pictures from Chen Zeshan Facebook
html On May 24, Chen Zeshan announced his resignation as president of Warner Records Greater China.In this era where the three major records are no longer the fulcrum of the music world, and music resources have become extremely fragmented and interconnected, the news of Chen Zeshan's resignation is no longer as exciting and shocking as when he resigned as EMI's managing director 11 years ago. . And if it had been a few years ago, I believe this news would have been enough to cause a big shock in the recording industry. The contrast between
is exactly the epitome of the decline of the record industry. An era has really come to an end.
And the name Chen Zeshan can be said to be a name that can never be avoided in the last glorious era of the Chinese recording industry. His departure from Warner Records marked the end of an era and had symbolic significance.
But even so, not many people praise Chen Zeshan, and no one even adds insult to injury to him, which is considered extremely merciful.
Unlike those record industry traders at the same time or earlier, Chen Zeshan was the most controversial behind-the-scenes manager even in the history of the Chinese music scene . To say that it is mixed with praise and praise is actually a relatively tolerant conclusion. Because in fact, from singers and musicians in the industry to fans outside the industry, the name Chen Zeshan will always be criticized more than praised.
However, he is such a "demon"-like existence in the industry. After becoming the director of "Universal Music" in Taiwan in 1999, he has been working in "EMI" for nearly two decades. /EMI", "Warner Music" and other international labels and served as senior executives. Thinking about it this way, it seems a bit incompatible with his bad reviews.
After all, the volcano position of the top management of a record company is different from the top management of ordinary companies. Even if it may rely on internal fighting to win the position, if it does not achieve good results, even if it is in the top position, it will be dismissed soon.
As for Chen Zeshan, as long as you mention Na Ying , Sammi Cheng , Stefanie Sun , Zhang Huimei , Elva Hsiao this " Queen of Heaven ", everything will go without saying.
What's more, his career does not stop at "Thean Hou Temple". Let the converted JJ Lin reach a new height in his career; let Jam Hsiao be the first to reach the C position in the Mesozoic era compared to the singers who debuted in the same period; let Li Ronghao become popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait from an independent musician. The kings of singers and singers in the three places are enough to prove that Chen Zeshan in recent years has not just rested on his laurels to sit in a high position.
Among the singers in "Thean Hou Palace", Stefanie Sun is the singer who has the closest connection with Chen Zeshan. Because compared to other singers, Stefanie Sun has always had Chen Zeshan by her side - "making trouble" from her debut to her peak.
has solid news here.
In 2007, during Stefanie Sun's last collaboration with Chen Zeshan on the album "Backlight", Stefanie Sun refused to sing the song " I miss ", believing that at that stage she was no longer suitable to sing such a salivating love song. Chen Zeshan used the ultimatum of not singing this song and not releasing an album, and finally forced Stefanie to submit. This also made the Chinese music world have a classic love song called "What I Miss" sung by Stefanie.
Devil managers are sometimes cruel, but they create classics. This is the cruelty of life.
Speaking of this, we have to mention Chen Zeshan’s personality in the high-level circle of Chinese music records.
and the early "Flying Saucer Records" Wu Chuchu , Chen Zhiyuan , "Rolling Stone Records" Duan brothers and Li Zongsheng , "Ke Deng Records" Cao Junhong , Chen Fuming, and people like Zhou Zhiping who served as Taiwan's "Baoli" Jin” music director, Bu Sheng Dafeng general manager, etc. are different. Chen Zeshan, who was born as an artist assistant, does not have the identity of a musician, nor does he have the attributes of a musician. In a sense, he "handles" music-related matters more from the perspective of marketing, or even finance and advertising.
This approach will definitely be despised by professional musicians.But what’s more interesting about the music field is that it not only allows a hundred flowers to bloom in terms of musical elements, but also allows a hundred schools of thought to contend in the promotion of artists and works. This also gave the entire golden age of Chinese pop music a rich ecosystem.
For example, the early humanistic pop music of "Rolling Stone Records", such as "Flying Saucer Records" which learned from Japanese idol packaging industry, all created the uniqueness of that era.
Chen Zeshan's goal is very clear. What he needs is a big market. He creates and promotes stars, and he also needs a star that is known to more people.
actually compares Stefanie Sun’s career development after leaving Chen Zeshan. Indeed, musically, she has greater freedom, and she can play music more freely. But after that, there was indeed no work that could reach the height of popularity as "What I Miss".
This also reminds people of The Beatles’ great manager Brian Epstein. In the past, he was blamed by The Beatles fans and resented by The Bealtes members. But the fact is that without him, The Beatles would not have become a phenomenal band at the time, nor would they have become the representative of the "British Invasion". Even the historicity of this movement would be in doubt.
Music is an art, but the greatest artists and their works in modern times need some behind-the-scenes operators to promote them through various means.
Sometimes, while these traders become stars, they themselves also become the target of public criticism. But many times, fans should also think calmly. Without these "unscrupulous" traders, would their idols have achieved the success they did later?
In the industry, Chen Zeshan’s biggest reputation is probably that he “does whatever it takes”. For example, when promoting the album "Backlight", the "kidnapping" incident was used, or the chart-buying incident that was criticized before.
Now when it comes to buying charts, Chen Zeshan has become synonymous with the word in the Chinese music world. It seems that in the last golden age of the Chinese record industry, Chen Zeshan was the only one buying charts. Now that I think about it, the results are certainly questionable.
As for the "kidnapping" incident in Egypt, it has become the biggest evidence of the crime criticized by Stefanie Sun fans against Chen Zeshan. There are also various materials that prove that this is the source of the bad relationship between Stefanie Sun and Chen Zeshan.
The picture comes from Chen Zeshan’s Facebook page
In fact, only the person involved, Stefanie Sun, knows about Chen Zeshan’s help to Stefanie Sun’s career. But there is one piece of information that may be ignored by many fans, that is, when Stefanie Sun held a wedding banquet in Singapore in 2011, she only invited more than 20 Taiwanese relatives and friends. There are two familiar faces among them, one is Jolin Tsai , and the other is Chen Zeshan. If they become strangers to each other, I'm afraid Stefanie Sun will not give such a "scarce" spot to Chen Zeshan.
pictures from Chen Zeshan’s Facebook page
Chen Zeshan himself has always been very protective of Stefanie Sun. What many people don’t know is that the full set of high-definition videos of Stefanie Sun’s early MVs that have appeared on YouTube in recent years were funded and produced by Chen Zeshan through more than two years of hard work.
pictures from Chen Zeshan’s Facebook
In the past few years, Chen Zeshan has also been paying attention to Stefanie Sun on social media. From the release of "Kopler" to serving as the MV director of "Dancing Van Gogh", Chen Zeshan has always encouraged Stefanie Sun and received a grateful reply from Stefanie Sun. The so-called making enemies is obviously a fraud.
pictures from Chen Zeshan’s Facebook page
It can be said that Chen Zeshan is an alternative in the Chinese music world and recording industry. Unlike many record executives who like to mingle, apart from focusing on signing artists, Chen Zeshan rarely socializes and rarely forms groups with other executives to form a larger circle.
can only say that this is the most controversial manager and artist promoter in the history of the Chinese music scene. Just like Dai Sicong and have made many singers successful, but they always receive various criticisms due to other reasons.You and I, who are outside the circle, cannot judge what is going on through newspapers. People who listen to songs can actually be very innocent sometimes. Those who create stars and songs should be worthy of our memory.
