Giant of the times

Hugo Rhodes asked: "I heard Jerry Black say that Apple is going to release a new product that will make PolyGram Records a lot of money?"

Jerry Black is the CEO of Apple's UK branch.

"Yes, Mr. Hugo Rhodes, absolutely! This will not only benefit PolyGram Records, but all record companies!"

While talking, everyone had arrived at Hugo Rhodes' office.

When Hugo Rhodes heard this, his curiosity suddenly increased. "I'm curious about what kind of products can make record companies make a lot of money?" he couldn't help but ask.

The secretary poured two glasses of water over.

Li Zetian picked up the water and took a slow sip, deliberately not telling him in a hurry.

From the beginning of the meeting, the negotiation has already begun.

Whoever acts more urgently will be at a disadvantage.

Li Zetian did not answer his question immediately, but asked: "Mr. Hugo Rhodes, what does the record company mainly rely on to make profits?"

Hugo Rhodes replied: "The main way for record companies to make money is naturally to make money from the release of records!"

"I would like to ask Mr. Hugo Rhodes, how many records can a well-known singer sell?" Li Zetian continued to ask with a smile.

"One million records is already considered very good. Some top singers have sold more than 10 million records..."

"Great! If there is a product that can increase record sales, do you think the record company will support it?"

"Okay, Mr. Li, please stop being pretentious and tell me what this thing is!" Hugo Rhodes said.

Li Zetian knew that the other party could not hold his temper anymore, so he smiled and took out the Walkman tape and music tape from his bag.

"That's these two things!"

Hugo Rhodes knew about magnetic tape. In 1963, the Dutch company Philips developed a cassette tape, which developed rapidly due to its advantages of being lightweight, durable, and interchangeable.

"What's this?" he asked, pointing at the Walkman.

"Tape Walkman!" Li Zetian explained, "Put the tape in here and you can play songs. You can wear headphones to listen to the effect! You can also play songs without headphones, but the effect is slightly worse than with headphones. "

Hugo Rhodes said: "Then I'll listen to it with headphones."

"Well, this is best!"

When Hugo Rhodes put on his headphones, Li Zetian put the tape into the Walkman, then smiled at him, "Attention, it's about to start!"

With that said, Li Zetian pressed the play button.

A beautiful song suddenly came from the headphones, and Hugo Rhodes was very surprised. After a while, he took off his headphones and said to Li Zetian: "It is indeed a great product, but the sound quality is much worse than vinyl records!"

Li Zetian smiled and said: "You get what you pay for. The manufacturing cost of vinyl records is very high, but the manufacturing cost of tapes is much lower! Mr. Hugo Rhodes, the Walkman tape player can be taken anywhere, It will definitely be sought after by many young people, which will undoubtedly create a huge market for music tapes."

Li Zetian thought that the other party would be very happy after seeing the product, but unexpectedly, Hugo Rhodes frowned.

"Mr. Li, maybe you are right, but this will have a great impact on the vinyl record market! People buy Walkmans and music tapes, and naturally they will not buy record players and vinyl records. !”

The profit of tapes is low, but the profit of vinyl records is high. Even if you sell ten cassettes, the profit of one vinyl record may not be as high. Publishing music tapes may cause huge losses to the record company!

Li Zetian thought for a moment and quickly understood what the other party was worried about. He organized his words and said: "Mr. Hugo Rhodes, the sound quality of the Walkman is indeed very different from that of vinyl records. I believe that people who like music of people are still willing to buy vinyl records, but they are also willing to buy Walkman and music tapes because they can be taken outdoors to listen to music. Just imagine, does this add extra income to record companies? As for what you said will impact vinyl records The market...yeah, I have to admit that, but if music tapes are selling far more than records, I think record companies can make more."

"The premise is that Walkman is very popular..." Hugo Rhodes reminded.

"I'm afraid there is no doubt that the Walkman will be popular. What do you think, Mr. Hugo Rhodes?" Li Zetian asked with a smile.

Hugo Rhodes knew that because he was involved in the music industry, he knew the users very well, and the Walkman tape player had great appeal to them.

Li Zetian continued: "I believe that once the Walkman becomes popular, more manufacturers will follow suit and manufacture similar tape players, thereby developing the Walkman market into a huge market, and even many record players will also use it. Adopt the music tape standard. There is no doubt that by then, music tapes will be popular all over the world." Li Zetian paused, raised his voice a few decibels, and said, "Whether you choose to embrace music tapes or completely stick to vinyl records, it depends on It will determine the fate of the record company! May I ask Mr. Hugo Rhodes, is PolyGram Records willing to be the first to take advantage?"

After hearing what Li Zetian said, Hugo Rhodes felt very confused!

"Mr. Li, I'm sorry that I can't make a decision right now. I need to conduct a detailed analysis with my team before I can give an accurate answer!"

Li Zetian frowned slightly and said solemnly: "I won't stay in England for too long!"

"Don't worry, we will reply to you as soon as possible."

"Oh well……"

This is the end of first contact.

Li Zetian walked out of PolyGram Records feeling depressed and found that things were not as simple as he expected!

Three days later, PolyGram Records finally gave Li Zetian a reply. They said that PolyGram Records has a big business and vinyl records are the company's main source of income. One move can affect the whole body, so they dare not take risks. However, they did not reject it completely. When music tapes are really unstoppable, they will naturally choose to join this camp.

Obviously, this is a very conservative decision.

"Mr. Li??" Jerry Black, CEO of the branch company, saw that Li Zetian didn't look right and called him in a low voice.

Li Zetian waved his hand and said: "It's nothing. PolyGram Records rejected us this time, maybe it's their loss. I'm going to return to the United States this afternoon. You have someone book a flight ticket for me!"

"Okay, Chairman!"

Li Zetian returned to the hotel, packed his luggage, and lay on the bed to sleep for a while.

In the afternoon, Jerry Black came to the hotel and took him to the airport.

The next morning, at about 7 o'clock, the plane arrived in San Jose.

When Li Zetian got off the plane, he first went to the pet store to pick up the puppy Simba, and then went home. There was no rest after that and he went directly to Apple.

Tian Shuai and others received a call from Li Zetian yesterday and learned that the cooperation with PolyGram Records had not been negotiated. They received Li Zetian's order to hold a meeting the next morning.

In the conference room, the atmosphere seemed a little heavier than before.

Li Zetian sat in the first place and said: "PolyGram Records' rejection has disrupted our previous plans, and now we can only use the backup plan! From now on, we will send company executives to many large record companies around the world to discuss cooperation. I believe there will be record companies willing to support us. In addition, we will broadcast Walkman commercials on TV stations as soon as possible to let people from record companies know how popular our products are among users!"

"Now we are begging the record company, but one day it will be the record company begging us!!!"

Li Zetian couldn't help but say these words at the end. Although record companies have the dominant power in both the tape era and the CD era in the future, when we enter the Internet era in the future, we have to see who owns it. era! ! !