The Voice program group was denounced by a large number of fans, and the contestants revealed that they had been hinted at asking for 100,000 sponsorship fees
On August 17 and 18, audio recordings and videos of Li Min's previous complaints about unfair treatment by The Voice of China were exposed, causing an uproar. In response, the official response of "The Voice of China" said that the recording was "malicious editing", saying that "the misunderstandings that had existed during the recording of the program were eliminated at the time of communication".
However, the few responses did not quell the controversy. The incident continued to ferment, a large number of fans denounced the program group, sponsors were boycotted, contestants successively posted articles exposing "insider stories", and some people said that when they participated in the recording of the program ten years ago, they were hinted at asking for "100,000 yuan in sponsorship fees". Doubts are shrouded, "The Voice of China" has been sung for 12 years, and with the controversy from glory to decline, where will the future go?
The recording of Li Min's complaint before his death was exposed
The family claimed that the content was true
From August 17 to 18, Li Min's recording of being unfairly treated by "The Voice of China" and the video of the dispute at the program recording scene were exposed, and a number of self-media accounts said that they had received submissions, which attracted great attention.
The New Yellow River reporter found that the content of the recording pointed directly to the dispute between Li Min and the "Voice of China" program team before his death, in which Li Min repeatedly mentioned that "there was a problem with the format", which made her extremely disappointed, and she was treated badly because she objected to the "unfair format", including passive hands rushing off the field, falling on the stage, and the camera being cut. She also mentioned that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer when the show was recorded, but insisted on recording because she loved music.
The New Yellow River reporter noticed that the dispute between Li Min and "The Voice of China" caused widespread heated discussions as early as September last year. At that time, Li Min posted a response: "When I came to the stage of "The Voice of China", I was really moved by the efforts of the trainees and devoted myself to the work of the mentor. Love the trainees sincerely, after the patient explanation and communication of the director team, all misunderstandings were resolved! ”
Regarding the online recording, "The Voice of China" responded on the official Weibo on the evening of the 17th, saying, "Some self-media accounts spread maliciously edited recordings on online platforms, which is disrespectful to the deceased and seriously damages the image of the program." He also said that during the recording of the program, "any misunderstandings were eliminated at the time of communication." At the same time, the main creative team of the program group was pushed to the cusp, and some netizens found that the screenwriter and director of suspected "The Voice of China 2022" responded to netizens on social platforms: "It's a pity, but who let her hinder our normal work, no way." ”
According to Phoenix Network Entertainment reports, after the recording was exposed, the media contacted Li Qiulin, Li Min's eldest sister, and Li Silin, his second sister. The eldest sister responded that the recording was true: "The fact that Coco said it in the video, we will not respond." The second sister said: "We are still in the pain of losing loved ones, and we need time and space. ”
The New Yellow River reporter tried to contact the program team of "The Voice of China", the producer Shanghai Canxing Culture Media Co., Ltd. and Mengxiang Qiangyin Cultural Communication (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and made five calls but did not answer.
Some players posted an article
was once hinted that "if you want to broadcast, you have to pay 100,000 yuan"
On the evening of August 17, after Li Min's recording was exposed, Li Jiajie, a student of "The Voice of China", sent a long article in support. He said in the article that "500,000 seats (turning) is by no means out of nowhere", each casting director has his own interests, and "the top ten positions can be bought", and if you want to go to the end of the show, you have to sign a contract for "ten years of foundation". Later, the long article was deleted, and Li Jiajie posted another article saying "I didn't delete it, I didn't delete it." On the morning of the 18th, Li Jiajie suddenly reversed his attitude and posted an apology on Weibo: "The Weibo content I posted yesterday has no factual basis, and I would like to express my apologies to all walks of life and the Good Voice program group." ”
At the same time, Xu Haixing, a contestant who had participated in "The Voice of China", posted that the program team had "maliciously hyped and online violence for several years" against her, and had also used the contract to threaten her, saying that Ge Liang and Na Xin lied that "the signing company belongs to Liu Huan" when they signed a contract, and angrily accused the program team of "not only bullying the contestants, but also attacking the mentor." Be a person! ”
The incident continued to ferment, a large number of fans denounced the program group's "want to say", the comment area of sponsors fell, and the boycott became more and more loud. There are also many netizens who "broke the news" that the program group is suspected of spending money to buy popularity, the organizing committee determines the contestants, and the promotion needs to spend money on packaging.
A contestant who participated in the recording of the second season of "The Voice of China" before 2013 told the New Yellow River reporter that he had been hinted at a "100,000 yuan sponsorship fee" by the program team. The contestant's name is "Kawawashi", who was famous in shrimp music, "At that time, I had a job in a bank, and I often wrote and posted songs on shrimp music, and gained some fans. The program team contacted me through a friend from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and wanted me to participate in the recording. ”
Kawashikawa said that when he participated in The Voice ten years ago, the program team assigned 2 to 3 staff members to each contestant, and also arranged hotel and shuttle services. After singing a demo during the interview, he recorded it according to the track specified by the program group. Later, a director surnamed Tian approached him and said that he wanted to sign a contract with him, "At that time, he took me to a small conference room, said that he was a senior officer of the company, and asked me if I had considered signing a contract, which would take ten years." ”
Kawakawa Shiki takes a photo while recording the sound. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Kawajiki said that the other party did not directly raise the money, but instead hinted at it, meaning that some sponsorship was needed to make the show broadcast, about 100,000 yuan. "I understood in seconds and asked them 'is it going to cost money,' and they said 'yes.'" Kawashiro had just graduated at the time, and was surprised by this situation, and decisively refused the request, "I proposed that the program team could pay for it in advance, and then if the program worked well after it was broadcast, or if I received an endorsement to earn the money, I would return the money to them at that time." However, it was not negotiated, and Kawawashiki did not continue recording. He said that he had his own job and life plan, and was not very interested in acting, "Later, after they reimbursed the back and forth travel expenses, I didn't pay attention to the show anymore." ”
Coincidentally, musician Liang Xiaojun also told the experience of recording the second season of "The Voice of China" on social platforms. She said in the video that at that time, the program group was selected around the world, and many people took school or quit their jobs to rush back to China to record. "I remember there were forty or fifty people, and after waiting for a long time in Shanghai, I was suddenly told that there were no places, and you didn't need to register." Liang Xiaojun said that everyone was angry and shocked, and wrote to the consulate to complain before they were able to participate in the recording. However, none of the instructors turned around during the recording, "At that time, after I finished singing, A-mei (Zhang Huimei) said to me, 'It's not that you can't sing well, it's that I can't turn around, I'm sorry.'" ”
Liang Xiaojun also mentioned that when leaving the studio, he met dozens of other people who came to record, and the staff said that those who had "recorded but did not turn around, come and record again." Liang Xiaojun guessed that in fact, there were places in the program group at that time, but it was left to others, "I heard others say, it may be that the so-called 'transfer fee' was paid." This statement is not confirmed. ”
From glory to decline,
What is the future of The Voice?
Affected by public opinion, on August 18, the share price of Star Chinese (HK6698), the parent company of The Voice of China, plummeted, and as of the midday close, the company's stock price fell 23.4% to HK$94.95, with a total market value of HK$37.84 billion, evaporating nearly HK$10 billion in half a day.
The New Yellow River reporter learned that the predecessor of Starry Sky Chinese was "Canxing Culture", "The Voice of China" and "This! is street dance", "Masked Singing Will Guess" and other popular variety show IPs are all from the company. Shanghai Canxing Culture Media Co., Ltd. (formerly known as: Shanghai Canxing Culture Communication Co., Ltd.), founded in 2006, is an enterprise mainly engaged in the cultural and art industry, and has completed an IPO listing in 2022 with a transaction amount of HK$390 million.
In 2012, "The Voice of China" shouted "I want you" and swept the country, creating a ratings myth and making Canxing Culture famous. Since then, "The Voice of China" has been active on the screen every year, accompanying the audience through year after year, selecting Liang Bo, Zhou Shen, Zhang Bichen, Jike Junyi, Jin Zhiwen, Yuan Yawei, many backbones who are still active in the Chinese music scene.
In 2016, "The Voice of China" "went to war" with the copyright owner of the program model, the Dutch company Talpa, and began to go downhill. That year, the show changed its name for the first time to "New Chinese Songs" and changed the most iconic "swivel chair" to "sliding seat", which aired for two consecutive seasons. In 2018, the "Voice of China" IP returned again, and although the program was called "innovative" in form, its conceptual core and star-making model did not change much.
In the past 12 years, the reputation of "The Voice" has continued to decline in various controversies, and the Douban score has fallen from 7.9 points in the first season to 3.6 points in 2022, and the topicality, reputation and popularity of the show are no longer as good as they used to be.
It is understood that Starry Sky Chinese's main business consists of four parts: variety shows, music, movies, and drama IP operations, of which the revenue of variety shows accounts for more than eighty percent. This also means that the revenue capacity of popular variety shows will directly affect the company's performance, even if the influence of "The Voice of China" has declined year after year, it is still the largest source of variety show revenue for Starry Sky Chinese.
According to public information, in 2022, Star Chinese's revenue will be 873 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 22.5%, which is the fourth consecutive year of decline in the company's revenue. From 2019 to 2021, the revenue of Star Chinese was 1.807 billion yuan, 1.56 billion yuan and 1.127 billion yuan, respectively, and the decline in revenue accelerated. During the same period, the net profit was 382 million yuan, -27.8 million yuan and -352 million yuan respectively, and the loss continued to expand. In the past three years, The Voice of China contributed revenue of RMB491 million, RMB325 million and RMB252 million, accounting for 36.6%, 29.8% and 28.6% of the total revenue respectively.
Time has changed, competition in the variety show market has intensified, but the product core of "The Voice of China" has remained unchanged for many years, and it is not surprising that it has moved from "popular for the whole people" to "decline". In fact, in the current variety show market, in addition to the "comprehensive generation" full of freshness, such as "China Has Hip Hop" and "Summer of the Band" can detonate the audience's emotions when they are just born, almost all "comprehensive N generation" programs are inevitably facing a decline in popularity. The main reason is that the mode of most variety shows is aging, and light rules, heavy characters and scripting are almost all domestic music variety shows that fall into the trap.
In this way, in 2020, the "Singer" series that has been done for 8 years announced the end, and it is also a good ending to leave everyone with the idea of "reluctance".
Reporter: Li Rui Proofreader: Dongping Editor: Du Yahui