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

Liu Jianjun is always the first person to arrive at the studio.

As usual, he starts by browsing the forums; this is his first task every day.

Let's see if there are any new IP prospects, if anyone is discussing "Joy of Life," and if anyone is criticizing Ma Xiaojun for updating too slowly.

Write down what he says, and then mock him when he comes.

The third post today featured a bolded title.

Let's expose the truth behind the "Immortal Name Studio"—how much of their so-called original content is actually plagiarism?

He paused for a moment, clicked on it, read two paragraphs, and his expression changed.

"Boss!" he called out, "Look at this!"

Wang Song had just put his bag down when he heard this and went over.

The post on the screen was written very professionally.

A point-by-point comparison of the melodies of "Wait a Minute," "Decent," and several lesser-known English songs reveals an extremely high degree of similarity.

The indirect suggestion is that the song "suspected of borrowing from a contemporary online single and was not formally registered for copyright."

The comment section below is filled with first replies and top replies.

They were shouting, "Ringtones are all corny pop songs, they can't be on the Super Girl stage."

On one hand, they used the narrative that "students don't understand the law and are just trying to make quick money by riding the wave of popularity."

Ma Xiaojun had just arrived when he heard the commotion, and his face turned green: "Who the hell posted this? Who did we copy?"

Jiang Yilei also came over to look: "Should we have Zhao Lan prepare the materials? This is already considered slander, isn't it?"

But Wang Song's gaze was fixed on the word "plagiarism," and he felt a little uneasy.

He looked at it page by page.

Most of the speeches were spaced between four hours apart and as short as ten minutes.

These are all old tricks: questioning originality, accusing plagiarism, and inciting debates between highbrow and lowbrow culture.

If it becomes popular, sign a contract; if you can't, ruin it.

Wang Song then searched for "Wang Qiang (Autumn Never Returns), Chen Chao (Praying to Buddha), Xu Yuteng (Wait a Minute)".

I searched the entire internet but couldn't find any statement from the original author, or even any related response posts.

That's fine.

Wang Song put down the mouse, and his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.

He suddenly remembered the "West Sea Love Song" that the Four Evils had described as vulgar, and he made a mental note of it.

"What's the panic?" Wang Song raised his head, waved to the people who had gathered around him, and said in a relaxed tone.

"That's all there is to it, the same old routine."

Wang Song closed the page and stood up: "It's okay, this kind of post will sink in three days if no one pays attention to it, let's get back to work."

Liu Jianjun was taken aback: "Are you really alright?"

"It's really nothing." Wang Song patted him on the shoulder. "If you're free, go write some more. Zhou Weiguo is still waiting for you to save him."

Liu Jianjun scratched his head: "Boss, Zhou Weiguo is from 'Special Forces Pioneers,' and I'm writing about Fan Xian..."

Wang Song glanced at him: "Then why aren't you going yet?"

Jiang Yilei frowned, "But...should we clarify this before it becomes completely famous?"

"How about we send out a photo with copyright registration?"

"No need," Wang Song said directly. "What they want is for us to rush to clarify. The more we respond, the more buzz we get."

"Because listeners don't care about that; they only care whether the song is good or not, and whether they download the ringtone."

Wang Song smiled and clapped his hands. "Everyone should get back to what they're doing and not let this little thing waste their time."

"Especially you, Jiang Yilei, have you finished writing the proposal for Tudou.com?"

After thinking for a moment, he reminded Zhao Lan: "Make another copy of all our copyright registration documents and save them together."

The atmosphere in the recording studio was a completely different world from that of the IP team.

Li Ran sat in front of the mixing console, staring at the sheet music for "The Light Chaser".

Zhou Tao was adjusting the equipment nearby, occasionally glancing at him without saying a word.

Inside the studio, Chang Sisi wore headphones and tested her voice into the microphone, singing a couple of lines before stopping.

He shouted outside, "Brother Li Ran, shouldn't this line of lyrics be sung a little softer?"

Li Ran did not respond.

"Brother Li Ran?"

Zhou Tao nudged him with his elbow.

Li Ran snapped out of her daze and pressed the call button: "Try it again, let me hear it."

Chang Sisi glanced at him suspiciously and started again.

Zhou Tao leaned closer and whispered, "What are you thinking about?"

Li Ran didn't answer, but looked at the structure on the wall again: "With our shareholder status, how long do we have to wait before the company goes public?"

Zhou Tao couldn't help but laugh: "You've only just set up the company, and you're already thinking about going public and cashing out?"

"Get lost." Li Ran snapped out of her reverie. "I was just thinking about how I would feel sitting here if I hadn't bought it back then."

Zhou Tao didn't answer for a few seconds before saying, "So, have you figured it out yet?"

Li Ran waved the sheet music in his hand, "Although I haven't decided yet, it seems I've bought a little more than you right now."

"You! #@#￥%…………%￥&"

After they finished playing around, Zhou Tao nudged him with his elbow: "Stop spacing out, we're waiting in the studio. 'Angel's Wings' needs to be recorded this afternoon, so keep an eye on it."

"Alright, alright, go ahead and worry about your own things. Bringing five songs, aren't you afraid of overeating?"

In another small shed, the scene was completely different.

Zhang Zhen stood in front of the microphone, with a lyric board in front of her that read: "Will you be my wife?"

He stared at the words, trying to convince himself, "It's just lyrics, it's just lyrics."

"No, who wrote these lyrics?" He couldn't hold back any longer.

"If you don't know which way to go tomorrow, stay by my side and be my wife, okay?"

"How can I possibly sing this?"

Yao Beina leaned against the mixing console: "The boss wrote it, is it too corny? Too straightforward? It's not like the taste of a top student from the Central Academy of Drama like you?"

Zhang Zhen choked on his words, gesturing with his hand to indicate his name, "I think..."

"Alright, Senior Sister Yao, Zhang Zhen is just too shy to sing, there are so many people here." Chang Sisi came over to help Zhang Zhen out of the awkward situation.

Zhang Zhen gave him a grateful look.

Yao Beina sighed: "I'll give you another half hour to adjust."

Zhang Zhen nodded obediently.

Yao Beina looked around and found a newcomer: "Lin Yuan, you are his arranger, you give him a demonstration."

Lin Yuan was taken aback: "Me? I've never sung that before..."

"Just because you haven't sung before doesn't mean you can't sing. Come on, stand over there."

Lin Yuan was pushed to stand in front of the microphone, took a deep breath while looking at the lyrics, and then closed his eyes and sang.

"If you don't know which way to go tomorrow, just stay by my side and be my wife, okay...?"

After he finished singing, he covered his face first.

Outside the shed, Ma Xiaojun happened to be passing by. He peeked in, then silently retreated, saying to Liu Jianjun, "Isn't our IP group the most normal?"

Liu Jianjun didn't even look up: "Are you sure?"

Ma Xiaojun thought back to when he had writer's block, the frustration of being scolded by readers for rambling nonsense, and having to remain silent.

Well, the IP group doesn't seem to be doing much better either.

In the studio, Zhang Zhen finally resigned himself to his fate, stood in front of the microphone, took a deep breath, and began recording.

He burst out laughing as soon as he uttered the first sentence.

He forced himself to finish singing the second line, but his expression was contorted.

The third line, sung mid-song, suddenly stopped, turned to ask, "Sister Na, if this song becomes a hit, can I request anonymity?"

Yao Beina ignored him.

At nine o'clock in the evening, everyone gradually finished work.

Zhang Zhen was still ashamed when he came out of the recording studio.

Ma Xiaojun passed by and patted him on the shoulder: "Brother, take it easy. Once this song becomes a hit, you'll know what it means to be ashamed but happy."

Zhang Zhen glared at him: "Are there any embarrassing passages in your novels?"

Ma Xiaojun thought for a moment: "No, but it was almost there, but I won't say."

Liu Jianjun chimed in, adding quietly, "He was told by female readers to write some romantic scenes between Xiao Ge and Wu Xie."

Amidst laughter and chatter, Li Ran emerged from the recording studio, holding a piece of paper covered with the schedule for tomorrow.

He walked over to Zhou Tao and handed him the paper: "We'll work on two more ringtones tomorrow, and this afternoon we'll go over the final version of 'The Light Chaser'."

"Sister Na is busy too, so the recording schedule needs to be tight, don't delay."

Zhou Tao took it, glanced at it, and nodded: "Okay, then I'll have the new guy arrive at eight o'clock to start the equipment."

Yao Beina strolled over and glanced at Wang Song's computer: "Aren't you worried? The forums are full of discussions about the teaching quality of the Central Academy of Drama."

"Is that so?" Wang Song sat up.

"They've messed with me, which is like touching cotton; why are they going after the school?"

He leaned back, feeling more at ease, and even wanted to watch the show.

Yao Beina was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"Have you forgotten that we still need to submit the admission brochure?" Wang Song said dismissively.

"Go back and prepare your pieces for the top 50 to top 20 round. Let those who should be concerned about this trivial matter worry about it."

Yao Beina glanced at him, nodded, and turned to walk out.

He stopped abruptly at the door, turned back, and said, "Boss, did you expect them to do this?"

Wang Song didn't answer, he just waved to her.