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Chapter 571, page 0559 [ByteDance Cloud Music]

In April, NetEase Cloud Music and ByteDance Cloud Music were launched.

Almost simultaneously, major media outlets across the country received invitations to ByteDance Music's press conference.

It didn't say why they were invited; it only stated in the invitation that Chen Guiliang would attend in person.

The reporters swarmed over!

In recent years, apart from the launch of the HarmonyOS flagship phone, Chen Guiliang has stopped personally attending various product launch events.

Therefore, something big is definitely going to happen this time.

Shu Ling is a reporter for *Contemporary Music* magazine, which at its peak sold over 15 million copies per issue. Last year, that number dropped to 150 copies per issue. The two issues released last month sold 13.6 and 12.9 copies respectively.

A sustained decline that is visible to the naked eye.

If this continues, the magazine will soon be shut down.

Traditional magazines and newspapers, and even the entire physical publishing industry, have been severely impacted by the internet and are now struggling.

Shu Ling never expected that she would be sent to attend Byte Music's press conference.

She arrived at the venue, checked in under the guidance of staff, and was seated in a corner of the media section.

Sitting next to her was not a media reporter, but the moderator of the Music World section of Tianya Forum.

The full name of this press conference is: China Cultural Industry Investment Fund's Investment in Byte Music Signing Ceremony and Byte Cloud Music Press Conference.

The reporters and moderators around were all whispering among themselves.

"What's the background of this cultural industry fund?"

"I don't know, I've never even heard of it."

"You don't even know about the Cultural Industry Fund? It has the Ministry of Finance and several other central state-owned enterprises behind it. Even official media websites like Xinhua News Agency have shares in the Cultural Industry Fund."

"The Ministry of Finance is backing you? The Ministry of Finance also makes investments?"

“Byte Music has been buying music copyrights like crazy since last year. Now that the cultural industry fund is investing in Byte Music, will music copyright regulations be tightened?”

"That's not necessarily true; it involves too many departments. There's the Copyright Bureau, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as the cultural and tourism, public security, and judicial departments. A higher-level department must make unified arrangements and work together to implement it."

"Is it that complicated? No wonder online music copyrights can't be regulated."

"..."

Shu Ling usually only pays attention to gossip in the music industry, so how would she know about these things? She quickly pricked up her ears to listen.

"Mr. Chen is here!"

Suddenly someone shouted.

Shu Ling craned her neck to look, like a fan eager to see their idol. President Chen was so young and handsome, and also the richest man in the country; he must have countless admirers.

On Weibo, Shu Ling often calls Chen Guiliang "husband" in a lighthearted and humorous way, just like other netizens.

"husband!"

There was actually a woman shouting at the top of her lungs at the scene; she was probably not a reporter from a mainstream media outlet, but rather someone from some music forum.

Amidst laughter from the audience, Chen Guiliang waved to the crowd below.

Chen Xing from the Cultural Industry Fund, as well as Wang Hao, president of Byte Music, and Chen Ge, vice president, also attended.

The host first invited Chen Xing to speak.

Chen Xing said, "Distinguished reporters, honored guests..."

"The Cultural Industry Fund is a national-level cultural industry investment fund jointly initiated by the Ministry of Finance, BOC International, CCTV International, and other entities... The first phase raised 41 billion yuan, of which the Ministry of Finance contributed 5 million yuan..."

"By investing in news publishing, radio, film and television, culture and arts, online culture, cultural leisure, and other related fields, we guide and demonstrate how social capital can invest in cultural products, promote the revitalization and development of the cultural industry, and accelerate..."

"After multiple rounds of due diligence, research, discussion, and evaluation, we believe that Byte Music has enormous potential to promote the legalization, scaling, and sustainable development of China's online music market... Therefore, we have decided to invest 6.5 million RMB to acquire an 18% stake in Byte Music..."

These two figures caused a sensation throughout the venue.

Many journalists, website editors, and moderators were stunned, because they knew all too well what the current state of music copyright was like.

The cultural industry fund invested 6.5 million yuan, but only acquired 18% of Byte Music's shares?
How incredible!

There is only one possibility: the Cultural Industry Fund truly has the ability to promote stronger music copyright regulation.

Chen Guiliang continued, "Byte Music has already signed contracts with over 100 record companies both domestically and internationally, possessing exclusive online audio rights to approximately 1800 million songs in mainland China… Our aim is to promote…"

The deputy editor-in-chief of YinyueTai was sitting in the audience at that moment. When he heard keywords such as 1800 million songs and exclusive copyrights, he just sat there dumbfounded.

It's worth noting that at that time, QQ Music's music library contained approximately 1500 million songs. However, it owned the copyrights to less than a third of them, and those were all non-exclusive copyrights.

Everyone knows that ByteDance Music is buying up copyrights like crazy, but having exclusive rights to 1800 million songs is terrifying!

YinyueTai, the deputy editor-in-chief, exclaimed that it was a close call, because they mainly produce music videos, while ByteDance Music has signed contracts for online audio copyrights. It has little to do with them.

Some reporters with good relations with Tencent sat in the audience listening to Chen Guiliang speak while sending messages to executives at QQ Music.

The signing ceremony began soon.

After the signing was completed, Chen Xing left immediately. He didn't participate in the Q&A session with reporters because he could guess what they would ask.

Chen Guiliang also left.

Next was ByteDance Cloud Music's press conference.

Wang Hao said, "Hello everyone, I am Wang Hao, CEO of ByteDance Music. We have been developing the ByteDance Cloud Music app for half a year, and it has undergone multiple tests and improvements. Users of Xiami Music and Kugou Music can retain their recharge balance and points, and log in to the ByteDance Cloud Music app directly with their original accounts... The features and functions of ByteDance Cloud Music are as follows..."

Reporters who have already downloaded and installed NetEase Cloud Music should quickly open the NetEase Cloud Music app and compare its various features with those of ByteDance Cloud Music.

The two apps have largely the same functionality.

However, ByteDance Cloud Music emphasizes big data, offering algorithm-based daily song and playlist recommendations, and boasts a stronger sense of community and interactivity. It also provides a complete suite of services for singers (or record companies), including data statistics, fan management, music promotion, and copyright management. Upon closer comparison, NetEase Cloud Music seems like a half-finished product.

ByteDance Cloud Music was remarkably mature from the moment it was launched!
Wang Hao continued, "Many online music platforms, including QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music, contain a large number of copyright-free songs, which has already infringed on ByteDance's interests. I hereby warn all online music platforms that any copyright-free songs involving ByteDance's exclusive copyrights must be removed immediately, and any copyrighted songs must be removed immediately after the contract expires..."

The scene quickly became noisy.

When it came time for the Q&A session, reporters eagerly raised their hands.

"Mr. Wang, will ByteDance Music immediately sue those platforms that infringe on your rights?"

“We have sent out lawyer’s letters multiple times, and some platforms have removed some of the songs, but they are quickly re-uploaded by users. Next, we will first sue the platform with the most infringing songs, demanding that they immediately remove them, pay compensation, and comply with their platform supervision obligations to prevent further infringement.”

"But as far as I know, if a platform receives a lawyer's letter, complaint or lawsuit, it does not constitute infringement as long as it removes the songs uploaded by netizens in a short period of time."

"Given this situation, we certainly hope that the relevant departments will introduce stricter policies."

Will the investment of the cultural industry fund in Byte Music prompt relevant departments to strengthen supervision?

"The cultural industry fund is just an investment fund."

"But it has a Ministry of Finance background."

"The Ministry of Finance is only one of its funders; it's not involved in anything other than investment. Please don't ask such questions again. Next."

"Mr. Wang, hello. Isn't Byte Music's behavior a bit too domineering? Won't it make it difficult for ordinary people to listen to music?"

"Right now, we're the ones legally buying legitimate copies, while other platforms are rife with piracy. Record companies and singers aren't making money, leading to the closure of many record companies and the cessation of new releases by many singers. Instead of questioning the illegal pirates, you're criticizing those who legally buy legitimate copies as being too domineering? Next!"

……

After leaving the press conference, Chen Guiliang did not return to Zhongguancun, but instead strolled upstairs to the practice room.

"How's your training going?" Chen Guiliang asked.

The vocal coach said, "Her basic skills are already very solid; she just needs some more targeted training."

Zhang Hanyun said, "Boss, I've been studying for the past few years. Besides vocal music, I'm also learning voice acting."

"Work hard, and the company will produce a record for you this year," Chen Guiliang said.

The campus sitcom starring Zhang Hanyun and Qiao Renliang aired last October. Although its TV ratings were not high, its online viewership was very high—ranking fifth for the year, only behind "Empresses in the Palace", "Palace 2", "Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky" and "iPartment 3".

Like "iPartment 3", it was released too late, and its total online viewership for the whole year couldn't surpass those of the previous shows.

Qiao Renliang was rather introverted, and he tended to be quiet on variety shows and in interviews, which prevented him from gaining much public attention. He also seemed to be in a bad mood, so his company decided to give him a break and promised to release an album for him this year.

Zhang Hanyun is much more obedient and can catch all kinds of jokes. In addition, with the fans she had accumulated before, she has become popular again very quickly in the past few months.

Zhang Hanyun is also a highly controversial figure, mainly because she was the subject of fabricated rumors in the past, which many people still believe. Her die-hard fans and haters fight endlessly online every day, and occasionally their clashes even make it to the top of the trending topics.

In this situation, Zhang Hanyun should definitely be promoted.

The youth film "That Summer," produced by ByteDance Pictures and starring Saka Okada, was a box office flop.

Actually, we didn't lose money; we even made a small profit of four or five million. However, compared to the fame of the original novel, it fell far short of the company's box office expectations.

"Come over and take a group photo," Chen Guiliang said.

Zhang Hanyun quickly ran over and happily approached Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang took a picture with his phone and posted it on Weibo: "My college roommate's idol is finally releasing a new song. Back in 04, that guy even put a picture of Zhang Hanyun on my bed frame."

Upon seeing this Weibo post, Zhang Hanyun asked curiously, "Boss, is your college roommate really a fan of mine?"

“Yes, this guy’s name is Jiang Junlai. He’s currently studying in the United States. He’s researching polymer materials. I don’t know if he’ll come back to China after he graduates with his doctorate,” Chen Guiliang said.

Zhang Hanyun exclaimed happily, "I actually have a PhD fan! Polymer materials sounds amazing!"

Chen Guiliang told her to practice her vocal music diligently, and then went to the next room.

I don't know what Chen Zhixi was thinking, but she actually hired a teacher to come and teach Park Han-byul to speak Chinese every weekend.

"Mr. Chen!"

"Mr. Chen!"

The Chinese teacher and Park Han-byul were very excited to see Chen Guiliang appear.

After chatting with the Chinese teacher for a couple of minutes, Chen Guiliang asked, "Are you settling in well in China?"

Park Han-byul said, "Aside from the language barrier, everything is very convenient here."

"Do you have a Chinese mobile phone number?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Park Han-byul quickly pulled out her phone: "Yes!"

Chen Guiliang changed his phone number and left. Maybe one day he'll feel like discussing Sino-Korean friendship.

By the time he returned to the city by car, the topic of Byte Music had already exploded online.

Moreover, numerous well-known singers and record company official accounts have posted on Weibo to support Byte Music.

Of course they support it, because it's in their interest!
If Byte Music can push for stronger copyright oversight and establish a viable business model for legitimate music, record companies and artists can both receive a share of the profits—of course, the company might siphon off the artists' share or legally pocket it through existing contracts.

Even singers of Wang Fei's stature have stepped forward to repost related Weibo posts.

This immediately generated a lot of buzz for ByteDance Music.

All domestic online music platforms, including QQ Music, are holding emergency meetings.

They didn't take it seriously before because they thought strengthening copyright supervision was a long way off. But now that the Cultural Industry Fund has actually invested 6.5 million yuan, it would be strange if the Ministry of Finance didn't help push it forward.

However, many netizens and music fans were influenced by this hot topic and curiously went to download the ByteDance Cloud Music APP.

(Only one update today.)
(End of this chapter)