Chapter 124: A Composer of Hall of Fame Caliber?
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“Su Chen, what made you suddenly think of asking about this today? Did they receive an invitation?”
Su Chen immediately understood what he meant. He was asking whether Star Orange Entertainment had received an invitation.
The last time Su Chen had greeted Qin Pei at the Zhenan Television studio, he had already expected Jiang Yan and Lu Yuanqing to figure out that he was Tang Guo.
The two had been in the entertainment industry for many years, and they were both sharp-minded. Once they connected the clues, it was not difficult to guess.
So in the end, he had openly admitted it.
After all, they could be considered friends, and they also had a business partnership. Keeping it hidden forever would not have been appropriate.
This worked out well too. He no longer had to figure out how to bring it up himself.
He trusted that none of them would spread the matter around.
“Yes!”
“So I wanted to ask about it.”
“Back when I was at Star Orange Entertainment, they mentioned several promotion routes for composers, but they never said anything about this one.”
“If they had mentioned it before, I would not have had to work so hard to climb the charts!”
Lu Yuanqing gave a soft laugh.
“That cannot really be blamed on them. You only have yourself to blame.”
“Hm? What did I do?”
Lu Yuanqing shook his head from the other end of the call.
“Who could have expected that a young man who had just joined the company would possess such extraordinary talent?”
“The Golden Melody Award for Best Composer means defeating every song released that year. It is unquestionably the top honor. Even I would never have believed you had the slightest chance before.”
“So it is entirely understandable that they did not tell you about this shortcut.”
“After all, it would seem unbelievable to anyone.”
“To be honest, I still have not fully absorbed the fact myself.”
Su Chen gave a wry smile. Put that way, Star Orange Entertainment really could not be blamed.
“That is true.”
After saying this, Lu Yuanqing seemed to want to put Su Chen at ease, so he continued with a smile.
“You should not think of it as a hassle.”
“The Golden Melody Awards are held only once a year. If you are trying to become a Gold-level Composer by pursuing this route, you would be staking every opportunity on a single chance. The risk is simply too great.”
“Besides, think about it. If you had taken this shortcut this year, you might not have earned your Gold-level Composer certification by now. Compared with that, the other route is actually faster—at least when it comes to reaching Gold level.”
Su Chen suddenly understood. After hearing Lu Yuanqing explain it, he no longer dared to place all his hopes on that single opportunity.
To be precise, the Golden Melody Awards were icing on the cake, not something to rely on in a crisis.
“Other than being used as a reference for promotion under the WeiLang certification system, are there any other benefits?”
Lu Yuanqing patiently explained.
“Of course. The title itself is the greatest benefit.”
“The Best Composer title is officially awarded. Although it is based on a single work, people in the industry have always treated it as permanent.”
“It is like how we habitually call a certain actor a film emperor. He may have won that title at only one film festival or one film award ceremony, but everyone still calls him a film emperor. It is the same principle. Do you understand?”
“In the music industry, a Best Composer is generally called a Song Deity.”
Uh...
A Song Deity?
That title sounded rather grand.
Hearing Su Chen fall silent, Lu Yuanqing added an explanation.
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“Heh, of course, that is only an informal term. It is not included among the composer ranks recognized by WeiLang.”
“You can think of it as being above a Gold-level Composer but below a Hall-of-Fame Composer.”
“Song Deity is simply an unofficial transitional title between the two.”
So that was how it worked.
Su Chen nodded.
An informal title was understandable. If it was unofficial, then there was no reason to find any particular name strange.
Wait.
Where had this Hall-of-Fame Composer come from?
Su Chen immediately asked, speechless, “Brother Qing, I understand what you just said about Song Deity.”
“But where did this Hall-of-Fame Composer come from?”
Lu Yuanqing was astonished by his question.
“No way. They did not even tell you about that?”
“Who? No one has ever mentioned it.”
Lu Yuanqing frowned slightly on the other end.
“That really should not have happened. Some of the promotion routes under the WeiLang composer certification system can be omitted, but they should at least have clearly explained the composer ranking system to you.”
Only then did Su Chen realize that he was referring to Star Orange Entertainment.
After a brief pause, Lu Yuanqing continued.
“A Hall-of-Fame Composer is the highest rank in the WeiLang composer certification system.”
“The rules for obtaining it are simple: you must be named Best Composer at the Golden Melody Awards three times.”
Su Chen did not answer immediately. Instead, he quietly sorted through everything in his mind.
“Wait, Brother Qing. Give me a moment to process this.”
Several minutes later, Su Chen spoke to Lu Yuanqing while thinking it over.
“Let me summarize what you just told me. Tell me if I have it right.”
“Composers are divided into five ranks: General Composer, Senior Composer, Silver-level Composer, Gold-level Composer, and Hall-of-Fame Composer.”
“The first two ranks are assessed by individual entertainment companies. These ranks are mutually recognized, meaning that if someone changes companies, they are generally acknowledged at the same level.”
“The last three ranks are officially certified by WeiLang. Silver-level and Gold-level Composers are determined by the number of times they climb the Newcomer Chart and the Top Charts on the daily music platform.”
“To become a Hall-of-Fame Composer, one must be named Best Composer at the Golden Melody Awards three times.”
“Is that right?”
Lu Yuanqing thought it through along with him before replying.
“That is correct.”
Whew.
If that was the case, would becoming a Hall-of-Fame Composer take at least three years?
...
“With your achievements, I think you have a very good chance of going for Best Composer this year.”
“So no matter what, you have to make the trip.”
Su Chen let out a helpless sigh.
“We will see.”
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“This Hall-of-Fame Composer title takes far too long to obtain!”
???
Lu Yuanqing was venting furiously in his mind.
Are you all right?
Why do you think it is called Hall of Fame?
Could it not be a little more difficult?
If there were no time restrictions, what would happen if a monster like you started climbing the charts again?
After they discussed and clarified everything, Su Chen finally understood the rules.
He also gained a clear sense of how rare Hall-of-Fame Composers were.
Clearly, it was not something that could be achieved overnight.
According to Lu Yuanqing, fewer than five people in the entire country had reached Hall-of-Fame status.
Moreover, those few had mostly stopped composing.
In that case, it was entirely understandable that Star Orange Entertainment had omitted this rank when explaining the system to Su Chen.
To them, becoming a Hall-of-Fame Composer was simply impossible.
“Oh, right. Do you have any songs suitable for me to sing?”
As their conversation drew to a close, Lu Yuanqing casually brought up the question.
“Oh? Are you planning to release a new album, Brother Qing?”
“No.”
Lu Yuanqing sighed.
“The company wants me to perform at this year’s Spring Festival Gala.”
“It was a last-minute addition, and I have not prepared anything.”
“I have sung my old songs to death. I really do not want to perform those same songs again.”
“I know you have plenty of ideas. If you have a suitable song, it would solve my immediate problem.”
Su Chen thought for a moment.
“What kind of theme are you looking for?”
“There are no special requirements, really. Anything related to the Spring Festival will do.”
“All right. I will give it a try.”
Lu Yuanqing smiled.
“Good. Then I will wait for your good news.”
“And do not worry about the price.”
“I absolutely will not offer less than the market rate.”
To put Su Chen at ease, Lu Yuanqing deliberately added that last sentence.
After hanging up, Su Chen thought for a while.
There were quite a few songs related to the New Year. Choosing the right one would not be easy.
Perhaps he should use that one?
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