Perfect Superstar

Chapter 166 - Counterattacking To The Top

Usually,September was a quite month for pop music, with no big names releasing newalbums or singles this month. Therefore, the four major music websites havebecome the stage for the new generation of singers and idols.

Since thebeginning of this month, QQ Music, NetEase Music, Pop Radio and Voice of Chinahave all released the debut albums of singers and artists, but the mosteye-catching one was undoubtedly the competition between the four emergingartists on QQ Music website!

CuiZhengzhi, Lu Chen, Zou Bei and Ling Xiaoxiao are all outstanding artists of thenew generation in China.

Everyone thoughtthat Cui Zhengzhi, who occupied the advantage of time, place, and people, wouldinevitably become the final winner.

Cui Zhengzhialso thought so, so when he was interviewed by the media, he contemptuouslydisregarded Lu Chen.

However, thefact gave him a slap in the face!

At 7 pm onSeptember 9, 24 hours after Cui Zhengzhi and Lu Chen’s debut album went on sale,"Provocation” sold 67,520 copies and “You Who Sat Next To Me”sold 65,117 copies. The gap between the two have narrowed down to just over1,000.

In fact,both Cui Zhengzhi and Orange Field Entertainment, which he signed up to, knewvery well that the actual sales of “Provocation” should be subtractedby 15,000. If Lu Chen didn't buy sales, it meant he was behind 13,000+ salesinstead!

For a wholeday, Cui Zhengzhi didn't update his blog and didn't let Cui Xiuyin write on hisbehalf.

He evenpushed off the afternoon notice. He just stood in front of the computer and staredat the sales data of QQ Music.

Like aperson who is possessed!

Cui Xiuyindidn't dare to persuade him. She could only explain and apologize to thecompany, with the reason that Cui Zhengzhi suddenly fell ill.

After all,temporarily canceling the scheduled notice was a very bad thing for newartists. Because even if Cui Zhengzhi was popular in Orange Field Entertainmentbecause of his parents, he will still be questioned by the upper levels.

CuiZhengzhi’s condition was really the same as being ill. He didn’t believe thathe will lose to Lu Chen.

Although hisheart was desperately saying that Lu Chen also bought sales, but intuition toldthis proud new idol that Lu Chen’s achievements were probably real.

But how wasthat possible?

The liveversion of Lu Chen’s songs, that was in his album, were already available earlyon, and can be easily found on the Internet. He also didn't spend money onpublicity, and only temporary hyped for a while. How could the result be soexcellent?

How was thatpossible?

Cui Zhengzhicouldn’t figure it out. He wanted to smash the computer on the desk.

If thecompany hadn’t bought sales for him, he would have suffered the humiliation ofbeing stepped on by Lu Chen!

Lu Chencouldn’t figure it out either.

He was alsostanding in front of the computer, watching the constantly jumping numbers onthe weekly sales list of QQ Music, and Li Mubai, who was sitting next to himeating a fast food box lunch, couldn't tear his sister apart, oh wrong, waspuzzled! (TN: Author tried to make a joke here)

Lu Chenfirst set a sales target of 100,000+ to "You Who Sat Next To Me". Later, whenhe took on Cui Zhengzhi, he increased the cost of publicity and hype, and raisedthe expected value to 150,000+ to ensure that he could still make a sum ofmoney.

However, he didn'texpect that the sales volume of the first day would reach over 60,000. If therewas no substantial drop, then the total sales can at least exceed over 300,000,reaching the standard of big sales.

Lu Chen felta little baffled, feeling as if he had suddenly been hit by a pie falling fromthe sky.

His gazecouldn't help but fall on Li Mubai, revealing a look of doubt.

Li Mubaiswallowed the food in his mouth. He said, “You don’t have to look at me. I’mso poor now. I’ve been advertising for you in the QQ Group these two days. Idon’t have the money to buy sales for you. I didn’t even know what buying listwas before!”

“If Ihave this money, I can eat well. How can I eat this? But…”

The pitiful thirdyoung master of the Li Family was now reduced to a mixed lunch box situation.

Just likewhat Li Murong said, his pocket money was cut-off this month, and a master likehim would not save at all. So, he became very poor all of a sudden.

His Porsche’ssports car has been given up to Li Mushi, who is still owes the blood spittingprice with 60% discount. (TN: The price was so unfair that it would make peoplespit blood.)

So, Li Mubaican only watch the online crowdfunding come into operation as soon as possible.

If it wasbefore, he would have never eaten a 15-yuan box lunch, but now he is eating itdeliciously: “The steak is pretty good.” (TN: Like this: Here)

Lu Chen didn'tknow whether to laugh or cry. But Li Mubai certainly didn’t buy sales for him.

So, thissales result is real!

But why?

Although hehas several millions of fans in his live broadcast and blogs, most of them arepassersby fans, and real die-hard fans were not many, even if it was an 8-yuanalbum, not many people will buy it.

This situationdoesn't only apply to him, but also for new artists like Cui Zhengzhi. Today’sfans are very astute. Moreover, it was easy for them to like the new and hatethe old, often chasing more than one star idol.

Steadypopularity and real fans require long-term accumulation and cultivation. LuChen’s rise was very fast, but his foundation was not solid. In addition, he wasmuch more low-key than other artists, so both the public and himself were notvery optimistic about the sales of “You Who Sat Next To Me”.

The result wasso unexpected!

Lu Chenshook his head and said to Li Mubai, “Let's see what happened. If the salesvolume on QQ Music drops substantially, then we will officially launch theonline crowdfunding, crowdfunding albums and commemorative sets.”

According tothe plan, the crowdfunding network should have been launched yesterday. Thewebsite has already been completed, and there was only one project for the timebeing.

However, hisalbum “You Who Sat Next To me” was selling so well on QQ Music thatLu Chen had to change his plan. After discussing with Li Mushi, he was going topostpone it for about 10 days, so as to avoid the situation of left hand hittingthe right hand. (TN: Affecting each other's result)

Li Mushi hasno objection. The office of the new company was still under renovation. She hasjust returned to her homeland and she also have a lot of social activities.

The only onesuffering was Li Mubai. He has no money and no car, and can only run to LuChen's studio all day to get a meal.

Li Mubai wastackling the steak and nodded repeatedly: “mm-hmm!”

But thedevelopment of things is always so unexpected.

On September10, Cui Zhengzhi’s “Provocation” sold a total of 82,584 copies, asignificant drop.

Whatsurprised many people was that the total sales of Lu Chen’s “You Who SatNext To Me” has unexpectedly reached 102,560, counterattacking to the topof the weekly sales list of QQ Music, and was substantially ahead of itscompetitors.

Comparedwith the first day, the rise in his sales was so great that it made people feelthat it was inconceivable!

Althoughmany people in the circle, who were paying attention to this rookie showdown,were mentally prepared for Lu Chen to surpass Cui Zhengzhi, but seeing how fastthe former counterattack to the top was really surprising to them.

If the salesin 48 hours was over 100,000, then it means that the total sale will not only reach300,000, but it's going to reach the 500,000 [Platinum Record]!

Lu Chen’sambition was too big!

On blogs, forums,and post bars, the number of comments and discussions immediately increased.

Some peopleinsisted that Lu Chen must have spent a lot of money to buy sales and didn'tbelieve that “You Who Sat Next To Me” can sell so well.

Some peoplealso thought that the possibility of Lu Chen buying list was very unlikely, andthat “You Who Sat Next To Me” have sold well because of its excellentquality.

Some peopleenvied his success, while others laughed at Cui Zhengzhi’s failure.

CuiZhengzhi’s interview video was even dug out.

But theplace where there was the most discussion was in the member forum of QQ Music,which was already in an uproar!

As thelargest music website in China, QQ Music Forum brings together a large numberof pop music lovers, and the showdown between the four rookies this month haslong been a hot topic.

By September10, Ling Xiaoxiao’s solo album “True Love Invincible” had a totalsale of only 60,000+, and the subsequent sales plummeted, making people wonderif the album could still meet the [Golden Record] standard.

And hisalbum has received a low rating on the website, with a member rating of only6.4, just barely passing.

Consideringthat he very likely spent money to buy sales, his actual score should be evenlower!

Zou Bei’s“Blooming Flowers” was much better. The total sales of her album havebroken 90,000, with an evaluation of 8.1 points. It should be said that her reputationwas not bad, living up to the name of a talented woman.

Neither LingXiaoxiao nor Zou Bei has any hot topics worth talking about, so now the focus wasmainly on the albums of Lu Chen and Cui Zhengzhi.

In the maincomment area of the weekly sales list, various group of forces were battling itout, including Cui Zhengzhi's fans, Lu Chen fans, passers-by fans from bothsides and a large crowd of onlookers.

QQ tourist00567: The sales volume of "You Who Sat Next To Me" is too fake. Whoever believesthis is stupid!

Husky II: Upstairsis the stupidest!

Blue Sky: Laughingand touching at the dog’s head upstairs. I bought Lu Chen’s album and don’tlike Cui Zhengzhi.

Mu'er: CuiZhengzhi’s "Provocation" is not bad, but casually listening to the songs ofthis album is enough, it’s not worth buying.

Xiaozhi isthe best: My Zhengzhi oppa is the best. Lu Chen’s water army, please leave,okay? Thank you!

Ak47: Hehe, howabout you leave, you thick-face fan? Thank you!

The End of theWorld: I bought both albums. To be fair, Lu Chen is better than Cui Zhengzhi. Youall can clearly see once you look at the album rating that “Provocation”bought the list, and “You Who Sat Next Too Me” didn't!

Popeye: Really?“Provocation” bought the list, then wouldn't that mean Cui Zhengzhilose miserably?

Cheng Cheng Love:You're talking nonsense!

End of the World:Am I talking nonsense? You can see it with you own eyes, just click on theratings reviews.

…….

All albumsor singles sold on QQ Music can be rated and evaluated by buying members. Theratings show how good its reputation.

So far, “YouWho Sat Next To Me” has a rating of 9.2 and “Provocation” has8.5.

The gapbetween the two seemed not very big, only 0.7.

But it shouldbe known that due to the existence of the phenomenon of buying lists, it wasnormal to fabricate high scores, and the website will not care.

Because It'sthose lords' privilege to spend their money. (TN: meaning those people are freeto spent their money to whatever they want.)

However, aslong as one is willing to explore, one will find the problem in the ratings andevaluations of these members.

And alsofind out why the two albums sell differently.

When thetide recedes, it will be clear who is swimming naked!

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TN: If yousee any mistakes or you didn't understand parts in the chapter, please write iton the comment area. I will immediately address it. Thank you!

But if youare reading this other than in my site, I will not be able to read yourcomments.