Business Closed Loop: Starting with Ringback Tones to Take Down Giants

After the three major universities finalized their enrollment guidelines, the studio became even more motivated.

Wang Songgang had just received the bronze plaque for the innovation and entrepreneurship demonstration base from the administration building, but hadn't had time to hang it up yet.

Then I heard Ma Xiaojun chuckling.

"A sweet and soft junior, hehehe."

Zhang Zhen rushed in, holding two CDs in his hand, interrupting Ma Xiaojun's daydream.

"Guess what I saw at the music store near the school gate?"

"Jay Chou has released a new song?" Ma Xiaojun looked up.

"No." Zhang Zhen placed the CD on the table. "It's a compilation of our ringtones."

The CD cover features a revealing bikini-clad woman, with colorful artistic lettering crammed together.

"2006 Collection of Hit Ringtones - Collector's Edition"

The third and fifth songs are the climax loop versions of the first edition of the ringtone series.

Price: 5 yuan.

"Five yuan?"

Liu Jianjun picked it up and examined it closely. "We charge two yuan for a single ringtone download, but he's selling this collection of fifteen songs for five yuan?"

Ma Xiaojun had already snatched it and stuffed it into the CD player.

A few seconds later, real music came from the speaker.

Oh! My dear friend, this is no ordinary melody.

It looks just like the canary that Uncle Xihai next door keeps, with its neck being choked, which is extremely rich in historical layers.

"You dare to sell this for five yuan?" Ma Xiaojun laughed.

Wang Song gently tossed the CD back onto the table.

"It can be considered genuine public recognition, something that even legitimate record companies would envy."

"Then..." Zhang Zhen hesitated, "Aren't we going to ignore it?"

"Manage? How do you manage it?" Wang Song spread his hands.

"Who should we contact? Under what authority? The Xianming Studio of the Central Academy of Drama? The owners of video stores would just ignore them if they saw a student."

This is the current situation: works of art are released faster than legal procedures, and market reactions outpace copyright protection.

Stores like video and audio shops directly sell pirated physical copies.

Even legitimate record companies are helpless; they can even obtain the original audio source on the night the song is released.

The most troublesome situation is...

It involves extracting the core of a melody, adding new lyrics, and packaging it as an original work for publication.

The former disappeared due to the rise of mobile internet and the internet, while the latter remains unresolved to this day.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Wang Song suddenly changed the subject: "Vice President Jiang, I'm giving you a task."

Jiang Yilei immediately grabbed his notebook.

"Send a handwritten note to the owner of the record store in the name of the studio."

Wang Song added the second half of the sentence with a smile.

"Boss, I bought the disc, but the sound quality is terrible. Next time you pirate a disc, use a better source. Xianming Studio wishes you booming business."

Ma Xiaojun chuckled, "Boss, you..."

Wang Song continued, "Take a picture of this disc."

"Including our copyright acceptance receipt, take a picture of the words 'acceptance in progress' and post it on the forum."

The title was: "I heard we released a greatest hits album? How come we didn't know?"

Jiang Yilei chuckled as he took notes: "Will this be useful?"

Wang Song smiled and shook his head. "It's useless, but it's a lot of fun."

"We currently have neither a company nor a lawyer, so we can't even send out proper lawyer's letters."

"But we can disgust him a little and make netizens laugh."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Wang Song looked around the studio: "Don't let this kind of trivial matter affect your mindset."

"The problem of piracy is one that even record companies can't solve, so don't even think about it."

Jiang Yilei's execution ability has always been top-notch.

Half an hour later, the post had appeared on BBS and forums.

Shocking! Xianming Studio Releases "Best of" Album Without the Production Company's Knowledge?

"I stumbled upon this CD at an off-campus music store today. The cover design is quite artistic," Jiang Yilei wrote in his post.

"The sound quality is just so-so, and the looped clips are stiff. I'm sharing this because it's not great."

After an afternoon of warm-up, the forum finally got lively.

As for the record store owner's reaction to the note? Nobody knows, and it doesn't matter.

Liu Jianjun stared at the screen, adjusted his glasses, and said, "Boss, aren't we being a bit too... frivolous?"

"Child's play?" Wang Song didn't even look up. "Sending a proper lawyer's letter is what makes it child's play."

"This is how we tell everyone that we've seen it, we know it, and we still dare to make fun of it."

"That's called attitude," Jiang Yilei said, feigning seriousness.

"Although it may not be serious, it is very clear that we are not pushovers."

"Yes." Wang Song nodded with interest.

"And look at the forum reactions, everyone's laughing, nobody feels sorry for us, that's enough."

However, things always take unexpected turns.

three days later.

"Boss, the guard said someone sent you something, so I brought it back for you."

Liu Jianjun was holding a cardboard box.

Wang Song was flipping through the copyright registration receipt when he heard this and looked up: "Sent something? Who sent it?"

"There's no sender's name, just an address," Liu Jianjun pointed to the handwritten slip pasted on the surface.

"The music and video store near the school gate."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Ma Xiaojun was the first to come over: "Is it the one that sells pirated goods?"

Jiang Yilei peeked out from in front of the computer: "Could it be that they're sending razor blades?"

"You're overthinking it." Wang Song took the scissors and snipped the tape.

The cardboard box was opened, and it was wrapped tightly in foam.

He pushed aside the foam, and inside was a CD and a folded piece of paper.

A line of text was written crookedly on the disc with a marker:

Optimized audio quality version.

Wang Song didn't say anything, but handed the disc to Ma Xiaojun: "Put it on for a moment."

Ma Xiaojun inserted the CD into the CD player, and a few seconds later, the intro played from the speakers.

Everyone was stunned.

Ma Xiaojun slowly spoke, "This...this is the pirated copy of the batch of CDs we sent out."

Wang Song didn't reply, but unfolded the folded piece of paper.

The handwriting is messy, written with a ballpoint pen, and the ink bleeds through the thicker strokes:

"Your studio:"

"I received a note from you last time saying that the sound quality was too poor and suggesting that you use a better source."

"I've spoken to the manufacturer, and the results are definitely much better now."

"The goods just arrived this week. Listen to them, are you satisfied? Looking forward to your studio's new works."

"Old Zhang from the audio-visual store."

Below, a line was added in a crooked hand: "The disc is free, no charge."

After reading it, Wang Song's lips twitched, and he handed the note to Jiang Yilei.

Jiang Yilei took it and read it twice from beginning to end. His face turned from white to red, and then from red to green.

"He...he..."

"What did he say?" Ma Xiaojun leaned closer.

Jiang Yilei slammed the note on the table: "He said thank you for providing the original source! He'll send more next time!"

There was a two-second silence in the room.

Ma Xiaojun chuckled and quickly covered his mouth.

Liu Jianjun pushed up his glasses, his lips twitched, and he held it in.

Even Chen Shu couldn't hold back anymore; the newcomers wanted to laugh but didn't dare.

I sat up in shock while dying, and realized that the clown was myself.

The CDs given away as a thank you to fans were taken by some bootlegger, who then burned them and distributed them to record stores.

"He's playing you, boss," Ma Xiaojun said, suppressing a laugh.

Wang Song looked down at the CD, then at the words "optimized audio version" on the note, and suddenly burst out laughing.

I was genuinely amused and exasperated; this was just too arrogant.

He turned around and lightly kicked Ma Xiaojun.

"Let's go and argue with him!!" Jiang Yilei said angrily.

Wang Song raised his hand to stop him, "He didn't produce it, so you can't hold him accountable. You can't stop piracy."

"So, are we just going to let it go like this?" Jiang Yilei asked unwillingly.

"Of course it doesn't count." Wang Song waved the copyright receipt in his hand.

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"What if the school finds out?"

"The studio they were so proud of was bullied and couldn't even fight back."

"If the school doesn't support us, our benchmark studio might be doomed because of copyright issues."

"With revenue growth, shouldn't we also regulate our financial practices to ensure we pay taxes in accordance with the law?"

"Look, shouldn't the school assign us two legal counsels and two finance staff?"

Jiang Yilei was taken aback at first, then realized, "Boss, it has to be you again!"

Wang Song raised an eyebrow. "We can't just take this for granted. We might as well use the school's support."

"Besides, we do need legal and financial support right now."

"As the studio grows bigger, we can't keep dealing with copyright, contracts, and revenue in a daze. Standardization is inevitable, and this is just an opportunity."

"Okay, I'll write the report right away!" Jiang Yilei immediately started typing on the keyboard.

"I'll make sure this report is written with heartfelt sincerity, so that even the school leaders will feel sorry for us and insist on getting the legal and financial departments back!"

People are afraid of becoming famous; the bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow against it.

After the studio became popular, such troubles would only increase, and this piracy incident was just the beginning.

The Central Academy of Drama's Pizza Hut Legal Team.

start up.