giants of the era

Chapter 118 Whose Era Is This?
Hugo Rhodes asked: "I heard Jerry Black say that Apple is going to release a new product that will make Polygram a lot of money?"

Jerry Black is the CEO of Apple UK.

"Yes, Mr. Hugo Rhodes, absolutely! This will not only benefit Polygram Records, but all record companies!"

While speaking, everyone has arrived at Hugo Rhodes' office.

When Hugo Rhodes heard the news, his curiosity suddenly increased, "I'm curious what kind of product can make the record company make a lot of money?" He couldn't help asking.

The secretary poured two glasses of water over.

Li Zetian picked up the water and took a sip slowly, deliberately not telling him in a hurry.

From the very beginning of the meeting, the negotiation has already begun.

Whoever behaves more urgently will be at a disadvantage.

Li Zetian did not immediately answer his question, but instead asked: "Mr. Hugo Rhodes, what does the record company mainly rely on for profit?"

Hugo Rhodes replied: "The main way for record companies to make money is naturally to make money from publishing records!"

"Mr. Hugo Rhodes, how many records can a well-known singer sell?" Li Zetian continued to ask with a smile.

"Millions of albums are considered pretty good. Some top singers have sold more than ten million albums..."

"Very good! If there is a product that can increase the sales of records, do you think the record company will support it?"

"Okay, Mr. Li, please don't be a joke anymore, please tell me what this thing is!" Hugo Rhodes said.

Li Zetian knew that the other party was losing his temper, so he smiled and took out the Walkman tape and music tape from his bag.

"It's these two things!"

Hugo Rhodes knew the magnetic tape. In 1963, the Dutch Philips Company developed a cassette tape, which developed rapidly due to its advantages of lightness, durability, and strong interchangeability.

"This is?" he asked, pointing at the Walkman.

"Tape Walkman!" Li Zetian explained, "Put the tape in here and you can play songs. You can wear headphones to hear the effect! You can also play songs without headphones, but the effect is slightly worse than headphones. "

Hugo Rhodes said: "Then I'll listen with my headphones."

"Well, this is the best!"

When Hugo Rhodes put on the earphones, Li Zetian put the tape into the Walkman, then smiled at the other party, "Attention, it's about to start!"

With that said, Li Zetian pressed the play button.

Immediately, a beautiful song came from the earphones, and Hugo Rhodes was very surprised.After a while, he took off the earphones and said to Li Zetian: "It is indeed a great product, but the sound quality is far worse than that of vinyl records!"

Li Zetian smiled and said: "You get what you pay for. The manufacturing cost of vinyl records is very high, while the manufacturing cost of magnetic tapes is much lower! Mr. Hugo Rhodes, the Walkman tape player can be carried with you, It will definitely be sought after by many young people, which will undoubtedly create a huge market for music tapes."

Li Zetian thought that the other party would be very happy after seeing the product, but unexpectedly, Hugo Rhodes frowned.

"Mr. Li, maybe you are right, but this will have a great impact on the vinyl record market! People buy Walkman, buy music tapes, and naturally they will not buy record players and vinyl records. !"

The profits of tapes are low, but the profits of vinyl records are high. Even if ten tapes are sold, the profit of one vinyl record may not be high. The release of music tapes may cause huge losses to the record company!
Li Zetian thought for a while, and soon understood what the other party was worried about. He organized his words and said: "Mr. Hugo Rhodes, the sound quality of Walkman is indeed very different from that of vinyl records. I believe that people who like music people are still willing to buy vinyl records, but they are also willing to buy Walkman and music tapes, because they can take them outdoors to listen to songs. Just imagine, does this add extra income to record companies? As for your saying that it will impact vinyl records The market ... yes, I'll admit it, but if tapes outsell records, I think labels can make more money."

"The premise is that the Walkman is very popular..." Hugo Rhodes reminded.

"Whether the Walkman will become popular, I'm afraid it's not doubtful. What do you think, Mr. Hugo Rhodes?" Li Zetian asked with a smile.

Hugo Rhodes is silent, because he is involved in the music industry, so he knows the users very well, and the Walkman tape player is very attractive to them.

Li Zetian continued at this time: "I believe that once the Walkman becomes popular, more manufacturers will follow suit and manufacture similar tape players, which will further develop the Walkman market into a huge market, and even many record players will also use it as a walkman. Adopt music tape standards. There is no doubt that by then, music tapes will be popular all over the world.” Li Zetian paused, raised his voice a few decibels, and said, “Whether you choose to embrace music tapes or stick to vinyl records completely, it’s a matter of choice.” It will determine the fate of the record company! May I ask Mr. Hugo Rhodes, is Polygram Records willing to be the first person to eat crabs?"

After hearing Li Zetian's words, Hugo Rhodes was very troubled!
"Mr. Li, I'm sorry that I can't make a decision right now. I need to conduct a detailed analysis with my team before I can give an accurate answer!"

Li Zetian frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice, "I won't be staying in England for too long!"

"Don't worry, we will answer you as soon as possible."

"OK then……"

First contact ends here.

Li Zetian walked out of Polygram Records, feeling depressed, and found that things were not as simple as he expected!
Three days later, Polygram Records finally gave Li Zetian an answer. They said that Polygram Records is a big business, and vinyl records are the company's main source of income, so they dare not take any risks.Not outright rejection, though, and when the music tapes were really overwhelming, they would naturally choose to join that camp.

Obviously, this is a very conservative decision.

"Mr. Li??" Branch CEO Jerry Black called Li Zetian in a low voice when he saw Li Zetian's expression was not right.

Li Zetian waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, Polygram Records rejected us this time, maybe it's their loss. This afternoon, I'm going back to the United States, and you have someone help me book a plane ticket!"

"Okay, Chairman!"

Li Zetian returned to the hotel, packed his luggage, and slept on the bed for a while.

In the afternoon, Jerry Black came to the hotel and picked him up to the airport.

The next morning, around 7 o'clock, the plane arrived in San Jose.

When Li Zetian got off the plane, he first went to the pet store to pick up the puppy Simba, and then went home.After that, I didn't rest, and went directly to Apple.

Tian Shuai and others received a call from Li Zetian yesterday, knowing that the cooperation with Polygram Records had not been negotiated, and received Li Zetian's order to hold a meeting the next morning.

In the conference room, the atmosphere seemed a little heavier than before.

Li Zetian sat on the top seat and said: "The rejection of Polygram Records has disrupted our previous plan, and now we can only use a backup plan! From now on, we will send company executives to many large record companies around the world to discuss cooperation, I believe there will be record companies who are willing to support us. In addition, we will broadcast the Walkman advertisement on TV as soon as possible, so that people from record companies can know how popular our products are with users!"

"Now we are begging the record company, but one day the record company will be begging us!!!"

Li Zetian couldn't help but say these words at the end. Although record companies have the dominant power in both the tape era and the CD era in the future, when we enter the Internet era, we will have to see whose it is. era! ! !

(End of this chapter)