Chapter 52: Two Weeks' Sales Volume

  "There he is again." In the office, Zhou Xiao sat in a chair in the corner, idle and listless. Although he couldn't hear anything specific, the strange gazes around him were like needles piercing his skin.

  Yes, he's here again, after "selling big" 96 CDs last week, he's come to ask about sales figures again with a shameless face.

  This week's "Little Love" will definitely be moved to the corner, will it sell 1 copy? Or 2 copies? Or is there no data at all?

  Although this is a single from their own company, everyone has the mentality of watching the excitement, especially when they have not participated in the production of this song. Zhou Xiao's youth and "overconfidence" make people who see it impossible to have a psychology of watching the excitement.

  In fact, Zhou Xiao didn't have to come, let alone these unrelated people from the company, even he himself wouldn't think that just in the second week, his song would be selling so well.

  In this case, coming over by oneself would make people think that one is just here to lose face.

  Mai Kuraki and her agent did not attend either. In this diva battle at the beginning of 2000, Mai Kuraki was the standard underdog, but the reason was not music-related. What Mai Kuraki represented was actually the traditional music industry's way of treating music - she was low-key, quiet, and rarely did anything else except sing. On the other hand, Ayumi Hamasaki was Japan's born-to-be superstar of this era, truly irreplaceable; she was not only a representative of music but also a representative of the media, television, and even the times themselves.

  Zhou Xiao's brain has a lot of future music, but first and foremost, unless really can't sell singles, then Chang Yu Mai and Being can only change the direction of music in a smaller range. The songs in Zhou Xiao's mind will definitely be popular with millions of people, there are also super singles that have been on the KTV chart for dozens of weeks, and there are also songs that became famous after being sung at the Red and White Song Festival. However, none of these songs suit Chang Yu Mai. As a brand new artist, Zhou Xiao may be able to change his image and style with each single, but for singers like Chang Yu Mai, or even companies like Being, random changes represent huge risks.

  No one can go against the times, so there is no one who can help Mai Kuraki win this battle.

  Last week's single showdown proved this, and under these circumstances, the company and Mai Kuraki herself were getting a bit restless. They, who rarely did promotions in the past, started looking for programs to appear on, trying to make one last push on sales. Maybe it was already impossible to beat Ayumi Hamasaki, but at least they didn't want to lose too badly.

  So today Maki Ware didn't show up because she went with her agent to record a music program.

  After waiting for over ten minutes, Zhou Xiao and everyone in the company finally got the sales figures.

  "Zhou Xiao... 'Little Love'... sales... 104 copies..."

  Huh? 104 copies? The long-awaited Nagatomo Tatsuya, who had come out of the office especially to listen, actually only cared about Mai Kuraki's sales. Originally, after listening, he thought he would go back, but in fact, even Nagatomo Tatsuya felt that this week's Shuukan Shoujo might sell zero copies. Even if it wasn't zero, the number would likely drop sharply.

  But who would have thought that Zhou Xiao's single not only didn't decline, but actually sold 8 more copies?

  After considering for two minutes, Nagata let his secretary connect him with Ori's staff.

  "I'm being fortunate to be the president, I'd like to check on the sales situation of our company's singer Zhou Xiao's new single this week. Not the number of sales, but the distribution of sales." said Takashi Nagayuki.

  After a while, the person who inquired came back and picked up the phone, saying: "Mr. Zhou Xiao's sales this week are only available in seven CD stores, but six of them have sent out replenishment applications, while hundreds of other CD stores that had sales last week have no sales at all!"

  Chang Hu's eyebrows furrowed in concern.

  Generally speaking, after a single is released, its sales will always decline, the difference being that some sell for a long time while others only sell well in their first week.

  Are there singles that go against the trend? Yes! But not many! And it can be said that especially few! In the past two weeks, Zhou Xiao has had no exposure or activities, and yet the single not only hasn't disappeared but has even sold a few more copies. If Kuraki Mai's sales were to have this kind of reverse growth now, perhaps the company's owners would all be laughing hysterically by now.

  But now the problem has arisen, against the trend growth, several CD stores have sold out their inventory, what does this mean? It means that Zhou Xiao's song really has the potential to become popular, if you seize the opportunity, maybe you can really achieve something.

  But... if such a possibility were to arise, it would undoubtedly go against one's initial thoughts.

  If Zhou Xiao's first CD becomes a hit, how will the company control him? If he really thinks he is talented and doesn't listen to others at all, what can be done?

  "One of the biggest dilemmas for the company right now is that there isn't a singer who can be relied on to produce results. If Zhou Xiao could become popular, it would be an excellent opportunity for the company..."

  But... it can't just be about seeing the immediate benefits. If Zhou Xiao really takes off, with that contract he signed, there's no way the company will be able to control him in the future. What if three years later he suddenly leaves after a disagreement? Or what if he even goes to another company? Wouldn't that be like being is making clothes for someone else to wear?" thought Cho Osamu.

  Is it an adventure to push him from behind, or to hold him back?

  Chang Hu Da Xiang is facing a major choice that concerns both him and Zhou Xiao.

  After thinking for nearly ten minutes, Zhang Hu finally picked up the phone: "Zhou Xiao's CD is out of stock, let the CD stores communicate with each other and call around!"

  He did not increase the number of CDs and did not contact any media for promotion.

  Chang Hu Da Xing can't be considered a bad person. He founded Being and personally nurtured countless singers over the years, and his tolerance for these singers is also well-known. Within the company, rock music has always been the only means of expression, and it was under his tacit consent and indulgence that the company cultivated such a large group of rock singers who don't sing pop or appear on TV but have extremely high sales.

  So in dealing with Zhou Xiao, on the one hand, he has cultivated a sense of self-awareness as a company decision-maker over the years, about which path is more suitable for the company. His understanding of the company and the music industry makes him feel that suppressing Zhou Xiao and making good use of Zhou Xiao is very beneficial to the company. On the other hand, he also has a certain degree of unease in his conscience, this unease cannot be too influential, but it does make him slightly more lenient when dealing with Zhou Xiao's affairs, and did not completely reject him.

  Zhou Xiao didn't know about Zhang Hu's good fortune, but after hearing that his CD sales not only hadn't plummeted but had even slightly increased, he walked out of the company. Today, he still had another thing to do - go to the magazine office.

  No mistake, from the beginning of crossing, the "Meteorite" that started coding has finally been completed.

  Because there was no rush, Zhou Xiao didn't have to force his way into the magazine company. He followed the standard submission procedure and had actually completed and sent the manuscript to Weekly Wen Chun last week. This time he went, it was after the other party reviewed the manuscript and sent a message, already wanting to enter formal negotiations for serialization contract.

  Zhou Xiao actually didn't care much about publishing a book. Now that it's written, among the many thoughts stored away, becoming an author was not one of them.

  The first goal is that he needs money, the second goal is that after Uncle Jing said it out loud, Zhou Xiao only knew that being a writer is not a category that many media are willing to touch. The final goal is that the several books in Zhou Xiao's mind can be adapted into TV dramas, and he may not care about the income from writing books because becoming a best-selling author takes too much time and effort. However, if TV dramas can really be developed, the money earned will be far beyond what a small-time writer can earn. Plus, the prestige that comes with TV dramas is what Zhou Xiao truly wants, especially the benefits brought by the final trump card "Hanzawa Naoki".

  PS, new week! Vote for me~~~ Tonight is the third watch