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Chapter 63: Global Music Report

Upon hearing Harlin's idea, Li Mo did not refuse and took out his guitar to prepare to play.

After thinking for a while, Li Mo sat on the playground and began to pluck the strings of his instrument.

"I can't forget the first time I saw you, your captivating eyes..."

"Your image lingers in my mind, I can't shake it off..."

With no audience and no stage, Li Mo sang freely on this ordinary playground.

The beautiful melody and the captivating voice added to the atmosphere of the playground.

The reason it's called "Unavoidable Love" isn't because it's Harlem Yu's song, but because it's a song that almost every guitarist knows.

"I'm afraid I'll fall in love with you, so I don't dare to study too closely, afraid I won't have much to give you. Loving you also takes a lot of courage..."

Harlem hadn't originally planned to sing along, as he wanted to give Li Mo a solo performance, but when Li Mo took out his guitar...

When the first chord appeared, Harlem's attention was suddenly drawn...

The melodies are all familiar, I've heard them hundreds or thousands of times, and I'm unlikely to be drawn to them again.

But when Li Mo started playing, he followed that feeling and started singing along with Li Mo.

"I fear that if I fall in love with you, one day I might not be able to control myself, and the longing will only bring me suffering..."

The director recorded everything, especially Harlem's reaction. In fact, not only Harlem, but everyone present felt the same way.

This song touched their hearts once again. For some reason, they felt that Li Mo's rendition of "Unavoidable Love" had a special charm.

Everyone agreed that this segment absolutely had to be released.

Until the music ended, the lingering sound slowly echoed and dissipated in the air.

Harlem's gaze towards Li Mo grew even more appreciative. "Your guitar playing has improved so quickly! I remember your first performance was just so-so, but this time..."

This was the first time he had felt this way, and he praised her generously.

Li Mo smiled and said modestly, "I hadn't practiced for a long time that time, but I've been practicing more recently."

Harlin patted Li Mo on the shoulder.

"Hmm, I can see that, this guitar is pretty... beat-up! How about I give you a guitar instead?"

Harlin searched his brain and found no words that could accurately and tactfully describe the characteristics of this guitar.

Aside from being worn out, I can't see anything else about it...

In the end, I had no choice but to abandon euphemism and opt for accuracy.

"Forget it, a wife who has shared hardship should not be abandoned. I still prefer my current one; she's a better fit."

Although it looks like an old guitar, its value is unmatched by any other guitar.

But Harlin didn't care about any of that and immediately put his arm around Li Mo's shoulder.

"Whether you use it or not is your business, whether I buy it for you or not is my business. Come on, we've been teacher and student, what's wrong with giving you a guitar?"

Then Harlin slapped his butt and stood up, pulling Li Mo to look at the guitar.

The production team tacitly approved of this; the mentors giving gifts—not bad at all!

The group drove to the commercial street, and as they opened the windows, the songs from the shops along the street drifted into their ears.

It's not just mainland China that's been invaded by the Korean wave; Taiwan has been the same way in the last two years, and even with Jay Chou in charge, it's not enough.

On the streets and alleys, songs such as XO's "Roar," Hyuna's "No Tomorrow," and Kwon Ji-yong's "Crooked" can be heard everywhere among young men and women.

Currently, Taiwan has become one of the regions with the strongest K-pop consumption in Asia.

"Do you speak Korean?" Harlem suddenly asked while driving.

Li Mo was a little puzzled as to why Harlin asked that question, and Harlin then explained:

"I see you listen to K-pop very attentively. I feel like someone like you could probably make it in Peninsula."

"That's a pity. I'm not good at anything except Mandarin. And I've heard the competition there is quite fierce..."

Harlin, still not giving up, asked another question.

"What about English?"

Li Mo shook his head again, "This is something you can learn! If you speak it badly, you'll embarrass yourself later."

"But Mr. Harlin, why are you so concerned about my language skills?" Li Mo had some questions about this.

Harlin nodded and glanced at Li Mo: "If Jin Runji were sitting here today, I probably wouldn't have said all this."

Because his circumstances only allow him to make a living domestically, but you are different. I think you could try going abroad later.

He had barely finished speaking when, before Li Mo could reply, he looked at the cameraman in the back row and said, "Cut this part out! This is just a private conversation between the two of us."

"Heh~"

After spending time with him today, Li Mo felt that this little old man was quite interesting.

So he also shared his current thoughts.

"It feels like that day is still quite far away; we haven't even taken it over domestically yet."

Harlem jokingly added, "It is indeed quite far. You should talk about it after you've mastered English. Don't miss out on opportunities; the overseas market is huge!"

According to the IFPI's Global Music Report, the domestic market's ranking is actually quite low at this time, only 19th in the world.

It was far below the second place in the peninsula and the tenth place in the Japanese peninsula.

This is mainly because the IFPI report includes data on paid streaming subscriptions and Game of Thrones revenue, physical records, licensing and copyright revenue, etc. when calculating market size.

And each of these things happens to be a weakness in China.

The main problem is that the domestic copyright environment limits the growth of actual income. Before becoming a singer, Li Mo listened to pirated music.

Pirated music is great and free, why shouldn't I listen to it?

However, this situation is improving, with various data in the domestic music market showing rapid growth.

It is expected that it will catch up with the Korean Peninsula in a few years, and by 2022, it will be among the top five in the world.

Of course, this report does not mean that domestic singers do not make money. In fact, quite the opposite, domestic singers actually earn much more than those from Peninsula.

Because the real way for singers in China to make money is through their fame.

Concerts, music festivals, endorsements, sponsorships, merchandise, variety shows, film and television...

These are the ways that domestic singers make money, and these are precisely the ways that are not included in the report.

Their common characteristic is that all methods are extremely dependent on popularity, which gives Li Mo a significant advantage, as can be seen from the number of fans he gained from "The Voice of China".

If these profits were included in the list, it still wouldn't be comparable to Europe and America, but the Korean Peninsula... well, it's best not to try and cause trouble.

Li Mo understood Harlem's meaning. Since Li Mo could write songs, he wanted to try to go overseas as much as possible in the future.

After all, earning foreign exchange is also a form of patriotism.

Moreover, Li Mo is not obsessed with foreign awards; what he is truly interested in is the foreign market.

As for whether I can win an award... well, that's up to fate.

Clearly, Harlin's unintentional remark ignited Li Mo's ambition.