A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 192 Huge Profits
"Thank you, Tommy!"

"Thank you, Zig!"

"Hey, thanks, David!"

Lin Jianlu was in a great mood, expecting to receive a large sum of money. It was his first time visiting the Columbia Records headquarters in Washington, D.C., and he thanked almost everyone he met.

Although the people he is thanking are actually currently engaged in fierce internal strife.

Tommy Mottola's position was already precarious after losing his role as Michael Jackson's music manager, and just recently, he also lost his wife Mariah Carey's music manager position. If it weren't for the fact that he launched and made Lin Jianlu a huge success during this period, he would most likely have already lost. Even so, the combination of global vice president Zieg Schuberman and global marketing director David Shelby is still widely recognized as having done more to create Lin Jianlu.

However, at least until now, Lin Jianlu's position as music manager within the Columbia Records system still belongs to Zhao Mingxin, the president of Sony Columbia. So, despite their rivalry, neither of them has truly gained an absolute advantage yet. When Tommy Mottola last visited Lin Jianlu in New York, he made one request: Lin Jianlu could choose not to choose him, but he should continue to insist on Zhao Mingxin as his music manager.

Well, internal strife in big companies is really complicated.

Lin Jianlu had no intention of getting involved; all he wanted now was to get his money as soon as possible.

After exchanging pleasantries, the accountant entered the room.

Zhao Mingxin's company, Xinli Columbia, has its own accounting team, and Lin Jianlu's company, America, also has its own accountants. Together, they quickly moved to an office next door to reconcile the accounts.

Actually, the atmosphere in Motula's huge CEO office was somewhat strange, but Lin Jianlu was oblivious and didn't want to be. He was just having a good time, chatting with whoever spoke to him.

Tommy Mottola answered a phone call and quickly went outside.

Ziegler Schuberman and David Shelby also left one after another. Only then did Zhang Aijia come over and whisper, "I guess Motula won't last long. He's leaking information everywhere now."

Lin Jianlu remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Zhang Aijia had no choice but to shut her mouth as well.

At noon, I casually ate a hot dog and drank some Coke in the Columbia Records office and continued to wait until evening when the audit finally ended, and Tommy Mottola soon returned.

Sign to confirm.

Then Motura even opened champagne for them.

This time, a little over 2400 million copies were sold in one go. According to the books, Lin Jianlu can get about 1.586 million US dollars in royalties.

Of course, Columbia Records was only the distributor. The sales revenue of these 2400 million records had to be settled with Sony Columbia first before Lin Jianlu could receive the money from Sony Columbia.

Looking at the books, Sony Columbia alone has settled nearly 270 million US dollars—damn, that's all money I made for Zhao Mingxin and his gang! The gross profit is over 100 million US dollars!
Of course, I'm not envious, and I don't feel bad about wasting money!

Even without Zhao Mingxin and Sony Columbia, he would have had to go and persuade another record company, and the money would still have gone to someone else. Zhao Mingxin was very generous in giving a total of 33% in royalties, which was already quite high.

No matter how good your products are, if no one helps you get them into distribution channels, package them, promote them, or sell them, you won't make any money. The album "21" is definitely a model of a three-way collaboration that leads to mutual success.

Without Lin Chien-lu, there would be no "21"; without Sony Columbia Records, there would be no Columbia Records; and without Columbia Records, it's hard to say whether "21" could have achieved its current sales and status!

"Thank you, Tommy! It was a pleasure doing business with you!"

"Yay, great to do business with you! Hey Lin, I heard you don't like parties? If you'd like, I can put together an absolutely lavish party for you tonight!"

"Oh, no, no, thanks! I really don't like parties. I'm a... a bit weird."

"Hahaha! OK!"

…………

"yeah!"

After leaving the Columbia Records building and getting into his car, Lin Jianlu clenched his fist excitedly.

In Motura's office, no matter how happy he was, he would deliberately suppress his emotions, but in fact, he had just received nearly 1.6 million US dollars, and he was absolutely thrilled!

This is definitely the biggest sum of money I've ever earned since I transmigrated!
And then, before the tide rises, this money will turn into Yahoo stock, helping him make even more money—unable to resist, he hugged and kissed Lin Xilei, then looked at Zhang Aijia, well, he hugged and kissed her too, "I'm about to get rich! I'm about to get rich!"

Lin Xilei was overjoyed, "You're not rich enough yet!"

Lin Jianlu waved his hand dismissively, "You don't understand, it's just a few dollars!"

Seeing Lin Jianlu so happy, Zhang Aijia finally seemed to dare to speak up, but it was just a flattering remark. "This is indeed small change. Zieg Schuberman told me that by the end of August, the various licenses for '21' had already sold for nearly 200 million US dollars. According to him, within three years, '21' will not be bundled with any other record. Companies, shopping malls, supermarkets, sports venues, chain restaurants, etc., will have to purchase the broadcasting rights separately. Just this alone means that '21' will earn at least 500 to 800 million US dollars in licensing fees over the next three years! After three years, it will participate in various bundles, and the annual copyright income will be over 100 million, at least tens of millions of US dollars! Columbia's copyright operation capabilities are absolutely professional! Normally, just this one record is enough for A-Lu to live off for a lifetime! And this doesn't even include commercial performances!"

Although everyone's understanding is completely different, what Zhang Aijia said is not entirely wrong.

Well, this is actually a hidden perk of being in the Western music scene.

In the Chinese music scene, the royalties from most singers selling records aren't much, but the income from commercial performances is quite substantial. With hard work and frequent appearances, the earnings can be several times higher than the royalties. However, in the Western music scene, there's an additional layer of copyright management. You can buy a record and listen to it at home without any problem. But in large chain supermarkets like Walmart and large chain restaurants like McDonald's, you can't play the record publicly in their stores because those are commercial settings. Your playing the record can be understood as providing an environmental service to customers, so you have to buy their license.

The price isn't low either!
Walmart, for example, has thousands of supermarkets worldwide, with as many as four or five thousand in North America alone. Every year, it spends at least tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase various music copyrights.

For a top-tier hit album like "21" that has swept the globe, a one-year streaming license would cost several million US dollars—of course, they are deep-pocketed and almost certainly buy it, and for them, with so many stores involved, the cost per store might only be one or two US dollars a day, so it's hard to say how expensive it really is.

So, in the Western music scene, if your album becomes a hit, say selling 200 million copies, then over the entire 20 to 30-year record sales cycle, the royalties you might receive as a singer are only four or five million US dollars. However, the various licensing revenues and the share you receive from the record could very well reach tens of millions of US dollars. The more popular and essential the license, the higher the price and the longer the sales cycle. Otherwise, how did Michael Jackson's "Thriller," which has sold less than 6000 million copies to date, generate nearly 20 billion US dollars in total revenue?

Of course, the percentage of equity that the singer actually receives from this portion of the money is different from that from record sales.

For example, with "21", Lin Jianlu, as the creator and singer, directly received 33%, which is 33% of the record price. However, in terms of copyright management, Columbia Records, as the copyright manager, would take 30% of the management fee first. The remaining 70% would go to Sony Columbia, and Lin Jianlu's income would be 33% of that 70%, so it would be about 23.1%.

If Lin Jianlu sells 500 million licenses over three years, he could probably earn over 100 million US dollars.

If the copyright licensing of "21" can reach about one or two billion US dollars like "Thriller" within a decade or so, then Lin Jianlu could probably get three or four hundred million to four or five hundred million US dollars.

This is exactly the big money that Sylvia Chang was talking about.

Normally speaking, it's true; this one record is enough to live off for a lifetime.

However, Lin Jianlu thought for a moment and said, "No matter how well the records sell, it's still just working for someone else!"

That's why Michael Jackson chose to start his own company, constantly acquiring and accumulating the copyrights of various records over more than a decade, including The Beatles and Elvis Presley. Once he had those copyrights, they could generate huge profits every year, like golden geese laying golden eggs. Of course, according to various legends in later generations, this also seems to be the way he met his demise.

Ha, capitalism, it's ruthless!
…………

The car had barely left Washington when Tommy Mottola called again.

After Zhang Aijia answered the call, she covered the receiver, said something, and then handed the phone to Lin Jianlu. Lin Jianlu took it and heard Tommy Mottola say, "Hey Lin, I just got a call from Mr. Stringer. He wants to see you!"

Lin Jianlu's mind raced. "Mr. Stringer? Is that Mr. Howard Stringer? Is something the matter?"

Howard Stringer is the president of Sony North America and the head of Columbia Records, Columbia Pictures, and CBS.

Logically speaking, he was Lin Jianlu's superior's superior's superior.

Motura agreed, saying, "I don't know, but he just called me and asked to see you. He said he'll be waiting for you in Los Angeles. You can have your agent confirm the time with Mr. Stringer's assistant."

Tommy Mottola sounded a little nervous. He paused for a moment before continuing, "You know, Lin, the situation inside the company is a bit complicated right now. If Mr. Stringer talks to you about company matters, uh... you know, I would be extremely grateful. Lin, we're friends, right?"

Lin Jianlu thought for a moment and replied, "Tommy, you're overthinking it. I don't think I'm qualified to get involved in these things."

"OK! OK! Neutrality is the biggest help you can give me. Thank you, Lin!"

After hanging up the phone and tossing it to Zhang Aijia, Lin Jianlu's thoughts drifted—Howard Stringer wanted to see her? "21" had been on the market for five months, a hit from the moment it hit, and the "Believer" music video's subsequent viral success had also brought it a second wave of popularity almost two months ago. Logically, if she were sensible enough, she should have already taken the initiative to "pay her respects" to this North American president. However, she had previously been reluctant to get involved in Columbia's internal affairs, and since he hadn't offered any suggestions, Lin Jianlu had simply avoided it.

But now, he's taking the initiative to ask to see me?

Could it be due to internal strife within Columbia Records?
…………

Although she wasn't sure why Howard Stringer, the head of Sony North America, suddenly wanted to see her, Lin Jianlu knew that as someone who had worked in the corporate world, she had to show sufficient respect to her superiors. Therefore, she didn't stay in New York for long. She spent the night in New York, spent time with her child, and got up early the next morning to fly directly to Los Angeles.

Then, at 3 p.m. that afternoon, he was led into Howard Stringer’s office and met the head of Sony’s entertainment group.

A typical older white man, looking to be in his early fifties.

He was very friendly, "Hey! Lin, wow, a kung fu kid from the East!"

Lin Jianlu tried his best to appear more respectful. "Mr. Stringer, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The two shook hands and hugged, and then Stringer introduced another older white man next to him, “Dam Walker, who is currently in charge of Columbia Pictures.”

Lin Jianlu immediately understood, so he smiled, shook hands, and said, "Mr. Walker!" Sure enough, the topic of conversation was "The Myth".

In fact, Lin Jianlu had already visited Columbia Pictures more than a month ago. His original intention was to attract some investment from Columbia Pictures. He wasn't after a lot of money; his main goal was to lay the groundwork for the film's distribution in North America and even globally. However, at that time, the production manager at Columbia Pictures displayed typical American arrogance, so they didn't even start talking.

In the past month or so, after scouting locations in mainland China, Tang Jili and Hung Kam-pao flew back to America to film the pilot episode of their American TV series. They also spent time in Hollywood, contacting several film companies, including Columbia Pictures. In business, while Lin Jianlu, the person in charge, can show his displeasure and get angry, those handling the actual negotiations shouldn't be completely estranged. Having more potential partners provides more leverage in negotiations. Tang Jili and Hung Kam-pao, being seasoned veterans, naturally understood this.

Of course, Columbia Pictures is no longer the first choice.

Dam Walker was very enthusiastic, not only apologizing for his previous neglect of Lin Jianlu when he came in person, but also expressing that he personally thought highly of the movie "The Myth" and wanted to be involved in it.

He also talked at length about how amazing the talent of the "Believer" music video was, showcasing Lin Jianlu's incredible perception of images and communication, and stated that Columbia Pictures has been working hard to increase its investment in Chinese films and Chinese filmmakers in recent years, and so on.

But Lin Jianlu just hummed and hawed, not really willing to engage.

Howard Stringer finally spoke up, "Hey Lin! You know, you and Columbia have the closest alliance, and we hope to maintain that closeness in film as well."

Lin Jianlu then laughed and replied, "Okay, Mr. Stringer, I will have a good talk with my partners when I get back. If possible, I would be happy to facilitate the cooperation with Columbia Pictures."

They could be considered to have had a pleasant conversation.

But in reality, Lin Jianlu didn't make any promises whatsoever.

Let's talk it over first—we still have to give Howard Stringer face, after all, he's the de facto owner of the world's largest media conglomerate, and I have significant interests in Columbia Records. But I won't give him too much face. Now that they're coming to me, I'll have to take a cut.

On the way back, Lin Jianlu asked Zhang Aijia, "How about you take charge of negotiating with them about 'The Myth'?"

The incident happened so suddenly that Sylvia Chang was taken aback for a moment, then pointed to herself and asked, "Me? Talking about 'The Myth'?"

Lin Jianlu nodded.

She paused again, opened her mouth several times, but couldn't say a word for a long time. After a while, she looked at Lin Jianlu with teary eyes. Lin Jianlu finally couldn't hold back, raised her hand to touch her face, and handed her a tissue. But she didn't take it. Instead, she held Lin Jianlu's hands in her own and pressed them tightly against her face, letting the tears slide down her cheeks.

"This time you've truly forgiven me, haven't you?"

That was a very emotional question.

This made Lin Jianlu feel a little emotional, so she smiled at her and nodded.

While shedding tears, Zhang Aijia couldn't help but laugh at the same time.

She is a very thoughtful person, a singer, actress, screenwriter, director and many other talents, and has achieved considerable success in almost every one of them. If we're talking about literary youth, she is definitely at the top of the list. How could she not be thoughtful! Even though she is trapped in love and adoration, she has always been very clear that she is being abandoned by Lin Jianlu. Therefore, recently, she has been carefully handling her relationship with Lin Jianlu—pleading, showing weakness, giving in, and letting him do as he pleases, etc.

In fact, this involves extremely important and significant interests, even for Sylvia Chang. It's a matter of tens of millions of US dollars, a sum she had never earned in the past forty years. Naturally, she was extremely conflicted. At worst, she could break off relations and even if she couldn't continue as an agent, she could still receive the contributions she had made and the commission she was entitled to during the contract period—at least tens of millions of US dollars. With that money, even if she broke off relations and retired, she would still be a very wealthy woman.

It's important to understand that she's more than just an artsy young woman. Over the years, she's matured in the ways of the world and gained considerable experience. She's long been a seasoned businesswoman and a powerful figure in the business world, possessing all the necessary shrewdness and calculating nature.

But in the end, her artistic side prevailed.

Outsiders might find it hard to understand, but she knew very well that compared to money, she longed for the opportunity to stay by Lin Jianlu's side and work for him—that heartfelt admiration and love for a man, that feeling of having the opportunity to serve a "god" and follow this "god" to create miracles and conquer the world, was something that money simply could not replace for her.

"Thank you! Ah Lu! I...I love you, really! I'd die for you!"

Lin Jianlu laughed and reached out to wipe away her tears. "Stop with the nonsense, it's like you're about to be sacrificed!"—She suddenly pounced on Lin Jianlu and hugged her tightly.

Lin Jianlu patted her on the back, "Alright, let's call that matter over today. Let's turn the page completely. You, don't be my agent anymore. Isn't it popular to have a manager here in America? You can be my manager, or rather, my personal assistant, and help me manage all sorts of messy things."

"I will settle the royalties for '21' with you and Lao Ge according to the old contract. But from now on, Lao Ge will only act as my agent in Hong Kong and Taiwan. I will give her 5% of the revenue from Mandarin records, commercial performances in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and advertising endorsements. The contract will be renewed for five years. You will represent me to talk to her."

"As for yourself, you'll be my manager and personal assistant, essentially my... butler. From now on, you'll receive 2% of my royalties, commercial performances, and endorsements from Europe and America."

"OK?"

Zhang Aijia looked up, wiped away her tears, and nodded. "Thank you, Alu!"

She paused, then said, "I... I really want to say that I just want to be by your side. I'm willing to do anything for you, and it has nothing to do with money anymore. It's just because I want to, because I love you! But... thank you for your affirmation! 2% is more than enough!"

Lin Jianlu smiled and hugged her again.

"Once you're done with this busy period, go back and take care of everything that needs to be done."

"it is good!"

…………

In early October, Lin Jianlu received the largest denomination check she had ever received since her time travel in New York.

Up to 1.586 million US dollars.

But he quickly squandered the money.

Good news! Just as Yahoo's stock price was about to reach a total market capitalization of over 30 billion US dollars, it experienced a drop. This was likely because many people who had made profits couldn't hold on and cashed out. As a result, he managed to buy back 60 Yahoo shares at an average price of 105 US dollars per share.

Including transaction fees, it cost a whopping $6400 million!

However, with this acquisition of 60 shares, his total shareholding has reached 226 million shares, accounting for approximately 8.1% of the company. This makes him Yahoo's second-largest individual shareholder after Jerry Yang himself!

But there was also bad news. In just a few days, the Thai baht rebounded again. By the time he received the money and went to his private manager at HSBC to settle the loan, the exchange rate of the Thai baht to the US dollar was no longer at its lowest point of only 51% of the rate at the end of June, but had rebounded to about 48%. This alone forced Lin Jianlu to pay an extra 250 million US dollars!

So I was heartbroken!
Ultimately, the total amount of 4472 million US dollars, plus interest, handling fees, penalties, etc., amounted to less than 290 million US dollars, totaling 4760 million US dollars, which allowed him to completely repay the Thai baht loan he had previously obtained from HSBC, which was equivalent to 8600 million US dollars.

The longest loan he ever took was about ten months, and the shortest was only three or four months. Despite the huge drop in the exchange rate, he still made a total of about 3800 million US dollars.

Once the loan is repaid, the profit of 3800 million US dollars is finally secured.

After all, although he knew about the Southeast Asian financial crisis and that the Thai baht was likely to fall, and he had already taken action, he really couldn't know whether the baht would continue to fall, or gradually stop falling and stabilize, or even rebound, and how long the entire Southeast Asian financial crisis would last. For him, taking profits when he could was the best ending.

Moreover, after all, it's already a huge profit of 3800 million US dollars in less than a year. As an outsider, he has already gotten a share of the profits from the events he foresaw. What more could he ask for?

In fact, when he first secured the 50 million US dollar equivalent in Thai baht loan, his personal wealth was only 10 to 20 million US dollars. He obtained the loan entirely by mortgaging his future income for many years in advance, and thus managed to enter the market before the financial crisis hit and get a piece of the pie.

Absolutely getting something for nothing!

I'm already very content.

This is because he succeeded in the Western music scene, and achieved unprecedented success. So, the figure of 3800 million US dollars doesn't seem too big or too scary. If he had only worked in the Chinese music scene, even if he became very famous, 3800 million US dollars would have been enough for him to earn for quite some time.

So... well, working in finance is truly maddening!

If you guess right, making money is fucking fast! It's fucking insane!

Absolutely exorbitant profits!
Because almost every single cent of this is stained with blood—Thailand's years of accumulated wealth have been wiped out in one fell swoop, essentially returning them to what they were twenty or thirty years ago overnight!
Oh, right, we should also observe a moment of silence for Andy Lau!

Then, in addition to paying off his loan and buying Yahoo, Lin Jianlu made his third major expense.

It was also an investment, and also a stock—although Amazon's stock price increase was far less than Yahoo's, he still spent about 3300 million US dollars to buy 100 million shares of Amazon stock, increasing his total holdings to 140 million shares, instantly becoming a major shareholder with a 7% stake.

By this point, approximately 1.45 million US dollars have already been spent.

He soon had only about 1300 million US dollars left in hand—and next, he still had to pay 1586 million US dollars to the agents of Ge Fuhong and Zhang Aijia.

He suddenly found himself back in debt.

Fortunately, Zhang Aijia, while stranded in Los Angeles, quickly finalized negotiations with Columbia Pictures for "The Myth" at a speed far exceeding that of the salary negotiations for "The Matrix," managing to cut her losses moderately.

Columbia Pictures invested $500 million for a 25% stake in "The Myth" and secured global distribution rights excluding Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and mainland China.

The total investment for the film "The Myth" reached approximately 2000 million US dollars, which is considered a medium investment in Hollywood. For Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China, it was an unprecedented super investment. Therefore, Lin Jianlu decided to raise his actor's salary for "The Myth" to 500 million US dollars to make up for the losses caused by the recent huge investment.

Compared to the 1500 million he received for "The Matrix," this was already a huge concession, so there was no need to worry about anyone having objections. Without outside investment, he could act in his own production and just take a small salary. The key was that once the film made money at the box office, he could get back most of his investment. But now, with the large-scale participation of external funds, he could no longer do that.

Whether the movie makes a profit or a loss, the actor's salary will still be increased.

Moreover, it's only 500 million US dollars. He's an international superstar, a global pop icon, so he's worth at least that much.

(End of this chapter)