Others do not know the power of computers and the Internet. Even those in China and abroad who are now in contact with, or even heavily using, computers and the Internet, probably have only a rough optimistic estimate of the potential for future development of this new thing. But Li Qian is well aware of it.

  So, knowing that the record industry will be severely impacted by the rise of the internet in the future and that the golden age of the record industry only has eight to ten years left, is it still necessary to go through great pains to build one's own record distribution network?

  In Li Qian's view, if it can be built, then that would be great. Even if it just makes a few more bucks before the internet piracy wave arrives, it will definitely be a big harvest. But the problem is, building an online platform isn't something that can be easily done by just saying so.

  Production, distribution and consumption are like an eternal triangle, three feet standing together, naturally stable.

  But why are there so many record companies in the country that have independent release capabilities, and at most only about ten? And those with independent production capabilities are even fewer, only four or five.

  Production is still okay. Temporarily speaking, the vast majority of domestic record companies do not have their own production lines at present. In fact, professional-level CD production lines and cassette tape production lines are not something that small and medium-sized record companies can afford to play with. Therefore, although having one's own production system is extremely important for a record company's long-term development, the actual cost required for production is not too high even if it is outsourced to other companies.

  Especially for CDs, it is said that in order to promote the technology and standards of CDs, the production lines of companies such as Sony, which currently have CD replication capabilities in China, are operating at cost, and the costs required for production are not much higher than those of cassette tapes.

  So for the vast majority of small and medium-sized record companies, what is actually most vulnerable to being controlled by others is also the biggest bottleneck for small and medium-sized record companies to develop and grow. That is, the ability to promote and publicize.

  The ability to issue is of paramount importance for a company that produces cultural and artistic products, and it's hard to overemphasize its significance. It can even be said that the ability to issue is the lifeline.

  In that era, top director and producer Steven Spielberg, top film producer and animation film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, and top musician and producer David Geffen. These three people once jointly established DreamWorks Pictures, with the strength and connections of the three founders, it can be said that whether it's live-action films or animated films, they have already been able to produce high-quality films without relying on anyone else. In fact, during the years when DreamWorks existed, the company's productions were indeed known for their high quality.

  But this company, which dreamed of becoming the seventh-largest film studio in Hollywood, ultimately existed for only a decade or so before folding under the pressure from the Big Six studios.

  The quality of their films is generally very high, and even the box office is generally very good, but they went bankrupt.

  Because from start to finish, they were unable to establish their own distribution channels.

  The distribution channel is controlled by others, so no matter how good the box office of the film is, the real profit will still fall into the hands of the distribution company. Once the box office loses money, they have to face losses. How can this be sustained in the long run?

  It's like this for the film industry, and it's the same for the record industry.

  Sony, EMI and Polygram. Why are they considered the three giants of the record industry? It's not just because they have the most popular singers under their labels, but to a greater extent, it's because they have the powerful ability to make money from selling records of average quality.

  An album, at a mid-sized record company with independent distribution capabilities, may only sell 300,000 copies, but the same album given to Sony for release could potentially sell 500,000 copies or more.

  It was also because of this that when Xie Mingyuan learned that Liao Liao's contract was about to expire, he had met with Liao Liao several times and mentioned more than once that if they handed over an album like "Tao Sheng Yi Jiou" to Sony, Sony could guarantee sales of over 10 million copies! But at Changsheng Records, they could sell at most 8 million copies. Can it break 10 million? Maybe yes, maybe no, that depends on luck! —— This is the power of issuing.

  Moreover, for Changsheng Records, being able to sell Liao Liang's album over 8 million copies is not something to be proud of. When a singer reaches the level of Liao Liang, even if their distribution ability is not good, many distributors will proactively come to them asking for goods. As long as they have a certain foundation in channels, then by leveraging Liao Liang's album, they can even expand their own distribution channels - at this point, it's the opposite, and that's the charm of being a superstar.

  So, going back to the topic, if Li Jian's studio signs Liao Liao as its first signed singer, can't the studio release music by itself with Liao Liao's superstar advantage?

  Don't be kidding!

  Spielberg's appeal and influence on film is far greater than Liao's influence on records, and from the perspective of DreamWorks' three giants, wouldn't they want to build their own distribution network? But what was the final result? ——After being established for only a short decade or so, DreamWorks died in distribution.

  So for the issue of building his own distribution network, Li Qian is still inclined to be conservative.

  Moreover, the most crucial thing is that he clearly knows that he is not good at this. After all, he can be a qualified musician, a qualified singer, a qualified actor, and possibly a qualified director in the future, but he himself knows that he is not a qualified businessman.

  So in his mind, although a small portion of the profit will be taken away by others, but first and foremost, let's focus on steadily earning as much money as possible, because what matters most is doing well in the industry he likes.

  But at this time, after listening to her words, Wang Jinglu couldn't help but interrupt and ask: "Release... is that the same as sales, right? Is it just making an album and then sending it to audio-visual stores one by one?"

  Li Qian smiled and nodded, "What you said is absolutely right. At first glance, it seems simple, but this simple thing involves the whole country, every province, and every city, there will definitely be major distributors in each place. Even if we don't have to run from store to store for distribution, it's still a very difficult task."

  He paused for a moment and continued: "Actually, the principle is almost the same. Records and albums are also commodities, and all commodities face the same problem - difficulty in sales!"

  Liao Liao nodded and said, "You may have also heard that Old Chen doesn't really understand music, but he founded Changsheng Records. It has been developing and growing all the way to now, mainly because back then he was just selling this, so he is very clear about the rules of this industry."

  "With him around, Chang Sheng Records may not be a big company, but from the start, it had its own distribution channels. So even if sales were low, albums that might have lost money for other companies without such channels could still turn a profit just by selling albums at Chang Sheng Records. My two albums, in particular, made Old Chen a lot of money. In fact, I've always thought this was the main reason why Chang Sheng Records' business kept growing despite Old Chen not understanding music and the company's limited musical standards."

  "Hmm." Li Qian nodded, smiling helplessly: "This is the problem, only musicians can't actually make good music. On the other hand, pure businessmen are better at producing big hits."

  He paused for a moment, then said: "Or maybe I should say that good music doesn't necessarily make money. Bad music doesn't necessarily not make money. And when it comes to making money, businessmen are definitely better at it than musicians!"

  The conversation seems to have reached a deadlock here, and the atmosphere suddenly becomes somewhat dull.

  In fact, it's not hard to understand that even if Liao Liao said so. Three years later, strive to make the studio work so well that others will wave checks to compete for agency rights. However, in everyone's conversation earlier, we have already delved into the entire popular music industry and highlighted the importance of issuance. Even outsiders like Wang Jinglu have come to realize that even if the studio's music is made extremely well, there is still a sense of "making wedding clothes for others". In the end, the right to issue will eventually be handed over to someone else to do.

  Thinking about it this way suddenly gives people a rather depressed feeling.

  But unfortunately, nobody has a good solution to this problem.

  But at this time, Qi Jie, who had been silent from head to toe, suddenly spoke up: "Building a network may be difficult, but I think it's still worth trying to do it ourselves?"

  Everyone was stunned by her words and turned their heads to look at her.

  Qijie was taken aback for a moment, then quickly waved her hand and said: "My point is, you see, I do music, definitely not okay, doing music has you Li Qian, and Liao Liao, both of you are insiders. But if I do management, administrative work? Is it just being responsible for managing a few secretaries and janitors every day?"

  "If it were that easy to make so much money, I'd feel a bit embarrassed. Like now, I'm Li Qian's agent, but from start to finish, I think I haven't done anything at all. But when the royalties for Liao Liao's "Tao Sheng Yi Jiou" are settled, I estimate I'll have tens of millions in my account! And that's just half a year's work!"

  "So... I just overheard you guys talking, and since you all think being a distributor is too much trouble, well, I don't think so. I've done sales before, I know what it's like, so... how about I give it a try?"

  Everyone was shocked and stared at her upon hearing this.

  Li Qian smiled and knew that Qi Jie might just be acting on impulse, wanting to help herself and Liao Liao out of trouble, but at this time, it was not good to directly dampen her enthusiasm. So he encouraged her with a smile: "If you're really not bothered, then when the framework of the workshop is set up later, you'll have time too, just try doing some experiments."

  Zijie heard this and nodded seriously.

  …………

  They chatted idly, and before they knew it, it was already noon. Liao Liao wanted to treat them, after all, it was her first meeting with Wang Jinglu. So they set off in two cars to find a restaurant for a big meal. After lunch, Li Qian drove Wang Jinglu away, heading to the neighborhood of his rental house, where he found a large supermarket and went on a shopping spree for back-to-school essentials.

  It's worth noting that in two days' time, on September 1st, he and Wang Jinglu will officially start their university life.

  Maybe it will be busy later, but at least in the next two days, it must be a world that belongs to him and Wang Jingluo, because after entering school, many things can't help but be out of control again.

  …………

  After dinner, on the way back home while driving, Qijie made a phone call to the deputy general manager in charge of contacting and discussing cooperation with Huage Records, and relayed Li Qian's words.

  And just as she hung up the phone, Liao Liao couldn't help but ask: "Earlier before dinner you said you were going to do something about releasing a network, were you serious?"

  Qī Jié nodded, "Ah! Of course it's true!"

  Liao Liao stared at her for a moment, then advised: "You also saw that even Li Qian couldn't do anything about this matter. He promised you to let you try, probably just because he didn't want to discourage your enthusiasm. This thing isn't something that can be easily done well. I advise you, it's better to give up. It's really not that easy!"

  Qijie heard the words but just smiled, raised her hand to tuck away a strand of hair, and calmly said: "I just want to try, see if I can do something helpful for you and him."

  She paused for a moment, ignoring Liao's astonished gaze, and calmly said: "You and he are both busy making music. These things belong to business people, of course, you don't want to lower yourselves to do them. So, let me try! As you said, three years. In three years' time, you will make the studio's name in the music industry thoroughly known. In three years' time, even if it's just one county town, I'll build a distribution and sales network for you!"

  She spoke calmly and smiled peacefully, but Liao Liao was stunned by her words for a moment, only to let out a helpless sigh.

  "Fine, have it your way, but don't come crying to me when you really get into trouble!"

  And in response to her, he still gave a calm and peaceful smile.

  After a moment, she said in a very small voice, almost whispering: "Making good music is what you have to do, taking care of everything else except music for you is what I have to do."

  ***

  This is an extra chapter for Alliance Leader "Sumandala"!

  Then, um, it's been a long time since I asked for votes, and the month is ending, so let me ask for monthly votes! Next, I will adjust my state and strive to write as much as possible.