The song Michael Jackson hummed live appeared on Weibo twenty minutes later, released by a reporter who got it first, accompanied by a video of Michael Jackson humming into his phone!
Naturally, Weibo exploded again, with everyone exclaiming, "Oh my god, it truly is a song created by the great Michael Jackson, it’s absolutely beautiful. After listening to it, my ears are practically pregnant."
"Stop being pregnant; after listening to it, the child in my womb is already impatient to appear in this world and make this world have one more fan of the great Jackson!"
Comments like these flooded the internet. The demo "I Caught a Cold in That Corner," created by Feng Xiyu, arrived in this world ahead of schedule with the voice of Michael Jackson.
Demo, when translated, means sample. It first appeared in the record industry.
In the early days, recording a high-quality song with various musical arrangements was very troublesome. Sometimes, a symphony orchestra was needed for accompaniment, making recording costs very high. Success had to be achieved in one go, without delays.
Therefore, before formal recording, it was crucial to finalize the version. Many musicians would simply record acapella songs, or songs with no vocals but only humming to represent the melody, for producers to review. Once unanimously approved, recording would commence.
Thus, the song Michael Jackson hummed was a standard demo, and the melody the director hummed while drinking tea was also a standard demo.
Generally, most songs in the world start with a demo, followed by the complete song. Demos are usually shelved after recording or even destroyed. It's unheard of for a demo to be more famous than the song itself.
Feng Xiyu's "I Caught a Cold in That Corner" is an absolute exception.
This is a rare case worldwide where the demo is countless times more popular than the song itself. The culprit is the future Bubugao Music Phone, the predecessor of the OPPO and Vivo mobile phone brands.
The advertisement for the Bubugao Music Phone starring Song Hye-kyo is known to everyone in China. Boss Huang dares to say that at least 95% of people in China have heard or seen this advertisement, and they vividly remember the beautiful melody softly hummed within it.
Similarly, it's estimated that 95% of people at the time thought the person humming the song was Song Hye-kyo herself. But the truth is the opposite; this song has nothing to do with Song Hye-kyo. It was the original demo hummed by Feng Xiyu herself.
Bubugao would not have done something so outlandish. According to their original plan, they were to invite Song Hye-kyo to be the spokesperson for the Bubugao Music Phone and, coincidentally, to sing a theme song for the phone. This was a very reasonable request.
However, at that time, Song Hye-kyo was immensely popular in China due to "Full House," and her fees were exceptionally high. Not only would being a spokesperson incur a hefty fee, but recording a theme song would require an additional payment of several million RMB.
Bubugao was very hesitant about spending the extra millions. However, Chen Yongming, who was then a senior executive at Bubugao, made a suggestion.
He questioned whether it was truly appropriate for a Chinese national brand like Bubugao to have a theme song sung by a Korean artist in Korean, and whether this might alienate their brand image.
Therefore, it would be better to save this money and find someone cheaper.
However, they couldn't waste the endorsement fee for Song Hye-kyo, who was signed at great expense. So, the best approach was not to have a lyrical theme song, but a humming melody that sounded similar to Song Hye-kyo's.
By placing this melody in the background, audiences would subconsciously assume it was Song Hye-kyo humming it, never suspecting that someone else was behind the humming.
After all, it was just humming, with no difficulty involved, making lip-syncing unnecessary!
This way, they could perfectly leverage Song Hye-kyo's endorsement and simultaneously gain goodwill for the domestic brand!
This plan received unanimous praise and was immediately executed. They contacted the best advertising music company in the country, which was Feng Xiyu's parent company at the time.
Upon hearing this, the parent company expressed surprise at such a peculiar request.
However, the rule was simple: it was just a music demo.
They selected hundreds of demos, and Bubugao directly chose Feng Xiyu's demo. Thus, this demo became the theme song for the Bubugao Music Phone, creating another legend of Feng Xiyu being famous for her songs but not for her name!
She later joked in an interview that even a demo she hummed casually was a hundred times more popular than herself.
To put it simply, if you're interested, you can search for Feng Xiyu. You'll discover that Feng Xiyu is an absolute hit-maker. At least a dozen well-known songs, heard by 90% of Chinese people, were created by Feng Xiyu, who sang them originally.
For example, "My Pride" and "The Girl with Wings," but I guarantee you've never heard of Feng Xiyu!
Returning to the topic, the quality and impact of "I Caught a Cold in That Corner" are undeniable, otherwise, it wouldn't have become popular nationwide in the previous life.
After all, there are so many advertising songs; how many truly become memorable to the public?
Moreover, this time the singer is not the unknown Feng Xiyu, but the genuine global superstar Michael Jackson, and it was an impromptu creation under such a sensational spotlight of global media. This is truly incredible!
Thus, within two hours of the video's release, it became a sensation once again. Initially, all of Michael Jackson's fans rushed to listen to the humming, immersing themselves in a state of ecstasy.
Then, almost all the people in the world were captivated by the song.
And due to Michael Jackson's immense influence, this time no money was needed. Global media outlets reported on it, and the song naturally spread worldwide along with the news.
Naturally, as the carrier of this song's birth, the vivo music phone also reaped immense profits. The initial release of 2 million units was sold out in just over half a month.
After all, which Michael Jackson fan wouldn't want to own a phone similar to their idol's?
Moreover, this phone was excellent for listening to music.
Soon, music enthusiasts worldwide discovered a new way to play: adding arrangements and lyrics to the music and then singing it.
Since Michael Jackson's creation was a demo without lyrics or even a complete score, just a melody, it immediately sparked inspiration in all the music creators who heard it.
On the very night the music was released, some people had already posted their completed songs online.
Although the quality was quite poor, it didn't deter the massive audience of Michael Jackson fans from flocking to see the final product of the song.
Thus, for a time, it was a chaotic scene. Within just half a month, over 600 different fan-created works emerged, demonstrating an astonishing output.
Many of these high-quality creations even earned praise from Michael Jackson himself.
This situation immediately raised a new issue: the copyright of this demo. After all, it was created by Michael Jackson under the spotlight, so the copyright undoubtedly belonged to Michael Jackson.
And now, people were using the melody created by Michael Jackson to compose their own songs.
If they hadn't posted it online, it would have been fine. But if they posted it online and profited from it, it would clearly constitute copyright infringement, and Michael Jackson could sue them for damages.
Soon, reporters interviewed Michael Jackson, asking if he planned to sue those who infringed his copyright. Michael Jackson replied, "This was inspiration born from my use of the vivo music phone. If one must say whose copyright this melody belongs to, I am more inclined to believe it belongs to this music phone!"
"Therefore, I believe the copyright of this song does not belong to myself. I am willing to give it to everyone in the world. I solemnly promise that anyone can use my melody to create songs and receive reasonable creative compensation. I hope this can be a gift to all music lovers around the world!"
Michael Jackson's words immediately garnered global acclaim, and the song became even more popular. Many brands subsequently used this melody to create their own theme songs, riding on Michael Jackson's popularity, which was quite enjoyable!
Unexpectedly, a few days later, the official announcement from vivo music phone stated that they greatly admired Mr. Michael Jackson's noble spirit, humanistic care, and selfless attitude.
Therefore, they sincerely invited Michael Jackson to become the global brand ambassador for the vivo music phone, and Michael Jackson soon announced his acceptance of the invitation.
Instantly, the world was in an uproar. It's worth noting that this was the first company brave enough to invite him as an ambassador after the exposure of Michael Jackson's scandal, making it another significant news event!
The entire world was abuzz with discussions about this matter.