While the outside world was in an uproar over the official announcement of the photos, Quentin was in the system’s professional practice room, designing and rehearsing the initial stage performance of “La liberté.”
The system originally recommended that Quentin use energy points to exchange for an all-around teacher to guide him in choreography and overall stage performance, but Quentin said it wasn’t necessary for now.
Spending 10 energy points to exchange for a data person, who could only be used once, didn’t seem worth it to Quentin for a talent show’s initial stage performance.
He had held countless concerts, with over 100 global tours alone at the age of 21, and “La liberté” was an essential performance piece in every concert.
Stage? With his extensive experience, couldn’t he handle a talent show’s initial stage?
Although “La liberté” is a romantic ballad, its arrangement has a strong sense of rhythm, with the lyrics speeding up from slow to fast. The emotional impact of the chorus is maximized, making it very suitable for live band performances.
Naturally, a band couldn’t be used for the initial stage of a talent show. Quentin still remembered some of the dance moves arranged by the choreographer for “La liberté”. In his previous life, he was a singer-songwriter, not a singer-dancer. It had been over two years since he last danced to “La liberté,” and remembering a few iconic moves was already quite good.
At 21, while preparing for his global tour, Quentin spent about half a year day and night in the dance studio, learning from world-class old-school street dance and hip-hop teachers.
He had perfect pitch, and his body naturally possessed excellent musicality and rhythm, allowing him to intuitively express the emotions of music through movement. The six months of training with professional teachers gave him a standard, fluid dance framework and a stable core.
These talents and stage experience allowed Quentin to “look good even just casually moving” to any music.
The only shortcoming was that, compared to other professional dancers, Quentin’s physical explosiveness was average, and his technical skills were lacking.
Fortunately, his clean and precise movements compensated well for this weakness. Besides, he was a singer-songwriter, who said a singer-songwriter had to dance as well as a professional dancer?
Who would have thought that after dying and transmigrating, he would have to debut as a boy band member?
The boy, wearing an oversized T-shirt and wide-leg sweatpants, lay sprawled on the wooden floor, his chest heaving violently, his hair soaked with sweat and sticking to his cheeks.
Quentin raised his elbow to wipe the sweat from his face, struggling to open his eyes. His light golden eyelashes were damp and drooping, his pupils bright as if washed with water.
After resting for five minutes, he struggled to sit up, casually pushing the stray hairs back from his forehead: “System, do you have that… recording function? I want to film a full practice session to see how it looks.”
He always missed minor details when dancing in front of the mirror, but he couldn’t bring his phone into the data space. It was better to have the system create a camera.
The system’s voice was delayed by 0.5 seconds: “…Host, this system has been recording all along.”
Quentin: “…?”
“This system has detected that most of the trainees on ‘Next Stage’ film clips of themselves training privately in the practice room. These videos are released as daily extras on their personal forums or company accounts, providing an additional way for audiences or fans to get to know them.”
The system raised its tone: “What others have, the host must also have!”
Quentin rubbed his temples: “Hmm… alright, then show it to me. I’ll check it.”
A video over two hours long was projected onto the white wall in front of him. He dragged the progress bar, skipping directly to the end to watch the final product.
The boy raised an eyebrow: “Actually, it’s not bad?”
This young body was full of healthy vitality, and every movement was both cool and dynamic, brimming with youthful energy.
The system quietly interjected: “Host, would you like a level assessment? It can evaluate your initial stage performance or conduct a comprehensive assessment of you personally.”
His host had already demonstrated various skills like original singing and dancing in the data space, and the system had collected enough data to conduct a thorough level evaluation.
Quentin nodded: “Okay, go ahead.”
The system responded loudly: “Okay!!”
“Assessing stage performance level…”
“Assessing host’s personal level…”
The system announced the results in a rhythmic manner: “The initial stage performance of ‘La liberté’ is rated B+.”
“Host Quentin’s personal level assessment is…”
“Original creativity rating: S++.”
“Vocal ability rating: A+.”
“Voice quality rating: S+.”
“Dance ability rating: C.”
“Stage presence rating: B.”
“No assessment results yet for rap ability, acting ability, fashion performance, etc.”
“Host!” The system was so excited it cracked again. “S++?? And an S+ too!! This system has never seen an S++ before, ahhhhh!!”
Quentin repeatedly dragged the video progress bar, muttering to himself: “B+… so it really is because the dance isn’t keeping up?”
But from the video’s perspective, he had already pushed this body to its limits. The overall stage performance was sufficiently visually appealing. Improving dance ability further wasn’t something that could be achieved short-term.
B+… for an initial talent show stage, it should be enough, right?
In fact, the system’s level assessment was very rigid and strict, scored point-by-point by AI algorithm, unaffected by any external factors.
Real audiences, when watching a performance, are often influenced by many subjective factors. For example, some audiences prefer hip-hop dance with a strong sense of rhythm, some like unique and pleasant vocal tones, and some are more easily moved by soul-stirring high notes.
These all affect the audience’s overall impression of the performance.
No one can guarantee their performance will be liked by all audiences, nor is it necessary to aim for such an elusive standard.
Quentin turned off the recording: “System, please continue recording for me. I’ll practice for… another hour.”
System: “Okay!”
…..
Quentin spent three days rehearsing for the initial stage. The remaining four days, he threw himself wholeheartedly into the recording studio, focused on rearranging the original songs from his previous life.
150 energy points drained away rapidly. If Quentin’s physical body in reality didn’t need normal food and water, those energy points probably wouldn’t have lasted until the day the program began recording.
On the eve of [Next Stage] recording, Quentin had completed the lyrics, composition, and recording for four songs. The system rated them: one S, two A+, and one B.
It is worth mentioning that the system extracted data from his seventeen-year-old self in his previous life to create his current body, so his current vocal tone was naturally that of the seventeen-year-old Quentin.
But Quentin didn’t want to mix up the identities of “boy band trainee” and “singer-songwriter” too early.
The former was the new career path he had started in this life, while the latter was a safety net built using the experience and resources from his previous life… it was a retreat he left for himself.
Whether Quentin established his own studio or not, once he debuted as a boy band member, his group contract would undoubtedly fall under Galaxy Entertainment. Furthermore, he learned from the forums that the seven members of the girl group Aurora, who debuted from last year’s talent show, had both their group contracts and individual contracts signed with BKL.
On one hand, this was because BKL was a major conglomerate, using its influence to pressure others, and the members’ original companies were ineffective, lacking the courage to confront BKL head-on. On the other hand, newly debuted artists have zero say, lacking the confidence and capital to resist the domineering and powerful BKL.
Moreover, even if one refused to sign an individual contract, under the priority of the group contract, any hard-won individual opportunity would have to yield to the group.
What’s the point of a newcomer with no background trying to be different and independent? Opposing your future employer, aren’t you afraid of being isolated, targeted, and given a hard time?
But Quentin was different from these newcomers. His mind had dozens of mature works that had already been tested by the market. He was unwilling to hand over his past achievements to others.
Therefore, he absolutely must not sign an individual contract, nor could he expose the vast library of original songs belonging to “trainee Quentin”.
He wanted to use the songs and albums he wrote in his previous life to make money, attract fans, and establish his own studio. But the troubling thing was, his voice was too recognizable.
If he really used this voice to record songs, what was the point of having a side account and wearing a vest!
Fortunately, the “All-Round Master Teacher” function introduced by the system gave him an idea.
So, while recording, Quentin spent an additional 10 energy points to have the system re-extract the vocal data from his 25-year-old self in his previous life, using it to complete the recording of the subsequent four original songs.
Quentin exited the data space and woke up in reality, yawning as he pulled out his phone.
He has been so busy making music these past few days that he hasn’t had time to check out the music platforms in this world.
He directly searched the forum for music app recommendations; 90% of the posts mentioned the same music software.
“Not only is the social media platform dominated by one company in this world, but even the music platform is monopolized?”
Quentin watched the download progress bar for the “Light Music” app on his phone screen, thinking, “This is actually quite convenient. I only need to worry about releasing songs.”
He spent about half an hour studying the Light Music app’s song revenue sharing rules and chart ranking mechanisms.
First, the main sources of income for a song are divided into streaming media play counts, digital album & single sales, copyright licensing revenue, platform member subscription shares, and platform support programs and bonuses.
In addition, as the song creator’s fame increases, they can unlock more income avenues such as fan donations & live stream revenue, advertising revenue sharing & brand collaborations, merchandise sales, and even offline concert revenue.
Second, regarding platform charts.
Perhaps because this world places high importance on the development of the entertainment industry, Light Music app’s song chart ranking rules are open and transparent. It strictly prohibits all malicious competition tactics like company-inflated numbers or fan vote manipulation, and has numerous countermeasures and penalties in place.
The platform’s charts are mainly divided into three categories.
There’s the “Guess You’ll Like” chart, which uses big data for personalized recommendations based on user preferences; the most prestigious Gold and Silver Charts and daily/monthly charts ranked by song performance; and the manually curated charts influenced by platform editors.
Personalized recommendations aside, Quentin mainly focused on the performance-based charts and the manually curated charts.
The assessment of a song’s performance is based on several core metrics, such as play count, user interaction (likes, favorites, shares), paid activity (member subscriptions, album or single purchases, and fan donations), spread and virality, etc.
Performance charts are divided by time into overall charts, annual charts, monthly charts, and daily charts.
Among these, the overall chart and annual chart have both Gold & Silver Chart divisions. Songs that make it to the Gold Chart receive an official [Gold Song] crown certification badge, while songs that make it to the Silver Chart receive a [Silver Song] scepter certification badge.
It’s said that Light Music officially mails custom crown & scepter badges to the winning creators. Quentin noticed many original musicians showing off their walls of different versions of these badges on the forums; they are symbols of a musician’s strength and honor.
The daily and monthly charts are refreshed approximately every hour.
The highest record on the platform is “holding the top spot on the daily chart for three consecutive days” and “staying within the top fifty of the monthly chart for two consecutive months.”
The manually curated charts come in various categories. Although they are manually ranked by editors, the competition is fierce, and the underlying logic remains that better song performance increases the chances of getting onto a good chart.
At the same time, applying for manually curated charts also has certain thresholds.
It requires creators to have at least 100 fans and a total play count of at least 1000 across their songs to obtain the “lv.1” creator certification. After that, the level will gradually increase as their performance improves.
If they are original musicians signed to a major company like Xinda Media, they would first create marketing buzz on the forums before officially releasing songs on the Light Music platform, to maximize the core competitiveness of their “first new song.”
But Quentin, as a “newcomer” with nothing but talent, naturally had no company to support him with pre-release marketing.
He wasn’t worried. After all, in his previous life, he also started with nothing, posting play and sing videos on YouTube, playing his guitar and singing at various stations, parks, and street corners. He never signed with a company in his ten-year career, stubbornly accumulating a huge fan base through his creations and carving out a space for himself in the severely capital-monopolized Western music scene.
And in this life, he had a much better start than in his previous life.
Look, he wasn’t homeless on the streets after running away from home, he wasn’t completely alone with the system’s company, and he was even given an excellent variety show opportunity to showcase himself.
Of course, the most important thing was that the person standing here wasn’t the 15-year-old Quentin with nothing but reckless courage, but the experienced superstar Quentin with ten years of rich experience.
The worst and most down-and-out predicament couldn’t defeat him, and now he was just starting over from scratch.
How many chances does one get in life to start over from scratch?
