Chapter 156 Making Money! Still with "1895"...
Chapter 156
"Does it feel like you've taken on a hot potato?" Yu Ying laughed at Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan was speechless and could only frantically type ellipses.
What left him even more speechless was—why did the Golden Wing Awards committee only award him the Best Actor award and not Yu Ying the Best Actress award?
"You acted much better than me."
"Don't be modest, Actor Lin."
"Don't be modest, Lin Yingdi +1."
Lin Yuan sent a fierce emoji to He Xun: "Don't get involved in this."
He Xun completely ignored his threats and continued to spam the screen.
Lin Yuan: "..."
In short, from today onwards, he felt that the surname Lin was particularly incompatible with the term "movie star".
"Is something wrong with you?" he couldn't help but ask his agent.
The internet was abuzz with controversy, and although the Golden Wing Award received more criticism, Lin Yuan still felt that the trophy was too hot to handle.
He came up with a perfect solution—to hand the trophy over to his agent and let the agent make arrangements.
Feng Zeng: "...Although the Golden Wing Award is not as valuable as it used to be, the winning actors cherish it very much."
Lin Yuan, however, simply handed it over to him.
But it has to be said that the Golden Wing Award's approach is quite a slap in the face—a slap in the face to Xu Lijia.
Last year, Xu Lijia refused to give Lin Yuan the Best Supporting Actor award, belittling Lin Yuan's performance to the extreme. But this year, the organizing committee took the initiative to hand the Best Actor trophy to Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan was the one who refused to accept it.
It's worth noting that the entire cast and crew of "The Ghostly Arts" attended both the Film Expo and the Spring Creek Awards in their finest attire, showing absolutely no disrespect.
Only when it comes to the Golden Wing Award...
Even under these circumstances, this year's Golden Wing Awards made a completely different choice from last year.
what does that mean?
This means that Xu Lijia's decision last year was completely rejected by this year's Golden Wing Awards.
As is the tradition of the Golden Wing Awards, after the awards ceremony each year, the organizing committee will hold a small event the following year to thank the jury members for their efforts in the previous year.
The event was held as scheduled in the first half of this year, but to the surprise of outsiders, Xu Lijia did not attend, and his name did not appear in the organizing committee's letter of thanks.
It's as if he's been forgotten by the Golden Wing Awards committee.
Given Xu Lijia's arrogance in criticizing Lin Yuan last year, and Lin Yuan's achievements at the Golden Wing Awards this year, he should at least say something.
However, Xu Lijia's Weibo has remained quiet until now, much to the disappointment of the marketing accounts that were waiting to see the drama unfold.
Well-informed marketing accounts probably already know the situation—Xu Lijia has been rejected by the film industry.
In any case, no film crew wants to suffer the same fate as "The Ghostly Arts," where their movie is running smoothly, only to be betrayed by industry peers.
In addition, it is also related to Lin Yuan's growing influence.
Lin Yuan is getting more and more big projects, while in contrast, most of the movies Xu Lijia makes don't make money.
If the film industry had to choose between Lin Yuan and Xu Lijia, they would definitely choose Lin Yuan first.
Moreover, Xu Lijia's temper is simply too uncontrollable. If it were when he was young, at least it could be called youthful arrogance, and people in the industry would be more tolerant of him.
Now, he's past the age of being tolerated.
After being harshly criticized last year, Xu Lijia did try to change his mind, but no matter what he posted, no one paid any attention.
He is essentially the kind of actor who relies on his work to establish himself, but now, he doesn't even have any works to rely on.
In the entertainment industry, there are often actors who fade into obscurity or even retire because they are "disobedient" or "do not curry favor with the powerful." Audiences mostly feel sympathy for these actors, regretting that they did not leave behind more works.
As for Xu Lijia, the audience felt absolutely no sympathy for him.
Although he claims to be straightforward and prone to offending people, anyone who reads about his experience as chairman of the Golden Wing Awards jury would think that "straightforward" is actually an insult.
"If only I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done it in the first place."
"Don't you think this makes you look more like a clown?"
At this point, netizens actually felt that the "Ghost Arts" production team was too respectable.
"Kangaroos are so dignified!!"
"I've decided to buy their new album to show my support."
Below the news that Lin Yuan won the Golden Wing Award for Best Actor, official media and marketing accounts would all mention "1895".
Although the period of explosive growth for "1895" has passed, its price increase is still astonishing among all new albums.
After surpassing 400,000 units sold, sales continued at 500,000, 600,000... all the way up to 1 million units, and this growth rate did not encounter any setbacks.
During this period, "1895" consistently ranked number one on the sales charts.
Then came the unexpected success of the songs "Hero Who Saved the Earth" and "Dahlia," which propelled the sales of "1895" to over 1.5 million copies.
After that, when the album "1895" was mentioned, marketing accounts no longer just used terms like "fan effect".
Admittedly, fans played a huge role in the album's sales, but now, many fans can already sing the lyrics to "Hero".
Besides, the other songs all have memorable elements.
As the presence of "1895" grew stronger, many netizens came to know that "1895" was an album themed around movies.
Attentive netizens naturally looked for clues in the lyrics, such as which satirical film "Prison" was based on, how the female protagonist's image was reflected in "Prison," and which classic film "Five in the Morning" was a scene from...
Although inspired by films, the creation of "1895" does not tarnish these classic movies.
Just like the impression he left on the audience while filming the drama, Lin Yuan's serious image has been further solidified in the audience's mind.
Lin Yuan hasn't filmed a drama for over a year, but he still receives many scripts. Both platforms and investors want to find a reliable actor.
Lin Yuan has only acted in four TV series during his acting career, but he has already left an impression on the audience that "anything produced by Lin Yuan is a masterpiece". Now this impression is gradually expanding from the TV series and film industry to other fields.
"1895" has sold a total of 2 million copies.
In the current climate of a declining music market, this achievement is truly remarkable.
Selling albums is not the same as selling movie tickets. Since the marketization of the film industry, audiences have gradually developed the habit of going to the cinema to watch movies. However, in addition to being a consumption activity, watching movies also serves the function of interaction and making friends.
Singers releasing albums and fans buying albums do not fall into this category.
Although some people were critical of Lin Yuan's fans for their efforts, in the discussions about "1895," the voices praising the song far outweighed the voices advocating for fundraising or sprinting for XX.
As the Spring Festival approaches, "Heroes Who Save the Earth" has taken on a new job.
This song tells the story of an unreliable hero saving the world and his daily life, but it is essentially a superhero song.
A certain overseas superhero blockbuster was released during the Christmas season, with simultaneous releases in North America and China. As a result, "Heroes Who Save the Earth" became the promotional song for this blockbuster in China.
The importer offered a very high price.
So recently, wherever movie promotions can reach—major cinemas, shopping mall screens, social media splash screens—fans hear the familiar melody of "Heroes Who Save the Earth," and the screen displays the faces of various superheroes and villains.
Lin Yuan received a call from Director Ge Peng: "You've gone too far. How could you betray us?"
Director Ge Peng has a new movie being released during this period, which clashes with that superhero blockbuster, so he's been under a lot of pressure lately.
However, he didn't mean to criticize Lin Yuan; he was just joking with him.
The superhero blockbuster and his new film belong to the same distribution company, in which Ge Peng also holds shares. If the imported film makes money, he can also get some profits.
In short, the director meant that Lin Yuan's actions were tantamount to adding bricks and tiles for the other party.
He also knew that "Heroes Who Saved the Earth" was quite popular recently.
The competitor's choice of this song as a promotional track is quite appropriate; it's a marketing opportunity right in front of them, so why not take advantage of it?
In recent years, the influence of superhero blockbusters has not been as great as it was a few years ago, but they still have a solid foundation, and audiences are willing to go see them for a good time.
In short, with the support of blockbuster films, the popularity of the song "Hero" has further increased.
Industry insiders are already quietly calculating the profits from "1895".
Lin Yuan's high return on investment is widely recognized in the industry. Whether it's filming TV series or movies, the projects he participates in are always free from the word "losing money".
The sales figures for "1895" speak for themselves.
The key point is that Lin Yuan handled both the lyrics and music, so there was no expense involved.
By leveraging Lin Yuan's own fame, "1895" saved a significant amount of money on marketing.
Other companies that launch new talent generally need to build up their connections within the industry before they can get the newcomer on shows and familiar to the audience. Even if they don't spend money, there still needs to be an exchange of resources.
Lin Yuan is different; Lin Yuan himself is a resource.
At a glance, all the promotional activities for "1895" were initiated by the production team, so the expenses in this regard were probably very low.
Even if you include all the costs of production, packaging, printing, labor, and other miscellaneous expenses, the profit of "1895" is still frighteningly high.
Although the creation process takes a long time, Lin Yuan also earns a considerable amount of money by taking on acting roles during this time, but the album is constantly generating profits.
Perhaps a few years or even a decade later, Lin Yuan can still make a living from the royalties of "1895".
Even the most obscure songs will eventually become popular again, and the songs in "1895" are not exactly obscure.
In short, industry peers estimate that the profit from the album "1895" is likely over 100 million.
In the entertainment industry, 100 million is a common unit of measurement, and some actors have received hundreds of millions in film remuneration.
The key point is that everyone knows that actor salaries are filtered and filtered again. Nobody knows how much an actor actually receives, and how many layers of contracts they go through are also unknown.
The album sales, however, are real.
This is no longer the era of fierce competition in the music scene. Back when singers were fighting the most, the term "chart buying" was very familiar to music fans.
Although the sales figures in the backend can be changed with a click of the mouse, the platform doesn't need to do that, and Lin Yuan doesn't need to make such a boast.
It can be said that the sales figures for "1895" are genuine and not inflated.
"I can't even imagine how much profit Lin Yuan's studio made this year."
"Lin Yuan is very restrained in taking on jobs. It is said that during the year he was busy with his album, many people in the studio took annual leave."
When the studio was first established, there were only Lin Yuan and Feng Zeng. At that time, Lin Yuan had just filmed "Thousand Mountains" and didn't have much money. The two of them planned to add more people after the business expanded.
The business expanded at a speed beyond expectations.
Feng Zeng is now Lin Yuan's main agent. He is not very good at business cooperation, but he has gradually gained experience over the years.
As Lin Yuan's fame grew, the studio hired many new employees, including those in charge of business, legal matters, and music.
Lin Yuan has only released his first album. If he continues to develop along this path, his studio will probably have to be divided into film and music.
In fact, many large companies in the industry do not have music departments.
It sounds like a department, but it's actually only responsible for Lin Yuan from beginning to end.
During that year, Lin Yuan received many suggestions to start an artist management company.
There are indeed many precedents in the industry.
But this means that Lin Yuan has to bring people into the play and use his own resources to exchange for opportunities for newcomers to appear on screen.
Lin Yuan gave up immediately.
Artist management is very profitable; once someone becomes famous, all that's left is to reap the rewards.
However, there are also many drawbacks.
Once an artist gets into trouble and is blacklisted, becoming a legal troublemaker, not only will all the original investments go down the drain, but they will also have to pay a large sum in compensation.
Among the film and television production companies that Lin Yuan has worked with, some have established artist management departments, while others are only responsible for single productions. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. In short, Lin Yuan himself does not have much experience in promoting people.
He's too busy with his own affairs to focus on anything else.
...
In the blink of an eye, it's New Year's Day again.
Since his career gradually got on track, Lin Yuan has become increasingly busy and feels that time is passing by faster and faster.
He felt he hadn't done anything worthwhile that year, and filming "Bloody Past" was a long time ago.
This year, Lin Yuan participated in Xingyao Video's New Year's Eve concert, and the two songs he will sing have been confirmed: "Hero Who Saved the Earth" and "Dahlia".
Zheng Huinong's popularity soared after appearing on "Singer," and the comments section is filled with anticipation for their duet of "Dahlia."
For Lin Yuan, participating in New Year's Eve concerts is already quite common.
When he first participated, marketing accounts would exaggerate the rivalry between him and Wink. Now that Wink has disappeared from the public eye, Lin Yuan has become more and more famous. Now, almost no one compares Lin Yuan and Wink anymore.
It's worth mentioning that Qingxi Video invited Ye Liuchuan this year.
After a long period of decline, Ye Liuchuan returned to the mainstream platform through his own abilities.
In any case, being invited is a victory in itself.
Lin Yuan hadn't been following Wink's news lately; he only asked Feng Zeng about it after seeing this post on Weibo.
Although Feng Zeng would gossip at Lin Yuan's request, he generally didn't like to mention people he hadn't gotten along with in the past, so as not to upset Lin Yuan.
Although Lin Yuan's mood wasn't affected by this.
But the agent felt that what's past is past, and there was no need to keep bringing it up. If Wink and his group were having a bad time, that was their problem, and it had nothing to do with Lin Yuan anymore.
Lin Yuan was just a little surprised—he hadn't heard the name Ye Liuchuan in a long time.
In his opinion, if anyone in Wink could return to the public eye, that person would definitely be Ye Liuchuan.
Ye Liuchuan might not be calm enough when dealing with him, but when it comes to lying low, Ye Liuchuan is better than the others at Wink.
Ups and downs are normal in the entertainment industry, so Lin Yuan wasn't surprised.
Ye Liuchuan's fans also kept a low profile, showing no intention of competing with Lin Yuan.
It's a rare opportunity for Ye Liuchuan to participate in the New Year's Eve celebration. If he gets into a conflict with Lin Yuan's fans again, and it damages Ye Liuchuan's reputation, the situation will be even worse.
In the years since Wink left, Wink members' fans have gradually realized that staying in the group might have been the best choice.
But back then, everyone was very ambitious. Everyone felt that Wink was a burden to them, that the less popular members were taking away their resources, and that they were the top.
Only after leaving Wink did the true extent of the dangers in the entertainment industry begin to emerge.
Nowadays, Ye Liuchuan's fans have gotten used to the state of being fans of a washed-up celebrity, and their ambitions are not as high anymore.
Besides, even if they look down on this or that, it won't help Ye Liuchuan's career in any way.
Now Ye Liuchuan's fans can no longer bully Lin Yuan like he's a nobody.
The saying "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river" is particularly apt when applied to the relationship between Lin Yuan and Wink.
However, Ye Liuchuan is no longer comparing himself to Lin Yuan, and fans have long since come to that conclusion.
Idols like Lin Yuan are rare, not only compared to the group from "Tomorrow's Star," but also in the entire industry.
There's absolutely no need to compare yourself to Lin Yuan.
Among the young actors in the industry, who can compare to Lin Yuan?
Ye Liuchuan's fans do have opinions about Lin Yuan. The reason why Ye Liuchuan's career stagnated is also related to Lin Yuan - no matter where Ye Liuchuan goes, everyone knows that he is the lucky one who successfully debuted, while Lin Yuan did not debut.
As long as there is comparison, Ye Liuchuan will inevitably feel uncomfortable.
But they knew very well that Lin Yuan's current popularity was incomparable to Ye Liuchuan's.
Jealousy won't help.
Now, Ye Liuchuan and his agency are paying close attention to the press releases from marketing accounts, trying their best not to associate Ye Liuchuan with Lin Yuan.
Ye Liuchuan is finally climbing the ladder, and he can't afford to give up all his previous efforts.
...
Thanks to the extensive promotion by Xingyao Video, everyone knows that Lin Yuan participated in the platform's New Year's Eve concert this year.
With "1895" gaining momentum and two hit dramas, "Mandala" and "Just Right," Sangzi felt something was wrong as soon as she saw the number of comments in the comment section.
Generally speaking, tickets for New Year's Eve concerts are not that hard to get.
However... with popular guests, tickets can be a bit harder to get.
And it's quite obvious that this year, because of Lin Yuan's joining, tickets for Xingyao Video are... extremely difficult to get.
She has to get it!
She had to be the first to hear the live performances of "Heroes Who Saved the Earth" and "Dahlia"!
Honestly, Sangzi has been praying for Lin Yuan to hold a concert every day under the official Weibo post of Lin Yuan's studio.
It doesn't matter if there are few songs; she doesn't mind.
The key is that it needs to be done.
But Lin Yuan seemed to have no such idea at all.
What could she do? She could only pin her hopes on the Starry Night Video New Year's Eve Concert.
In order to secure tickets, Sangzi specially created a group of 10 people, and everyone helped her try to buy them.
She didn't actually have that many friends, so she invited her parents, making a big fuss about it.
It took a long time to teach just the steps to grab tickets.
The group name is "Only Victory Allowed, No Defeat Allowed".
Because her parents were in the group, Sangzi and the other group members kept a low profile and followed her instructions.
"Is it really that hard to get one?"
"With so many people, there shouldn't be any problems."
Sangzi used words to stop their blindly confident behavior: "Don't say anything, just practice a few more times."
Group members: "..."
Okay.
Sangzi set her alarm five minutes in advance. She was extremely nervous, staring intently at the ticket-grabbing page, afraid of missing out.
The instant the time was up, she felt her heart leap into her throat, and her fingers pressed down with uncanny precision, as if beyond her control, and then—
Nothing was gained.
"Aaaaaah, how could this be?"
Did you manage to get one?
"I knew it! This year it'll be incredibly, incredibly, incredibly hard to get anything!!!"
As Sang Zi had predicted, most of her friends failed.
“Useless things.”
"Aa ...
She yelled "Aww!" again, then suddenly saw a screenshot her mother had posted: "Does this mean I got it?"
Sang Zi: "?"
To be honest, the last two people to join the group were just there to make up the numbers; she never thought her parents would actually be able to get them.
Sangzi rushed from the living room to the study and hugged her mother with a loud "whoop".
To maintain absolute silence during the ticket-buying process, the family of three each had their own room and would not disturb each other.
I got it!!!
After confirming that she had a ticket, Sangzi searched on Weibo and found a lot of sighs on the platform.
They were all disappointed people who hadn't managed to get tickets and lamented how difficult it was to get tickets this year.
She doesn't belong to any of them.
That is what makes her noble.
After that, Sangzi discovered that the concert tickets had been resold for exorbitant prices.
"That's so exaggerated."
She can now resell this ticket and exchange it for a plane ticket to Europe.
"Taking the initiative is the only way to win. I knew that with Lin Yuan around, tickets would be hard to get, especially for the premiere."
Sangzi was impressed with her own wit.
There aren't many people as smart as her anymore.
...
On the day of the New Year's Eve concert, Sang Zi had her ticket checked and entered the venue with the crowd.
She brought Lin Yuan's banner, sat down according to her seat number, and found that everyone around her was a fellow fan.
Are so many people here because of Lin Yuan?
Sang Zi sighed at Lin Yuan's current popularity.
When she first saw "Tomorrow's Tomorrow", the audience seats didn't seem to be full, but more and more people came afterward.
Later on, whether it was buying Lin Yuan's magazine covers or event tickets, it all depended on how fast you could grab them.
She was naturally happy that Lin Yuan was becoming more and more popular, but tickets were indeed becoming increasingly difficult to get.
Some of my friends got their tickets from scalpers, and the prices were shockingly high.
She decided that she would walk around the area tomorrow and bring back two gifts for her mother.
Sang Zi had barely sat down when she heard a girl next to her sigh, "There are tickets to be snapped up again."
Sangzi listened intently.
Lin Yuan was going to participate in the Star Glory Video music show next month, and she knew that. She originally thought that her fellow fans were talking about this show, but after listening carefully, she realized that it seemed to be an awards ceremony.
"Is Lin Yuan going?"
"Go! Tix and Eno are also coming; quite a few overseas groups are coming."
Sangzi silently pricked up her ears.
How could she not know?
Sang Zi silently opened her phone again, but it seemed there was no confirmed news yet, only a suspicion.
To go or not to go, that is the question.
As a fan, all she can say is that when Lin Yuan isn't focused on his career, he doesn't show up for months at a time, leaving her with no money to spend on her fan club.
But once this person focuses on his career, Sangzi feels that the frequency is too high and she can't handle it.
However, since the studio has not yet announced its schedule, Sangzi put the news aside for now.
For her, having a stage to watch tonight and a variety show to follow in a while is already quite a blessing.
...
Star Glory Video's New Year's Eve concert was still a big spender, and the sound system was improved. It seems they learned their lesson and know to spend money where it's needed.
Moreover, this year, Xingyao Video did invite some talented singers, while less talented actors and idols were arranged to collaborate with the talented singers, creating a mixed-genre effect.
"It's coming!"
Sang Zi also knew that Lin Yuan was about to make an appearance.
In that instant, she felt the air around her become even noisier, and she even suspected that half of the audience members were Lin Yuan's fans.
This area used to be very quiet. When celebrities appeared, the audience would respond, but it was never as lively as it is now.
The next second, after the darkness disappeared from sight, Sang Zi saw Lin Yuan suddenly appear on the stage.
The other party appeared as if out of nowhere.
Sangzi grinned, wanting to laugh, but her excitement overwhelmed her.
Lin Yuan is now her absolute favorite celebrity!
She always looked forward to seeing Lin Yuan shine on stage, something that nothing could replace.
The accompaniment to "Heroes Who Saved the Earth" then began to play.
Sang Zi then noticed that Lin Yuan was wearing a very tight-fitting outfit that resembled a combat suit, and then the next second, he jumped to the center of the stage like a monkey.
"How shameful!"
"Can you please not do this?"
Her row was laughing hysterically.
Everyone was covering their faces, looking like they couldn't bear to look.
Sang Zi couldn't help but cover her face.
Someone said, "Lin Yuan has always been like this," and everyone laughed even harder.
No matter how comical the combat suit may look, when Lin Yuan stands on the stage, he can make the audience feel the joy of performing.
As soon as the first line of "Hero" began, Lin Yuan started interacting with the audience.
His voice was high-pitched and sounded like a refreshing carbonated drink.
"I am the hero who saved the earth."
"I like the bears at the zoo."
"I recently changed my mind."
"I really want to retire—"
Lin Yuan, beaming, bounced around on the stage, then suddenly ran to the left—
"Hey friend on the left, wanna retire?"
A chorus of "Yes!" rang out from the audience.
"Hey friend on the right, wanna retire?"
Of course, I've thought about it.
In this song, Lin Yuan doesn't show much singing skill; he didn't incorporate many techniques, he was just singing for fun.
However, because of her pleasant voice, even a casual rendition is enough to make "Heroes Who Save the Earth" memorable.
For occasions like galas, what's most needed is a song like "Heroes Who Saved the Earth".
Coupled with Lin Yuan's bright smile, Sang Zi's only feeling was—it's so appetizing!
She really wanted time to stand still at this moment.
Every time she saw Lin Yuan like this, she felt as if her whole body was filled with electricity.
People need to see these things to survive! To have hope!
Sang Zi couldn't help but sing along with Lin Yuan.
Looking around her, she saw that almost everyone was singing along. The liveliness on the stage and in the audience was exactly the same at that moment, all being drawn in by the person on stage.
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Author's Note: Update~
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