Chapter 5: The Era of Copyright
The song was titled “I Don’t Love.” Its rhythm shifted between soothing and upbeat. He no longer remembered his exact mood when he wrote it, so he performed it based on his current understanding and feelings. He didn’t know how it would be received, but the most important thing now was rest. He’d check the comments after he woke up.
He slept until noon, fried an egg, and made a bowl of noodles for a late breakfast/lunch. Then, Xiahou Qian opened his computer and logged into Tianlai. He was expectant, but rationally, he knew he shouldn’t hope for too much. There were countless online singers, and it was very difficult to break through without marketing and promotion.
With these complex feelings, he clicked on his homepage. He saw only three followers. He clicked on the page for “I Don’t Love” and saw only three comments in the comment section from different users.
…
Xiao Xiao: The vocals, lyrics, composition, arrangement, and post-production are all done by one person. That’s quite impressive. (3 hours ago)
You Xiaohuai: The voice is so sexy, and I love the song. It’s been a long time since I discovered a male voice I like this much. I’ll recommend it to my friends. (2 hours ago)
Fangxue Bie Zou: Isn’t this the ‘Male God’ voice of my dreams? Why are there so few people listening to such a good song! It’s unscientific! I’m going to promote it in my friend circle. (30 minutes ago)
…
Although there weren’t many listeners, at least the comments were positive. Unlike twenty years ago when piracy was rampant, now not only did uploading require a copyright code, but users also had to pay to listen or download. Naturally, people wouldn’t just listen to any new song.
Once a song was purchased for online streaming, it could be played forever without extra cost. Downloading required an additional fee, generating a unique random activation code. Each code could only be used once. Without an activation code, even if the song was sent to someone else, they couldn’t listen to it. However, it didn’t affect the same user logging in on different devices.
Of course, you could use someone else’s account, but a song wasn’t expensive. You might not like the songs someone else liked anyway. Most people wouldn’t be so stingy over a small amount of money, and some even bought songs as gifts for others to support their favorite singers.
After reading the comments, Xiahou Qian scrolled up. The play count and download count were both 3, and the recommendation count was also 3. This meant that every person who listened had also downloaded it and followed his page. That was a good sign, right? Xiahou Qian comforted himself.
Breaking through online wouldn’t happen overnight. For now, he still needed to find a job, or his savings wouldn’t last long. Fortunately, he owned the apartment and didn’t have to pay rent, but utilities, phone bills, internet, food, and travel all cost money.
Xiahou Qian felt that all his talent points had gone into music, so he could only look for related work. After searching and analyzing online, he decided to look for a job as a bar singer for the time being. Luckily, he was now an adult, or it would have been a real hassle.
In truth, saying his talent points only went into music was being too modest. Could an ordinary person skip grades in middle and high school and enter the Huaxia Conservatory of Music at the young age of fourteen? Don’t let the name “Conservatory” fool you; it was an A-grade music school on par with B University for liberal arts and Q University for sciences!
There were fewer than ten A-grade universities in all of Huaxia.
He opened a large recruitment website and searched based on location, occupation, and salary. There were quite a few listings. It seemed bar singers had a high turnover rate.
Xiahou Qian chose two bars near his home that had good online reviews. He noted their addresses and decided to visit them once they opened in the evening.
After that, he refreshed the song page. The play count and download count had reached 7 and 6 respectively, with 6 recommendations. Comments had increased by four.
…
Mo Ming De Xiao Qing Xu: I’m crying! The music is so good, the lyrics too. Why aren’t the music or lyrics sad, but I feel so heartbroken listening to it? …Sob, sob. The lyrics alone are just a bit sentimental, but I didn’t expect the tear-jerking effect to be this strong! Even so, I can’t stop listening! (1 hour ago)
Men You Ping: The person above said exactly what I’m thinking! I suspected my best friend was exaggerating, but after listening, I realized she’s actually reliable for once. (50 minutes ago)
Ao Jiao Gong Zhu: The website isn’t promoting such a good song? So useless! Keep it up, Xia-Xia, I’ll organize people to help promote you. You must work hard on new songs. Even though there are few listeners now, believe that every one of us is your true fan! (20 minutes ago)
Zheng Shao Ye: Someone said this song is great and strongly recommended it. I’ll leave a comment first to show I was here. I’ll write my review after listening. (3 minutes ago)
…
There were still very few people, but he could feel their love for his song. Popularity wasn’t the main issue yet. As the saying goes, “Gold will always shine.” He should have more faith in himself.
The ‘Ye Se’ (Night Color) Bar was only a ten-minute walk from his place. He chose to come here first because if he succeeded, he wouldn’t have to go to the other bar. Since the pay and hours were similar, closer was better.
Xiahou Qian arrived at Ye Se around 5:30 PM. The bar had just opened, and there were only a few customers. He walked to the bar and asked a young man inside, “Hello, I’m here to apply for the singer position.”
The young man looked up, and his eyes flashed with surprise. Xiahou Qian was truly handsome, had a great aura, and a pleasant voice. It was enough to make one jealous.
“Wait a moment, I’ll get the manager.” After a brief daze, the young man answered quickly and ran off.
Xiahou Qian smiled and found a seat at the bar. He took the opportunity to observe the environment. Online reviews were just opinions; sometimes what you see isn’t the same. Everyone has different tastes.
After observing, he felt this place was indeed good. Although it was early and the atmosphere hadn’t ramped up yet, he felt comfortable. The acoustics were excellent—soothing metal music echoed throughout the bar. The lighting was in a pleasant tone, and the decor had style. It was classy without being overly extravagant. Even the sofas, tables, and glasses were very tasteful.
Xiahou Qian believed the professional equipment would be high-quality as well. This indicated the owner was wealthy and willing to invest in the bar, creating a positive cycle. No wonder it had so many good reviews.
Just then, he heard two sets of footsteps approaching. He turned to see the young man from earlier and another man with a steady gait and a more mature look—likely the manager.
The man appeared to be in his thirties, with average looks and a medium build. He was about 180cm tall. His formal suit seemed a bit out of place in a bar, but luckily, his shirt wasn’t buttoned to the top and he had no tie, so it wasn’t jarring.
“Hello, my surname is Xiahou, first name Qian,” Xiahou Qian said, standing up with a smile.
“I’m Wang Wei, the manager of Ye Se.” Wang Wei smiled back, appearing to be a very smooth individual.
Xiahou Qian guessed he wasn’t the owner. Since the young man had said “manager” instead of “boss,” he had already suspected it. Now, after a brief exchange, he was almost certain. This wasn’t unusual; the bar was likely just one of the owner’s properties, so they hired professional management.
“Hello, Manager Wang.” Xiahou Qian was polite but not fawning.
“How about this? Everything important is online, so I won’t repeat it. Let’s see your real skills. The stage is yours from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM tonight. Tell me what you need, and I’ll get it ready.” Wang Wei was clearly a decisive person.
“Alright. I’ll give you a song list in a bit. I can use backing tracks or have the band accompany me.” He didn’t plan to sing his originals at Ye Se, and he wouldn’t choose rare songs. Even if the bar didn’t have the backing tracks, he could find them online.
“Good,” Wang Wei smiled.
…
Meidu was a beautiful coastal city. Its development started even earlier than the Imperial Capital, and many policies were more open than in the interior. There were many wealthy people here, but only a few families sat at the very top.
The Zheng family was one of the most prominent in Meidu, known for producing business geniuses and accumulating vast wealth.
Zheng Wenxin was the youngest son of the Zheng family, born late to his parents. He was currently sixteen. He had two older brothers and an older sister. His eldest brother and sister were already married. His brother-in-law was in politics and held significant power in Meidu, complementing the Zheng family. The two were very close. Many thought it was an arranged marriage, but in fact, no one in the family knew about their relationship until his sister decided to bring him home for the engagement.
Zheng Wenxin had been brilliant since childhood—a genius, essentially. But perhaps because he was too smart, he didn’t care much for anything. Learning was like play to him. He wasn’t interested in business; in fact, there was almost nothing he was interested in. Very few things could capture his attention for long.
Most geniuses are solitary, but Zheng Wenxin wasn’t. He was more like a rebellious, pampered young master. His family was somewhat speechless about it but chose to be indulgent. They were more afraid of him sinking into his own world. They believed the Zheng family education wouldn’t produce a sociopath, so occasional small troubles didn’t matter. The whole family, including his in-laws, doted on him.
Today, after having lunch at home, Zheng Wenxin went back to school as usual. Even though he had mastered all the material years ago, his family said he needed friends. Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well try to live a normal life. He thought it didn’t matter, so he agreed.
Thus, Zheng Wenxin had gone to school with his peers his whole life, even though he truly found his classmates incredibly childish and had nothing in common with them.
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