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

"Sister Lin, what do you think? I have good taste, right? Hahaha, much better than the record companies we initially looked at!"

As soon as she got into the car, Jing Tian couldn't help but show off.

Sister Lin didn't say anything.

Of course, she could see through the young students' tricks; they just wanted to raise the price.

But it must be said that their skills are truly genuine.

More importantly, they were talking about investment, not a buyout.

This means that if the movie actually makes money, there will be a share of the profits.

Before coming, she had checked that the student studios supported by the three schools were officially registered by the schools, had complete copyright registration, and had legal and financial support.

That's enough.

"Miss has good taste," Sister Lin rarely praised.

Receiving affirmation made Jing Tian even happier. She immediately took out her phone and found the number of the contact person for Taihe Wheatfield in her contacts.

"Hello, teacher, it's me, Jing Tian. Um... I want to cancel the record deal we agreed on before."

"I'm really sorry, I hope we can work together again in the future."

Jing Tian simply smiled and responded to what the person on the other end of the phone said.

After hanging up the phone, Jing Tian winked at Sister Lin: "Done! Saved a lot of trouble."

Sister Lin didn't reply, but only glanced back at the receding gates of the Central Academy of Drama, a feeling creeping into her heart that this phone call might...

At the same time.

The contact person from Taihe Wheatfield was silent for a moment, then said, "Go and find out which company in the industry Miss Jing has contacted."

"Ask Zhang Yadong what happened, why he couldn't keep them here?"

The assistant accepted the order and left.

The camera pans back to Xianming Studio.

No sooner had Jing Tian left than the door was not even properly closed when the room erupted in chaos.

Ma Xiaojun was the first to jump up, nearly overturning his chair: "Two! 500,000!"

Jiang Yilei straightened his back. "Boss, I've talked myself hoarse, aren't you going to reward me?"

Wang Song grinned and grabbed Li Ran and Zhou Tao.

"Can you guys still work overtime? It's 2.5 million! Ten days! We'll shoot the music video, and you'll do the music composition."

The two were stunned, never having considered this path. "Our song, is it really worth that much?"

Chen Shu couldn't help but say, "No, it's because my script is worth that much; the music was given away by the boss."

Hahahaha.

"Zhao Lan, the other party should be bringing their legal team back tomorrow, so I'll trouble you to handle the coordination."

Zhao Lan snapped out of her daze and quickly replied, "No problem."

The filming period was neither long nor short. The collaboration between Xianming Studio and Jing Tian went from initial unfamiliarity to later familiarity.

The filming location was on campus, near the library, teaching buildings, and the row of sycamore trees along the playground.

The extras were all cast by the studio staff in shifts, but Chen Shu absolutely refused to appear on camera and instead hid behind the monitor to help with recording.

On the first day of filming, Jing Tian was a little nervous. She kept making mistakes in her positioning, laughed in front of the camera, and had to do more than ten takes, her face turning red.

Wang Song didn't urge him. "You don't need to deliberately act like a high school student. You are a high school student, just be natural."

People gradually realized that Jing Tian, ​​despite her seemingly pampered upbringing, was actually quite down-to-earth.

Once you get to know her, she becomes a real chatterbox, never stopping talking during breaks in filming.

"Director Wang, Director Wang, do you think my expression is right?"

"Director Wang, Director Wang, should we be happy or embarrassed by this line?"

"Director Wang, Director Wang..."

Wang Song leaned back in the director's chair and rubbed his temples: "Jing Tian."

"Hmm?" Jing Tian looked up from her script.

Are you tired?

"I'm not tired at all! I'm having so much fun filming!" Jing Tian said confidently.

She racked her brains again, "The main reason is that everyone teaches well, unlike other companies that are so rigid."

"I like hearing that," Wang Song smiled.

"Oh, by the way, Director Wang, what exactly does this 'immortal name' mean?" Jing Tian asked curiously.

Wang Song said calmly, "A mountain is not famous for its height, but for the immortals who dwell there."

"Ah! I know this!" Jing Tian slapped her thigh and blurted out, "It's 'On the Love of Lotus'!"

Everyone stared at her.

Sister Lin, who was standing to the side, kept rubbing her forehead in disbelief.

……

The filming didn't even take ten days; all the footage was shot on the fifth day.

Jing Tian sat in the editing room, watching Wang Song piece the clips together little by little.

Every now and then, someone would exclaim in surprise, "So that's how this shot was filmed!"

The rest of the time was spent in the recording studio.

This posed a challenge for Li Ran and the others. They had no formal training and had not studied vocal techniques, so they could only piece it together segment by segment.

"I'm sorry," Jing Tian said, scratching her head.

"It's okay. Actually, many singers are just at a karaoke level when it comes to pure singing skills," Li Ran could only offer this consolation.

During those ten days, Wang Song spent almost the entire time in the studio and at the filming location.

While overseeing the filming of the music video and the recording of the song, she also communicated with Yao Beina and Chang Sisi in Changsha about competition preparations.

Jing Tian saw this and her admiration for Wang Song grew even stronger.

She had initially thought Wang Song was just a student with some talent, but she hadn't expected him to be so thorough in his work.

"Wang Song, how...how did you learn all this?" Jing Tian couldn't help but be curious.

"Anyone with hands can do it."

Ten days of hard work have finally yielded results.

The full version of "A Little Happiness" has been recorded, and the short music video for "First Love" has also been successfully completed.

"Jing Tian, ​​our company doesn't release physical records, so we can only stream them online. Is that a problem?"

Jing Tian smiled and said, "It's okay, I trust Papi Jiang."

Jiang Yilei posted a new video using his own account, with the title:

"Jing Tian × Xianming Culture · A Little Happiness · MV"

A simple forwarding link was posted on the official account of Xianming Studio, in the reader and fan group of Ma Xiaojun and Liu Jianjun.

The music video quietly lay deep within the online platform, its views slowly climbing from a handful to over a hundred.

But this was enough for someone with a keen eye to notice.

The next morning, Taihe Wheatfield's assistant sent the link to the person in charge's mobile phone.

"Boss, we found it."

"The studio that Miss Jing found is called Xianming Culture. They just released a music video yesterday, which is exactly ten days ago."

The person in charge looked at the words "Xianming Culture" on the screen and his face darkened.

He paused for a moment, then dialed a few phone numbers.

The next afternoon, inside the Xianming Company.

The door was pushed open, and three people walked in. The one leading them was a middle-aged man, dressed in a suit and tie, with a fake professional smile on his face.

"Mr. Wang, is that right? I've heard so much about you." He extended his hand. "Taihe Wheatfield, Zhang Yuan."

Wang Song shook hands briefly, but didn't say anything.

Zhang Yuan didn't mind, and sat down in the chair, glancing around the room.

"Mr. Wang, I won't beat around the bush," he said slowly.

"To be honest, it's quite surprising. For a student studio like yours to manage to snatch someone away from us, you must be pretty good."

Wang Song looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Zhang Yuan leaned forward: "Ringtones, online articles, videos, and now Super Girls and celebrities—can you handle it?"

Wang Song nodded, "My appetite is alright, no need to worry."

Zhang Yuan smiled and took a document out of his bag, placing it on the table.

"So, someone asked me to pass on a message." He pushed the document forward.

"Huayi, you have already rejected it. Several companies in the industry have discussed it again and given you two options."

"First, we accept full ownership of any one of our companies. The valuation is negotiable. You can continue with your business, and we will provide channels and resources."

"Second," he paused, his tone increasingly imposing.

"If you all join any of our companies, the compensation will be excellent, and we can discuss things like authorship rights."

The room was so quiet you could hear the air conditioner humming.

Ma Xiaojun clenched his fists, Liu Jianjun frowned deeply, and Jiang Yilei stared intently at the document.

Zhao Lan subconsciously sat up straight, her hand already on the legal documents.

Wang Song glanced down at the document.

The cover didn't even have a heading, clearly it was a pre-prepared generic template, and he didn't even have the interest to reach out and flip through it.

"Finished?" He looked up, his tone flat.

Zhang Yuan paused for a moment: "That's all. This is the last condition the alliance is giving you."

"Alright then." Wang Song stood up and gestured for him to leave.

"Could you please make a trip back and tell them that there are no plans to sell Xianming at the moment? If there is any cooperation need, we can discuss it on a project-by-project basis."

Zhang Yuan looked at him, his smile slowly fading: "President Wang, I advise you to reconsider."

He stood up, straightened his suit, and his eyes turned cold: "This isn't just the idea of ​​my company. Going against us won't do you any good."

Wang Song nodded: "Got it!"

Zhang Yuan stared at him for a few seconds, then turned and walked away without saying anything more.

As he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and looked back.

"By the way, those two Super Girls sang really well. I wish them good luck."

The door slammed shut, instantly shattering the silence inside.

All eyes turned to Wang Song, their eyes filled with anxiety and anger, but without the slightest hesitation.

Wang Song slowly began, "Let's prepare for the ringback tone service to be cut off. Everyone, go about your business."

He looked at the news on the screen: "Record company sues Baidu for piracy, first instance dismissed, second instance begins."

"I'd like to see just how strong your distribution channels really are."