Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 24 Joining the Music Club

"Xia Fan, male, of Dragon origin, 19 years old, a first-year student in the Department of Music at Tokyo University of the Arts."

"Work experience, including acting experience as a KKC advertising model, a poster model for a waist-strengthening and kidney-strengthening beverage... Part-time work experience includes flyer delivery, Chinese restaurant kitchen helper, convenience store clerk, and arcade clerk..."

“Qualification certificate, motor vehicle driving license (within the beginner identification period)…no bad record…experience of being defrauded: 1 time…”

A middle-aged man in a suit and tie with sparse hair took the information and read it carefully.

"You're a college student? You have quite a lot of work-study experience... You even wrote down the number of times you've been defrauded. It's simply the most you've ever seen..."

When he read to a certain point, the middle-aged man raised his head and looked at Xia Fan with a strange expression.

Then, he brought the cooperation agreement close to his face and looked at it carefully from top to bottom through the thick lenses of his glasses.

The meticulous posture was as if what was in front of him was not an agreement, but a banknote that needed to be verified for authenticity.

"Well, the agreement is indeed the company's standard format, and the seal on it is also genuine."

After a while, he adjusted his glasses and looked at Xia Fan again with a serious expression.

"Ahem, Xia Jun, right? My name is Hiroshi Yamazaki. I am the head of the music department of Company B. I am responsible for the overall planning, coordination and management of music production business."

"Mr. Xia, I don't want to know how you signed this 'part-time' agreement, which is only open to senior musicians in the company. But I want to confirm first, given your appearance and work experience, if you want to work part-time, it should be in the performing arts department. Why did you choose the music department?"

After introducing himself, Yamazaki Hiroshi asked seriously.

"Well... because I'm a student in the music department and I love music creation?"

Xia Fan answered tentatively.

You can't just say "I'm short of money, I have a terminal illness, and I'm possessed by an evil spirit, so I need a stable and controllable channel like the music department to make money and gain faith."

"Passion?"

"So, how do you think you'll work in the music department with your freshman degree and lackluster work-study experience?"

Hearing this answer, Yamazaki Hiroshi's eyes twitched.

"Well...if I work hard on writing songs, today I will be proud of the company, and tomorrow the company will be proud of me?"

Xia Fan tilted his head and gave another tentative answer.

"Pfft, being young is good..."

"If high-quality music works, like class assignments, can be produced through 'seriousness' and 'hard work', then the status of our department in Bethesda would not be so special."

Yamazaki Hiroshi sneered and shook his head.

"Forget it. Since you were assigned to this position by your superiors, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll just show you around first."

He sighed, stood up and walked out the door.

"This entire floor is the music department's territory. How is it? It's huge, right?"

Following Hiroshi Yamazaki, Xia Fan visited the music department's office.

"This is the lounge in the middle. When producers are tired from work or lack inspiration, they will rest here. There are various musical instruments and sound testing equipment, music theory books and music scores. The tea room next to it is equipped with drinks and food, and there is also a 24-hour meal delivery service."

As a core department of a top entertainment company, the working conditions in the music department are truly impeccable.

The lounge alone has six sofa sets, an entire wall of music books and materials, and all kinds of valuable musical instruments and recording equipment piled up in the corner like garbage.

"The area on the right side of the corridor is the master studio, which is a single room equipped for senior music producers who have a cooperative relationship with Bethesda." "The left side is the centralized office area, where the professional music producers who work on the 'fixed shift' all have their workstations."

"The music producers who have changed jobs at Bethesda represent the top level of the industry. They must be elites with solid academic qualifications and rich industry experience. Most importantly, they must maintain more than three best-selling works within two years to be eligible to continue to sit here."

"I don't know, nor do I want to know, how you got here, but since you're in my music department, you have to make a living based on your abilities and discard those unrealistic ideas."

Leading Xia Fan into the office area in a chattering manner, Yamazaki Hiroshi specially emphasized the pronunciation of the words "education", "experience" and "representative works".

"I have been waiting for the day when I can meet you again, on that path where cherry blossoms are dancing..."

In the office area separated by floor-to-ceiling glass, Xia Fan could hear a familiar singing voice from afar.

“The melody doesn’t have overly complicated techniques, which can best accommodate the audience and better set off the vocals.”

"The lyrics are very heartfelt, without any difficult or flowery words, and resonate with the 'common memories' that most listeners have!"

"Also, the design is easy to learn and catchy. Maybe it has taken into account the subsequent KTV request rate..."

Inside the room, several music producers were gathered in front of the blackboard, discussing something intensely.

On the huge blackboard is the complete handwritten musical notation of "Sakura" with lyrics.

"Hey, old man Yamazaki is here..."

"Who's that guy behind him?"

"He's quite handsome. Could he be an artist here to invite me to sing?"

The music producers stopped discussing and looked curiously at Xia Fan behind Yamazaki.

"Are you discussing 'Sakura' again? That's right. We can't just work in isolation. Music producers need to keep an eye on the market trends."

"Everyone, let me introduce you. This is Xia Fan, our new part-time worker. He's a top freshman in the Department of Music at Tokyo University of the Arts. You can slowly get to know each other better."

With a clenched fist and a light cough, Yamazaki Hiroshi loudly introduced Xia Fan to everyone.

Of course, we also don’t forget to emphasize the pronunciation of “part-time job” and “freshman”.

"Hello everyone, I am Xia Fan, please give me your guidance in the future."

Xia Fan greeted everyone politely.

"So you're a freshman. No wonder you look so young. You must be here for an internship, right?"

"But, old-fashioned Yamazaki said 'part-time job'. Did he sign a contract?"

"Who knows? That's their ability."

The male and female producers in the office area whispered for a while and then returned to silence.

But the look he gave Xia Fan was filled with a bit more contempt.

Although Bethesda's music department has many entry requirements such as academic qualifications, work experience and performance, from time to time there will be "people with connections" who come to "gild their resumes", and everyone is used to it.

After all, when it comes to creating songs and albums, there is no rule that only one person can write the lyrics or compose the music…

In other words, music production, like publishing a paper, can be "mixed up with names".

(End of this chapter)