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"Lu Chen, I really owe you one this time."
In the office of the music director at Flying Stone Records, Lin Zhijie said to Lu Chen with a smile, "It's been a pleasure collaborating!"
The title track of MSN's debut album, "Not Yet Lovers," was composed by Lu Chen and co-produced with Lin Zhijie. It received unanimous praise from the company's executives and industry professionals at the recently completed listening session.
This song perfectly matched MSN's character traits. Although Lin Zhijie had been confident throughout the production process, he could finally relax now that everything was settled.
As an experienced music director, Lin Zhijie had produced many albums and collaborated with numerous top-tier stars. Normally, he wouldn't need to take things so seriously. The reason was the significant internal controversy within the company recently, which had put even this seasoned veteran under pressure.
Especially since Lin Zhijie had decided to invite Lu Chen to write a song, he had faced a lot of gossip. Lu Chen's price for a song was 350,000, and even the friendly price for Flying Stone Records was 300,000, plus the production fees, which reached the level of a top-tier author in the industry.
How could a newcomer like him deserve such treatment? Some even suspected that Lin Zhijie was taking kickbacks! It wasn't until Lu Chen's numerous works dominated the Original Sound chart that this rumor faded away within the company.
There were also those who believed that Lin Zhijie was overstepping his bounds by taking control of MSN and their debut album. Some people were just waiting to see him make a fool of himself!
But today, with the successful listening session, MSN's future looked bright, and Lin Zhijie was naturally very grateful to Lu Chen. He also admired his own insight and decisiveness.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "Brother Lin, you're too polite. I still need your help with my album!"
His own album, "My Old Classmate," had completed its crowdfunding a few days ago, and the CDs and related products were already in production at Flying Stone Records. If all went well, they would be shipped nationwide next week.
Lin Zhijie had contributed significantly during this process. Lin Zhijie laughed, "We're in the business of making money; how could we refuse a client? It's not about helping."
After a pause, he said, "However, I do have a favor to ask of you."
Lu Chen curiously asked, "What favor?"
Lin Zhijie smiled and said, "We're preparing to shoot the MV for MSN's title track, and we currently need a male protagonist."
The male protagonist for the "Not Yet Lovers" MV?
Lu Chen hadn't expected Lin Zhijie would want him to star in the MSN MV! Saying it was a favor was truly a joke; with so many artists under Flying Stone Records, finding someone with Lu Chen's age and appearance would be quite easy.
Many people would be eager for such an opportunity; how could the resources of Flying Stone Records flow to Lu Chen?
Lu Chen didn't believe it: "Brother Lin, you can't be joking."
Lin Zhijie said seriously, "I'm not joking. You are the original composer of this song, and your conditions fit perfectly. It would create a promotional highlight, and I think it's very suitable!"
So it was a promotional strategy!
Lu Chen understood that Flying Stone Records was truly going all out to promote MSN.
With his identity and fame, collaborating with MSN on the MV would indeed be great publicity. Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "When will we shoot?"
Lin Zhijie replied, "We'll shoot in Houtian. Can you free up some time? It will take a maximum of two days to finish, and most of the main shots will be in the school, so it won't take up too much time."
"As for the performance fee, our budget is limited; would 30,000 be acceptable?"
Shooting an MV is completely different from advertising or film and television dramas. For a male protagonist like Lu Chen collaborating with MSN, it was usually a friendly arrangement, and 30,000 was quite a good price.
If it were an artist from Flying Stone Records, it would be completely free.
Lu Chen was somewhat aware of the market rates and nodded, saying, "The fee doesn't matter; I just have one request."
Originally, matters like this should have been handled by Lu Xi, but since the amount was small and it was a friendly favor, he directly agreed, and his sister could handle the contract later.
Of course, Lu Chen wasn't without conditions; he had his requirements.
…
On October 12th, Monday, at the Northern Music College. Northern Music College is one of the three major music colleges in Capital City, on par with Beijing Music Conservatory and Midrange, known for its open-mindedness and free academic atmosphere.
Northern Music College places great emphasis on social practice, and a large portion of its graduates enter various media and entertainment companies, holding significant influence in the show business community.
As an established music production company, Flying Stone Records has always maintained a good cooperative relationship with Northern Music College.
Thus, the MV for MSN's "Not Yet Lovers" was being shot at Northern Music College.
Flying Stone Records attached great importance to this MV, sending an elite team, with three cameramen alone, along with a full complement of art, lighting, makeup, costumes, props, and more.
In a lecture hall, Lu Chen sat in front of a grand piano. He was wearing a specially made school uniform, fully focused on playing the tune of "Not Yet Lovers," as the morning sunlight filtered through the leaves and glass windows, casting dappled shadows on his face and body.
The three members of MSN, Mu Xiaochu, Su Jiajia, and Ning Tian, sat in the front row, smiling as they enjoyed Lu Chen's performance. Mu Xiaochu was in the center, with Su Jiajia and Ning Tian on either side of her.
This was the second scene of the "Not Yet Lovers" MV shoot. In this MV, Mu Xiaochu was paired with Lu Chen as the heroine, while Su Jiajia and Ning Tian were her best friends.
Originally, Flying Stone Records had intended for Ning Tian to be the heroine because she was the most beautiful and had the best appearance. However, Lin Zhijie believed that Mu Xiaochu's pure and sweet temperament matched the theme of "Not Yet Lovers" best, so in the end, she was chosen.
After playing half of the song, Lu Chen looked up at the seats in front and happened to make eye contact with Mu Xiaochu. He smiled and playfully winked at her. The latter shyly lowered her head, unable to meet Lu Chen's gaze, looking as timid as a startled rabbit.
Even though she knew they were filming, and was fully aware that two cameras were pointed at her, Lu Chen still felt a strange sensation in his heart, inadvertently recalling a couplet of poetry.
The gentleness of that lowered head resembled a water lily, delicate and shy!
As the piano music flowed, it spread out like clear spring water, creating ripples one after another. This mirrored Lu Chen's current feelings.
In a corner of the classroom, the MV director Fang Hui bit her lip, afraid she would shout out loud. This shot was simply amazing!
Fang Hui was an external director hired by Flying Stone Records, known in the show business community for her expertise in capturing the delicate emotions of women in films and dramas. She had directed many MVs and had extensive experience.
Initially, she hadn't wanted to come because the male heroine of this MV was a newcomer, likely lacking shooting experience, which would waste a lot of her time. She had very high standards for her work.
However, since it was personally invited by Xia Guoyuan, the general manager of Flying Stone Records, Fang Hui reluctantly agreed. What she didn't expect was that the shooting process would go surprisingly smoothly.
First, the heroine Mu Xiaochu, who clearly had little acting experience, made several mistakes at the beginning, committing low-level errors. But she was very perceptive; after receiving reminders and guidance, she no longer repeated the same mistakes.
Most importantly, Mu Xiaochu was a university student, naturally embodying the character. She portrayed the heroine's yearning for love, desire to be loved, and reluctance to confess to the male protagonist with great authenticity.
Fang Hui even sensed her feelings toward Lu Chen. As for Lu Chen, Fang Hui truly couldn't believe he was a newcomer who had just debuted and had no prior acting training; his performance in front of the camera was flawless, with movements and expressions perfectly in sync.
Lu Chen's acting seemed innate, and his talent for performance made Fang Hui's heart race! He was simply a born actor.
In Fang Hui's eyes, Lu Chen's performance today was the biggest surprise she had gained. The female director even had a certain thought.
"Cut!" When Lu Chen finished playing the piece, Fang Hui finally couldn't help but stand up, smiling, "That's a wrap!"
If they could maintain such an outstanding state, there would be no need for two days; they could finish all the shooting today. Not far from Fang Hui, Li Feiyu was still holding a mobile camera, shooting continuously.
Everything he captured was being transmitted via 4G network to the live streaming room of Whale TV! Lu Chen's condition for agreeing to star in this MV was that Flying Stone Records would allow him to live stream the shooting scene.
Lu Chen had signed a two-year contract with Whale TV, which required him to have enough time each month for live streaming and interacting with fans.
Although there were ways to circumvent the contract's limitations, and it had become less relevant as Lu Chen's fame grew, he had not given up on the idea of live streaming.
Because Lu Chen had not forgotten what had supported him all the way to where he was now; most of his fans came from the live streaming platform, and it was these fans' gifts that helped him through the initial tough times. Even though Lu Chen now spent less time singing in live streams, his fans had no complaints and still enthusiastically purchased his albums and participated in his crowdfunding activities.
One must know how to be grateful!
So, whenever conditions allowed, Lu Chen would appear in his live streaming room, not necessarily to sing, but like now, live streaming the MV shooting could also bring great surprises and freshness to his fans.
This was his small way of giving back to the fans who had always supported him!
Lu Chen stood up and waved at Li Feiyu's camera.
"Good morning, everyone!"—
(End of chapter)