Chapter 48: Why Arrange a Date When There’s a Career to Pursue?

After Pan Chengyi and Lu Zhou finished discussing the promotional plan for “First Love” in a completely serious manner, Pan Chengyi’s opinion of him changed significantly.

If he hadn’t known beforehand that Lu Zhou could leverage Ye Fangfei’s popularity, Pan Chengyi wouldn’t have agreed to debut “First Love” on DouMusic. But after their conversation, he realized that, judging by Lu Zhou’s preparations, Lu Zhou had planned to launch the song on DouMusic even before he knew he could ride on Ye Fangfei’s fame.

For instance, before “First Love” was even fully recorded, Lu Zhou had already applied for musician certification on DouMusic and thoroughly understood the platform’s incentives for independent music creators. He had also noticed the current hit youth film “Those Years, Us,” and considered using scenes from the movie as part of his promotional strategy. Even more impressively, he participated in the reality show “Would You Swap? Exes” with his first love, intending to use his own real-life story to further boost the song’s exposure.

Reflecting on all this, Pan Chengyi realized how seamlessly everything fit together. After careful analysis, he saw that Lu Zhou had very clear ideas for his debut song: from the core concept, to the promotional medium, and even the initial model for commercial profit—everything had been planned in advance.

His approach was methodical: leveraging the model of video platforms to drive momentum, while music streaming platforms were only secondary in his strategy.

Now, reality had already proven that debuting “First Love” on DouMusic was the right choice. Of course, that was thanks to Ye Fangfei’s generous contribution of a free “hot start.” Still, Pan Chengyi admired Lu Zhou for his audacity in capitalizing on someone else’s popularity without so much as a heads-up.

Pan Chengyi couldn’t help but wonder: what exactly had Lu Zhou been doing during his ten years of obscurity at Jinhua Entertainment? Had he been biding his time, quietly honing his skills and learning the ins and outs of the company’s music business?

As an independent music producer, Pan Chengyi, to be frank, held a deep disdain for many so-called “DouMusic hits” on the market from a professional standpoint. He believed that while some of these “hits” became wildly popular for a time, their melodies, rhythms, and arrangements were, to him, utterly lowbrow.

And yet, ironically, these songs went viral—infuriating, isn’t it? What’s more, their commercial value was solid; investors were willing to throw money into promotion—doesn’t that just make your blood boil?

It seemed that the pop music market was suffering from the “bad money drives out good” phenomenon. Nowadays, it was easy to churn out a song in just a few hours by shoehorning it into a trendy pop template. Digitalization had multiplied the sheer volume of music on the market, making it seem as though there was no shortage of songs—yet in truth, there was a real shortage.

But was there really a shortage? Absolutely—there was a shortage of good songs, of quality music.

Pan Chengyi had once loathed platforms like DouMusic, believing they were corrupting the music industry and making audiences restless. People who once savored a three- or four-minute song now only cared for a catchy ten-second hook. The true value of a song had been drastically diminished.

Yet reality taught him a hard lesson.

These days, if you want a song to become a phenomenon—just topping the charts on a music streaming platform isn’t nearly enough. The era had changed. If you wanted the masses to know your song, you had to meet them where they were.

DouMusic boasted over 800 million users.

If you wanted to experience true popularity, reality dictated that you needed to push your song on this platform to maximize your chances.

Eventually, Pan Chengyi bowed to reality and gained a new appreciation for DouMusic. Still, even after changing his mind, he couldn’t help but resist, at least subconsciously—it was merely a necessary evil to make a living.

When he asked Lu Zhou why he was so determined to promote music through video, Lu Zhou’s answer was a revelation for him.

“You have to accept reality—the times have changed.”

“The radio’s heyday was overtaken by television, and now with the rise of short videos, few people even watch TV anymore.”

“There was a time when listening to a single song on repeat all day was satisfying. Now, the barrage of short videos and their rapid-fire, fifteen-second sensory assaults are dominating people’s minds. Just listening isn’t enough anymore. There are people who once spent hours a day immersed in music who now could go a whole day without listening and not miss it.”

“With entertainment so diversified and technology advancing, music has, in some ways, become an accessory to short videos.”

“You may not want to admit it, but it’s true.”

“Music now lives in people’s lives through a new medium, and we must keep pace with the times.”

“If a nobody doesn’t adapt, he’ll always remain a nobody.”

“But I know exactly what I want.”

“I’ll break into pop music first, make a living, and when I have breathing space, I’ll try something above the average.”

“But the premise of pop music is you have to get popular first. That means choosing the most popular medium for your promotion.”

Lu Zhou’s words made Pan Chengyi an instant fan of the young man. He believed his instincts wouldn’t fail him—Lu Zhou was destined for fame. He had stumbled upon a hidden gem, and he wasn’t about to let him slip away.

Once their plan was set, Pan Chengyi began reaching out to his contacts to start the promotional push.

...

That evening, Lu Zhou was still occupied in Pan Chengyi’s studio well into the night. Meanwhile, the other guests from “Would You Swap? Exes” were out on dates in various locations.

He was the only one without a date, and received a message from the production team:

[Please return to the Pink Cottage after 7 p.m. tonight to avoid revealing that you didn’t go on a date today.]

Did that sting? Actually, not at all!

To be honest, he might not even make it back to the cottage by seven tonight.