Chapter 27
An epic debut .
A definitive review .
By the most authoritative industry publication . No one could dispute that .
The "epic" label also meant that the upcoming season of the new talent contest was destined to be a bloody battle .
No, maybe it went beyond the New Pioneers Chart . Maybe it would develop into a storm that sucked in the entire Yanzhou music industry . Calling it subversion wouldn't be an overstatement . It had disrupted the planning of so many others .
There was a reason why Ya Erlin and Chu Guang didn't classify the song as an "epic" lightly . Setting aside the quality of the piece itself, this was still an unprecedented feat .
There had been epic pieces before . The Big Three—Silver Wing Media, Neon Culture and Tongshan True Entertainment—all boasted their own elite cooperatives . Silver Wing had Flying Pegasus, Neon Culture had Metal Torrent, and Tongshan True Entertainment was home to Fourth Dimension . They were all capable of producing epic works .
The same went for the other top music cooperatives in other parts of the world, not just Yanzhou . The music they produced was copyrighted . It was never positioned as pop music and their target audience was never the average consumer .
These cooperatives usually only composed for projects with hundreds of millions in profit at stake, like blockbusters, hit TV shows, ads, and online games . Or the biggest of superstars . They always enjoyed a heavenly existence .
And every project was kept tightly under wraps . There were no leaks . That was why these elite cooperatives had special status within their respective record labels . Even a department head like Julian carried no weight with them . She wasn't kidding when she'd said she had trouble obtaining a full song from Flying Pegasus .
When outside companies or entities wanted to use the work of these elite co-operatives, they had to pay up, and it was beyond what the average consumer could afford . Four figures was a minimum, and that only bought you a limited license that lasted a few days or a few months . It depended .
If you wanted to own a song outright, the pricing was even higher . Word was a piece composed by Flying Pegasus was sold for seven figures to a video game studio last year . No one knew the exact amount . No one could vouch for the quality of the song because no one had heard it . The rumor was it wasn't an "epic" piece . If it were, it would have cost even more .
That was why, when Silver Wing launched a virtual idol with an epic song, it sent jaws dropping everywhere .
"Are they nuts?"
That was the response of the Fei Lisi project team at Neon Culture .
Had the folks at Silver Wing lost it?
An epic song for a virtual idol with uncertain prospects? This was no ordinary song . It was golden .
If the Metal Torrent cooperative at Neon Culture produced such a song, they would never waste it on a new virtual idol .
Silver Wing's behavior was downright crazy, wasteful, and incomprehensible . It was like using a dragon-slaying sword to chop garlic . Even if Silver Wing could stomach it, other bystanders felt the pain .
The community of composers was also blown away by this costly investment . So Flying Pegasus had quietly, secretly crafted a virtual idol . And everyone thought they were working on the score for a year-end blockbuster . They never would have guessed .
Insiders at that level maintained a certain level of contact . So when "Divine Punishment" was released, Flying Pegasus members kept being pestered, but no one found out anything .
"It's OK . I understand if you can't say anything . No need to explain . You have your considerations . " The folks calling Flying Pegasus started answering their own questions .
But the composers at Flying Pegasus were equally dumbfounded .
Wait, what do you understand? Please explain .
What considerations? How come we were kept in the dark? Who wrote that song? How come Silver Wing had signed such a great talent and we didn't know about it?
The head of Flying Pegasus clutched his chest with a shivering hand after hanging up the phone again .
Heartbreaking .
An epic .
Used to launch a virtual idol .
He wanted to find out who had made such a wasteful decision .
After swallowing a pill handed to him by an assistant, the head of Flying Pegasus couldn't sit still . He got up and punched his intercom .
He was going to complain to the head of the label .
The music industry was abuzz with heated discussion, and outsiders were equally excited .
A song deemed hefty enough to back an epic film by an authoritative publication was used to launch a virtual idol . It was the equivalent of rolling out a red carpet made with gold bricks .
"What do I hear? Money! Tons of money!"
"No, what you're hearing is the sound of gold bricks . "
Gold bricks .
A gold brick you could purchase for a dollar .
Even music fans uninterested in epic scores couldn't help downloading the song . Only the song was available for download . The music video could only be added to a playlist .
Everyone who watched the music video shared the same thought .
"How come it feels like this is just the beginning?"
"You're spot on . It is just the beginning . Didn't you see the words 'First Movement' at the end of the video? It's the end of the year . I think Silver Wing is up to something . "
"I think Silver Wing is up to something too . "
"Neon Culture and Tongshan True Entertainment created such a frenzy with their virtual idols, while Silver Wing kept a low profile . Turns out they were holding back a secret weapon . "
"They've made their first move . A second move is coming, no?"
"Am I the only person who noticed the name Fang Zhao?"
. . .
No matter what, "Divine Punishment" being deemed an epic by industry authorities caused countless ripples . Everyone at Silver Wing was shocked except for Du Ang, Julian, and Ya Erlin .
After reading the review, Du Ang and company rushed to the 50th floor . Today marked the official launch of Polar Light, so the entire virtual idol project team was there . They were celebrating when the trio arrived .
Zu Wen and Zeng Huang weren't music fans, but they knew what the review meant for Polar Light's debut .
When Du Ang and company arrived, they locked the elevator doors so no curious outsiders could bother them .
Du Ang was so excited he forgot what he wanted to say when he opened his mouth .
Ya Erlin and Julian shoved him aside when they saw he couldn't manage a syllable after several false starts .
"Fang Zhao, are you really the composer?" Julian asked . Even though she had asked the question many times, she was still skeptical when the review came out .
"Yes, I wrote the song . " Fang Zhao nodded .
"If I'm not mistaken, there are still other movements in the works?" Ya Erlin followed up .
"Indeed . " Fang Zhao had nothing to hide . "There are still three more movements to go . "
The trio of department heads took a deep breath .
Three more movements .
"Have you started recording them? Let us take a look . " Du Ang was anxious to get a head start .
"I haven't started recording," Fang Zhao responded .
"Why?" Du Ang asked in a surprised tone .
But Fang Zhao was the one who was surprised by the stupid question .
"I've used up all my funding . "
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