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

Beijing at the end of June.

"It's so hot! It's so hot! Why hasn't the air conditioner repairman come yet?"

Ma Xiaojun squatted on the ground, sweat dripping down his face, soaking the back of his T-shirt.

"Ms. Zhang, a Luoyang shovel and a tomb raiding talisman."

Liu Jianjun squatted opposite him, holding an unsealed cardboard box in his arms, also covered in sweat.

"One corpse beetle, one knife, buddy. Do you have any more?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll find it for you in a bit." Ma Xiaojun wiped his sweat and continued rummaging through the pile of samples at his feet.

All the props were accidentally knocked over and mixed up yesterday, so it's impossible to tell them apart.

"Why did this stupid air conditioner have to break down today of all times!"

Jiang Yilei passed by and saw a small mountain of cardboard boxes and several people sweating profusely.

He then walked away silently.

"Vice President Jiang! Don't go!" Ma Xiaojun shouted, "Please help me!"

"I'm busy!" Jiang Yilei said without turning his head. "Someone with good connections will be here soon!"

Ma Xiaojun let out a wail and continued searching.

Just then, two people entered through the door.

Leading the group was the resourceful General Manager Zhao, followed by a young man carrying a briefcase, presumably the legal counsel.

As soon as Mr. Zhao stepped into the bungalow, he was greeted by a wave of heat.

In addition, there were cardboard boxes scattered all over the ground and several young people squatting on the ground, covered in sweat.

He paused for a moment, then laughed: "It's quite lively."

Jiang Yilei quickly went to greet him: "President Zhao is here. The boss is inside taking a call. Please have a seat."

Mr. Zhao waved his hand, not in a hurry to sit down, and asked, "What did they send out?"

Ma Xiaojun didn't even look up: "It's just some novel merchandise sold to fans, nothing special."

Wang Song hung up the phone and walked over: "Mr. Zhao, sorry to keep you waiting. Is it all cleaned up?"

Mr. Zhao gave a wry smile: "From now on, users will need to confirm three times before they can subscribe to ringback tones."

"At least, they're still alive. This place is more lively than I imagined."

Wang Song nodded: "There's no other way. It's a student-run business, the place is small, there are many people, and the air conditioner is broken."

Mr. Zhao laughed and took the contract from the legal representative: "Let's not talk about that, let's get down to business."

"We've exclusively licensed the service to our company, with a 60/40 split, you get 60%, and we'll settle accounts monthly plus 15 days of referral slots."

Wang Song took it, didn't read the terms, and flipped directly to the page about the profit sharing ratio.

"For non-exclusive licensing, the revenue split is 40/60, with us receiving 40%. The contract is signed monthly, and we get a featured spot on the homepage for 7 days."

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Zhao said, "Homepage pinning and special feature recommendations are reserved for our exclusive partners."

Wang Song didn't reply, but pulled a document out of the drawer and pushed it over.

The draft contract from Tudou.com clearly states that it is not exclusive and the revenue will be split 30/70.

The homepage recommendation slot will be used at least three days a week.

Mr. Zhao glanced at it, and his smile froze.

"...Mr. Wang, Tudou.com is a video website, it has nothing to do with our ringtones, you can't use that to pressure me."

"No pressure." Wang Song pushed both contracts back.

"Considering you're old friends, we'll offer other SPs a 50/50 split for non-exclusive content."

Wang Song leaned back in his chair. "The 720,000 yuan we froze has been credited to Kongzhong's account."

"Is the arrival of this skilled individual a timely help, or merely icing on the cake?"

Mr. Zhao stopped smiling and gave Wang Song a serious look.

The sound of tearing tape, the shouts of delivery workers, and the clatter of keyboards are all quite nice, full of vitality.

He finally nodded: "Okay, not exclusive. I'll give you a featured spot on the homepage for 15 days, monthly payment and contract."

"but"

He paused, then changed the subject: "All new songs must be given a week's notice."

Wang Song extended his hand: "It's a pleasure doing business with you."

He turned around and said, "Li Ran, Zhou Tao, bring the CDs of 'Bubble' and 'The One I Miss' to General Manager Zhao."

Then he looked at Zhao Lan and said, "Sister Lan, come over and coordinate with their legal department to finalize the contract."

Zhao Lan looked up from a pile of documents, her face filled with despair: "Boss, I haven't finished reading the contracts with Tudou, 56.com, and Youku yet..."

"Then let's look at them together," Wang Song smiled. "Today's a good day, let's sign a few more deals."

Seeing this, General Manager Zhao smiled and shook his head. "How about this, we'll go back and draft the contract before sending it over."

"It's really too hot here."

Wang Song saw him to the door: "Take care, come back when it's cooler."

Zhao Lan called out, "Boss! These terms are too vague."

"We found the guy ourselves and split the profits 60/40, while they offered us 30/70, with no restrictions whatsoever."

"If any supplier you hire has quality issues, it should be clearly stated whose fault it is."

Wang Song rubbed his temples. "Sister Lan, do you have any unemployed senior students? Let's recruit a couple more."

Zhao Lan thought for a moment, then looked at Luo Dan, who was equally busy: "Let me ask, what about the finance department?"

"Confess, confess everything."

Wang Song glanced at Ma Xiaojun, who was almost buried in packages, and rolled up his sleeves: "Let's get it done together and send it out as soon as possible."

Just then, the light at the doorway was partially blocked by a slender figure.

Wang Song put down the package and stepped forward to greet him:

"Miss Jing, please have a seat. The air conditioning is broken, so it might be a bit hot."

Jing Tian greeted everyone warmly with a smile: "It's alright, we brought some fruit and milk tea, everyone please have a taste."

The noise inside the room stopped instantly.

Ma Xiaojun subconsciously stopped his banter with Liu Jianjun, nodded to Jing Tian at the door, and said thank you.

Jiang Yilei also stood up and nodded politely: "Miss Jing, good afternoon. I apologize for the poor hospitality; I've been quite busy."

"The storyboard for the script is already being drawn, and nobody's going back home for summer vacation."

Jing Tian was somewhat at a loss.

As usual, she came carrying some things.

Ma Xiaojun was always the first to greet him, saying, "You're here, why did you bring anything?"

Then he quickly grabbed it and started showing off, even while eating incoherently, he still argued with Liu Jianjun. He was shameless and ate his fill.

Wang Song walked over and led her aside: "Let them keep busy, we have a lot of orders these days."

Jing Tian nodded, followed him to the corner, and sat down.

Wang Song smiled and said, "If all goes well, filming can start in August. Is there a suitable timeframe?"

"I remember you're about to be a senior in high school, right? How about it, do you want to apply to the Central Academy of Drama next year? I'm an admissions ambassador for the Central Academy of Drama."

Jing Tian smiled broadly, "I'm available!! Um... Sister Lin was talking about what happened before..."

Wang Song waved his hand to interrupt.

Perhaps it was too hot, or perhaps she was uncomfortable sitting there, so Jing Tian left quickly.

Wang Song clapped his hands, "Why are you all giving that young girl such a hard time?"

Ma Xiaojun scratched his head. "I...I don't know either. Actually, I didn't want to, it's just..."

"It's because they are all students, and students are the group that hates evil the most, especially college students," Sister Lin explained.

Jing Tian gave a wry smile. "They're probably still blaming us for not helping them."

"But... but why hasn't Wang Song changed much? He shouldn't be any different..." Jing Tian couldn't understand.

"You'll understand when you grow up," was the only comforting thing Sister Lin could say.

She didn't say it aloud, because the current alienation wouldn't affect his course.

Just as he never responded to any comments from mainstream media on the internet, he was too calm.

"What? 'Special Forces Pioneer' isn't for sale?? You don't even want it for 50,000 yuan?" Wang Song cursed.

"The original author is... quite artistically inclined, so if we're going to adapt it, we can't touch his original work," Liu Jianjun said weakly.

"What artistic pursuits do you have? Here's a limit of 150,000, let's explore further."

"And you, Ma Xiaojun, go talk to Tianxia Bachang about the film and television adaptation rights. You probably won't be able to get the full copyright."

Ma Xiaojun thought for a moment, "How about I wait until the payment comes back and then make the trip directly?"

Wang Song nodded, "Okay, let him keep it for himself. If he wants to sell it, he should give us priority."

Outside of the small bungalows, this major overhaul of the ringback tone industry has completely turned the market upside down.

Thousands of non-compliant small and medium-sized service providers (SPs) were shut down, and the forums were full of posts from people who had nowhere to turn for help.

The record companies that once banded together have long since scattered and broken up.

In the process of shifting blame, everyone ultimately chooses to mind their own business and try to clean up their own mess.

Everyone thought that this siege against Xianming would eventually end with the collapse of the record company.

Unbeknownst to anyone, in a top-floor office in the Beijing International Trade Center, Zhang Yuan of Taihe Wheatfield was holding a red-headed document that had just been sent from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

The short, tall guy opposite Zhang Yuan was holding a teacup.

He looked at the words "Agreed to prepare for the establishment of the Huaxia Audio-Visual Copyright Collective Management Association" on the document.

He smiled with satisfaction.

The internal strife, blame-shifting, and chaos of the past two weeks vanished in the face of this official approval.