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

The meeting room door was gently pushed open and then closed, shutting out the hustle and bustle of the building outside.

Wang Song sat at the head of the conference table, with Lao Chen and Zhao Lan sitting on either side.

He nodded to the legal team that had come to assist him from Baidu: "Attorney Zhou, let's begin."

Wang Song took out a piece of paper. "Let's say you give us 600 yuan for this song, and then what?"

How should the 350 yuan registration fee (for which I advanced the capital) be divided with the 5% profit?

Attorney Zhou accepted the offer: "Collect it as you see fit, just to prove that the funds were merely a transit point."

"It's as simple as signing the advance payment agreement and the profit deduction agreement."

Wang Song gave him a wink.

Zhao Lan handed over the original agreement.

Attorney Zhou took the contract and slowly began to read it; the only sound in the conference room was the turning of the pages.

In no time.

Attorney Zhou began, "The agreement is fine; the school reviewed it for you, right?"

He paused and then added.

"Paying back debts is a matter of course, no problem."

"To avoid confusion of funds, just split them into two accounts; that's the finance department's job."

Wang Song nodded. "So, now there's only one major problem left."

Copyright registration service.

The meeting room door opened and closed repeatedly, and Zhao Lan went in and out carrying materials.

After the meeting ended, only Lao Chen and Wang Song remained.

Wang Song sorted out his thoughts. "Advisor Chen, Xianming doesn't need a project manager right now; that's my job."

"And now it's your job to keep things calm and prevent any trouble in the rear."

Old Chen waved his hand: "You're not targeting Tencent with this move by the middle platform, are you?"

Wang Song shrugged: "Of course not."

"This model has no competitive advantage; anyone can do it if they want to."

"What we want is to have our own outlet for propaganda, so that video platforms can shut it down whenever they want."

Old Chen smiled, completely understanding Wang Song's thoughts.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on the back for you."

The company is too young; if even a minor compliance issue is discovered, it will be completely finished.

Wang Song completely relaxed.

"So, Consultant Chen, where's your 200,000? Why hasn't it been transferred yet? Are you giving up stock trading?"

Old Chen picked up his thermos and took a sip: "What's the rush? Two hundred thousand, not twenty yuan."

"The profits will be split 50/50."

"I'll call you tonight." Before Wang Song could reply, Old Chen left.

Wang Song was furious but had nowhere to vent his anger. He opened the door and shouted, "Jiang Yilei!"

Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor, and Jiang Yilei jogged over: "Boss?"

"Go post something on the forum," Wang Song said.

"The copyright registration service has been changed. You'll have to wait for the legal department to finalize the specific terms."

Jiang Yilei was taken aback: "Do you want to explain why you changed it? Are you trying to gain sympathy by playing the victim?"

Wang Song said matter-of-factly, "Of course I want it, why wouldn't I? You're just like this...like this."

……

That evening, at Tianya Music World.

A post was featured on the homepage.

"Let me say a few words about the new copyright registration rules that Xianming released two hours ago."

"RT: I posted twice during their manual screening phase and once during the platform phase, and the feedback was very good."

"I just saw Xianming's new 'Copyright Submission Service Description,' and some people are unhappy about it."

"They said we have to fill out forms ourselves, register in the system, queue up, and then fax them. Why don't they just do it all for us?"

"I want to say this: You don't care about your own work, do you expect others to care for it for you?"

"Xianming posted the form format, filling examples, and materials list all online."

"Is it really that difficult to spend half an hour printing, filling out forms, and waiting in line, just fax it directly from a print shop?"

"I'm really afraid someone will steal it, so you'd better go quickly."

"They'll also proofread the format and send them all at once."

"It seems much simpler than going to Beijing ourselves or finding another agent to register, right?"

1L: "I agree with the original poster. Some people are just spoiled and think that the immortals owe them something."

2L: "They already said it themselves."

"The reason they were so slow to process things the other day was because they received a large number of demos that were stolen from who-knows-where."

"If someone registers a song using someone else's name, I have to check each song individually to avoid both fraudulent attempts and the unauthorized inclusion of genuine works."

"It's good that things have changed now. Who would dare to use someone else's song? Once you sign a contract, you have to bear legal responsibility."

3L: "I agree! It's not that they don't care about their own work; they put their heart into everything they do."

4L: "Insider information."

"Works that have a certain number of listens on the platform will be given priority and processed through a fast track, while those without data will be put in the queue."

"That makes perfect sense. If my work is good, it will sell quickly. I make money, and so does Xianming."

5L: "Get out of here, pirates! Support Immortal Name!"

6L: "In summary, the immortal name is still the same immortal name. It's just that it has changed from doing things for you to teaching you how to do them."

Old Chen shut down the forum, and there were no further problems for the content provider or the user experience.

The Xianming original content platform is down to its final stage.

transaction.

Three days.

Zhao Lan carried a stack of contracts and placed them on Old Chen's table.

"Consultant Chen, all the standardized contract templates have been prepared."

"The categories have already been sorted out. Once the details are confirmed, the signing process can be completed within 24 hours."

Old Chen nodded, "Put it there, I'll check on it later."

He carried the cup upstairs, stood at the door for two seconds, and knocked on the door frame.

Wang Song was staring at the computer screen, not even turning his head: "Come in."

Old Chen went in and sat down opposite him.

"I've reviewed the contract and checked the forum," Old Chen said. "There aren't any major problems."

Wang Song hummed in agreement, his eyes never leaving the screen.

Old Chen followed his gaze.

The screen doesn't show any complicated backend; it's just a bunch of simple data.

Song title, play completion rate, collection conversion rate, fuzzy age segmentation, and geographical distribution.

Old Chen shook his head. "I don't understand. So what kind of game are you playing?"

Wang Song smiled and turned the screen toward him.

"Consultant Chen, how did you choose songs when you were at SP?"

Old Chen was stunned for a moment: "Choosing a song? Asking around, treating people to meals, and pulling strings all over the world."

"We have to keep an eye on who has a new song and who is making any moves."

Wang Song nodded. "This is market choice. If the song becomes a hit, then you can follow up."

"If you catch up, you make a fortune; if you don't, you just watch others profit."

He pointed to the data on the screen.

"This is a crude way of knowing where a song can become popular."

"What do people in North China like to listen to? What do people in South China like to listen to? What do young people like to listen to? What do people in second- and third-tier cities like to listen to?"

"You don't need to wait for the song to become popular before you start promoting it. Even before the song becomes popular, you'll know where to push it."

Old Chen's hand, holding the thermos, froze in mid-air.

Wang Song continued, "What is Baidu's model? Users search, and they provide results."

"What is Tencent's model? Users listen to music, and Tencent recommends songs, although it's quite rudimentary."

"The underlying logic of these two models is the same: user behavior data collection."

"They have existing data and know which songs have become popular."

"But they don't have incremental data, so they don't know where the next hit song will be."

Old Chen slowly realized: "The increase...is in our hands?"

Wang Song nodded: "That's right."

"We are at the forefront of the market, at least for now. Even though our database is still very small."

He paused, looking at Old Chen:

"If you're in charge of operations at Baidu and want to buy songs to fill your music library, you'll have two options."

"One method is to listen to a huge number of new songs one by one, listen to a hundred songs, and pick out one that is usable."

"Let's open the backend of Immortal Name."

"How many people have heard it, how many people have listened to it, where do people like to listen to it, and how many people have saved it after listening to it."

Which one do you choose?

Old Chen blurted out, "Of course it's the latter."

Wang Song shrugged and said, "That settles it."

"So what if the database is small? The tech giants are now choosing what's usable, not what's large enough."

"When industry giants enter the market, creators benefit, and this benefits creators, attracting even more creators to join."

Old Chen nodded thoughtfully, then asked again.

"And then what happens after they arrive? They buy the data once, take it with them, and can then filter it themselves."

Wang Song thought for a moment: "The market is too small; it's not worth it for them to venture out and pioneer it themselves."

"And now? Xianming has done the work for them."

"All they need to do is open a webpage, look at the data, compare the data, make a phone call, and sign a contract."

"What is the cost? On average, it's only a few hundred or a few thousand yuan per song."

Wang Song continued:

"Once they've bought a hundred or a thousand songs and tasted the sweetness of success, they'll look back and realize..."

"Oh, the market education is complete, everyone knows this model can work."

What were they thinking at that time?

Old Chen blurted out, "Do it yourself."

He was silent for a few seconds before asking, "So what are you after?"

Wang Song looked at the numbers on the screen, his tone calm and resolute.

"I hope that Xianming can succeed in the next few years."

"Over the past few years, we have been able to make the works of ordinary people visible and turn that into a brand."

"The idea is that by the time the giants enter the fray, we'll already be remembered."

Old Chen shook his head with a wry smile, "Forget it, I can't keep up. I'd better just stick to the rules."

Wang Song stood up, walked to the door, and opened it.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

"Therefore, all clients who have submitted business letters should be notified now."

"We're open for business now."