Chapter 332 - 248: Time for Pop Music (2)

Chapter 332: Chapter 248: Time for Pop Music (2)

’It’s the kind of song that sounds incredible at first, but you wouldn’t add it to a playlist to listen to over and over.’

Galina preferred songs that were more lighthearted and cheerful—nothing deep or technically difficult, just simple tunes that lifted people’s spirits and were easy to sing along to.

Underground Discard was a perfect example.

But Galina felt that many of the Zor Band’s works were still too complex and difficult.

Her own songs needed to be simpler and cleaner.

That was also its weakness; her music couldn’t stun a live audience the way a technically demanding song could.

"Let’s see if his vote count is enough to secure the last spot in the finals!"

The host’s voice came from the Magic Vision Device.

"The final vote count is..."

Galina could hear her own heart thumping wildly.

"387 votes! Let’s congratulate him, the last contestant to advance to the finals..."

When she saw the vote count, Galina first felt a wave of dizziness, then a sharp ringing filled her ears.

A two-vote difference.

’The worst part is getting your hopes up, only to watch that little bit of hope disappear right before your eyes.’

Although her initial goal was just to earn some pocket money, once she got on stage, Galina rediscovered a long-lost sense of accomplishment.

After getting into Repin, she had finally done something else praiseworthy.

’She wouldn’t be one of those people who, years later, could only talk about an exam they took when they were young.’

Therefore, she truly valued this opportunity and wanted her preferred style of music to be recognized by everyone.

Gaining a group of fans was certainly a good start, but of course, she wanted even greater success.

Galina walked out of the contestants’ room, dejected.

From there, she could hear the two advancing contestants giving their acceptance speeches.

’So close. Just a little closer, and she would have been the one on stage giving that speech.’

’Her work probably wasn’t good enough yet.’

She didn’t want to blame her failure on bad luck.

She still hadn’t fully figured out what made a song truly simple yet melodious.

"Miss Galina."

A staff member called out to her.

"I didn’t see you in the contestants’ room just now. So this is where you were."

"Is something the matter?"

Galina asked, feigning a casual tone.

’Could it be a fan asking for an autograph?’

’Sigh, it’s not like I’m in the mood to be signing autographs right now, really.’

’A little secret to staying positive: always assume the best.’

’It’s just a bit awkward when reality doesn’t live up to those assumptions.’

"Your pass. Your contestant pass. You need to return it before you can leave," the staff member said.

The temporary passes issued to contestants could bypass many of the Protective Magic scans at the recording site, so they had to be collected.

"Oh, haha, is that right? I almost forgot. Look at me, so forgetful."

Galina smiled awkwardly, took off her pass, and handed it to the staff member.

"There’s one more thing."

"Hmm?"

"The boss, Zog, wants to see you."

That was unexpected.

But unexpected was to be expected. According to Uffie’s nightly "Complain About the Boss" sessions, it was always hard to understand what Zog was thinking.

She followed the staff member to a reception room.

Zog was inside, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper.

"Ah, you’re here. You sang well."

Zog looked up as Galina arrived and spoke.

"If I really sang well, I wouldn’t have been eliminated," Galina replied.

Her lack of vocal skill was indeed her weakness.

’Regret. She hadn’t studied properly as a child. Back then, her parents had hired all sorts of tutors for her, all of whom were top-tier in their fields.’

’As a child, she had only seen it as torture, trying every trick to skip lessons and fool her teachers.’

’Now that she was grown, she regretted it immensely, not having learned anything during the age when she could have learned fastest.’

’She suddenly understood why her parents had hired so many tutors for her back then.’

’Neither of them had any special talents to speak of.’

’They were probably also regretting not having studied hard in their own childhoods...’

"Don’t think that way. There are many factors in an elimination. Even though your pitch is off, you occasionally go off-key, your breath control is weak, and you look dazed on stage... at least you have a nice vocal tone, right?"

Zog said, still continuing to write.

Galina was stunned by Zog’s assessment.

’What the hell was that?’

’Was he praising her or insulting her?’

She had seen so many negative comments about her online, and they hadn’t bothered her much.

But Zog’s barrage of passive-aggressive comments, whether intentional or not, almost broke through her defenses.

However, Galina’s attention was soon drawn to what Zog had been writing.

’What was that?’

’It looked like a musical score.’

’And it was written in numbered notation.’

People in the opera and orchestra industries hated this kind of notation, which was composed entirely of numbers.

’But Galina quite liked using it.’

’She hadn’t expected Zog to know how to write in numbered notation.’

"I called you over to let you know that you can... in the finals..."

"I can get into the finals!"

Galina asked excitedly before Zog could finish.

"Uh, not get into the finals. You’ve already been eliminated. You’ll be doing an interstitial performance during the finals."

"An interstitial performance?"

"Yes. The finals will be a live broadcast, so there will be downtime between rounds while the contestants prepare. We can’t edit it out, so we need interstitial performances to fill the gaps."

"Oh." Galina understood.

Most of her excitement instantly evaporated.

’A warm-up act, huh? She understood. Sometimes plays had them too—performances to warm up the crowd before the show officially started, while the audience was still arriving.’

’They wouldn’t even be listed on the official program.’

"Don’t think an interstitial performance is second-class. The amount of time you’ll get during the live broadcast is the same as the contestants."

Zog wasn’t lying. The stage production for these performances would also be of the highest caliber.

It wasn’t unheard of for a guest act to end up being more popular than the main competitors on the show.

"The guests performing are all popular contestants who were eliminated in previous rounds. Your popularity is quite high, especially among young people. In the revival poll, 68% of your votes came from the 16-to-24 age group, and 90% came from people under 30."

"You even know that?"

Galina was surprised.

"Of course. And I also know your male-to-female audience ratio is nearly one-to-one, that they like to listen to your songs late at night, and that there’s a high degree of overlap with Underground Discard’s fanbase."

This was how internet big data worked. Every action taken online would be recorded and converted into more targeted recommendations and advertisements.

"Do you know what this means?"

"What?"

"It means you’re a future cash cow. When your fans grow up, hit their thirties, and have money to spend, you’ll be a beautiful part of their memories. By then, even if your career has cooled off, you could make a huge comeback like one of those ’sisters riding the comeback wave.’ Do you have any idea how much people are willing to pay for nostalgia?"

Zog put down his pen and looked at Galina with satisfaction.

On this season of *Feilin’s Best Songs*, the person with the most potential to become a star, besides the Church Saintess, was her.

And the Church Saintess wasn’t someone he could manage.

Becoming a star was a delicate matter. It wasn’t as simple as having the most skill.

Many highly skilled singers ended up working behind the scenes as backup vocalists.

"So, not only can you do the interstitial performance, but you can also become a signed artist with the Zog Group. We will design an entire album around your musical style."

"There’s no problem with my style?"

"Of course not. The unflattering term is ’bubblegum pop,’ the nice term is ’pop music.’"

Zog believed it was time for Feilin’s music market to take the next step, moving from rock to pop.

In reality, pop music wasn’t a clearly defined genre.

It was a hodgepodge of various styles, borrowing elements from all kinds of music to achieve the most mainstream appeal.

For example, when rock was at its peak, rock *was* pop.

Later on, every song had to have a rap verse.

Therefore, perhaps "commercial music" was a more fitting term. The specific type of music wasn’t important; the goal was to find as many "users" for the "product" as possible.

"So, what do you think?"

"I agree."

Galina answered immediately.

If she didn’t have to change her style and could also introduce what she liked to a wider audience, there was no reason to refuse.

"Right, what song will I sing for the interstitial performance? Will it be one of the two songs I’ve already performed?"

"That’s the plan for the others, but it’s different for you. We have a choice that’s more suited to your youth-idol style."

Zog handed her the sheet music he had just been writing.

"You’ll sing this."

To be honest, Galina didn’t have high hopes for the piece Zog had obviously just scribbled down, but out of politeness, she began to look at it seriously.

The moment she looked, she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

She sight-sang the melody from the sheet music.

’She loved this melody.’

This was the simple, beautiful song she had been dreaming of.

"What’s this song called?"

"Oh, sorry. I was in such a rush I forgot to write the name. The title is *Innocence*."