Since Wang Bin was arrested on the 17th, the domestic entertainment industry has experienced a stormy baptism in just three short days until the 20th.
Several star artists have been exposed for attending this senior's gathering, and some have even been taken away by the police to assist in the investigation, ruining their reputations and futures.
In an instant, the industry was filled with panic, and even various promotional stunts had quieted down significantly.
On the Langchao blog, it was a chaotic scene, with various big and small influencers stirring up trouble. Gossip and rumors were flying everywhere, leading to many artists being caught in the crossfire.
Although Capital City TV is not an artist or star, it also got caught in the fray.
In fact, the criticism directed at Capital City TV was not entirely unjustified, as they had revealed a month ago that they had invited Wang Bin and Chen Fei'er, among other big-name stars, to participate in the National Day Gala, even conducting a special interview with Wang Bin to promote the event.
Who would have thought that Wang Bin would end up in such a scandal!
Although Capital City TV's official account quickly announced the termination of all collaborations with Wang Bin and replaced his performance, the damage had already been done.
Media reports revealed that Wang Bin's drug abuse had been ongoing for quite some time.
As a local powerhouse in the capital, did Capital City TV really know nothing about this? If they were aware of the situation, why would they invite Wang Bin to such an important gala? Wasn't that encouraging the bad practices in the show business community?
Some even accused Capital City TV of kicking Wang Bin when he was down.
Most of these doubts and accusations were unfounded, but that's how the internet works; unreasonable claims stir up trouble, not to mention that some people were deliberately fanning the flames, leaving Capital City TV in a somewhat passive position.
However, Capital City TV was not to be underestimated and quickly launched a counterattack in the realm of public opinion.
First, the official account refuted the false rumors on the blog and also advocated for self-discipline among stars in the entertainment industry.
On the evening of the 21st, as the storm caused by Wang Bin began to subside, Capital City TV's official account released a leaked video on its Langchao blog.
The content of the video was quite interesting; it was footage from the National Day Gala rehearsal at the T1 studio on the afternoon of the 17th.
And the protagonist of the video was none other than Lu Chen!
The official account extracted two segments from the rehearsal footage, showcasing Lu Chen performing two versions of "I Love You, China," and initiated a prize voting activity for all blog users in the post.
The voting content was very simple, 'between two songs with the same title, which one do you prefer?'
In the end, the official account stated that the audience's choice would determine which song Lu Chen would perform at the National Day Gala!
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this blog post was undoubtedly part of Capital City TV's crisis public relations strategy, aimed at diverting attention away from Wang Bin, at least to avoid further association with Capital City TV.
However, this method of shifting focus was not off-putting and was quite interesting.
Lu Chen's two songs piqued the curiosity and attention of many, leading to a rapid increase in views and comments.
At 8:24 PM, Chen Fei'er retweeted this blog post and commented that she voted for the second version of the song!
In addition to Chen Fei'er, many others from the show business community also retweeted and commented, and with the official account's push, the topic quickly gained traction. By 10 PM, the number of votes had surprisingly exceeded 200,000!
The most excited were, nevertheless, Lu Chen's fans.
In Lu Chen's Langchao blog support group, the Lu family army, the comment section was flooded.
Supporters of Lu Chen praised the leaked video from Capital City TV!
"Lu Chen is amazing!"
"Our Chen is getting better and better; both songs are great, who knew he could write main theme songs!"
"The first one isn't really a main theme, is it? It's clearly pop, while the second one is just perfect!"
"Chen Fei'er said she liked the second one, and I do too."
"Could it be that Lu Chen is replacing Wang Bin? The National Day Gala on Capital City TV is a must-watch!"
"Must-watch +1!"
"What's Capital City TV? Lu Chen will definitely be on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in the future!"
"Looking forward to the CCTV Spring Festival Gala."
Compared to ordinary fans, many industry professionals had much more professional evaluations.
Chen Guodong, who once wrote a brilliant blog post titled "The Silent Majority" for Lu Chen's "My Old Classmate" album, praised, "Lu Chen's achievements in original folk music are well-known, but I never expected him to produce such outstanding main theme songs. The richness of the melody is truly impressive."
"Regarding the voting for Capital City TV, I found it quite difficult; I pondered for a long time without making a choice."
"If we consider the characteristics of main theme songs, the second one undoubtedly crushes the first. However, the first song combines the main theme with pop music very well, showcasing a bold spirit of innovation!"
He stated, "I like both of Lu Chen's songs very much. If possible, I wish both could be performed, but that's clearly not feasible, so I didn't choose either."
Chen Guodong didn't vote, but many others did.
The result was that Lu Chen's acapella version of the second "I Love You, China" won with a staggering 72.89% against 27.11% for the first song during the two-day voting period.
His creative talent and singing ability received overwhelming praise, and thanks to this wave of publicity from Capital City TV, his blog follower count exceeded 6.5 million!
Lu Chen's reputation both inside and outside the industry significantly rose as a result!
Riding this momentum, Lu Chen grandly launched the long-awaited crowdfunding plan for his album, which had been delayed for over half a month.
The Crowdfunding website went live simultaneously!
For most people around the world, the term Crowdfunding was unfamiliar, so Lu Chen took the time to briefly explain what the Crowdfunding model was in his blog post, along with the website link.
By clicking the link, fans could directly access the Crowdfunding site.
For Lu Chen's fans, they might not care about what Crowdfunding meant or its significance and market value.
What truly excited them was that Lu Chen was finally going to release a CD!
Although the music industry, both domestically and internationally, has been declining year by year since the new century, the significance of a physical CD remains vastly different.
Releasing a digital album or music single is relatively easy, but producing a CD is much more challenging.
First, the production costs for CDs are significantly higher than for digital audio data, and the costs and difficulties of sales and distribution are also greater than those of online platforms.
Aside from major stars, it's tough for anyone to recoup their costs.
Many vagabond singers release CDs to boost their image, but their sales figures often turn out dismal, resulting in losses rather than profits, sometimes even leading to inflated self-image.
Many CD albums are sold at a loss or given away as gifts to fans, with some even left unsold.
Thus, despite countless vagabond singers dreaming of releasing a CD to achieve the status of a "Gold Record" or even "Platinum Record," only a small fraction can actually do so.
For entertainment agencies, unless they are willing to invest heavily in promoting an artist, they would never easily dig their own grave, especially those companies with strict cost controls.
However, this market still exists!
Releasing a CD was a plan Lu Chen had long envisioned. He didn't want to inflate his image by spending hundreds of thousands recklessly, so the Crowdfunding model was the best choice.
The success of the online sales for "My Old Classmate" album greatly boosted Lu Chen's confidence.
His fundraising goal for this album was 500,000 Yuan!
There were four support options available.
The first option: 1 Yuan (10,000 people), with one lucky winner receiving a laptop as a prize.
The second option: 15 Yuan (unlimited), supporters would receive one official "My Old Classmate" CD.
The third option: 100 Yuan (1,000 people), supporters would receive one CD, a signed commemorative poster from Lu Chen, a custom 16GB USB drive and keychain from the Lu family army, and a limited edition metal nameplate set.
The fourth option: 188 Yuan (1,000 people), supporters would receive two CDs, a signed commemorative poster from Lu Chen, a custom 64GB USB drive and notebook, a keychain, and a limited edition metal nameplate set.
Since this was Lu Chen's first crowdfunding project, he kept it simple with only four support options.
To be honest, he wasn't entirely confident about this album's Crowdfunding project, as he was unsure if he could reach the 500,000 Yuan goal and successfully launch his first personal CD.
But with the arrow on the string, it had to be released; whether the Crowdfunding project would be a hit depended on this first initiative.
To achieve the best promotional effect, Lu Chen not only vigorously promoted it through live streaming, forums, and WeChat groups but also tagged all the well-known influencers he knew on his blog, such as Tan Hong and Chen Fei'er.
Fortunately, Lu Chen's fans were very interested in the Crowdfunding project. After he officially launched the Crowdfunding website, the site's traffic and member registrations began to grow steadily.
Then the first supporter appeared, choosing the first option and contributing 1 Yuan!
1 Yuan, this was the first money that the Crowdfunding site had received.
Although it seemed quite meager, it signified the arrival of a brand new business financing model on the Internet!
It all started with an album.
Regardless of whether the final outcome was success or failure, Lu Chen felt a sense of creating history.
(End of this chapter)
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