I became a music industry godfather by writing confidantes.

Chapter 083 Watered Down

The moment Tao Cheng stepped into the recording studio, the online world exploded with news spreading like wildfire.

A paparazzo who had been staking out Jinshi for three days posted a set of high-definition photos on Weibo, taken from an unknown corner, with an almost shocked tone.

"According to accurate information, Tao Cheng entered the recording studio at nine o'clock this morning, and it is suspected that the recording of her second album 'Swallowtail Butterfly' officially started today."

The news sent fans into a frenzy.

[Ahhh, the day has finally come! Orange + Sheep Governor, please replicate the glory of "Flammable and Explosive," let's make it big!]

[The producer of this triple crown album handled the entire production; let's make "Swallowtail Butterfly" a hit!]

While Orange was overjoyed, as if it were New Year's Day, industry insiders were somewhat alarmed.

【Qianli'er】cannot be considered a hater of Yang Du; on the contrary, he can be said to be half a supporter of Yang Du.

The song "Red Rose" once made him sit in front of his computer for a long time, and he even made a bold statement that he would quit the music criticism circle if he was not nominated for the Golden Bell Award for Best Lyricist.

However, his concerns about Yang Du producing Tao Cheng's second album are also very real.

There's a world of difference between a single and an album.

Less than an hour after the news broke, Qianlier updated his Weibo.

"To be honest, my feelings right now are even more complicated than when I learned that Yang Du had taken over Tao Cheng's second album."

People may not have a clear concept of the timeline. On July 10, Jinshi officially announced that Yang Du would become the producer of "Swallowtail Butterfly".

Today is August 13th, 34 days later.

Is this pace normal?

In case non-professionals are unaware of the intricacies, I'll give a brief explanation.

In a mature record industry system, after a producer is selected, an album will enter an extremely long preparation and creation period.

This stage includes, but is not limited to:

Establishing the album's specific concept and theme, casting a wide net to collect songs, holding a songwriting workshop, selecting tracks that fit the concept from hundreds or thousands of demos, repeatedly communicating and revising with songwriters and composers, and doing the arrangement...

Even the most elite and experienced teams in the industry need at least three months to complete this essential process.

This is all based on the premise that everything goes smoothly and the singer and producer do not have any major disagreements.

And today, Tao Cheng has been brought into the greenhouse.

In the album production process, the term "entering the studio" means that the selection of songs for the entire album is completely finished, and the accompaniment and arrangement of all the songs have been recorded. All that's left is to record the singer's vocals.

Complete all the pre-production work for an album in 34 days?

I don't want to judge Jinshi Music with malice, but as a long-time listener who loves the Chinese music scene, I have to say—

This speed can only be described as exaggerated.

I believe Yang Du is a genius, but even geniuses need time to hone their inspiration.

Is an album produced in 34 days a testament to the extreme exploitation of a genius's talent, or a perfunctory effort towards Tao Cheng's second album?

Not long after, another producer with some fame in the industry reposted Qianlier's long Weibo post and added a very sarcastic comment.

[Congratulations to Kingstone Music for successfully breaking the record for the fastest album preparation in the Chinese music scene. We suggest they apply for a Guinness World Record!]

In the comments section, onlookers and various other groups held differing opinions.

I was actually quite looking forward to "Swallowtail Butterfly," and to the pairing of Tao Cheng and Yang Du, but now I suddenly have a bad feeling.

[This guy's gotten cocky. He thinks writing three hit songs means he can mass-produce hit songs within a month? Waiting for him to crash and burn (watching the drama unfold)]

Perhaps they simply have a natural flow of inspiration, something we ordinary people can't easily fathom?

[Only online novels strive for daily updates of 10,000 words; now even album production is being done in a mass-production manner—it's just too surreal.]

Orange, who was originally happily preparing for the New Year, suddenly panicked after being given a lecture by these professionals.

Tao Cheng is at a crucial stage in her career, and her position as the top female star of the new generation seems glamorous, but who knows how many eyes are watching her and ready to bring her down.

Just after the official announcement of "Swallowtail Butterfly", Yun Ge Tang You announced her second album plan, clearly indicating that she wants to follow in Tao Cheng's footsteps, as if she is afraid that the other party will really secure the position of the new generation's number one female artist.

If the second major is as bad as the outside world mocks and ridicules, the consequences would be unimaginable.

What should I do? What should I do? Is Yang Du reliable at all? It took me more than 34 days to write a 10,000-word graduation thesis.

Don't panic. Let's see if any knowledgeable women can share their opinions. Is the situation really that bad?

Trust in Orange, trust in Yang Du.

In the end, it was [Navel Orange] who stepped forward to take charge.

Everyone stay calm and don't panic.

Don't you even need to use your brains? Even if we don't believe in Yang Du's talent or Orange's eye for talent, we still have to believe in Jinshi Music, the capitalist, right?

Capitalists are driven by profit; they care about the commercial value of oranges more than anyone else.

The fact that they dared to let Orange into the studio at this time means that the quality of this album has at least passed the approval of the higher-ups at Kingstone.

Everyone, please relax, focus on your own projects, wait for the official announcement, and don't give those with ulterior motives a chance to stir up trouble.

The statement, "It's a navel orange," temporarily quelled the panic among fans, but online opinions remained rife with pessimism, with some even suggesting that the album was inflated.

34 days!

To complete the lyrics and music of ten songs and produce high-quality arrangements under the constraints of the concept of "breaking out of the cocoon and becoming a butterfly" is simply an impossible task in the professional record industry process.

This violates basic creative principles.

Therefore, the most likely scenario is that Tao Cheng's "Swallowtail Butterfly" isn't a true concept album at all, but rather a padded album with nine or eight tracks included!

In the music market, this practice is not uncommon; in fact, it can be considered a tacitly accepted unspoken rule.

The music company happens to have one or two high-quality singles that are enough to carry the sales and reputation of a normal album as the main tracks.

Then, in order to make up the size of an album with ten songs, they would select demos from the music library or buy some mediocre pop songs, polish the arrangement, and stuff them into the album.

To put it bluntly, apart from one or two main singles that were made with care, the other eight or nine were just filler songs.

The claim that the water injection was a special technique quickly became a hot topic.

Everyone is waiting to see how Jinshi Music will respond, or rather, to see how they will clean up the mess of this suspected inflated album.

However, two days later, at 10 a.m., Jinshi Music's official Weibo account dropped a bombshell.

"Breaking free from the cocoon and soaring high."

@是陶橙呀V: The first single from my second solo concept album, "Swallowtail Butterfly," will be released online at midnight on August 31st!

The news caused an uproar across the internet.

Holy crap!!!

Is Jin Shi serious?

This is just plain stubborn (laughs).

[Well done, Jinshi! Let's see what you're made of. Don't pay any attention to those haters.]

Everyone was dumbfounded.

According to normal public relations logic, when faced with online criticism about the short production cycle, poor quality, and suspected padding of the album, even if the music company does not respond directly, it will at least quietly suppress the heat or release some press releases to reassure people about the slow and meticulous production.

After all, fans need reassurance too.

But Jinshi Music, instead of avoiding the limelight, went head-to-head and directly presented the release date of their first single to everyone.

What confidence!

How outrageous!