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The Chinese Original Music Charts, abbreviated as Original Sound Chart, was jointly established by the Chinese Musicians Association in collaboration with WeChat Music, NetEase Music, Pop Radio, and dozens of other media outlets. It is the most authoritative pop music chart in the country.
The Original Sound Chart is published once a week on weekends, ranking the top 50 popular songs in the country based on the Popular Index. The chart index is calculated based on data provided by major music media, including plays, downloads, on-demand requests, and purchases, using a fixed formula.
In the domestic pop music scene, the rankings on the Original Sound Chart largely represent the current trends in popular music.
The rankings for the week of August 4th were announced on September 27th.
Thus, those in the show business community who were paying attention to this chart were surprised to find something remarkable.
That is, Lu Chen's name.
Lu Chen's "Sleeping in the Bunk Above Me" / Popular Index: 2135, ranked 49th this week!
Lu Chen's "Golden Time of Youth" / Popular Index: 3714, ranked 30th this week!
Lu Chen's "Dust in the Wind" / Popular Index: 4056, ranked 28th this week!
Lu Chen's "Ballad of Time" / Popular Index: 4470, ranked 25th this week!
Lu Chen's "My Old Classmate" / Popular Index: 5389, ranked 16th this week!
Lu Chen's "Those Flowers" / Popular Index: 5578, ranked 14th this week!
Lu Chen's "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" / Popular Index: 7262, ranked 4th this week!
With seven songs, as a newcomer who had just debuted, Lu Chen managed to secure seven important positions on the Original Sound Chart with his first album, "My Old Classmate"!
It was nothing short of a miracle!
In the history of the Original Sound Chart, it is common for multiple works from the same album to be on the chart, but it is usually only two or three at most. If it is a masterpiece from a superstar, having five or six songs on the same chart is also not uncommon.
However, having seven out of ten songs from one album on the chart is truly rare!
This requires the average quality of the entire album to be extremely high, gaining significant recognition from the masses. If this was achievable before the Original Sound Chart appeared in the 80s and 90s, it is now incredibly difficult.
The reason for this is very simple: the Original Sound Chart is for original works; no matter how popular a cover song is from abroad, it cannot make it onto the chart.
Currently, the original music scene in the country is declining. It is normal for an album to have one or two quality tracks, and basically, no company is willing to put seven or eight quality tracks on one album— it's a reckless waste of natural resources!
Lu Chen's album "My Old Classmate" is undoubtedly an exception. It first sold well on WeChat Music, even sparking industry discussions about domestic original music, and it has stirred up a wave of campus folk songs in the pop music scene.
The quality of the works in the album is exceptionally high; all ten songs are outstanding, with some even considered classics. It can be said to be a masterpiece that fully showcases Lu Chen's talent in songwriting.
Therefore, while everyone was shocked, they also felt that the emergence of this miracle was quite natural.
In the third week of September, three of Lu Chen's works had already appeared on the Original Sound Chart. After a period of brewing and fermentation, this week they exploded into the limelight, which was not so hard to accept.
What truly made people envious was that Lu Chen's momentum on the Original Sound Chart was clearly just beginning. Next week, "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" is very likely to reach the top, and then all ten songs will be on the chart.
Having all ten songs from one album on the Original Sound Chart would be an unparalleled miracle!
It seems that Lu Chen is creating such a dominating miracle.
The pop music scene, which had been relatively quiet, was stirred up by Lu Chen's album!
More people began to focus on this new generation singer.
His status in the show business community has invisibly risen significantly.
On September 25th, Lu Chen participated in the official rehearsal for the National Day Gala of Capital City TV.
On September 29th, Lu Chen completed the live recording.
In addition to the group performance of "Walking While Sing" by the top five contestants of "Singing China," he performed solo with "I Love You, China," and his stage time even exceeded that of many star artists.
The version of "I Love You, China" used was the second true main theme version. Capital City TV, in order to shake off the impact of the Wang Bin scandal, cleverly shifted the focus by using Lu Chen's two songs with the same title on their blog.
This also allowed Lu Chen to benefit from it.
His collaboration with Capital City TV was undoubtedly a win-win result!
The morning after recording the National Day Gala for Capital City TV, Lu Chen drove to Chen Fei'er Workshop.
Since the beginning of the new century, the domestic entertainment industry has been growing and thriving. With the emergence of new media and the influence of foreign trends, many big stars have left their original signing companies to establish their own personal workshops and companies.
The advantages of establishing a workshop or company are numerous. First, artists can fully control their own destinies and will not be manipulated by their signing companies in their careers, allowing them to hold all aspects of their interests in their hands.
However, this self-reliant model is usually only suitable for those who are already at the top of the show business community. They have the strength, connections, money, and fame to make others choose to cooperate rather than suppress or exclude them, allowing them to thrive.
For newcomers or second-tier stars who are not yet well-known, starting a workshop can be much more challenging. Without the support and resource investment from a signing company, everything relies on their own hard work, and 99% of the time, it leads to failure.
In the show business community, there are many ambitious artists who, despite their high aspirations, lack the necessary status. They choose to start their own businesses, only to end up losing their investments and fading into obscurity.
If Lu Chen did not have the immense wealth from Dream World as support, the best he could achieve would be to sign with an ordinary company as a minor artist, struggling to earn a living by running around for gigs.
By directly establishing his own workshop, he has taken a significant step forward.
This step is something that most artists may never achieve in their lifetimes!
Chen Fei'er Workshop was established seven years ago.
At that time, she was already the reigning queen of sweet songs in the pop music scene, and after becoming independent, countless people supported her.
As a result, Chen Fei'er Workshop has a great reputation in the show business community, and many newcomers aspire to sign under her name.
Star workshops can also sign artists.
Upon arrival, Lu Chen initially intended to wait downstairs, but Chen Fei'er insisted that he come up.
According to Sister Fei, since he was already there, how could he not come up to sit, get acquainted, and have a cup of tea?
Not wanting to offend her, Lu Chen had no choice but to comply.
Chen Fei'er Workshop is located on the 38th floor of a luxurious business building in the Central Business District of Capital City, comparable in scale to a small to medium-sized company, with numerous employees serving her.
"Sister Fei!"
To Lu Chen's surprise, as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he saw Chen Fei'er standing at the door.
Today, Chen Fei'er was wearing a Chanel long dress, her long hair cascading down, looking stunningly beautiful.
"Lu Chen." She smiled and opened her arms, giving Lu Chen a warm hug: "Welcome!"
Lu Chen replied with a smile, "Thank you, Sister Fei!"
He believed that not many people could enjoy such treatment.
From the expressions of the assistants behind Chen Fei'er, it was evident.
Chen Fei'er released her arms, took a step back, and said earnestly, "I should be the one thanking you!"
"The two songs you wrote for me are wonderful; I really like them, they're fantastic!"
Lu Chen smiled, "I'm glad you like them."
He had promised to write two songs for Chen Fei'er, and after completing them the day before, he sent her the sheet music and demo.
Thus, today's meeting was arranged.
"Do you know?" The sweet song queen's eyes sparkled with excitement: "I've listened to both songs dozens of times and tried singing them over ten times. The more I sing, the better they feel. I've decided they will be the first and second singles of my new album!"
For any songwriter, having their work become the title track of an album for a heavenly queen is undoubtedly a great honor and glory. If the album sells well, it would be a win-win situation for fame and fortune.
Typically, only top creators in the show business community are qualified to handle the title tracks for Chen Fei'er.
Moreover, for a heavenly queen like Chen Fei'er, releasing an album is a very careful and even grand affair. The selection of title songs must be the best of the best, requiring a long time and considerable effort to finalize.
Lu Chen's two songs reached Chen Fei'er just a day or two ago, and she quickly decided to use them as the first and second singles for her new album. This decision reflects not only her immense trust in Lu Chen but also her genuine love for the songs.
Especially since Chen Fei'er is currently facing a turning point in her career, she has high hopes for this new album, making such a decision quite significant.
It is also because of this decision that Chen Fei'er invited Lu Chen over.
Lu Chen smiled, "I feel a lot of pressure."
Chen Fei'er smiled brightly and said, "I believe in your abilities. My album will revolve around your two songs. Let's take a tour of my workshop first, and then we can go to Flying Stone Records together."
Chen Fei'er has always maintained a very good cooperative relationship with Flying Stone Records. Most of her albums are produced through Flying Stone Records, and this new album is no exception.
By inviting Lu Chen to Flying Stone Records today, she intends to finalize the title tracks and discuss composing music and the overall style of the album.
As a songwriter, Chen Fei'er hopes Lu Chen will participate in the process, providing ideas for her new album!
For Lu Chen, being involved in the production of a new album for A Heavenly Queen and having his name listed in the credits is an excellent opportunity to enhance his reputation and career.
Thus, for the two songs, Lu Chen only asked Chen Fei'er for a friendly price— 500,000.
Of course, Chen Fei'er didn't care about tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Not to mention that a song costing two or three hundred thousand is nothing; even if it were a million, she could easily afford it. However, this represented the good friendship and contractual relationship established between them.
——
(End of chapter)