Chapter 576 575【Record Company】
early morning.
Zhou Hexuan was writing a novel in his study, when Yu Peichen knocked on the door suddenly and said, "Mr. Zhou, there is a fake foreign devil looking for you. He said he is the manager of EMI Records."
"What does EMI want from me?" Zhou Hexuan stood up and opened the door.
Yu Peichen said: "I asked, but he didn't explain clearly, it seems to be related to recording records."
Zhou Hexuan ordered: "Take him to the reception room."
"Okay." Yu Peichen stepped back immediately, and she had gradually adapted to the role of secretary.
After a while, Zhou Hexuan saw the fake foreign devil Yu Peichen mentioned.
This person is very young, in his 30s, with a neat suit and a gentleman's civilized staff. He smiled and shook hands and said, "Hello, Mr. Zhou, I am Li Kaisheng, Manager Hua of EMI China, and my English name is Jerry."
"Hello." Zhou Hexuan secretly smiled.
Jerry (Jerry), I still have Tom (Tom), why don't we play cat and mouse together?
Li Kaisheng gracefully put down his civilized stick, and greeted him: "Mr. Zhou, I admire your talent very much. I wanted to visit you a long time ago, but unfortunately I have never had the chance to see you."
"Mr. Li, just tell me if you have anything to say." Zhou Hexuan didn't want to go around the bush.
"It's like this," Li Kaisheng said with a smile, "I have a junior who is also a graduate of Jiaotong University. He heard Mr. Zhou sing last night. He sang a new song. He wrote down a few melodies and hummed it to me. Listen. I think this is a very beautiful song, and I want to ask Mr. Zhou to record it. Of course, if Mr. Zhou is willing, EMI Records also wants to buy the copyrights of "Orchid Grass" and "On the Songhua River."
"Orchid Grass" is Zhou Hexuan's "adaptation" of Hu Shi's vernacular poems. It has been widely circulated in the past two years, but Zhou Hexuan has never sold the copyright. Strictly speaking, the records circulated outside are all pirated copies.
As for "On the Songhua River", although it was loved by the masses, no record company dared to release it. Because this is a typical anti-Japanese song, it is seriously prohibited.
Zhou Hexuan laughed and said, "You will also buy "On the Songhua River", but do you dare to publish it?"
"Of course I dare," Li Kaisheng subconsciously straightened his back and said proudly, "We are a British company backed by the British Empire. Neither the Chinese nor the Japanese governments dare to do anything to me."
Li Kaisheng, a new generation of compradors, graduated from Shanghai St. John's University and went to study in the United States. He served as the manager of many foreign companies such as Tianxin, Wantai, Yitai, and Kangying. The family business is quite rich, and at this time he is the manager of EMI China Company.
Speaking of the record industry in the Republic of China, there are three companies that have to be mentioned, namely EMI, Victory and Greater China, known as the three giants of the record industry in the Republic of China. Although there are a large number of other record companies, those companies are at best studios, and they don't even have their own recording equipment. When recording records, they have to rent from the Big Three.
The Great China Records Company was founded the first time. It was co-founded by Sun Yat-sen and a Japanese businessman. Now it has become a completely Chinese-funded enterprise. It claims to be "the Three Principles of the People in the record industry", and it can be said that its roots are well established.
Victory Records is an American company that was founded the latest, but its business has surpassed Greater China Records.
As for EMI Records, it is currently the strongest and has the most complicated capital structure. It started out as a French company but was bought four years ago by British Columbia, which in turn is a branch of American Columbia. Just this year, the British Columbia Corporation (HMV) acquired British Columbia, and its shareholding composition has been difficult to say clearly.
In fact, EMI Records is no longer called EMI Records, but EMI. It's just because EMI's name in China is very famous, so it has been used all the time.
As for the name of the common people, it is more vivid and direct.
The label of Dazhong Records is Two Parrots, so it is commonly known as "Double Parrots". The label of Victory Records is a dog lying down and listening to songs, so it is commonly known as "lying dog" and "dog listening to opera". The label of EMI Records is a red rooster, so it is commonly called "big rooster" and "red rooster".
Normally, if someone bought an EMI record, he would say, "I bought a big cock."
At this time, the Chinese recording industry is very difficult to do. First, the competition is too fierce, second, it is affected by the impact of radio stations, and third, the current situation is turbulent.
Take EMI Records as an example. The "January 28th" incident two years ago caused the company to suffer serious losses. And Shengli Records took the opportunity to make trouble, poaching each other, and cutting prices to promote sales. The competition between the two companies was well known, and it was nicknamed "chicken and dog war".
In this "chicken and dog war", both sides suffered losses. Although the "big rooster" maintained its leading position in the industry, it was seriously injured by the "lying dog".
However, "Double Parrot" is doing well, after all, it is the only national enterprise among the Big Three. If Chang Kaishen's speech is to be recorded into an album, it must be recorded by the Greater China Company, and the government agencies must also seek cooperation from the Greater China Company. They are mainly engaged in government business.
"How long has Mr. Li been with EMI?" Zhou Hexuan asked suddenly.
Li Kaisheng smiled and said, "I just took office three months ago."
"No wonder you didn't take the usual path, but came to me to buy the copyright of "On the Songhua River"." Zhou Hexuan laughed.
There are three fires for a new official to take office. Li Kaisheng has just become the manager of EMI China, so he naturally wants to make some achievements, so as to win the approval of the British boss.
In these days, popular songs are not very popular. 99% of the records sold on the market are opera content, and song records are very rare.
Li Kaisheng said: ""On the Songhua River" is Mr. Zhou's painstaking work, you also want it to be widely circulated. Only we, EMI, dare to withstand the pressure of the Nanjing government and the Japanese to distribute this kind of work nationwide. Anti-Japanese songs."
"If you can guarantee the smooth release of "On the Songhua River", I can consider selling the copyright to you." Zhou Hexuan said.
Li Kaisheng said with a smile: "I would like to invite Mr. Zhou to sing in person."
Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said, "I'm not professional, you should find a professional singer to sing."
Li Kaisheng persuaded: "Mr. Zhou, you can think of it this way. If you sing and record songs yourself, you will definitely get a lot of attention, which will be very good for promoting the anti-Japanese war. You and I are both Chinese. Although I I started as a comprador and was called a foreign bastard, but I am also patriotic. I also hope that an excellent anti-Japanese song can be widely circulated."
"Maybe." Zhou Hexuan chuckled, he didn't believe in the other party's patriotism, and probably it was mainly to increase record sales.
"If Mr. Zhou sings in person, it's an elegant thing to say, why don't you think about it." Li Kaisheng continued to persuade.
Zhou Hexuan was noncommittal, and asked with a smile: "If I record the singing myself, how much will the total royalties for singing and songwriting be?"
Li Kaisheng tentatively asked, "10%?"
Zhou Hexuan raised his eyebrows: "My voice is so worthless?"
"How much does Mr. Zhou think it should be?" Li Kaisheng asked.
"30%." Zhou Hexuan tripled the price in one breath.
"Hiss...let me think about it." Li Kaisheng gasped, now it was his turn to hesitate.
Zhou Hexuan is also a capitalist, how can he be so easy to talk about when it comes to money?