"It only takes 30 seconds to know if it will be a hit."
This was a catchphrase he often kept on his lips.
As a Kansai businessman from Osaka and a pragmatist, his pursuit of song quality was never about its artistic merit, but rather its commercial attributes.
"If the record doesn't sell, it's not even certain if there will be a chance to release the next one."
"First open up the market, then talk about artistic ideals."
This was the philosophy he firmly believed in.
Therefore, when listening to a demo, he was accustomed to listening to the chorus first; if this part couldn't manage to be catchy, then there was basically no need to continue listening.
As the demo began to play, Daiko habitually prepared to light a cigarette, but the moment he heard the chorus, his movements paused slightly, and he couldn't help but frown.
The rhythm was too flat, too slow, and not catchy enough.
But the melody and lyrics were somewhat interesting, and the singer's voice was good...
The chorus section ended quickly, and the assistant pressed the pause button, waiting for Daiko's comment.
"..."
Daiko silently lit his cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled slowly. After thinking for a while like this, he finally said:
"...Now play it in its entirety from beginning to end."
"Yes."
Reaching this step meant passing the first test.
Honestly speaking, Daiko was not that satisfied with the chorus of this song.
However, some of the highlights made him somewhat concerned, and he couldn't simply dismiss this song outright, which was why he felt a bit conflicted.
In any case, let's see how the whole song performs.
"The wind is blowing fiercely, and my heart is wavering along with it..."
The relaxed and soothing rhythm, the everyday lyrical expression, and the restrained female vocals created a sense of afternoon comfort and laziness, making one unconsciously immerse oneself in it.
And what the lyrics described was exactly summer; listening to it now, in the middle of midsummer, it felt even more immersive.
As he listened, he actually started nodding his head gently to the rhythm unconsciously.
And this time, hearing the chorus again, he suddenly noticed something was wrong; he leaned forward, his expression becoming somewhat serious.
...No, that's not right!
When listening directly to the chorus just now, it felt a bit unremarkable, but after the buildup of the verse, the feeling of listening to the chorus now was completely different.
Next, Daiko maintained this posture throughout the rest of the song, his expression inexplicably serious.
After a moment of silence, he spoke again:
"Play it again."
"Yes."
...
After listening to it three or four times like this, his brow furrowed again unconsciously.
Because he discovered again that this song was unexpectedly durable to listen to.
But...
"If you can't make a decision for the time being, why not listen to the next one first?"
Just then, Masao suddenly spoke, interrupting his thoughts.
"The author of the next demo is the same person as this one."
"The same person?"
Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
In other words, there is actually only one newcomer to choose from at this final decision meeting.
Thinking of this, he took a deep look at the other person and nodded:
"Then let's listen to the next one first."
...
It was still the same process: listen to the chorus once, then listen to the whole thing several times, and finally fall into silence.
In Daiko's view, the chorus of this "snow flower" was slightly better than the previous one, but the intuitive impact was still insufficient, and the rhythm was not fast enough.
Yet he could objectively recognize that the quality of these two songs was sufficiently outstanding, which felt very contradictory.
However, at this point, he also completely understood Masao's intention.
He looked up at the other person, his tone somewhat complex:
"Do you even think that I should make a change?"
"...The times have already changed."
Masao did not answer directly, but indicated his attitude indirectly.
It wasn't'should make a change', but that the times have changed, so one has no choice but to make a change.
"Have the times already changed?"
Daiko repeated the other person's words, his expression filled with emotion.
In fact, ever since Being's performance began to decline, they had discussed this issue more than once and had begun to try to change.
"But isn't that exactly why we founded GIZA Studio?"
"That is indeed the case."
Masao nodded and said:
"Actually, if you are unwilling to sign this person, I will recommend them to GIZA."
"But are you really content with that?"
Daiko was slightly stunned.
Content?
Of course, he wasn't content.
In fact, the birth of GIZA Studio was less of a change they actively made, and more of a compromise made helplessly after arguments.
Although GIZA Studio was nominally a subsidiary of Being, he did not consider it his company; on the contrary, he vaguely regarded it as a rival.
But Being's decline was also an indisputable fact.
Especially in recent years, he felt that he seemed increasingly unable to understand the market.
"By the way, what do you think of these two songs?"
Hearing Masao's question again, he refocused his attention on the matter at hand and said in a deep voice:
"Objectively speaking, I think both of these songs are quite good. But regarding the market..."
"I'm not too sure."
If judged by his experience, these two songs were not the type that would become huge hits, but the current music market had become somewhat different from before.
Especially the appearance of Utada Hikaru, which seemed to have brought a brand new trend.
"Actually, I feel the same way."
Masao smiled and said:
"However, when we were primarily pushing rock music back then, wasn't it actually the same way?"
"...Yeah, that's true."
Daiko was momentarily dazed upon hearing this.
Nowadays, when people mention Being, they always think of Being as a record company focused on rock, because basically all the big hits under its banner are rock bands.
But this was actually a misunderstanding.
Being did not focus on rock; it was just that in that era when rock was popular, they took advantage of the trend to launch a few rock bands, and it turned out unexpectedly that most of them became hits.
However, it seemed that it was also from that time that he unconsciously formed a path dependency, and then walked all the way to today.
"Yeah."
He sighed again and looked at Masao:
"Do you think this is a good time to make a change?"
"I think so."
This time, Masao answered affirmatively without hesitation, then smiled and said:
"After all, even you have realized the excellence of these two songs, doesn't that prove the point?"
"'Even I'?"
Daiko said, half-angry and half-amused:
"I'm just old, not senile. Isn't that a bit too condescending to say something like that?"
"Haha."
"Anyway, since we both recognize the quality of these two songs, I think it's worth a try."
Masao laughed and continued:
"And even if we don't sign them, based on my understanding of Sata, he will sign them."
"And if Sata signs them, then when training them, he will still use a portion of Being's resources."
"Since that's the case, why don't we sign them ourselves?"
The'Sata' Masao spoke of was Sata Toshinori, who was the head of GIZA Studio.
"Indeed."
Whether they sign or not, their resources will ultimately be used, why give the person away to the other party for free?
Daiko, who had been somewhat hesitant, instantly made up his mind upon hearing this.
So he said decisively:
"Then let's send them an email."