On Friday, Xie Xi's new album "Empty" was officially released on major music platforms, sparking a wave of purchases and fervent discussion.
In this era where physical records have declined, digital albums have replaced the original records, and at the same time, the sales of singer's albums have also become heavily distorted, with countless methods for chart manipulation and inflating sales. Sometimes, singers have to constantly participate in various activities to boost sales.
This is an era where traffic is king.
However, Xie Xi is an exception within the industry.
He released his album so quietly, yet achieved massive sales revenue, making everyone in the music industry envious.
Not to mention how well Xie Xi sings, just his face alone garners all kinds of attention. The so-called "traffic stars" currently in the industry, if really pulled out to compare looks with Xie Xi, it's hard to say who looks more like the typical idol.
Moreover, Xie Xi has songs with extremely high popularity, as well as songs with superb technique that are used as benchmarks within the industry. His albums have almost never failed.
That very day, Xie Xi trended in various ways and through various hashtags.
Xie Xi's new album
"Empty" sales soar to number one today
An elderly person in their sixties asks nearby police how to use a smartphone to buy Xie Xi's album
Netizens from all walks of life were also discussing his new album. Even the male and female leads from the drama "v" were brought up for discussion, and his past works were dug up by netizens, obviously riding on Xie Xi's popularity to gain heat.
[Ahhhhh! Xixi's new album! Please, KTVs, keep up with the times and quickly add our baby's songs! I want to go sing karaoke with my girlfriends!]
[Same request! I've already made plans with my mom, dad, aunt, and third uncle to go sing Xixi's songs together!]
[Wuwuwu, Xixi's songs are still so good. This new album seems to have an ethereal style; after listening, I feel like my soul has been cleansed.]
[Xixi's songs aren't songs; they're a "Heart-Cleansing Sutra." After listening, all worries disappear.]
"Heart-Cleansing Sutra? Who commented that?" Xie Xi suddenly sat up from the sofa, looking at Zhang Dong.
Could it be that reciting too many sutras back then made his singing carry a hint of that flavor?
Zhang Dong had been picking out comments to read to Xie Xi. Interrupted, he looked down at the commenter's username and avatar. "Brother Xi, this must be one of your fans. The avatar is your photo, and the username is... 'Xixi Is in My Bed'." What kind of obsessed fan is this?
Xie Xi: "...Continue."
On the other side, Wei Qi had already arranged for people to start releasing information about Xie Xi finding a teacher to study with. The company had specifically maintained accounts for this purpose. Some things, when revealed by a third party on the surface, achieve better results.
Using the tone of a passerby, they described accidentally seeing Xie Xi attending classes at Huajing University, with Professor Ye Qiusuo being his teacher, along with a few photos of Xie Xi at Huajing University.
Today, the search volume for the two-character term "Xie Xi" was extremely high. This Weibo post was quickly pushed to the top. Marketing accounts, seeing fresh material, immediately began frantically reposting it.
Professor Ye is Xie Xi's teacher
Ye Qiusuo's popularity had also remained high recently, and netizens could find very little information about her. Once the related keyword appeared, her fans felt as if they'd discovered an oasis in the desert and rushed to click to see it. The trending topic instantly skyrocketed.
[What am I seeing?!]
[Doubting my eyes, Professor Ye is Xixi's teacher???]
[This crossover is completely broken. Do the two really know each other?]
Watching Professor Ye on the last episode of the show, she had no idea about Xixi's album, so the autograph thing should be fake. Professor Ye definitely isn't Xixi's fan. Since the two have a teacher-student relationship, then is it possible... Xixi was handing in homework or something like that at the time.
[This isn't fake news, is it? Just because Xixi went to Huajing University?]
Um... actually, it's true. My friend kind of has one foot in the scene. Yesterday, Professor Ye accepted an endorsement, and later Xixi came over and called her "teacher."
[Really?!]
[Teacher-student y? I'm back on board! Sisters, wait for me, I'm getting up from my sickbed right now to edit a video!]
[Caught the madam upstairs! Madam, isn't your hand fractured? You should rest and recover properly.]
[No!!! I'm already on my way to get the cast removed. Everyone bless me, and wait to be fed fanworks!]
...
Throughout the day, various news stories and trending searches about Xie Xi hardly ceased. Outsiders watch the commotion, but those on the inside have their own thoughts.
Some singers really are top-tier, their names widely known to the public, yet their albums don't sell well. They've essentially started reinventing themselves, appearing on every kind of program to stay in the spotlight. Watching Xie Xi's albums create a sensation each time, it's hard not to feel envious.
However, there are also plenty of people who feel they can surpass Xie Xi.
Xinyou Culture.
"After this competition ends, I want to release an album," Lu Mingzhe said, interlacing his fingers and resting his arms on the desk as he spoke to his manager.
"That's a good opportunity, right after you win the championship while the heat hasn't died down."
Lu Mingzhe let go, lowered his head and brushed off the nonexistent dust on his clothes: "It would be best if we could achieve the same scale as Xie Xi's today."
Agent: "..." How audacious to compare.
"We can buy a few more trending topics like these. My fan count is almost seven million now. Once I win the championship, it will definitely surpass ten million," Lu Mingzhe said very casually. "Later, with the company's promotion, the album will sell as well as it did today."
"To reach Xie Xi's current level... would still be a bit difficult." The agent smiled faintly. "That kind of sales volume doesn't come from just a few trending searches."
Currently, no one in the music industry can rival Xie Xi.
Hearing this, Lu Mingzhe was somewhat displeased: "Winning the championship—isn't that enough attention?"
Agent Jiang Jingyuan was inwardly amused. Lu Mingzhe didn’t know whether he was overconfident in his own abilities or in the Lu family backing him.
The winner of a talent show thinks they can surpass Xie Xi just by riding the hype? If that were true, Xie Xi wouldn't be so envied in the industry, nor would so many people constantly try to piggyback on his popularity.
Xie Xi has remained unshaken for so many years, thanks to the strong abilities of his agent, who even managed to turn his occasional bad temper with the media into an image of a "true personality".
Jiang Jingyuan wasn't that old—he was in his early thirties—and had already nurtured two promising artists, one of whom had even won Best Actress. But he had long been studying Wei Qi's methods for controlling public opinion.
"After you win the championship, the company will do its best to help with promotion. For now, you just need to focus on winning the competition." Jiang Jingyuan advised, "The momentum definitely won't be small."
Lu Mingzhe wore a reluctant expression, clearly not very pleased with his agent's statement. However, Jiang Jingyuan was currently the fastest-rising agent at Xinyou and had plenty of resources. Lu Mingzhe wasn't stupid enough to actually offend him.
...
Friday was destined to be a crazy day. If you were a fan of Xie Xi, you enjoyed a day full of happiness—listening to the album, sharing thoughts with fellow fans online, and, of course, joining group chats to swap gossip.
"Jiajia, did you record the experimental data from last time?" Ding Hong turned to ask Sun Jiajia, who was crouching in the corner.
Sun Jiajia was squatting there, wearing headphones, one hand holding her phone, the other pressed into her mouth to stifle a scream; her body twisted from time to time, clearly overwhelmed with excitement.
Not getting a reply, Ding Hong had to walk over and pat her shoulder: "Jiajia?"
Sun Jiajia's face was flushed with suppressed excitement. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she looked up to see Ding Hong. She removed her headphones. "What's up?"
"Did you record the experimental data from last time?"
"Yeah, I did. Open the document in the bottom right corner; I saved it there." Sun Jiajia coughed and finally returned to reality.
"Got it. You... carry on?"
Sun Jiajia was a fangirl. Anyone who spent enough time with her would figure it out, and Ding Hong naturally had.
As soon as he left, Sun Jiajia huddled back into the corner to read comments. She had been following several bloggers who promised to edit fan videos pairing the mentor with Xixi, and now she was just waiting to be fed new content.
She started rewatching videos previously edited by her favorite uploaders, along with some old clips that had been re-cut with a fresh perspective.
"Wuwu, so shippable! So good!"
However, her peaceful indulgence was short-lived today. Someone entered the lab and walked over to her corner.
"Sun Jiajia, are you alright?"
Ye Qiusuo had originally come to the lab building because all five of her students were there today. She wanted to check on them and see if they had any questions.
She had visited Lin Lu first before coming here. Ding Hong was standing with his back to the door, comparing data on his computer. At a glance, Ye Qiusuo didn't see her other student and thought she was absent, until a strange whimpering sound came from the corner. She turned to find the student crouched down, head buried, shoulders trembling.
In a lab with only two people, one was acting normally while the other was hiding in a corner crying?
With a serious expression, Ye Qiusuo asked the student, who didn't respond. Only then did she notice the earplugs, so she tapped Sun Jiajia's shoulder, just as Ding Hong had done earlier.
"Huh?" Sun Jiajia looked up, her face flushed red, the corners of her eyes still wet with the happy tears of someone deeply immersed in fandom delights.
Ye Qiusuo: What happened to make her so sad?
Professor Ye's mind immediately began listing various possibilities.
Seeing her advisor, Sun Jiajia was startled. She yanked off her headphones and stood up hastily, but pulled too hard, disconnecting them from the audio jack.
"Professor Ye, you don't love me." A heartbroken male voice played clearly through the speakers.
"I was just toying with you. Xie Xi, you're nothing but an entertainer." A female voice followed immediately after.
Sun Jiajia: "..." The dialogue from her beloved fan edit, which usually thrilled her, instantly lost its appeal.
"Xie Xi?" Upon hearing the first line, Ye Qiusuo thought her student was watching some emotional TV drama. After the second line, she wondered if it was a news clip. "What's wrong with him?"
"N-nothing's wrong." Sun Jiajia fumbled to turn off her phone. "Professor, what brings you here?"
Ye Qiusuo looked at her student and noticed she didn't seem genuinely upset. If something had happened to Xie Xi, her reaction would likely be different.
"I reviewed the emails you all sent. Some issues are better discussed in the lab." Ye Qiusuo steered the conversation back on track, choosing not to press further.
...
After leaving the lab, Ye Qiusuo thought for a moment and opened the Weibo hot search list. She noticed an unusually high number of trending topics related to Xie Xi today. Looking closer, she realized it was because he had released a new album.
Was she on the hot search too?
Ye Qiusuo clicked the link and found it was about her teaching, so she didn't pay it much mind.
Xie Xi released his album today...
Following links in other people's comments, Ye Qiusuo opened a purchase link and bought ten copies, as a way to support her student.
She had just bought them and hadn't listened yet when Rong Shiyun, far away in the Western world, started bombarding her with over a dozen shared videos in quick succession. Finally, a message from Rong Shiyun arrived: [Qiusuo, look what treasures I found!!!]
Frowning, Ye Qiusuo looked at the shared videos. The title formats and interfaces were unexpectedly familiar.
