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

"Old Ding, your student has really made something of himself."

"They actually dared to play blind bidding with these SPs."

Ding Ruru's hand holding the teacup trembled slightly. "Secret bidding? Let me see it."

With trembling hands, he opened the rules issued by Xianming Studio, thinking, "Don't let our fellow universities mess things up."

"Hiss~~"

He slowly inhaled a breath of cold air, leaning back in his chair. "This kid... he really dares to flip the table."

……

SkyNet Ringback Tone Division.

The marketing director practically sprinted into Mr. Chen's office, "Mr. Chen... Mr. Chen."

"Great news, another song has gone viral online."

Old Chen immediately took it and saw the source post of "Chasing Hot Topics".

A short 30-second music video and song started playing.

The content is very catchy.

More importantly, it has already become popular and has a mass appeal.

"Okay, okay!! Quick, call the number in the post and ask."

"Beep~ Beep~"

"Beep~ Beep~"

I made three calls in a row, and all of them were busy.

Old Chen was puzzled. "These students' songs have become hits, why aren't they worried at all? That's strange."

"Don't they all just go straight to the record company to negotiate a price after they become famous?"

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen, the other party's forum has updated its description."

The marketing director refreshed the page and reported.

"The studio is in seclusion to prepare for the Super Girl competition. All collaborations should be sent via email or fax. Visits to the studio are not permitted."

Photo caption: A landline phone with its line disconnected, and a security guard at the entrance of the Central Academy of Drama.

Old Chen looked at the arrogant picture and laughed: "Super Girl? Interesting... Send a formal letter of introduction, follow the rules."

In the studio of Senmei.

"This one passes, and this one passes too."

"Boss, are you even going to look at this?" Jiang Yilei asked, puzzled.

Wang Song was straightforward.

"Companies that can't even afford to register a corporate email address don't deserve to attend this conference."

"Who's in favor? Who's opposed?"

Everyone was stunned by this statement, the boss's extremely high threshold.

Suddenly, the old fax machine that had been specially rented in the corner...

An A4 sheet of paper is slowly swallowed into the machine's inlet and then spat out bit by bit at the outlet.

Jiang Yilei was the first to react and rushed over in a few steps.

She quickly glanced at the header:

"Boss...it's...it's SkyNet! They sent a formal letter of contact, with their official seal!"

My spirits immediately dampened when I read the main text.

"I need the complete audio source, copyright registration, team introduction, past cases... Uh! That's a long list."

Kongzhong's letter of inquiry was like a starting gun firing the first shot.

Contact letters poured in like snowflakes from mobile phones, QQ, Sina, Tom Online, and other online communication platforms.

Wang Song looked at the exquisite yet monotonous letters and smiled disdainfully.

"This is the standard procedure."

"Our energy will be completely wasted on filling out forms and waiting."

"Either they'll be evaluated and pressured to lower the price, or they'll be bought up at a low price by middlemen."

Jiang Yilei looked at the stack of letters: "So what do we do? Stop playing with them?"

"Let's play," Wang Song grinned. "He can do his thing, I'll do mine."

"Listen carefully, I will only teach you once."

"Vice President Jiang, draft the order: Create a new folder!!"

Jiang Yilei subconsciously sat up straight and placed his hands on the keyboard.

Wang Song held up one finger, "Put all four public service announcements, two certificates of merit, and the song copyright application receipt in there."

"Name it Appendix 1: Studio Qualifications and Endorsements".

Ma Xiaojun asked, puzzled, "Boss, what's this? Writing a resume?"

"A resume?" Wang Song smiled. "That's the prestige."

He held up his second finger, "Build one more."

"Select two songs from the students, along with three songs by Senior Sister Yao, two songs that are popular on the forum."

"The three unfinished songs 'Seeking Buddha' that were produced later."

Wang Song spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Put them all in."

Liu Jianjun suddenly looked up: "Ten...ten poems?"

"Yes, ten poems." Wang Song nodded.

"Please include this as Appendix 2: List of Works and Proof of Production Capacity."

"Uh," Yao Beina whispered a reminder.

"There isn't even a demo for 'The Wind Rises'."

"Then just give me the song title," Wang Song quickly decided.

"This entry is marked as a Super Girl contestant and an S+ level reserve project. It is not available for listening at this time."

Chen Shu asked timidly, "Boss, what's this? You've compromised?"

"This looks exactly like information submitted based on the other party's letter of contact."

"Compromise?" Wang Song scoffed.

"Our two songs became hits, and we were lucky. We were able to be targeted by price comparisons, price gouging, and delays because we only had these two cards to play."

"But ten songs make a band."

"A regular army with national medals and Super Girl numbers."

"Can the treatment be the same during negotiations?"

Everyone opened their mouths, as if to say something, but then swallowed their words back.

Jiang Yilei's fingers hovered over the keyboard for a long while before he asked, "So... how exactly do we play? Should we talk to a few key ones separately?"

"Talk?" Wang Song scoffed.

"One-on-one talks give them the opportunity to communicate with each other and jointly lower prices."

Wang Song leaned over and looked at the screen: "Draft an email. The subject will be 'Immortal Name Content Cooperation Description and Bidding Invitation'."

"Let's put all our possessions on the auction table."

"What? An auction?" Ma Xiaojun's mouth formed an "O" shape.

"Blind bidding, sealed bids."

Jiang Yilei's hand trembled: "Sealed bidding? Playing sealed bidding with giants like SkyNet and Tencent?"

"Will they even bother with us? Won't they think we're being arrogant and just delete the email?"

"It's their loss if they delete it," Wang Song said calmly.

"The quotation must include three key indicators: the revenue sharing ratio, the amount of the prepayment, and the profit sharing ratio."

Wang Song emphasized, "Most importantly, a detailed list of promotional resources."

"What do you mean by 'specific'?" Chang Sisi asked in a low voice.

"You can't just make empty promises." Wang Song looked at her.

"How many days will the song appear on the carrier's homepage? Are there any SMS push notification channels? How extensive are these channels?"

Zhang Zhen was stunned, muttering, "This is a tender..."

"Yes, it's a bidding process." Wang Song nodded.

"But it's not over yet." He walked back to the table and placed his hands on the edge of it.

"Finally, and most importantly:"

"The right to attribution must belong to us."

"They only have the authorization to use the ringback tone channel."

"This one."

"No, we can't talk about it."

Li Ran couldn't help but blurt out the essence of Chinese culture.

Many songs by senior students became hits, but their names disappeared from the production team credits.

It's so hard.

Zhou Tao stood up abruptly: "Boss... do you know how many people this will offend?"

"I know," Wang Song said, looking at him.

"If you don't offend them, you'll offend your own people."

He pointed to a few people in the music group.

"Your songs, your arrangements, your voices—why is it that after they become popular, the names belong to someone else?"

Yao Beina closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I agree."

"I agree too!" Chang Sisi suddenly stood up, her face flushed red.

"That scammer even wanted to buy out my song for 30,000 yuan... It's our song, the title should belong to us!"

Zhang Zhen nodded emphatically.

Jiang Yilei stared at the screen, his finger finally falling to the screen: "Boss, is there any more?"

Wang Song thought for a moment: "The deadline is three days. No exceptions will be made after that."

He paused, then added:

"Finally, I'd like to add that the studio has established contact with the school's guidance center and law firms, and the procedures are in compliance with regulations."

Jiang Yilei quickly typed, "Who should I send it to?"

Wang Song walked back to the screen and carefully selected twenty-five companies.

That's all.

"hair."

Jiang Yilei couldn't help but worry: "What if they don't follow our rules and all of them withdraw?"

"Fine, I'll quit then." Wang Song shrugged.

"We're students, the worst outcome is just packing up and going back to school."

"We'll save the song for next year's Super Girl competition. Whether it becomes a hit or not, we'll see then."

Wang Song looked at the still dumbfounded expressions on everyone's faces.

"Don't worry, the ringback tone market is desperately short of good songs. They're even more eager to meet their KPIs than we are."

He added with a smile, "Don't worry, even if the negotiations fall apart, we still have time to study for our final exams, so it's not a complete loss."

"Boss! You're still bringing up exams at a time like this!" Jiang Yilei complained without turning his head.

A burst of laughter erupted from the bungalow, dissipating much of the tense atmosphere.

Wang Song knew.

This move was a bit risky, but rather than being led by the nose by industry rules, it's better to overturn the table and start over.

There was nothing to lose.

Why not take a gamble?

It's 9 PM in the Senmei Studio.

Jiang Yilei walked over and handed him a cup of hot water.

"Boss, do you think... anyone will follow our rules?"

"I don't know, but the table's already been flipped, so now we just have to wait and see."

"Boss, why are your hands shaking?"

"It was scalded by hot water."