My agency went bankrupt before I even got on stage.

Tianlai Music really gave Lin Fan a lot of face. After Lin Fan's new song was uploaded, they not only promoted it using their official Weibo account, but also gave it a prominent spot on the homepage banner of the music platform!

After just one day of recommendations, Lin Fan's two songs saw a significant boost in popularity, directly entering the monthly chart for original songs by independent musicians on Tianlai Music!

"Keep Walking in the Rain" ranked eighth on the monthly chart of original songs by independent musicians on Tianlai Music!

"I Caught a Cold in That Corner" ranked tenth on the monthly chart of original songs by independent musicians on Tianlai Music!

Moreover, the ratio of audio to download is almost 1:1!

比起榜单前十的歌曲那基本上在10比1到15比1，甚至还有20比1的付费比例，林泛这种1比1的数据，已经很多年没有出现过了！

Not to mention, it's already late May, and the data for just one day shows such results. If Lin Fan had uploaded these two songs at the beginning of the month, his performance would probably have already surpassed the top spot on the monthly chart and would be far ahead!

Echoing the astonishing data, the Tianlai Music platform has welcomed a large wave of new registered users and paid members!

The backend system revealed that these users were all there for Lin Fan! As soon as they registered, they went straight for Lin Fan's two songs; many didn't even listen to them before paying to download them!

Meanwhile, these new users have almost no other songs on their download lists!

Of course, such a ratio and such results will gradually decrease as the hype dies down, but even if it only lasts for a few days, it is enough to make people proud!

Seeing that both of Lin Fan's songs had surpassed 300,000 downloads and were showing no signs of waning, Wang Ke, who was in charge of liaising with Lin Fan at Tianlai Music Platform, was overjoyed! This was all part of his performance! The better Lin Fan's results, the more commission he would receive!

If Lin Fan weren't still participating in the "Morning Star" program, Wang Ke would have liked to personally visit him and inquire whether he had any new songs ready to be released.

The happier Tianlai was, the more upset NetEase was.

The reason is simple: Lin Fan filed a formal complaint against NetEase Music. And Lin Fan's fans, led by Wang Lingli, immediately followed suit after Lin Fan posted on Weibo!

They handed over all the evidence they had, including but not limited to videos of the entire data testing process on the NetEase platform, videos of the data compression and release processes provided by internal personnel, and Jiang Jie's phone recordings, to the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation after making backups.

They also posted about it on Lin Fan's official fan club Weibo account.

After a day of discussion, many independent musicians began tagging the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation. The Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation also issued a statement on Weibo, stating that it had intervened and was investigating the matter.

Under pressure, NetEase Music also issued a statement.

Jiang Jie was quickly thrown out as a scapegoat.

"Look what you've done! Not only did you fail to secure a new song from Lin Fan, but he also took the opportunity to remove our existing songs from the platform, and now he's demanding compensation from us. Do you know how much download data he has? Do you know how much money we have to pay?"

Jiang Jie was seething with resentment. Suppressing data and grabbing copyrights—wasn't this what NetEase had always done? It wasn't the first time, but this time they had run into a brick wall, which was why it had aroused public anger and left NetEase in a very embarrassing situation.

But as long as we weather this period, or if the PR department puts in some effort to handle it, once the hype dies down, who will remember this? Even if they do, how much impact will it have? Netizens are forgetful!

But Lin Fan is just too popular! His songs are too popular! The hype can't be suppressed! More importantly, is Lin Fan's head made of pure steel? Jiang Jie is filing a formal complaint against NetEase Music! He stated that in all his years at NetEase Music, he has never seen anyone like this!

Such gossip is naturally something netizens are happy to see.

However, none of the netizens expected that NetEase Music's response this time would be so tactful.

First, Jiang Jie surrendered himself to the police.

Jiang Jie admitted that he did everything on his own and that he damaged the interests of NetEase. The independent musicians who were suppressed and those who exposed the evidence all received Jiang Jie's sincere apologies.

Secondly, there's the issue of NetEase's whitewashing.

When Mr. Wu, the general manager of NetEase, stepped forward, he first expressed his deep remorse and admitted that he had not managed his subordinates well. He was willing to demote himself to an ordinary employee and forfeit one year's salary. On behalf of NetEase, he promised to make amends to all independent musicians, and promised that all the suppressed independent musicians could get back their copyrights. He also promised to provide them with free record production, continuous website promotion, and various commercial performance invitations as compensation.

Finally, NetEase will hold its first original music competition, where all suppressed independent musicians will receive a direct pass to the official competition without having to participate in the preliminary rounds.

After a series of dazzling operations,

Netizens suddenly realized that all the independent musicians had fallen silent!

Almost all the suppressed independent musicians deleted their super blogs, and the entire internet seemed to fall silent all of a sudden.

This quietness is a little unsettling.

Lian Xiaoyu, looking completely bewildered, approached Xia Yan: "Why? Weren't you making such a big show of attacking NetEase Music before? Why have you suddenly gone quiet?"

Xia Yan, who was preparing for a cover song, didn't even look up when she heard this: "What's so strange about that? Those musicians are just ordinary independent musicians with no resources or background, otherwise they would have debuted as big stars long ago!"

"The real big names are the artists in those management companies. There's no conflict between NetEase and them. Moreover, NetEase provides these independent musicians with all sorts of resources and organizes competitions to help them debut. It's like giving them a ladder to the top. With such benefits, what are the little grievances they suffered before compared to what NetEase has given them?"

"Moreover, this also gave them a way out, and Jiang Jie became their punching bag. If they continue to make trouble, NetEase might suffer some damage, but that would only be a minor incident. If these independent musicians continue to be so ungrateful, they will probably face a complete ban from the internet!"

"In the adult world, how could there be so many lose-lose situations? Isn't the current happy ending better?"

……

Xia Yan's words made Lian Xiaoyu somewhat unhappy: "Does it mean that one can abandon dignity like this for the sake of profit? Isn't it better to be as stubborn as Lin Fan?"

"Lin Fan is stubborn?"

Xia Yan laughed out loud: "His head isn't made of iron; it's just that he hasn't suffered enough of the harsh realities of society! If he had spent a few years struggling in the underworld, he wouldn't be so stubborn!"

"But that's just Lin Fan's youthful energy! And so what if he really goes head-to-head? Lin Fan isn't someone without powerful backers!"

Xia Yan put down the sheet music in her hand and looked out the window.