How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 81: Did they steal resources from someone else's house?

"Brother, Auntie said you're suspected of being kept by a rich woman, and she asked me to find out if it's true." Zhou Cong asked Wang Yao in his room early in the morning.

He wasn't interested in skincare or anything like that, so he didn't join in the fun yesterday and missed a lot of exciting developments.

"What do you think?" Wang Yao glanced at him.

"Of course I don't believe it. What rich woman could be as rich as us?" Zhou Cong straightened his back.

The online store's sales have been hitting new highs recently, and this kid is getting really cocky.

"Good to know. This is for you." Wang Yao handed him a stack of contracts.

Zhou Cong took it, glanced at it, and exclaimed in surprise with wide eyes, "Authorization letter? Bro! When did you get SM under your wing?"

"It's not just SM. I've already communicated with SM about you signing a contract using Tianshou Company's entity. When you take photos with SM's artists as their representative, remember to have them hold their own photocards."
After the contract is signed, we'll go back and sue those online stores we currently operate in. We'll also jointly post a statement with Baidu Tieba and fan sites, declaring that the previous photocards were all pirated and unauthorized, considering that fans and consumers are also victims.
Authorized stores are personally compensating consumers affected by counterfeit photocards. Join the store's official fan group and contact customer service with your order number to receive a 7% off coupon. One coupon can be used per order, with no limit on the number of orders.

Zhou Cong organized his thoughts.

So what the older brother means is...

Are we suing ourselves? Are we compensating ourselves?
Then, under the guise of compensation, fans are forced to spend more money to buy the official new cards and join private groups.

One photocard, and the fan pays twice?

So we should thank them for advocating for our idols' rights?
This guy is really treating us K-pop fans like ATMs!

"Brother, the lives of K-pop fans matter too." Zhou Cong said, feeling a little sorry for them.

"Official licensing plus coupon compensation can drive at least a million in sales each month. Although the gross profit margin is much lower, if you include buybacks and iterations, the monthly profit should still be several hundred thousand," Wang Yao said calmly.

"Isn't a 7% discount a bit too much? I, as a fan, could accept a 8% discount." Zhou Cong couldn't even empathize with himself from a minute ago.

"We also need to add private groups. We'll be selling other products to them in the future, so we need to give our family members some benefits. If any of the hidden card users or those who have spent over 10,000 yuan come to us, you should give each of them a personally signed album. Jin Yingmin promised to give me a batch, so consider it a bonus," Wang Yao said.

"Brother, you're so generous to your fans." Zhou Cong was somewhat moved. A personally signed album is an absolute must-have for overseas fans.

"I'll talk to YG and JYP later to see if we can get the license," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“And Tara, they’re super popular in China right now,” Zhou Cong suggested.

"Okay, I'll see if I can get in touch with them." Wang Yao had heard of this group before; they were in a pretty bad situation.

After explaining the signing arrangements to Zhou Cong, Wang Yao asked Chi Ming to accompany him with his men. Wang Yao waited at home for a while before Li Rongyu drove to pick him up to visit the other two of the three major entertainment companies in Korea.

While Korea is now known as one of the three major entertainment companies, only SM Entertainment is actually publicly listed, with a current market value of around $7 million. YG and JYP are still navigating the power struggles with conglomerate capital. It shouldn't be too difficult for Wang Yao to negotiate using Lee Boo-jung's influence.

Although Li Rongyu hadn't decided how many shares to give up yet, cooperating with Wang Yao was inevitable. They had originally planned to finalize the cooperation today, but after hearing that Wang Yao wanted to buy the copyrights of two other companies, he volunteered to help him make the arrangements.

On the way to YG, Wang Yao inadvertently revealed that he had already found the first investor for the variety show, which made Lee Yong-woo a little anxious. It seems that he really has to bleed a lot of money on shares.

YG Entertainment is a company built on G-Dragon's personal success. Unlike SM Entertainment, where every group is very successful, G-Dragon, a hidden gem, has truly carried the entire company to new heights.

Putting everything else aside, mentioning G-Dragon immediately brings to mind Ah-Kun. Just think how he could dominate the Chinese entertainment industry with a three-point shot, which shows what kind of prodigy G-Dragon is.

YG's CEO, Yang Hyun-suk, also came from a boy band background and is one of the representative figures who transformed into a business tycoon. However, unlike Lee Soo-man, who is a shrewd and resourceful person, his transformation method was to become a lackey for chaebols. This laid the groundwork for YG Entertainment to later become the most influential entertainment company in Korea.

But Yang Juhua is still a complacent and easygoing person who is enjoying all the good fortune.

Lee Yong-woo was his peer and they had a good relationship in the past. After hearing Wang Yao's purpose and seeing the collaboration with SM, he readily agreed to the collaboration.

If SM does it, YG has to follow suit.

After the artist's photo license agreement was finalized, Wang Yao asked, "President Yang, I heard that LG has offered you a mobile phone advertising collaboration?"

"Mr. Wang even knows about this kind of information?" Yang Juhua was taken aback.

“A friend of mine who works with me is also vying for the female lead role in the advertisement,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Oh." Yang Juhua instantly understood and said in a friendly tone, "To be honest, Mr. Wang, although we had considered publicly recruiting for the female lead for this project before, the company later decided that we would cooperate internally."

This time, we want to try a combination of a top boy band and a female actress to see if we can create a new model.

Goryeo was a place with a strict class system, and class distinctions were evident in every environment.

The current hierarchy of contempt in the entertainment industry is: sports stars > actors > singers > comedians > idols.

Later, due to Korea's "Culture-Based Nation" policy, idols like G-Dragon became pioneers in cultural export, which raised the status of idols somewhat, but they were still at the bottom.

Therefore, even the currently popular BIGBANG wants to enhance their influence and blur industry hierarchies through collaborations with actors.

However, most respectable actors are unwilling to get involved in this mess, as it would lower their status. Just like how celebrities initially looked down on livestreamers, but later, after discovering that livestreamers could earn them a year's worth of money in a month, they also lowered their noble heads.

Therefore, Yang Juhua and her team plan to select a suitable new actress from among the company's contracted actors for an experiment. The actress currently selected is Liu Renna, a new actress who has successfully transitioned into a new role.

Wang Yao didn't care about these strange rules of the Koreans. He just hoped to use BIGBANG's popularity to quickly bring influence to Kim Ji-won in China, which would help her endorse his own clothing brand.

"If I want to help my friend get this opportunity, would President Yang be willing to part with it?" Wang Yao asked frankly.

Are you trying to steal resources from someone else's property?

Dude, are you a chaebol?
Yang Juhua was speechless, feeling that this Chinese boy was a bit ignorant of the rules.

"I can use suitable resources in exchange. I run a distribution company in China; it's not large, but it has some connections. Recently, cultural cooperation between the two countries has been close, so perhaps we can cooperate in more ways in the future."

Moreover, there's a suitable resource right now. This movie, *Snow Flower and the Secret Fan*, is a Chinese-Korean film aiming to challenge Hollywood. One of the leads is Jun Ji-hyun. If President Yang is willing, I can arrange an important supporting role for Ms. Yoo In-na in it.” Wang Yao took out the information Deng Wendi had just given him yesterday.

He was given the responsibility of promoting and distributing the film, and he still had the authority to put a supporting role in it.

This film held little value for Wang Yao, but it was very appealing to Koreans. The combination of international collaboration and Hollywood release was practically the ultimate dream for all Korean filmmakers.

But for Wang Yao, this is just a pie in the sky. Regardless of the final performance of the movie, the fact that it won't be released until next year is meaningless. What he needs right now is resources that can be quickly monetized.

Sure enough, Yang Juhua's eyes lit up when she received it, and her gaze towards Wang Yao became more cautious and wary.

Who is this guy? He comes with resources of this caliber right off the bat, and the investors include three stars and a shadow. This must be one of the best resources in the Korean film and television industry this year.

"Mr. Wang, why don't you leave such a good resource to your friend?" Yang Juhua asked curiously, suppressing her excitement.

“I arranged a different route for her.” Wang Yao smiled and handed over Kim Ji-won’s information.

Yang Juhua took the document, glanced at it, raised an eyebrow slightly, and then revealed a smile that only a man could understand. "Mr. Wang is really considerate to his friends. I think Ms. Jin's image is more suitable for this advertisement, but I still need to go back and discuss it." "Old Yang, Mr. Wang is in a hurry," Li Rongyu knew that his time to make his presence felt and reminded him.

"Oh, I can give you a reply by tonight at the latest, it won't take up Mr. Wang's time," Yang Juhua quickly corrected herself.

"Then I'll trouble you, President Yang. We'll get in touch later." Wang Yao smiled and stood up. Yang Juhua saw them off to their car and then excitedly went to call a meeting with her subordinates, carrying the script of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan."

I'll have to warn Zhilong and his gang later that they need to show more respect to this young lady and make sure they don't offend her.

When it comes time to sign the contract, let Liu Renna meet with Mr. Wang again. Maybe they can even make a good connection. Yang Juhua has already started thinking about how to win over Wang Yao.

"I didn't expect Mr. Wang's company to be involved in film and television investment projects." Li Rongyu drove towards his next destination.

“The business is quite diverse, mainly focused on making money. If President Li has any suitable projects in the future, we can consider investing. By the way, does President Li have any connections in the film and television copyright industry?” Wang Yao asked with a smile.

"Mr. Wang wants to acquire film and television copyrights? That's a bit difficult. Copyrights are basically held by a few major television stations. As far as I know, they cooperate directly with television stations in various countries and rarely go through third parties," Li Rongyu replied.

"It's not television copyright, it's online copyright," Wang Yao explained.

Internet copyright was first systematically regulated in 1996 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for copyright protection in the digital environment, and is known as the 'Internet Treaty'.

The United States enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998. China only adopted the relevant rules after joining the WTO, but they were not gradually improved until 2006.

So, at the end of the year when copyright was rampant on the Chinese internet, few people cared about the future value of copyright, because both platforms and netizens took everything on the internet for granted as 'free resources'.

Last year, Mr. Zhang Chaoyang, an expert in internet environmental protection, spearheaded an anti-piracy campaign, mainly targeting video websites such as Youku Tudou for infringing on internet film and television copyrights. As a result, he was ridiculed by people in the industry and became a laughing stock.

This has led to the current low price of domestic film and television copyrights, with an average price of 1000 yuan per episode. A hit drama like "My Own Swordsman" only sold for 10 yuan at the time.

Right now, it's the era of dirt cheap prices where you can buy the internet copyrights of TV series/movies for 30 years or more for a maximum of a few hundred thousand yuan.

Le's took advantage of this, acquiring a large number of copyrights at low prices, then packaging and distributing them to multiple platforms, creating a model of crowdfunding to buy copyrights, and ultimately making money without lifting a finger.

After all, people in this era are not yet aware of the terror of the internet, and cannot imagine that the future will truly usher in the copyright era. The copyright of a big-budget production, such as "Da Ru," can sell for more than ten million per episode, and the film copyright can sell for tens of millions of US dollars.

However, Zhang Chaoyang has indeed been working hard for legitimate products. After establishing the anti-piracy alliance, he promoted the "Sword Net Action" in 14. He is indeed an ambitious young man.

The situation is similar in Korea. Due to technical or other reasons, Netflix, a leading online platform, has been accumulating a large number of copyrights, but has not started to control and exploit them.

The popularity of Korean dramas in China will last for at least a few more years, and Wang Yao could make ten or even a hundred times the profit by seizing the opportunity now.

"Internet copyright? I haven't really paid attention to that before. I'll ask about it for you later." Li Rongyu was a little puzzled, but didn't ask any further questions.

Compared to SM and YG, JYP Entertainment seems somewhat insignificant. However, the company is considered to be of good character and has not caused any major problems. Wang Yao had a pleasant conversation with JYP's president, Park Jin-young, and signed the licensing agreement without much trouble.

Actually, whether or not it's signed won't make much difference, because this company currently has very limited influence in China. Just treat it as a stamp collection.

After accompanying Wang Yao to finish his business, Li Rongyu finally had time to discuss cooperation. He first took Wang Yao on a tour of his company, HiCC Media.

It's more like a studio than a company. There are 10 people in total, including him, 4 of whom are temporary workers. They are called PD apprentices, but they are actually just paid workers who are easy targets.

"Mr. Wang, this is my company. Currently, besides 'Invincible Youth,' we have another small project. The operation is not profitable, but we are not losing money either." Li Rongyu invited Wang Yao to his office and began to introduce the situation.

Wang Yao did not try to lower the price too much. After some final discussions, Wang Yao invested 2 million Korean won in the company, acquiring 50% of the shares. The dual-class share structure ensured Lee Yong-woo's absolute power as CEO.

Then they called Lee Eun-hye over, acquired her company for 1 million won, and merged it directly into HiCC Media, giving them another 20% stake.

The final restructured HiCC Media company has the following shareholding structure: Tianhuo 65%, Li Rongyu 30%, and Li Enhui 5%. Li Rongyu serves as CEO, and Li Enhui is the head of the artist department, each with their own responsibilities.

The contract has been drafted but not yet signed, but the new company's first project has already been secured.

The family variety show "The Return of Superman" has a budget of 40 billion Korean won (300 million US dollars). Wang Yao drafted the script, character design framework, and publicity, while Li Rongyu was responsible for content execution. They will first seek sponsorship from each other.

Lee Eun-hye's artist department currently only has one artist, Kim Ji-won. Wang Yao did not directly cut off the previous business line, but let her continue to recruit suitable new talents. Kim Tae-ri was signed directly, but she will be trained in the direction of a regular entertainment company. Whether it is an idol, an actor or even a comedian, they are all welcome.

After discussing the company's bylaws, it was almost dinner time, so Li Rongyu treated everyone to a meal at Jiang Hudong's barbecue restaurant.

The two companies together have nearly twenty employees, which can be considered a small to medium-sized entertainment company. However, there are at least two hundred companies of this size in Seoul. With a population of less than fifty million in Korea, the fact that there are more than 600 entertainment companies is indeed an absurd ratio.

"Where's Kim Ji-won?" Wang Yao glanced around the crowd.

"She wasn't feeling well and is resting at home." Li Enhui looked a little embarrassed. She had been keeping watch at the hotel all day and only after seeing Wang Yao leave around 1 a.m. did she ask the front desk for a spare key to go to the room to check on him.

Even now, recalling the scene she witnessed, she still feels a little shaky.

This seemingly innocent and obedient boy turned out to be a cold and ruthless man, utterly heartless!
Fortunately, Kim Ji-won's emotional reaction after waking up was relatively normal; otherwise, she would have been worried that she had walked into the lion's den. Fortunately, Wang Yao was at least a man of his word and did not take advantage of her and then deny it.

"Oh, this is the advertising contract with BIGBANG. If there are no problems, sign it. It will only benefit her. This is the agency contract with Tianhuo Media. If she's rested enough, she can come to work tomorrow." Wang Yao handed her two contracts.

Lee Eun-hye subconsciously took it, glanced at the advertising contract, and knew that the keywords BIGBANG and LG were undoubtedly top-tier in Korea.

What shocked her most was that this collaboration was something she had made up yesterday to boost Kim Ji-won's value. In fact, she had already been rejected, but unexpectedly, Wang Yao had taken it to heart and even won the contract.

Li Enhui felt a chill run down her spine. It wasn't that she was shocked by how Wang Yao had secured the contract, but rather that Wang Yao had personally verified the thing she had casually made up.

Is this a warning to himself? Or is it genuine concern for Kim Ji-won?

She couldn't quite tell the difference.

But she did become more wary of Wang Yao; he was such a cautious person.

Li Enhui glanced at Wang Yao, feigning composure. Seeing that he looked normal, she breathed a sigh of relief and then opened the second contract, the same bilingual contract she had used when collaborating with Meishe.

It's basically about representing Kim Ji-won in all her activities in China, with a revenue split of 2:8, where the company gets 2% and the artist gets 8%.

Hmm, it seems like this is some kind of compensation.

"Mr. Wang, please rest assured, I will definitely assist Zhiyuan well," Li Enhui said solemnly.

"In the early stages, let her focus on China. Once she's built up enough fame, then she can focus on the Korean market. You should get involved in more variety shows, but not dramas. The company will invest in those in the future, and we'll prioritize using our own people." Wang Yao sipped his barley tea, staring absentmindedly at the grilled meat.

Li Enhui, having been through similar experiences, naturally understood Wang Yao's unspoken message: "Don't worry."

"We can put artist recruitment on hold for now, and instead recruit more excellent stylists, editors, and intern PDs; they'll be invaluable in the future."

"I have no profit requirements for you. Just don't cause trouble. You'll get every penny you're entitled to, but you won't get a single cent of what you're not entitled to." Wang Yao put down his teacup. His once clear and deep eyes were no longer kind; instead, they carried a strong sense of pressure.

Li Enhui felt a chill run down her spine and quickly nodded in agreement.

　感谢认真你就输了啊、法本法无极、．、todgott、凝萧、多萝希、Wuli小布、大潮、东海最强、巡山能手小钻风、刘家大师傅、晚上太黑、鬼心人心、龙翎123、三色天、枭魈枭魈、绝境中奋起、百事可乐lck、无心无心无心、那是深刻、雨满江、七七攻主、王牧于野、降至冰点的心、书友20180307152430498、书友20230523172146587、书友20200412225417886、书友2023728234308645的月票支持~万分感谢
　　
　
(End of this chapter)