Chapter 146 - I’m Buying This Song!
Chapter 146: Chapter 145: I’m Buying This Song!
Zhou Yifeng was shocked, “Huh, is decent?”
The manager nodded, “Yep, the lyrics and melody have been sent by them. They got a normal singer to do it but their client wasn’t happy, which was why they reached out to us.”
Zhou Yifeng was conflicted, he wanted to decline it, but he thought it was worth a listen after the manager praised it.
It was normal for dramas, movies and even games to get a star to sing their theme song. In Chen Mo’s previous life, Asura had Albert Leung to write the lyrics, and Eason Chan to perform it, dramatically increasing the clout of the game.
But all in all, most video game companies wouldn’t be able to afford stars, nor is there a need for it. Most of the time they were hired just to create a talking point.
Zhou Yifeng didn’t want to take the offer upon hearing it was from a videogame company.
Video Games companies were probably not going to write their own lyrics, and it wouldn’t be too good even if they got a professional to do it, the vast majority of it wouldn’t get past Zhou Yifeng.
If the lyrics weren’t good, it would more or less be an ad deal, using his popularity to get the game famous, not benefitting him at all.
But since the manager said the song was decent and the money was good, Zhou Yifeng decided to give three minutes of his day to listen to it before making judgements.
Zhou Yifeng grabbed the headphones.
The opening was pretty good, the melody was great too. Zhou Yifeng was pleasantly surprised.
Zhou Yifeng was even more surprised upon hearing the lyrics.
“My sword, where does it go, love and hate are hard to come by.”
“My sword, pierces the sky, can’t tell the difference between right and wrong.”
“I’m drunk, can’t open my eyes, gratitude and hatred come and go.”
“I awake, it’s all a dream, thoughts of life and death are gone.”
These lines seemed simple, yet they were filled with Wuxia’s spirit! No matter the violence or the romance, these lines perfectly conveyed those feelings.
Not only that, they even fully conveyed the feelings of warriors going on solo adventures and drunk martial artists!
The song entered its climax with a transition.
“Things come and go, it’s sad we can’t meet again.”
“Love and hatred come and go by the wind.”
“A laugh, a sigh, a life of happiness, a life of sorrow!”
“Who will live and die with me?”
“Who will live and die with me?”
Zhou Yifeng could feel his blood boiling and his hands shaking. He could barely contain himself as he wanted to scream from excitement!
Zhou Yifeng could clearly recite the climax of the song just from listening to it once. The song was too good!
Zhou Yifeng listened to the song again, this time at a higher volume!
There wasn’t much difficulty in terms of singing. There weren’t high notes or transposes, making it seem like anybody could do it, but at the same time, it felt like no ordinary person could perform it.
Zhou Yifeng was really excited from the song, but he could tell that the singer couldn’t do the song justice at all. Although the singer was trying their best to convey the feelings of the song, they just couldn’t do it.
Zhou Yifeng guessed that this must’ve been the reason to get another singer!
This song wasn’t rugged nor soft, not masculine or feminine. If one could only use one word to describe it, it would be elegant.
Therefore, in order to convey the feelings of solo adventures, personal drunkenness, and living and dying together required singing in a carefree, elegant tone, but the tone couldn’t be too casual.
Zhou Yifeng got more and more emotional as he listened, asking the manager, “Quick, let them know that I’ll do it. Ask them how much the rights to the song are, I’ll buy it!”
—
Guo Feng called Chen Mo.
“I have two good news, which one do you want to hear first?” asked Guo Feng.
Chen Mo didn’t reply.
Guo Feng continued, “The first good news is that Zhou Yifeng really likes the song and agreed to perform it. The second is that Zhou Yifeng really likes the song and wants to discuss buying the rights to the song.”
Chen Mo replied, “Oh, I’m not selling the rights.”
Guo Feng was speechless. He thought Chen Mo would be ecstatic, but he rejected it without any thought!
Chen Mo would need to spend so much money just to get Zhou Yifeng to perform it, but it would be a two way relationship since Zhou Yifeng liked the song and wanted to buy it. It could even fetch a good price and make Chen Mo money in return.
But Chen Mo didn’t even care?
Guo Feng said, “… Hold on, they are quite serious about this. They aren’t just buying the song, they’re adding it to their album and will give you a share of the profits.”
“Is there a difference?” asked Chen MO.
“A portion of the profits will be much more than just buying the song, it’s a completely different magnitude.”
Chen Mo replied, “So no matter if they were just buying the song or giving me a cut, it’s still about money right?”
Guo Feng nodded, “Yes, it’s about money.”
Chen Mo flipped the question, “Do you think I’m someone who lacks money?”
Guo Feng was speechless, “… No.”
“Then why would I want to sell it?”
“What are you going to do with it if you aren’t going to sell it, it’s not going to reproduce!”
“I like the song, and I like having it.” replied Chen Mo.
Guo Feng felt helpless, replying after some thought, “There’s also one thing, Zhou Yifeng said it’s going to be the main song of the album. He’s pretty well known in China, so when this song becomes popular, it’s going to draw attention to your game too right?”
“That’s true. Alright, I’ll consider selling it to him, if I’m happy with his singing.”
“Alright, I’ve sent you his manager’s phone number, you guys can do ahead and discuss. We’ll get someone else if you aren’t happy with it. But there really aren’t many other male singers that are as good or better than him in China, hope he’s good enough.
—
The two of them finally reached an agreement after some back and forth. Chen Mo sold the rights to the song to Zhou Yifeng and agreed to get a portion of the sales of the album as payment. Chen Mo didn’t try to fight for the rates as both parties benefited from this.
Zhou Yifeng got a good song, and Chen Mo got a good promotion.
In his previous life, A Life of Fighting is but a Dream was sung by Emil Chau, and just like Unforgettable Scripture[1], they were classic Wuxia themed songs.
Chen Mo also liked Unforgettable Scripture, but it would’ve been a bit weird to have it as Wulin Legend’s theme song as it was in Cantonese, which was why he settled with Life of Fighting is but a Dream in Mandarin.
Chen Mo had been thinking long and hard since the early stages of the game on how to get more attention into his game.
He couldn’t make cinematics or animations like he did before because of the different themes as Wuxia had a strong focus on the setting rather than certain images. This was the reason why Chen Mo decided to settle on a theme song.
Only time could tell if the players would find it acceptable.
TL note: Not the official name of the song that was sung in Cantonese, but its called 难念的经 if you’re interested in looking it up. Life of Fighting is but a Dream is the official English name of the song.