The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 332 Paving the Way
Xu Guanwu knows that among Hong Kong singers, not many have a strong personal style, the reason is actually very simple, the market does not allow it.

The total population of Hong Kong is more than 300 million, and the maximum population is more than 600 million.The population of Cantonese speakers in the world is about 30 million, and there are more than one billion people who use Chinese.But most of them are in mainland China.The population of the United States is more than [-] million, and at its peak it was more than [-] million.The number of people who speak English as their mother tongue or second language is basically more than [-] billion.

In short, it is the potential recording market for European and American singers, with a population of about 30 billion.Relatively speaking, the potential record market for Hong Kong singers is only more than one billion people.And when it comes to the record market in the mainland, huh, everyone understands... Excluding [-]% of the potential market in the mainland, the potential record market for Hong Kong singers is only tens of millions of people.

And these tens of millions of people are mostly distributed in Southeast Asia.Compared with the European and American record markets with sound systems and strong purchasing power, the Southeast Asian record market is undoubtedly relatively weak.In the European and American markets, every 300 people may pay for one record, while in Southeast Asia, only one record may be sold for every 1000 people.Compared with the huge gap in the population base, top singers in Europe and the United States are not happy if they sell less than ten million records. Hong Kong and Taiwan singers will be happy if they sell one million records.

Platinum records in Europe and the United States are based on 100 million copies.In comparison, the platinum record of Hong Kong singers is limited to [-] copies.Woohoo!The difference is a full twenty times.

In the United States, because the potential market for records is huge, there are hundreds of millions of people.The so-called people are more than one hundred, and there are all kinds of strange things.And hundreds of millions of people have very different tastes after graduation.Some like country music, some like gospel records, some like rock, some like jazz, some like punk... In terms of the same style, some like conservative, some like slutty, some like sexy , some like innocence, some like madness, and some like gentleness...

In short, because the population base is there, singers of any type and style will have many fans who like themselves.And it is precisely because of the many fans who like him that he can continue to be in the company of music, continue to develop his own style, and continue to release his own records.Art also needs certain material support, otherwise, no matter how talented a singer is, he would have been starved to death long ago.

The colorful concerts, singing competitions, radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, magazines, etc. held all over the United States also provide singers with a stage and publicity channels, so if a singer is really talented and eager to become famous, will not be buried forever.This is why there are so many talented people in the European and American record markets.

The total population of Hong Kong is only a few million. If singers do not cater to the tastes of the public, there is basically no room for them to survive.This directly determines that there can only be mainstream music in Hong Kong, while non-mainstream music such as rock, reggae, punk, etc. has little market potential.

In fact, this is also related to the cultural differences between China and the West.Western culture emphasizes self-centeredness, putting self-interest first, and trying to highlight one's own value.Therefore, the more exaggerated the singer is, the easier it is to become famous and sought after by others.For example, the world-renowned LADYGAGA subverts people's three views time and time again. Whether it is said that she is groundbreaking or sensational, in a word, this top-notch female singer is very popular, and the global record market is sluggish. Under the circumstances, the record sales are still in the tens of millions.

Another example is Taylor Swift, the queen of country songs, who changes her boyfriend every now and then, and writes songs to commemorate her after the change.According to incomplete statistics, this little moldy girl had more than nineteen boyfriends, and basically the longest period was no more than half a year, and the shortest period was two or three months.If it is changed in Eastern culture, it will basically be labeled with words such as seeing differences and thinking differently.But Taylor, the little moldy girl, is still in a mess, her album sales also easily crossed the million mark, and her money is in a mess.

Eastern culture, on the other hand, emphasizes the concept of groups, and must be like the light, and the most taboo thing is to shoot the first bird.If you want to develop your individuality, highlight yourself, or challenge authority, you will die.

Based on this kind of cultural edification, the preferences of Orientals generally follow the masses, and it is easy to follow the trend.For example, when newspapers, magazines and TV stations were promoting the Hallyu wave, they flocked to catch up with Korean stars; in the years when Taiwanese idol dramas were popular, they flocked to catch up with F4, Fahrenheit, and Mayday; Afterwards, "Blood Doubt", Sachiko's head and Sachiko's shirt; in the years when "Slam Dunk" was screened, basketball, which hadn't been popularized in N years, suddenly became a thriving scene...

And this kind of heart of following the crowd is not only manifested in chasing stars, but also snapping up Apple mobile phones together, buying luxury goods together, and even buying gold, which no one is optimistic about. The frequency is much higher than that of Westerners, and the main market for Apple mobile phones is mainland China.The main big consumers in the luxury goods market are also local tyrants; the price of gold fell sharply, and it was the Chinese aunts who rushed to buy the bottom, but they all fell into their hands.

On the contrary, even though HDDVD and Blu-ray disc players have been around for many years, there are still more than 9000 million households in the United States still using VHS video recorders, and video rental is still the largest business in video rental stores.In fact, European and American luxury brands are not sought after in their own countries, especially LV, Chanel, GUCCI, etc., have become bad street brands and have been abandoned by high-end consumers.But fortunately, there are local tyrants in China to take over the market, and the astonishing spending power of tens of billions of dollars per year can still make these brands live quite well.

This is actually caused by the herd mentality. Everyone is carrying famous brand bags, and if you don’t carry them, you seem to be out of the group.Being out of gregariousness is actually the thing that Chinese people fear most. If Chinese people who have to go to the bathroom together, if they are quarantined because they don’t carry a designer bag, wouldn’t they cry to death? !

And it is precisely for this reason that there is no room for niche music to develop.Everyone listens to mainstream songs, and you listen to niche songs by yourself, then you are out of the group.Everyone says that this singer sings well, but if you insist that a certain niche singer is actually talented, you are going against everyone... So being alone is not as good as being together, you can only listen to popular songs with everyone, wear Trendy clothes, trendy movies, trendy words...

And the record company will naturally not promote such non-mainstream niche records out of profit considerations.No matter how much a singer likes music, if he is not valued, not welcomed, and suffers from poverty for a long time, it will be difficult for him to stick to his dream.This has also led to Hong Kong singers, even if they may play non-mainstream at the beginning, such as the BEYOND band, they will inevitably compromise with the market in the end.

In fact, Hong Kong is not without good musicians, such as the Tat Ming school, such as the Blue Warriors, such as the Tai Chi Band, etc., but there is no soil for their survival.

If Shan Liwen didn't act in movies, how many people in the mainland would know that he is still a rock singer, and he is also a good friend of Huang Jiaju.If Liu Yida hadn't starred in so many Zhou Xingchi movies, no one would have noticed that this nagging master of dreams would be a talented musician...

This is the reality of the Hong Kong music scene. Those who play art are all starved to death, but those who play business are alive.What do you ask these musicians to do, you can't starve to death with ideals, right? !

……

Xu Guanwu knows that Hong Kong singers are compared with European and American singers. They fend for themselves in the wild, and finally grow up through untold hardships; Yes, but everyone knows the difference between wild ginseng and cultivated ginseng.

If Hong Kong singers such as Wenner Band and Zhang Guorong are brought to the European and American music circles, if they want to become top-notch singers, even if racial and cultural differences are excluded, it is estimated that it will take a long time to work hard.To be honest, compared with European and American singers who are excellent in creation, Hong Kong singers rarely have good creative works, and they are even inferior to Japanese singers in this regard.

Ayumi Hamasaki, Hikaru Utada, Mai Kuraki, etc. are all self-created singers, and there are still a large number of powerful singers in the Japanese music scene. Their record sales still occupy the top of the charts, even if there are youth idol groups behind them. But still without compromising their supremacy.

Comparatively speaking, Hong Kong's first-line singers hardly have any self-composed songs, such as the queen of the music scene Wang Fei, such as the song god Zhang Xueyou, such as the successor to the throne of the song god, and the negative news of E God, etc., all rely on It's just a matter of becoming famous with a good voice and commercial operations.

In comparison, Xu Guanjie, the first God of Songs, undoubtedly deserved the title of God of Songs.He created the popular trend of Cantonese songs, and the ghost horse songs he created truly reflected the suffering of the working class at that time. Although he imitated Elvis Presley and the Beatles at the earliest, although he graduated from the Department of Psychology of the University of Hong Kong, he was still able to let go Body, a voice for the poor.So it is not without reason that Ah SAM can win the love of all Hong Kong citizens.

Compared with European and American singers, Hong Kong singers have some shortcomings, so if they want to successfully enter the European and American markets, they must have a strong force to escort them.What Xu Guanwu has to do is to pave the way for Hong Kong singers so that their journey can be more stable.

"Should we buy a record company?" Xu Guanwu pinched his chin and thought, if Wen Na, Zhang Guorong and others are to be introduced to the American market, a record company is necessary.Moreover, this record company needs to be relatively large, with a wide network of contacts, and at the same time, it needs to be relatively prestigious in the American record industry.In this way, once you make your debut, you can gain a lot of momentum. This is what the so-called rising tide lifts all boats.

In addition, TV stations, radio stations, newspapers, etc. must also be properly prepared to cooperate with these singers in publicity. The MTV cable network is undoubtedly a good choice, but MTV has not yet been established.As for the radio station, Xu Guanwu didn't know much about it either, so he needed to go back and ask Lei Shidong for a consultation.As for the newspapers, the few newspapers that Xu Guanwu knows are not for sale, and the United States has stricter management of newspapers, which should restrict the purchase of Xu Guanwu, a foreigner, so it is really difficult to pave the way for Hong Kong singers to come here. .

But nothing is difficult in the world, as long as there is a heart, Xu Guanwu is undoubtedly a heart.So no matter how difficult this matter is, he also wants to do it.His purpose is not only to make money, but also to do something meaningful and challenging.

When the film business, TV business, and investment career gradually got on the right track, Xu Guanwu suddenly found that he had nothing to do.There is a seven-person team for making movies, the TV station is now benefiting Xiaohe, and in the future there will be Leung Sook-yee, "Daily Daily" now has Lian Mosheng, Yisheng Records has Zheng Donghan, CAA has Michael Ovitz and others, real estate has Lee Shau-kee, and Hu Yingxiang , there is Li Jiacheng...

Even if he doesn't do anything now, just sit at home every day counting money for fun, or take a private jet to travel around the world, the money is enough for him to spend ten lifetimes.

But people can't always eat, drink and have fun in this life, or stay at home and watch TV, they should also do something.As a glorious time traveler, Xu Guanwu didn't want to do nothing but just eat and wait to die.So you have to find something for yourself.

　Sensitive words are too harsh, "Shanghai Beach" has to be separated by adding a character in the middle, which made me upload it four times!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)