious about her explosive aesthetics and weird brain circuits.
…
The next day is Thursday.
The tour meeting was held at Sony. In the morning, Shinichi Iwahashi went there on time. As a result, he saw Miwa-chan with two dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.
It looked like he had been woken up by a phone call at midnight.
However, despite the lack of sleep, it did not dampen her strong energy. She even boasted, "I am so excited about celebrating Shinichi-kun's birthday that I can't sleep."
Iwahashi Shinichi couldn't help complaining, "When you say something like this, it feels like you have no good intentions."
"That's too much to say." Miwa-chan protested.
The staff he worked with, as well as Brother Nakamura, were all watching the fun. When Shin Iwahashi thought about being led by this little fox to talk about cross talk again, he even wanted to ask these people for tickets on the spot.
But if you do that, it will only be funnier.
After waiting for almost a month, Shinichi Iwahashi seized the opportunity and counterattacked Miwa-chan, "Aren't you going to celebrate my birthday? You haven't even said 'Happy Birthday' yet."
Miwa-chan smiled and didn't answer. She ran over to get a big box and showed it off to him, "I've prepared a gift for you."
"Um?"
Iwahashi Shinichi watched her open this exquisite gift box, and then——