Rebirth of the courtyard, the start is 80s

After listening to Cao Zhiqiang's words, Yamamoto Tokugen immediately squinted his eyes, as if he was more interested in the Chinese market.

"Cao Sang!" Tokugen Yamamoto laughed suddenly, "You mean, when you come to Japan this time, you still want to introduce an audio tape production line and produce audio tapes yourself?"

"That's right." Cao Zhiqiang nodded with a serious face.

"So, there is a shortage of audio tapes in your country?" Yamamoto Tokugen asked again, "Can't you produce them yourself?"

"That's not true." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head.

"We can also produce audio tapes in our country, but the technology must be a little bit worse, especially the production efficiency and product quality, which are still quite different from yours.

Three to five years ago, our domestic production capacity would have been enough. After all, we had very few tape recorders in China at that time, and it didn’t matter if we had fewer tapes.

However, since the reform, our domestic production of tape recorders has increased every year, and it has grown exponentially.

There are more tape recorders, and the demand for audio tapes also increases.

Even now, whether it is tape recorders or supporting tapes in our country, the supply is still in short supply. Basically, we can sell as much as we have.

It is also because the supply exceeds the demand that a large number of smuggled goods appear.

As far as I know, many second-hand tape recorders from your side have entered our country after being circulated by various dealers, and they can be sold at a lot of price.

Of course, I definitely can't do this kind of illegal business, so I came to Japan this time for two main purposes.

First of all, I really want to take a look at the Japanese record market and see if I can develop more in Japan.

Secondly, I just want to look for business opportunities here, I want to find a manufacturer that can make audio tapes, and talk about the project of introducing an audio tape production line. "

"I see." Tokugen Yamamoto nodded, "But Cao Sang, you are the president of the record company, can you also produce tapes?"

"Of course there is no problem." Cao Zhiqiang laughed, "The situation in our country is a bit special. As long as it is a state-owned enterprise, ah, that is, a state-owned enterprise, it can theoretically cross-border.

For example, I am the general manager of Huaxia Audio and Video Company, similar to the president of your record company, but my Huaxia Audio and Video Company can not only produce records, but can also set up production lines and produce audio tapes by itself. Reasonable and legal.

Not to mention tapes, if possible, I can even produce tape recorders, from hardware to software. "

"That's it." Yamamoto Tokugen nodded again, touched his chin with his hand and said, "But I heard that you can't freely exchange foreign currency over there. Exchange it for yen?"

"Don't worry about that." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled, "Our side is now vigorously opening up, and the so-called foreign exchange restrictions are mainly aimed at domestic people.

If it is foreign capital and foreign businessmen, such as your Japanese company investing in my country, foreign currency can be exchanged at any time.

For example, if you go to our country to invest 100 million yen to start a business, and you turn a profit and want to withdraw the funds, you can exchange foreign currency with the relevant department at any time according to the market price.

In other words, there are basically no restrictions on foreign investment, and there are even many discounts. The price of foreign currency exchange is actually higher than the market price.

In addition, the labor force in our country is much lower than yours in Japan. If Japanese companies are willing to set up factories in my country, the price of the products produced will definitely be far lower than those produced in your own country. There are many offers. "

Speaking of this, Cao Zhiqiang smiled: "The most attractive thing about our country at present is not only the abundant and cheap labor force, but also the large enough market.

Now that our country has just opened up, there is a blue ocean everywhere, and there is a great thirst for all kinds of imported goods, so if you go in at this time, you will definitely earn a lot of money.

If we wait for more than ten years, there will be more foreign businessmen and competitors coming to our country, but we may not have such a good form. "

"That makes sense." Tokugen Yamamoto nodded, "However, if our artists make money from you, can they be exchanged for Japanese yen at any time?"

"Of course." Cao Zhiqiang smiled and pointed at Masashi Sada, "If you don't believe me, you can ask him. Mr. Sada once held a concert in my country and made a lot of money. Ask him if he can exchange yen to return to China at any time. .”

Hearing that he was suddenly mentioned, Masashi Sada was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Well, yes, China is very friendly to foreigners now, and our foreign currency can be freely exchanged there.

When I held a concert in China, I did make money, and after I made money, I was free to exchange it into Japanese Yen, there is no hindrance, but..."

"But what?" Tokugen Yamamoto asked.

Masashi Sada shook his head: "However, the consumption power in China is too low, and the price of tickets for concerts is too low, so even if there are many people coming, it is basically not profitable.

At that time, when I held a concert, the tickets were all one yuan per ticket, oh, do the math, it was about 110 yen per ticket, not even 120 yen.

At such a price, even if there are 1 people watching the scene, the total is less than 120 million yen. "

"Nani?" Tokugen Yamamoto frowned, "A ticket is less than 120 yen?"

"Yeah." Masashi Sada smiled wryly, "Don't think too little, the price is already very high.

You may not know that they only pay 0.5 cents a ticket to watch a movie, which is [-] yuan, which is less than [-] yen. "

"That's it." Tokugen Yamamoto frowned.

Indeed, if what Masashi Sada said is true, then the price is too low.

You know, in Japan today, for an ordinary starlet to hold an ordinary concert, the ticket price is at least [-] yen per ticket, and usually [-] yen to [-] yen per ticket.

If a well-known and popular singer like Masashi Sada holds a concert, the price of the concert ticket will start at [-] yen per ticket.

According to Japanese prices, 1000 people will receive 1000 million yen, so it is a good deal to share one point.

But if it costs 120 yen per ticket like the price of concert tickets in China, it would be too little, and the number of people is less than [-], and the cost will not be recovered.

The problem is that in Japanese concerts, there are few stars who can reach 2 people at the scene, which is basically rare.

"President Yamamoto." Cao Zhiqiang said with a sudden smile, "Sada-kun is right, but why do you always think about concerts? Can't you think about records?"

"Records?" Yamamoto Tokugen looked at Cao Zhiqiang, "Why, the price of records in your country is very high?"

"That's not true." Cao Zhiqiang said, "The situation in our country is like this, because the per capita income is low, so there are very few records like LD, let alone your new CD.

On the contrary, cassette tapes occupy an absolute monopoly in my country's record market.

A tape, if it is a blank tape, costs about 2 yuan, which is about 232 yen in Japanese yen.

But if it is a pop song tape, the price of a tape is about 4 yuan, which is about 464 yen in Japanese yen. "

"Hmm." Tokugen Yamamoto nodded, "That is to say, the price of the record itself and the content on your side are basically the same, and the price of the content is about 232 yen?"

"That's right." Cao Zhiqiang said with a smile, "Although the price is low, once it is multiplied by the quantity, it will be quite impressive."

After a short pause, Cao Zhiqiang said: "Take my first album "Life in Bloom" as an example, the current domestic sales of this album have exceeded 400 million copies.

Assuming that I earn 232 yen per record, the 400 million multiplied by 232 yen is 9.28 million yen.

You see, if an album is released, as long as it sells more than 400 million copies, the gross profit will be [-] million yen, which is very impressive, right?

This kind of gross income, even in Japan, is probably not much, right? "

"Of course." Yamamoto Tokugen nodded, "For us, if the sales revenue of a record exceeds 1000 million yen, it is already a pretty impressive achievement, your [-] million... is too much. "

Cao Zhiqiang said with a smile: "This is the advantage of quantity. After all, our country is a market with a population of one billion!"

"I understand." Tokugen Yamamoto nodded, "It seems that this cooperation is very beneficial to both of us."

"That's it." Cao Zhiqiang smiled.

Tokugen Yamamoto smiled slightly: "Actually, the cooperation between us is not only limited to the content of the record, even the tape production line you mentioned, or even the tape recorder production line, it is not impossible to talk about it."

"Oh?" Cao Zhiqiang looked at Tokugen Yamamoto, "Why, President Yamamoto has a way to do this?"

"Hahaha, of course." Tokugen Yamamoto laughed, "You forgot the name of our record company? Warner Pioneer!
In fact, this is the combined name of Warner Corporation and Pioneer Corporation!

Warner will not mention it, just talk about Pioneer, which is a company specializing in audio, tape recorders and tapes.

As far as I know, Pioneer has started to focus on CD and LD, and the original tape business has not been taken seriously.

If you're interested, I can put you in touch to talk to someone from Pioneer.

As long as what you say is true and you can provide enough remuneration to satisfy Pioneer, I think Pioneer will be happy to talk to you about cooperation in the tape production line. "

"That's right." Cao Zhiqiang smiled, "That's great, thank you President Yamamoto."

"Where is it?" Yamamoto Tokugen laughed, "I am a businessman, and I am willing to do profitable business, of course, no need to say thank you."

After a short pause, Tokugen Yamamoto said: "Speaking of which, since we have more opportunities to cooperate in the future, then let us release an album for you with this song of yours.

What are the specific conditions, the copyright of the song belongs to you, and the sales share, you can personally get 5.00% of the wholesale price, how? "

"Ten percent!" Cao Zhiqiang said.

"Six percent!" Tokugen Yamamoto said, "That's the most, and our risk cost must also be taken into account."

"Ten percent!" Cao Zhiqiang said with a slight smile, "President Yamamoto, you must take a long-term view and don't forget the Chinese market!"

Tokugen Yamamoto frowned immediately, but did not speak.

Cao Zhiqiang smiled again: "President Yamamoto, you have many record companies here, if it is 5.00% or [-]% as you said, then I am not the only one that can cooperate with you.

But in our country, apart from our Huaxia Audiovisual Company, believe me, you will never find any other company that can release Japanese singer records in our country.

why?Because of the current situation in our country, except for our Huaxia Audiovisual Company, other companies are established companies, such as China Records.

The state-owned record company that has been established for a long time has a lot of burdens and worries, and would rather not do it than make mistakes, so I am afraid it will be difficult to change their minds and cooperate with your company to easily introduce Japanese artists into the Chinese record market.

But we are different. Although my record company is state-owned in name, it is actually my voice, and I have the final say on everything.

As long as I have a successful model here in Japan, so that I can have an account of the country and make the people of the country feel a little proud, I can easily introduce your artists to our country under the banner of Sino-Japanese friendship .

At that time, I will be able to release records for your artists, and release them in my country. After the release, the share will be based on the principle of reciprocity. Whatever your conditions are, I will also be able to meet them.

Therefore, my [-]% is really beneficial to both parties.

If I were you, not to mention making money at [-]%, even if I didn't make money, I would have to do it in order to open up an additional Chinese market.

Of course, I could have asked for more than just ten percent.

For the sake of Senior Endo, and because you are the first president of a record company who treats me with special respect, I offer you this price.

If it's really hard for you, forget it.

Anyway, for me, it's okay if I don't sing and make records in Japan.

After all, there are many places where I can make money, and the Chinese market alone is enough for me.

In China, I can easily sell over 400 million copies of a record, and my personal income can easily exceed [-] million yen. I don't have to count on the Japanese market.

The reason why I want to release a record in Japan is more to give an explanation to the country, and then to put some gold on me, to increase the gold content, and to blow it up when I return to China. You should understand this, right? "

Tokugen Yamamoto touched his chin and thought for a while, and finally took a deep breath: "Okay, then ten percent, but you can only sign with yourself."

"This won't work!" Masashi Sada suddenly said, "President Yamamoto, Cao Sang is the exclusive contracted artist of our club. Your cooperation with him must go through our club!"

Tokugen Yamamoto glanced at Masashi Sada faintly, and smiled slightly: "Exclusive signing artist? Mr. Sada, Cao Sang is a foreigner, not a Japanese, and he doesn't have a work visa here. The contracts you mentioned are not here at all. It is not binding, it is at most a letter of intent, and Cao Sang can unilaterally void it."

Upon hearing this, Masashi Sada stopped talking.

Indeed, this kind of transnational agreement is very troublesome. If it wants to be legally effective, it must be negotiated by both countries.

But unfortunately, although the current China and Japan are friendly, the laws and regulations in this area are not perfect.

Especially people like Cao Zhiqiang who hold official passports and business visas can theoretically break the contract unilaterally.

Of course, if Cao Zhiqiang is willing to take this contract and go to the embassy to sign it, and the embassy will come forward to guarantee it impartially, then it will be effective.

In addition, if Cao Zhiqiang can apply for a work visa in Japan, then this contract will also have certain legal effect.

But Cao Zhiqiang only signed a mutual agreement with Masashi Sada, without the embassy's seal and work visa, which is an invalid agreement to put it bluntly.

Well, it's only limited to this special period. If it was the 90s, it would be different.

Of course, the reverse is also true. If Warner Pioneer signs a contract with Cao Zhiqiang himself, theoretically Warner Pioneer can find an excuse to break the contract.

If Japan's Warner Pioneer breaks the contract, Cao Zhiqiang, a foreigner, really can't get justice at present, and they can't win the lawsuit. They have a lot of ways to play themselves to death.

But Sada Planning Office is different.

Sada Project is an out-and-out Japanese company. If Warner Pioneer signs a contract with Sada Project, it will be a Japanese company against a Japanese company. Naturally, everything must be done according to the rules.

Therefore, the safest way is to let Sada plan to connect with Warner Pioneer.

By the way, I have to go to the embassy when I look back, and let the embassy stamp the contract between me and Sada.

Once the stamp of the embassy is obtained, the contract is now legally valid, at least until the Japanese work visa is issued, and there is no fear of a lawsuit.

"President Yamamoto." Thinking of this, Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly, "There is an old saying in our country that when drinking water, never forget the person who dug the well.

It was Sada-kun who invited me to Japan at the beginning, and I came to Japan thanks to Sada-kun's help.

Therefore, for this cooperation, please be sure to cooperate with Sada Office.

After all, I have already signed a contract with him, so there must always be a little contract spirit. "

Tokugen Yamamoto frowned, then smiled slightly: "Cao Sang, don't forget that if our company signs a contract with you, [-]% of the contract will be yours.

But if you sign a contract with his firm, you won't get [-]% yourself. "

"It doesn't matter." Cao Zhiqiang smiled lightly, "Money is something outside of me, I value faith more."

Tokugen Yamamoto squinted his eyes and nodded: "Very well, since that's the case, then let's do this!"