Chapter 84: Do Children's Songs Really Make This Much Money?
Six o’clock in the evening.
Yu Zhile was holding the baby, watching TV, and called out, “Honey, honey, the children’s songs are online!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!”
Qin Haiyu, who had just finished washing the dishes in the kitchen, dried her hands and hurried out.
On their 75-inch television, the homepage of the Children’s Channel was displayed, offering a variety of children’s literature: songs, poems, fairy tales, cartoons, and so on. Most striking was a huge banner on the homepage advertising: “The Pure Love Godfather ‘Not a Fish’ Ventures into Children’s Literature!”
Qin Haiyu couldn’t help but laugh as she teased, “Honey, do you think the Pure Love Godfather will become the Children’s Godfather someday?”
“That’s possible!” Yu Zhile clicked the advertisement, which led to four children’s songs.
He selected the first one, “Two Little Tigers,” and a prompt appeared on the screen: “Pay one yuan to watch the animated version.”
Yu Zhile immediately understood how the publisher and its partners were making money. He paid one yuan, but with his TV membership, he got a 20% discount—so watching the animated version of “Two Little Tigers” only cost eighty cents.
Of course, you could listen to the song for free, but not watch the animation. This was the publisher’s main online revenue stream!
Qin Haiyu watched the animated “Two Little Tigers,” listening to the sweet voice of an unknown little girl singing. She was delighted. “Honey, this animation is so fun! The tiger without ears and the one without a tail are just too cute!”
The baby in Yu Zhile’s arms became excited, bouncing along with the song as if compelled to dance.
“The production quality is really good!” Yu Zhile said, and after finishing “Two Little Tigers,” he paid to watch the animated versions of “Pulling Up the Radish,” “Counting Ducks,” and “Little Rabbit, Be Good.”
Each animation was charming and child-friendly, and the unknown young singers performed beautifully. The publisher had clearly put genuine effort into them.
Meanwhile, families all over the country with children who wanted to watch cartoons would be drawn in by the eye-catching advertisement on the Children’s Channel homepage.
“The Pure Love Godfather ‘Not a Fish’ Ventures into Children’s Literature!”
It looked so impressive!
People unfamiliar with “Not a Fish” wondered who this big shot was. Those who did know—and had read his novels—couldn't help but curse.
Damn you, Not a Fish! The shameless author stopped writing novels and started writing for children? Having tricked young people and adults, now he’s after the kids too?
But after listening to these four songs...
Wait a minute, are these really written by the notorious Not a Fish? To my surprise, they’re actually quite catchy!
The infectious melodies and instantly memorable lyrics spread like a virus among both children and adults.
Across the country, more and more parents and children heard these four children’s songs, released with great fanfare by Yu Zhile in his new venture into children’s literature.
...
At Old Liu’s house.
“Grandpa, I want to watch cartoons!”
Liu Yingying had finished her homework and demanded that her grandfather switch channels.
Old Liu was watching a chess tournament, but seeing his granddaughter’s request, he reluctantly returned to the main menu and navigated to the Children’s Channel.
There, the eye-catching banner caught his attention!
Pure Love Godfather? Not a Fish? Isn’t that Old Yu’s son’s pen name?
What is that rascal up to?
He clicked the ad, discovering that the rascal had released four children’s songs today.
Liu Yingying urged, “Grandpa, I don’t want to listen to children’s songs! I want cartoons!”
Old Liu ignored her, played “Two Little Tigers,” and grumbled, “You have to pay one yuan for the animated version?”
He hesitated, then scanned the QR code with his phone to pay and subscribe. As Liu Yingying watched the animation and listened to the easy-to-learn song, she immediately fell in love, no longer demanding cartoons.
She even started singing along!
“Two little tigers, two little tigers, run so fast, run so fast...”
On TV, two adorable tigers were running, just as the song described—one without ears, one without a tail, so strange, so strange.
Old Liu didn’t quite get it!
Is this really a good children’s song? It felt more like a game!
He suddenly felt a surge of confidence: If they can do it, so can I! These simple lyrics—any kid could write them!
He went on to buy the animated versions of the other three songs, watching the animations and listening to the music.
Each one seemed ordinary to him! The lyrics were simple, the melodies were simple! There was so much he wanted to nitpick, especially “Little Rabbit, Be Good.” After listening, he solemnly lectured his granddaughter: “Don’t let this song mislead you! ‘If mommy’s not home, don’t open the door for anyone!’ Isn’t that causing trouble? So if grandpa and grandma come home, you won’t open the door for them either?”
Liu Yingying ignored her grandfather and kept singing along with “Little Rabbit, Be Good”—the animation made the song especially fun.
Besides the line “If mommy’s not home, don’t open the door for anyone,” Yu Zhile had added a second verse: “If daddy’s not home, don’t open the door for anyone,” worried that his baby might refuse to let him in someday if he forgot his key!
Even though he grumbled, Old Liu was curious: apart from the four yuan he’d spent to support these songs, would anyone else spend money on such silly children’s songs?
He thought this kind of children’s song couldn’t possibly make much money!
Then he noticed that the homepage included a subscription count for each song.
He clicked on the children’s song chart, found the subscription leaderboard, and saw that the top song had a staggering eight million subscriptions!
At one yuan per subscription, that amounted to eight million yuan!
He was stunned.
Are children’s songs really this lucrative?
He listened to the top-ranked song and found it wasn’t even as catchy as the ones Old Yu’s son had written!
Wait, how could he think that?
If everyone else thought so too, then Old Yu’s son’s four songs could get just as many subscriptions!
He checked the chart: only the top six songs had over a million subscriptions. After seventh place, the numbers dropped off. The tenth ranked song had only 210,000 subscriptions, and the lower the rank, the greater the gap.
Of all these children’s songs, only five had more than a million subscriptions!
So only a handful of children’s songs could earn big money.
Then Old Liu spotted “Little Rabbit, Be Good” ranked nineteenth.
Currently, it had 78,573 subscriptions!
Old Liu was stunned.
That song had only been released at six o’clock this evening!
It was just past six-thirty now, so in half an hour, it had already surpassed seventy thousand subscriptions?