Chapter 39: Borrowing the Spotlight, Releasing a Song Today

Yesterday, Lu Zhou had an enjoyable conversation with Pan Chengyi, and they decided to try working together for the first time. Lu Zhou entrusted Pan with the mixing and mastering of his song “First Love.” He hadn’t expected Pan to be so committed to their collaboration—within less than a day, Pan had already finished both tasks, and the result left Lu Zhou thoroughly satisfied.

Early this morning, the two met again to discuss the release of “First Love.” Lu Zhou’s plan was to record a video of himself performing the song and debut it today on DouYue, with releases on other platforms to follow. Pan, however, thought the schedule was tight and didn’t recommend premiering on DouYue. He believed it would be wiser to release first on a professional music streaming platform and use DouYue later for promotion.

“If we’re not signing an exclusive license, it doesn’t really matter where we premiere. But my DouYue account doesn’t have any content yet, and today there might be a surge in traffic. I want to seize this opportunity to give the song’s release a boost,” Lu Zhou explained. “Besides, I’ve already applied for DouYue’s Original Musician status, and the song sample I uploaded was this very track’s demo. So premiering on DouYue is actually the best move,” he added, speaking his mind.

Pan considered his words for a moment and then nodded. “The rights are in your hands, so it really doesn’t make much difference where you release first. As long as the song gets promoted, we can expand to other platforms later. But if you release it today, you haven’t even shot the video yet. Isn’t that a bit rushed? Can you guarantee the quality?”

Lu Zhou smiled. “It’s just a DouYue video, not some elaborate MV. I just need to set up a mic, sing in front of the camera, and sync the mastered audio—done. How much higher quality are you expecting?”

Pan was momentarily taken aback. “This is your very first wholly self-written and self-produced song in your career. Don’t you want to commemorate the release with an MV or something with a bit more ceremony?”

“The MV can wait. If I get a good idea later, I can make one then. Besides, I’m not that sentimental,” Lu Zhou replied casually.

In truth, this wasn’t his first song at all—it was the Nth…

“For a nobody like me, today’s traffic is the most valuable thing. Everything else can be put aside for now,” he said.

Pan studied Lu Zhou’s expression and realized he had already made up his mind. For some reason, Pan sensed a calm self-assurance in Lu Zhou when it came to music. Was he really just a former idol trainee who debuted for a year and then faded into obscurity? Why did Pan feel, whenever music came up, that Lu Zhou exuded the air of a seasoned veteran making a grand return?

“Why will your DouYue account get a spike in traffic today? Are you planning to pay for promotion?” Pan’s attention was caught by this point.

“Ye Fangfei will probably mention my account on DouYue today,” Lu Zhou replied with a frank smile.

“Who?!” Pan thought he’d misheard. “Ye Fangfei is going to mention you?”

“Yes. She told me herself. Unless something unexpected happens, it should go through—though I’m not sure exactly when. My guess is today, but if not, then within the next two days.”

“She told you herself…” It took Pan a moment to process this before he exclaimed, “Are you close with Ye Fangfei?”

Misunderstanding, Lu Zhou scratched the back of his head and said, “Not really… we just know each other.”

“Just acquaintances, and yet she’s going to promote your account?” Pan suddenly found the logic hard to follow. “Wait, isn’t Ye Fangfei not even on DouYue?”

Pan suddenly recalled this detail. “From what she said, she’s just struck a deal with DouYue and plans to join the platform,” Lu Zhou deduced from scattered information.

“So you’re saying, the first time Ye Fangfei joins DouYue, she’s going to promote your account?” Pan’s mouth twitched, “Are you sure?”

Lu Zhou had been quite confident, but Pan’s string of incredulous questions made him waver a little. “If she keeps her word… then yes, I’m sure.”

“Why would she promote your account for no reason?”

“It’s not exactly for no reason. I gave her a creative idea for a video, and she said she’d tag my account.”

Seeing how specific Lu Zhou’s explanation was, Pan started to believe it might be true. “Tonight for sure?”

“Not sure, but very likely.”

Pan stroked the stubble on his chin thoughtfully, then nodded several times. “Given Ye Fangfei’s level of influence, this is definitely a good opportunity. You should take advantage of it.”

“The main thing is to retain any traffic that comes in. Of course, the main promotion for the song won’t rely on this. I just hope to use it as a head start,” Lu Zhou said, cracking open a bottle of cold cola and taking a couple of big gulps.

“Have you seen the youth film ‘Back Then, Us’ that's been so popular lately?” he asked.

“I have. Why?” Pan didn’t understand why the conversation had suddenly shifted from song distribution to movies.

“Was the story good?”

“It was all right. If it’s this popular, it must be good. Young people love this stuff. I’m an old guy now—just shed a few tears in the theater and felt nothing afterward.”

Still confused, Pan asked, “So why are you bringing this up?”

“What did you think of the film’s soundtrack?” Lu Zhou pressed.

“Nothing special. I can’t even remember the songs. None of them blew up, right?” Pan said, picking up his phone to search for movie details.

“Suppose we paired ‘First Love’ with edits from that film and had those film-clip promotion accounts post it. Wouldn’t that be an effective way to promote the song?” Lu Zhou set down his cola and raised his brows at Pan.

Pan slowly looked up and met Lu Zhou’s confident gaze. Suddenly, he had a flash of realization and slapped his thigh. “Damn! Lu Zhou, you’re not just good at writing songs—you know how to promote them too?”

“No kidding, your song would be perfect as an OST for that movie! It’s like it was tailor-made. If you’d written it a bit earlier, they would’ve been begging you for the rights.”

Lu Zhou smiled again. If he’d written it earlier, he wouldn’t have awakened yet and couldn’t have written it at all.

“Let’s give it a try. For the promotion, I’ll leave it to you, Brother Pan.”

“No problem. If it’s just about hiring people, that’s easy.”

“Once the variety show I’m on airs, we can do another round of promotion for the song,” Lu Zhou added after thinking for a moment.

“What show are you on? A music show? Are you planning to sing this song?”

“A dating show.”

“Huh?”

“I’m going on a dating show with my ex-girlfriend. In a way, it matches the mood of the song, so it should give it another boost.”

“???” Pan’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait… you don’t mean that rumored ‘Swap, Exes?’”

“That’s the one.”

“You really are a man devoted to art,” Pan couldn’t help but joke. “In that case, there’s no need to shoot a music video. Just use clips from the show.”

Lu Zhou laughed.

Having reached an agreement, Lu Zhou hurried off to record the debut DouYue video, since he still had to return to the Pink House to film the show that evening.