Huayu 2002, I'm going to dominate the music scene!

Chapter 95 Endorsement

When Song Mo arrived in his new car in front of An Ming, he was already waiting at the entrance of the Mo Dian Studio.

After the ringback tone revenue arrived in June, Song Mo asked him to rent a place to use as the office space for the Mo Dian Studio.

Although it's called an office, it's really just him and a few accountants there. People like Luo Hongming only come over occasionally to use the Wi-Fi.

When he saw Song Mo emerge from the silver-gray M3, his eyes widened immediately.

"Damn." An Ming put a cigarette in his mouth, walked around the car, squatted down to look at the rims, then stood up and flicked the hood. "A gift from Ocean Butterflies?"

"Hmm." Song Mo tossed the keys in his hand. "He said it was to fulfill a promise."

An Ming clicked his tongue twice, patted the roof of the car, and shook his head: "Okay, Ocean Butterflies really knows how to invest. How much did this car cost?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask."

"You collected it pretty quickly without me asking." An understood and gave him a look. "Alright, go upstairs, stop showing off here."

"

The two went upstairs, and Anming poured him a glass of water. Song Mo sat down on the sofa, and Anming sat opposite him, quickly stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.

When he used to hang out in bars, Song Mo would smoke and drink all the time, but now that he's officially debuted, he basically doesn't smoke or drink anymore. Otherwise, his voice wouldn't have been able to handle the high-intensity promotional tours before.

"Brother An, you should smoke less; it's bad for your health," Song Mo advised.

"Okay, don't try to persuade me. I'm not like you, I can't just quit whenever I want," Anming quickly stopped him.

Seeing his response, Song Mo stopped pursuing the matter and asked, "Teacher Bi told me that I've received quite a few endorsement offers recently?"

"Which one isn't in a hurry? Why don't you ask me about Qianqian Jingyin?" Anming said to Song Mo with a smile.

Song Mo was taken aback for a moment, then said in surprise, "It's done?"

When he first arrived in Singapore, he asked Anming about this matter. At that time, Anming had just started contacting Zheng Nanling, and Zheng Nanling seemed hesitant, saying he needed to think about it. Song Mo thought it would take some time to resolve, but he didn't expect him to agree so quickly.

An Ming smiled smugly and said in a light tone, "Zheng Nanling is even easier to talk to than you say."

I went to Shanghai to see him, treated him to a meal, and we chatted for an afternoon. At first, he was reluctant to sell, saying that the software he developed was like raising a child, and he couldn't bear to part with it. So I just kept pestering him, waiting for him for five days in a row, and he finally agreed.

Song Mo leaned back in his chair, nodding repeatedly. He hadn't expected An Ming to resort to such underhanded tactics. He wanted to continue asking, "And the price?"

"Two hundred and twenty thousand," Anming said. "That's about what you estimated before. He originally asked for two hundred and fifty thousand, but I said that this is personal software, without a company entity or a profit model, so two hundred thousand is already a premium. He thought about it and finally agreed."

Song Mo nodded. Two hundred and twenty thousand yuan to buy a media player that could become a traffic portal in the future is definitely a worthwhile deal.

"What about inviting him to join Ink Dot?" Song Mo asked.

An Ming looked at Song Mo and then said, "He agreed to that too, but he has one condition: he wants to continue working in technology, not participate in management, and not have to work regular office hours. He's used to Shanghai and doesn't want to move to Yanjing."

Song Mo thought about it. Although not working in Yanjing would significantly increase communication costs, he still had to show some sincerity to retain Zheng Nanling.

"Sure, we should talk to him about the equity issue and reassure him to focus on making the software better. He won't be shortchanged on equity. Qianqian Music's biggest advantage right now is its synchronized lyrics, and we need to continue optimizing this feature."

An Ming responded and then said, "He also suggested an idea: could we add a song recommendation function to the software? After a user listens to a song, it can automatically recommend similar songs. He said this would increase user engagement."

Song Mo's eyes lit up. Recommendation algorithms—this was standard practice for music platforms in later generations, but in 203...

Back then, this concept was quite ahead of its time. Zheng Nanling's ability to think of this demonstrates his keen product sense.

"Okay," Song Mo said. "Let him do it. Whatever resources he needs, you just need to cooperate with him."

"Okay." An Ming paused for a moment, "There's one more thing. We've reached an agreement with the SP company in Yanjing regarding the ringback tone service. The revenue sharing ratio is similar to that in Zhejiang: China Mobile takes 20%, the SP takes 25%, and we take 55%. I've also started making contact with the company in Shanghai."

Song Mo took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. With the pilot provinces of Zhejiang and Beijing secured, MoDian's ringback tone business had gained a firm foothold. When it was rolled out nationwide, this experience would be its greatest asset.

"Brother An, you've worked hard." Song Mo said with emotion. These things may not seem like many, but they are not that simple. He, as a hands-off manager, just had to say a few words, but he made An Ming and the others run their legs off.

"What's so hard about it?" An Ming laughed. "You're doing roadshows in Singapore, and I'm negotiating collaborations in Beijing. We're both doing the work."

"By the way, what about the settlement in Zhejiang for the past two months?" Song Mo asked.

"The accounts for June and July have been settled." Anming's tone was a little more relaxed. "After deducting bad debts and cancellations due to complaints, we actually received 227 million yuan. Sixty percent of that came from our own songs, and forty percent came from those licensed online songs. I've already distributed the money that was due according to the contract. Those singers are quite happy, and several of them called to say thank you."

Song Mo nodded: "That's good. Mo Dian is getting bigger and bigger, so the accounts must be clear. Not a penny of the money that should be distributed must be missing."

"Don't worry, I personally oversaw all of these," An Ming said with a smile.

"Let's talk about endorsements. I screened through the companies that Teacher Bi transferred to me and kept three."

He pushed the three documents in front of Song Mo.

"The first one is Master Kong Iced Tea. They wanted to cast you in a TV show called 'GG'. The endorsement fee was 800,000 yuan a year. I read the contract terms, and they weren't too harsh. However, they demanded exclusivity. During the contract period, you couldn't accept any other beverage endorsements. This condition wasn't excessive; it's industry practice."

Song Mo picked up the documents and flipped through them. He had seen quite a few of Master Kong's GG videos recently, including ones featuring Richie Jen and Mayday, but they all used Hong Kong and Taiwan artists.

"Why would they want to contact me?" Song Mo asked curiously.

These days, mainland artists are always a step behind Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas artists, and this is evident in everything from award ceremonies to GG endorsements.

Anming said with a smile, "Didn't they hold a music talent show with Mayday last year? They tasted the sweetness of music marketing. This year, they plan to expand their popularity in mainland China. Your first album sold over a million copies. As the most popular newcomer in mainland China, they've set their sights on you."

Song Mo's lips twitched. All this talk was just to see how cheap it was for him.

This is understandable, considering that the endorsement fee for Mayday, whom Master Kong hired last year, probably wasn't much. Currently, Mayday hasn't had any band activities for two years due to members serving in the military, so their popularity in Taiwan is naturally not as high as before. Moreover, Mayday's popularity at this time is mainly in Taiwan; they have virtually no recognition in mainland China. Most importantly, the mainland rock scene is still quite hostile towards them, considering them pseudo-rock.

He thought for a moment, then put the documents aside: "We can continue to contact them."

An Ming nodded. He actually thought that Master Kong's endorsement was not bad, after all, it was a second-tier beverage.

As for top-tier status, Song Mo shouldn't even dream of it, given his popularity. Pepsi's blue-themed brand ambassador lineup this year is extremely luxurious.

It includes a large number of A-list superstars such as Aaron Kwok, F4, Jay Chou, and Jolin Tsai.