Huayu 1992, my entertainment era

Chapter 102 Hot Album

【Jacky Cheung breaks defense】

[Jacky Cheung cursed at reporters]

【Zhou Ziheng is Jacky Cheung's calamity】

Jacky Cheung finally didn't beat up the reporter. He left with a gloomy face under the protection of security personnel.

However, what happened that day made headlines in major newspapers that evening.

Jacky Cheung's red-hot face appeared on the cover, becoming a point of interest for the citizens.

You know what, Jacky Cheung in Red Wen is so handsome.

Zhou Ziheng even asked someone to get him a newspaper with Jacky Cheung's angry Red Wen picture and bring it back to Guangzhou.

……

December 1st, early morning.

Hong Kong, Ma Kee Video Store, Causeway Bay.

Because today is the release date of the recently popular "Fairy Tale", Lao Ma got up from the bed early in the morning, washed up simply, and walked quickly towards the video store.

When we arrived at the street where the music store was located, we saw more and more pedestrians on the street, most of them were people going to work.

"Barbecued pork buns, barbecued pork..."

“Fragrant dough sticks!”

The sound of selling is endless.

"I admit that it's all the moon's fault..."

Listening to the hawking sounds on the street, Lao Ma walked and hummed a little tune.

Soon, his own video store came into clear view.

There is a poster of Zhou Ziheng pasted at the entrance of the music store. On the poster, Zhou Ziheng is sitting in front of the piano, looking back at the camera, and next to it is written, [Fairy tale will meet you on December 1st].

Next to it is a poster of Jacky Cheung with the date December 5th on it.

Zhou Ziheng and Jacky Cheung's albums are about to be released, and the record companies behind the two have tried their best to promote them with various publicity campaigns.

Television, radio, and even offline advertising spaces are all filled with advertisements about the two of them.

The same is true for music and video stores, which are the front line facing the audience.

Don’t be fooled by the two posters in front of Ma Kee Video Store.

In order to have the posters of their two singers posted in the most conspicuous place, PolyGram and EMi even offered a fee of HK$200 a day.

Among them, EMi was the most willing to spend money and directly bought two months of time at one time.

That is to say, for two months, Zhou Ziheng's poster will be posted in one of the most conspicuous positions in this music store. Only when other singers release records and pay money will Lao Ma replace it.

It's not just the video store here.

Old Ma looked back at a building not far away. On the 17-story building, there was a huge poster, and passers-by could see Zhou Ziheng clearly at a glance.

Lao Ma was a little envious. It was said that EMi offered three thousand yuan a day for the advertising space in that building.

Three thousand dollars a day!

Lao Ma smacked his lips, turned around and walked towards the video store with an envious look on his face.

"Wow, you're here so early!"

When he got closer, Lao Ma discovered that there was a long queue in front of his audio-visual store, with about twenty people in total.

"Uncle Ma, you are so slow today!"

"That's right. I've been waiting for half an hour. If you don't come, I'll be late for school."

Most of the people in the team were students, and some of them were carrying school bags.

"I open the door at 8:30 every day. Today is early enough!"

Lao Ma said this and quickly opened the door.

Because there were too many people, he didn't let anyone in, but blocked them outside.

"My shop is too small, it's inconvenient for you to come in. If you need any tapes, tell me and I'll get them for you!"

In fact, the space of Ma Ji Audio and Video Store is not small. At least, it can easily accommodate more than 20 people.

But Lao Ma was worried that someone would steal things.

His store is full of tapes. There are too many people coming in, and in the chaos, someone might steal something without him even noticing.

A few months ago, when "Sad Pacific" was selling well, he caught a student who had hidden two tapes of "Sad Pacific" under his clothes. If it weren't for the bulging chest, he almost wouldn't have noticed.

"Of course I'll buy Fairy Tales. There won't be any left here!"

"That's right, the most popular thing right now is Fairy Tale. If not this, who else should I buy?"

"Hurry up! I still have to go to school!"

Everyone was talking in a hurry.

"A bunch of little brats!"

Lao Ma complained, walked into the store, and came out with a bunch of "Fairy Tale" records.

"I want a tape!"

"I want a CD."

When everyone saw the record, their eyes lit up and they all started to speak.

"The cassette is 16 Hong Kong dollars, and the CD is 37 Hong Kong dollars." Lao Ma said with a smile.

"What the hell, why is it so expensive!"

When they heard the price, everyone exclaimed.

The prices of records in Hong Kong are actually not uniform.

What is unified is the wholesale price that merchants get from record companies.

The following merchants have different selling prices according to their respective situations.

Some ruthless merchants would even sell a tape that costs ten dollars wholesale for twenty dollars.

Of course, there are generally few such merchants. After all, customers are not fools and will not be taken advantage of. For the sake of business, they will often choose a suitable price.

At the same time, the prices of singers vary depending on their status.

A tape of a minor singer might even cost only eight or nine yuan, but that of a big name might soar to seventeen or eighteen yuan.

Zhou Ziheng's last tape, "Sad Pacific", was sold for only thirteen yuan.

It closed at 16 today, which is obviously a big increase.

"Don't blame me. The price of the Fairy Tale record has gone up. I paid 14 yuan for it from the record company. You have to give me some profit!"

Lao Ma said with a wry smile.

The price of "Fairy Tale" has indeed increased.

EMi is not a fool. She sold the song at a low price after seeing how popular it was.

However, the wholesale price of EMi is not fourteen yuan, but twelve yuan, which is two yuan higher than Zhou Ziheng's previous "Sad Pacific".

Fourteen is Lao Ma’s statement.

Anyway, never trust what businessmen say.

"I think it's okay! Sixteen is acceptable.

Give me a CD, choose one with a cool cover. "

Someone said, just pay it.

"Okay, kid, would you like to listen to Andy Lau's "Love"? It's a very good album. The media said it was Andy Lau's best album this year."

Lao Ma handed over the CD and started promoting other records.

"Forget it, this album of Andy Lau's is not good at all, it's not as good as his album 'The Answer Is You' from the first half of the year!

Those newspapers only know how to brag. They say good things are bad, and bad things are good.”

The boy who bought the tape took a look at Andy Lau's record on the shelf and shook his head.

According to the media, Andy Lau's album "Love" is his best album this year, second only to "Going Alone for Fun" among all Andy Lau's albums.

But among the fans, most people don't like this album.

The song is not widely sung and many fans think it is not very good.

"Okay then!" Old Ma smiled awkwardly.

He listened to the media's nonsense and in a moment of confusion, bought too much of the album "Love" from the record company.

As a result, this album did not sell well at all. Except for Andy Lau's die-hard fans and some fans who did not consider its popularity, other fans did not buy it, even though Andy Lau was one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

This is actually the norm.

Andy Lau is actually pretty good, just occasionally one of his albums doesn't sell well. Aaron Kwok is the worst, this year his record sales not only rank last among the four kings, but also almost fell behind Andy Hui of Huaxing and new singer Julian Cheung who debuted this year.

In terms of representative works, he could not even compare with the other three heavenly kings, and was once considered by the media to be unworthy of being one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Even Jimmy Lin, who became popular last year on Taiwan’s side, dared to challenge him, “Today you are the king, tomorrow I am the supreme.”

In a word, Chengcheng is miserable.

Boxes of records were sold.

As he watched the goods on the shelves dwindle, Lao Ma felt both happy and painful.

Happiness is that "Fairy Tale" is really good in sales. Most people go straight to buy "Fairy Tale". In one morning, he sold more than 60 tapes and 10 CDs of "Fairy Tale" alone, making a net profit of more than 300 Hong Kong dollars.

The pain is that the other records are almost motionless.

Especially with the inventory of Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, he didn’t know what to do with it.

He really couldn't understand it. After all, they were one of the Four Heavenly Kings, so how could they not be as good as a newcomer from the mainland.

……

Wang Xiaohui is very happy.

Today is her birthday, and as soon as she arrived at school, she received gifts from several good friends.

A cassette of "Sad Pacific" signed by Zhou Ziheng. According to my best friend, it was brought by her uncle from Guangzhou.

A tape of "Wandering Song" with the number 877. I heard it is the 877th tape produced by the manufacturer. It has a special mark and is of great collection value.

Another one is "Golden Boy and Jade Girl", but Wang Xiaohui doesn't like the cover of this tape.

Who is that Yang Yuying? She is so cheap that she almost threw herself into her husband's arms.

However, this tape was very good, especially the songs sung by Zhou Ziheng. She had not heard any other songs except "Late Autumn".

And the most important one is naturally the CD of "Fairy Tale" newly released by Zhou Ziheng today, which was given to her by her cousin.

This album was just released today and a lot of people don’t have it.

After hearing that Wang Xiaohui had this album, many students expressed envy, and some classmates even asked her to borrow tapes to copy the lyrics.

Don't underestimate the tapes of this period.

In order to attract fans to buy their songs, record companies use many tricks.

The record company folded a poster inside, which featured various handsome photos of Zhou Ziheng.

I heard that the lyrics of the songs will be printed on these handsome photos according to the order of the songs on the tape.

Wang Xiaohui was very excited about her classmates' envy. She first copied out the lyrics of all ten songs in "Fairy Tale" with her best friend, and then lent her lyrics book to her classmates to copy.

In just one day, the lyrics of "Fairy Tale" spread throughout the class, and almost everyone knew the lyrics of this album.

However, only Wang Xiaohui has the album.

Then, out of envy, many classmates went straight to the video store and newspapers after school to buy "Fairy Tale".

In just a few days, "Fairy Tale" became the most popular record in Wang Xiaohui's school.

Every day when I go to school, the first thing I hear is, "I bought Fairy Tale. It's so good. Zhou Ziheng is so cool."

……

When "Fairy Tale" became popular in schools, other fans were no less popular than teenagers.

Released on Wednesday, December 1993, 12.

By December 1993, 12, the new week had begun and the record was released five days later.

It sold 90,000 copies in Hong Kong.

Singapore 30,000.

Twenty thousand in Malaysia.

Wanwan 150,000.

Thailand 30,000.

In addition, 60,000 tickets were obtained in the United States and Canada.

In five days, sales data reached 380,000.

And this is just an away game.

Sales in mainland China, as the country’s home market, are even more terrifying.

The mainland adopts an order-based model.

As of the 5th, thanks to Zhou Ziheng's huge appeal in mainland China, this album directly set a terrifying order volume of 750,000 copies in mainland China.

Although the 750,000 units in the mainland are orders and not directly sold, EMi understands marketing.

They promoted it directly to the outside world, and "Fairy Tale" achieved sales of one million in the global market within five days of its release.

This news excited the media.

Especially Hong Kong.

A large number of media outlets directly blocked Jacky Cheung's side and asked him what he thought.

Even Zheng Donghan became an interview subject.

The media does not forget.

They remembered that Zheng Donghan once said that EMi was a gambler, and they also thought that Zhou Ziheng's "Fairy Tale" would flop.

As a result, I’m now slapped in the face.

The media loves to see people being slapped in the face.

They are even willing to be the hands that slap someone in the face.

“Mr. Zheng Donghan, the sales of Fairy Tale exceeded one million copies worldwide, and Zhou Ziheng once again proved that he has the ability to become a top singer in the record market.

What do you think about this? "

"Do you still feel that EMi Records is taking a gamble?"

"EMi has won the bet, are you jealous?"

"Jacky Cheung's album is released today. Do you think he can beat Zhou Ziheng and become the sales champion today?"

At the Zheng family villa, as soon as Zheng Donghan got out of the car, many reporters who had been waiting here rushed over.

Again, Hong Kong media does not discriminate against anyone when reporting on this.

No matter you are the president of PolyGram or a wealthy man, as long as you have news, the Hong Kong media will not care about you.

They are always on the road of digging for news.

At this time, Zheng Donghan was obviously their target of excavation.

They were very willing to slap Zheng Donghan on behalf of Zhou Ziheng and get some useful news from him.

It would even be better if Zheng Donghan could criticize Zhou Ziheng in front of them.

The only thing that made them a little regretful was that there was only one protagonist in this drama.

The other protagonist, Zhou Ziheng, is still in the mainland, so they have little chance to interview him and can only rely on their colleagues in the mainland to provide them with information.

What’s even more regrettable is that our mainland counterparts are not sensible at all.

All he does all day is praise Zhou Ziheng.

News! There is praise only when there is criticism.

The media over there really don't know how to create news.

If they were in the mainland, they would definitely dig deeper and lure Zhou Ziheng into going to war with PolyGram or Jacky Cheung.

"I admit that I was wrong this time, Zhou Ziheng is indeed a very good singer.

But I still think Jacky Cheung is the best singer.

Zhou Ziheng is still too young."

As a company boss, Zheng Donghan often deals with reporters, so he naturally knows what reporters are thinking.

How could he let them get their wish? Instead, he spoke with a smile, not angry at all.

"What do you think about the fact that "Blessing" has been on the charts for many days but can only rank fourth?
As far as we know, "Blessing" should be the main song in Jacky Cheung's album!
In comparison, Zhou Ziheng's "Fairy Tale" has firmly occupied the top spot on all music charts in both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macao.

"Blessing" can't even beat "Courage" and "My Deskmate", so how can it pose a threat to "Fairy Tale"? "

The reporters were not to be trifled with either, and they simply rubbed salt into the wound.

"Song charts don't tell you anything."

"Then what counts? Sales volume?" the reporter asked immediately.

Hearing this, Zheng Donghan's smile faded a lot.

As for sales, judging from the current momentum, it will be extremely difficult for "Blessing" to surpass "Fairy Tale" in sales.

(End of this chapter)