Chapter 362: Entertainment Company

Jiang City.

Inside a restaurant.

Zhang Lan raised her glass with a beaming smile as she looked at the club members, her voice brimming with excitement.

“A toast to our song making it onto the New Song Chart!”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“…”

Several club members lifted their glasses in unison, clinking them together in celebration.

Shen Rou watched the scene unfold and also raised her glass of juice, taking a sip along with the others.

Seeing Zhang Lan so thrilled, she couldn’t help but feel happy too.

Ever since the Sports Meeting, the two songs they released on the music platform had broken into the top 100 of the New Song Chart.

Following that success, Zhang Lan and the club members had gone on to create three more songs.

Two of them didn’t receive much attention and failed to make the chart, but one of them had taken off like a dark horse, steadily climbing in popularity and winning over the platform’s listeners.

Just yesterday,

That song had surged into the top ten of the New Song Chart.

Shen Rou didn’t fully understand how influential a top ten spot was, but based on Zhang Lan’s explanation, she had a rough idea.

There were hidden rules behind the New Song Chart.

Many well-known singers, or those backed by major entertainment companies, often relied on financial power to push their songs into the top spots on the chart.

It was all about increasing exposure.

Sometimes, rival entertainment companies would even engage in bidding wars just to secure the number one spot for their own artists.

So,

To break into the top few positions on the New Song Chart, you either needed deep pockets or a song that genuinely resonated with the platform’s users.

And Zhang Lan and her team clearly didn’t have that kind of financial backing.

For their song to reach the top ten purely on merit, it meant the quality was exceptional and truly loved by listeners.

“Xiaoxiao, I’ve got some new ideas for a song. Let’s go over them when we get back. I think it would suit you really well.”

After downing a glass of wine,

Zhang Lan turned to Li Xiaoxiao, her eyes shining with excitement.

Getting into the top ten was definitely something to celebrate, but they couldn’t afford to rest on their laurels. They needed to keep creating new music.

“Mm.”

Li Xiaoxiao nodded slightly, her expression calm. After a moment’s hesitation, she spoke slowly.

“Lanlan, don’t you think we’re at a disadvantage like this?”

“At a disadvantage? What do you mean?”

Zhang Lan looked at Li Xiaoxiao, puzzled. She didn’t quite understand what Xiaoxiao meant by being at a disadvantage.

“I’m talking about the New Song Chart. We’re ranked ninth right now, and that’s purely based on the song’s quality. But once we hit ninth, we just stopped moving up.”

“It’s obvious that the top eight songs all have strong backing. There’s no way we can surpass them.”

“But I’ve listened to their songs, and honestly, they’re not as good as ours. It’s just not fair to us.”

Li Xiaoxiao spoke with frustration.

Their song clearly deserved a higher ranking, but they lost out because they didn’t have the money to compete.

Zhang Lan sighed helplessly as she listened to her.

Of course she understood.

But given their current situation, this was the best they could do. The club was still in its early stages. Even though a few songs had gained some traction, the income wasn’t enough to invest in chart promotion.

She looked across the table at Li Xiaoxiao and tried to reassure her.

“This is just the beginning for the club. As we keep creating more great songs, things will change.”

“But why wait? We can ride the wave of this song’s popularity and sign with an entertainment company. With their support, all these problems would be solved. And it’s not just about the New Song Chart, we’d also gain access to way more resources.”

“Isn’t that way better than running our own music studio?”

Li Xiaoxiao spoke enthusiastically, her eyes full of anticipation as she looked at Zhang Lan.

At the same time, the other two club members, Wu Jie and Xu Lei, also looked up at Zhang Lan.

They seemed eager to hear her response.

Zhang Lan frowned slightly at Li Xiaoxiao’s words and replied in a calm voice.

“Have entertainment companies already reached out to you?”

She didn’t really need to ask. She already knew the answer.

Just yesterday, when their song entered the top ten, she had been contacted by several entertainment companies. But she had turned them down without hesitation.

And if those companies could reach her, they could certainly reach the other club members too.

She glanced at Li Xiaoxiao, Wu Jie, and Xu Lei.

It was clear now. All three of them had received offers from entertainment companies.

After a moment of thought, she spoke slowly.

“Joining an entertainment company does come with a lot of resources, but are those resources really helpful for creating music? There will definitely be a lot of restrictions. That kind of environment would seriously affect our creativity.”

“Entertainment companies are very pragmatic. Right now, they’re interested in us because our song made it into the top ten. They see our commercial potential. But the moment we lose that value, do you think they’ll still prioritize us and give us resources?”

“…”

Zhang Lan laid out all the pros and cons of joining an entertainment company.

Compared to gaining more resources through a company, she preferred creating music in that modest little basement studio.

It was tough, but it gave her complete creative freedom.

But once you joined an entertainment company, it would be a different story. They wouldn’t let you focus solely on your music. They’d start assigning you all kinds of activities.

And if inspiration suddenly struck during that time, you might miss the chance to write a great song.

But then the company suddenly assigns you to shoot a commercial. Do you go, or not?

If you go, that spark of inspiration might be lost.

If you don’t, you’re defying the company’s orders.

No matter what you choose, it feels like the wrong decision.

Unless you can guarantee that every song you write is a hit.

But that’s something no one can promise.

After weighing all the pros and cons, she was inclined not to join an entertainment company. She firmly believed that as long as they kept writing good songs, their Music Studio would eventually overcome its current struggles.

So why place their hopes in an entertainment company?

When Li Xiaoxiao and the others heard Zhang Lan’s explanation, they all fell silent.

Before long,

everyone began to smile again. The topic of entertainment companies was dropped, and the conversation shifted to other things.

Shen Rou sat beside Zhang Lan, quietly observing the scene.

Although she had invested in the music club, she had little interest in the workings of entertainment companies.

However,

she clearly sensed that after the discussion about entertainment companies ended,

even though everyone wore smiles on their faces, the atmosphere of the gathering had subtly shifted. It wasn’t as warm and harmonious as it had been at the beginning.

Realizing this,

Shen Rou glanced worriedly at Zhang Lan. Whatever the reason, this kind of situation was not a good sign for a club that had only just been established.