Mysterious Assistant of the Washed-Up Queen-Chapter 442 - 298: Aiming Beyond First-tier? Can’t Understand It At All
In fact, the nine songs that had just been released were already causing a massive stir online.
Apart from music platforms, which were still primarily focused on the songs themselves, topics on other websites had already diverged far and wide.
#Xu Qingqiu’s new album "Lucky to Encounter" releases new songs#
#Another god-tier album? Six songs released consecutively, what is Xu Qingqiu aiming for?#
#Famous composer Lu Jiayao comments that Xu Qingqiu’s new songs are high quality but the melodies are outdated#
#How many songs does an album need?#
#Xu Qingqiu makes another big push after the New Year, current sales figures are exhilarating#
#Releasing two albums in half a year, how soon can Xu Qingqiu be promoted to super first-tier?# 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
An assortment of topics instantly surged to the top of trending lists on various platforms.
From the album to Xu Qingqiu herself, from her past experiences to her future plans, it seemed every conceivable angle was being thoroughly dissected.
Some independent media outlets even used this opportunity to educate the public.
There are three criteria for judging artists in this world. These are: popularity, titles, and rank, which correspond to an artist’s "traffic," honorifics, and job classification, respectively.
For example, if you’re a hugely popular traffic star, you’ll be categorized as top-tier, first-tier, second-tier, or third-tier. This is the popularity ranking.
If you have a corresponding title, like Best Newcomer, you’re considered a "little flower" (for female artists) or "little grass" (for male artists). If you’re nominated for Best Actor/Actress or win Best Song at a music festival, you become a "Little King" or "Little Queen," or a candidate for "Film Emperor" or "Film Empress."
Winning Best Lead Actor/Actress and Best Album makes you a King or Queen, or a Film Emperor/Empress. Achieving three consecutive championships or a Grand Slam elevates you to a Diamond-Level King/Queen or Film Emperor/Empress.
That’s what’s called a title bonus.
You could be a Film Empress or a Queen without necessarily being top traffic. Your popularity might even be lower than some "fresh meat" idol, but your status would be significantly different, benefiting from the "seniority bonus."
This is also why Xu Qingqiu, despite being blacklisted and not very popular at the time, was still addressed as "Sister" by newcomers on shows. Her title commanded that respect; such are the industry rules.
Of course, this respect is often superficial. In private, actual strength is what matters. If you’re strong, others are compelled to respect you. Without strength, even a newly debuted top-traffic star might ignore you, and you’d be in no position to object.
These first two classifications are actually defined by the public. Although widely known, they lack official codification.
According to the "Management Measures for Cultural and Artistic Practitioners," the factor that truly determines an artist’s rank is the final criterion: job classification.
This "job classification" refers to the commonly known tiers for artists: third-tier, second-tier, first-tier, super first-tier, eighteenth-tier, and so on.
This is an official evaluation index calculated by the authorities using a specific formula. It comprehensively assesses popularity, title bonuses, seniority, body of work, hot search index, professional conduct, and other factors.
For example, Xu Qingqiu was first-tier while at Baise Entertainment, but she slipped to the bottom of the second-tier after going solo.
When Chu Tian helped her release her first album, she had already risen to just barely cross the threshold of a first-tier artist.
Now that the new album was out, it was predicted that by the next quarterly reassessment, she could reach the top of the first-tier. With good luck, she might even get promoted to super first-tier.
But this kind of luck is very rare, extremely rare. The opportunities and effort required to be promoted to super first-tier are not easily achieved.
The reason Sister Hua placed so much importance on the Spring Festival Gala was precisely because, by leveraging it, Xu Qingqiu had a strong chance of making a direct leap to the super first-tier level in one go.
"BOO HOO HOO, my sister was still being called a second-tier nobody last year. I can’t believe she might become a super first-tier megastar right after the New Year!"
"President Xu is incredible! So incredible! Going from second-tier to potentially super first-tier in half a year—amazing, amazing, amazing!"
"What are you dreaming about? Becoming super first-tier isn’t that simple."
"Indeed, super first-tier is incredibly difficult, but Xu Qingqiu has released two god-tier albums in a row! Who can argue with that?"
"Damn, I didn’t even realize until you said it! Two god-tier albums in six months! How did Xu Qingqiu do it? And who on earth is this Youmeng?"
"Didn’t everyone say the music industry was declining? Where did this powerhouse suddenly appear from? It’s just unbelievable!"
"The decline of the music industry is considered inevitable. It’s like a blank sheet of paper: initially, you can draw anything, and it will be original and fresh. But eventually, when the entire sheet is filled, repetitions and muddled parts are bound to emerge."
"That’s true, so why can this master Youmeng always create something new?"
"...That leaves me speechless. It feels like he has completely broken away from all the formulas everyone before him followed, as if..."
"It’s like... he’s drawing on the other side of the paper?!"
"Yes, that’s it! Like he’s in a parallel world, completely uninfluenced by ours."
"Damn, the ’blank paper theory’? This comment section is full of geniuses! Has anyone researched this?"
"Research? Why don’t you go research if Youmeng is an alien?"
"Maybe he’s from a parallel universe, HA HA HA! Let’s resurrect Einstein to study it."
"Einstein was a physicist, not a philosopher. He probably couldn’t figure it out even if he were alive."
...
The reactions from people within the music industry were completely different from the netizens’ somewhat erratic and off-topic discussions.
"No, seriously, how did he do it?"
"Damn it! I’ve written songs my whole life—over three hundred of them—and they still don’t measure up to his two albums..."
"Does anyone really know who this Youmeng is?"
"Doesn’t he have any works that are just... average? Even something slightly less acclaimed would do! Who can be brilliant right from their debut and never make a single mistake?"
