Entertainment: Starting from joining Kugou Video

Chapter 164 Annual salary of ten million, in charge of four business units!

Once the user base stabilizes, we can begin to shift to a more stringent pure revenue-sharing or premium product procurement system, and launch initiatives to support premium short dramas.

Of course, the most important step is to collaborate deeply with Shuqi Novels to adapt the popular online novel IPs mentioned above into short dramas, achieving efficient conversion from text to video and mutual traffic flow.

This is why Tanglou was the first to launch free novels, and the most important aspect of this plan is the ecosystem empowerment from Alibaba Digital Media & Entertainment.

After Tang Lou put forward this groundbreaking idea, the bigwigs in the conference room were all shocked.

In other words, Shen Yan had learned about Tang Lou's ideas in advance, but after hearing the specific plan, he was still somewhat shocked and impressed.

This Tang Lou is truly an all-around genius.

If Tanglou truly integrates Shuqi Novels and Tangguo Short Drama to create a brand-new short drama ecosystem, it could absolutely become a super app.

According to Tanglou's plan, given time, this Candy Short Drama could very well surpass KuMiao Video and become the entertainment industry leader of the new era.

Of course, such pioneering projects also carry enormous risks; the planning and the actual implementation are worlds apart.

Previously, Tanglou was always a content creator, and Shuqi Novels was just a change from a paid model to a free model.

This time, Candy Short Drama represents a completely new content ecosystem model, unlike anything seen before.

This project is top-notch in terms of both investment and difficulty.

Once the Tanglou project is approved, Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group will gain an additional business unit, and its subsequent strategy will undergo a radical change.

This kind of thing, which completely disrupts Alibaba's digital entertainment ecosystem and its strategy for the next ten years, requires careful consideration.

Apart from Shen Yan, who blindly trusted and supported Tang Lou, the rest of the leadership team looked to their leader, Yu Yongfu. Yu Yongfu was definitely a top-notch leader with top-notch abilities and vision.

After listening to Tanglou's strategy, he pondered for a few minutes.

After a long silence, Yu Yongfu slowly spoke: "What kind of support do you need?"

"Three things." Tang Lou held up three fingers. "First, an independent short drama division, which I will lead; second, I need to develop a brand-new recommendation algorithm by utilizing the technical teams from Alibaba Cloud and DAMO Academy; third, absolute control over Candy Short Drama, and I need to have the autonomy to make decisions."

"Absolute control and equity?" one of the vice presidents asked incredulously.

"That's right. I will jointly invest in this new company with Alibaba Literature, but I will personally be the main investor." Tang Lou made no attempt to hide it. "Furthermore, I want to sign a performance-based agreement. If the performance does not meet the requirements, I can buy back all of Alibaba Literature's shares, and I will bear all the losses myself."

ruthless.

It's too cruel.

But that's the style of tenement buildings: either you win everything, or you lose everything.

For this highly forward-thinking, entirely new project with no prior industry experience, none of those present had any idea how to proceed.

Tanglou is willing to take the lead investment and bear this risk. If they win, Alibaba's digital entertainment ecosystem will be elevated to a new level.

If it fails, it simply means the Candy Short Drama flops, and Tanglou bears all the consequences.

This is still acceptable to the Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group leadership team.

The vote begins.

Seven votes, unanimously approved.

Yu Yongfu proposed plans for the future of the tenement building.

"Next, Alibaba Digital Media & Entertainment Group will establish a new short drama business unit, with Tang Lou serving as president."

"Tang Lou will continue to serve concurrently as Vice President of Alibaba Literature and President of Kuyang Entertainment, while also directly serving as President of KuMiao Video."

"Annual salary adjusted to 1200 million, equity incentives increased to 1.5 million."

"In addition, as long as Tanglou's short dramas meet the performance targets, he will be exceptionally added to Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group leadership team and become a senior manager."

The decision made by Tanglou is clearly the most surprising in the history of Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group.

Tang Lou is only in his early thirties, yet he already leads two business units independently. Moreover, if Candy Short Drama succeeds, he will be able to join Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group leadership team.

This was something Shen Yan had worked hard for his entire life, and he only got it by clinging to Tang Lou's coattails.

All I can say is that Tanglou is truly a monster.

In the following months, the development of free novels spread like wildfire!

Thanks to the promotion of various popular variety shows on KuMiao Video, free novels have become the mainstream reading habit for online literature enthusiasts.

China Literature Limited released its third-quarter financial report.

Key Stats:

Monthly active users: 5000 million (down 20% month-over-month)

Paid users: 2000 million (down 12% quarter-on-quarter)

Average revenue per user (ARPU): RMB 21.5 (down 18% year-on-year)

Net profit: 1.2 million yuan (down 35% year-on-year)

The financial report stated: "Intensified market competition and the impact of the free reading model on the paid market have led to fluctuations in content supply as some authors have migrated to free platforms."

The capital market reacted strongly.

On the day the financial report was released, China Literature's stock price plummeted by 18.7%, wiping out nearly HK$100 billion in market value.

At the same time, an in-depth report titled "Major Changes in the Online Literature Industry: How the Free Model Killed the Paid Era" went viral.

The article states: "Six months ago, when Tang Lou of Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group proposed free reading, everyone laughed at him. Six months later, Shuqi Novels' daily active users exceeded 2000 million, with monthly active users far surpassing Yuewen, and monthly profits reaching 3200 million yuan. Meanwhile, Yuewen's financial reports were dismal, and its stock price was halved."

"This is not a simple battle of models; it is a choice of the times. When mobile internet permeates every corner, when workers, farmers, and small shop owners in fifth- and sixth-tier cities pick up their phones, what they want is free, direct, and enjoyable content, not sophisticated literature that requires payment, patience, and taste."

"Tanglou saw this trend and used Alibaba's entire ecosystem as leverage to tap into this trillion-dollar market."

And now, he's already planning his next move: Candy Short Drama.

The article concludes by quoting comments from several industry leaders:

Chen Danian of LinkSure Network: "Tang Lou is a true strategist. He not only saw the future, but also had the ability to turn it into reality."

A partner at a top investment firm said, "We missed out on Shuqi. If I could turn back time, I would be willing to invest ten times more in the Tanglou team."

Even an anonymous senior executive within China Literature Group said, "We lost. Not because of the content, not because of the authors, but because of our misjudgment of the times. Tanglou saw the explosion of free reading a whole year earlier than us, and by the time we realized it, he had already eaten up most of the market."

Hangzhou Coolcat Business Unit.

Tang Lou now holds multiple positions, so he has five secretaries all by himself!

They are respectively connected with Kuyang Entertainment, Alibaba Literature and Shuqi Novels, KuMiao Video, Tangguo Short Drama, and their own entertainment company.

Several secretaries were reporting on their work together in the office.

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