Early morning.

Zhou Hexuan was writing in the study, and Yu Peichen suddenly knocked on the door and said, "Mr. Zhou, there is a fake foreign devil looking for you, and he said that he is the manager of EMI Records." ”

"What do EMI Records want me to do?" Zhou Hexuan got up and opened the door.

Yu Peichen said: "I asked, but he didn't explain, it seems to be related to the recording of records." ”

Zhou Hexuan ordered: "Take him to the reception room." ”

"Okay." Yu Peichen immediately retreated, and she had gradually adapted to the role of secretary.

A moment later, Zhou Hexuan saw the fake foreign devil that Yu Peichen said.

This person is very young, in his 30s, with a straight suit and a gentleman's cane, he smiled and shook hands and said: "Hello, Mr. Zhou, I am Li Kaisheng, the manager of EMI China, and my English name is Jerry." ”

"Hello." Zhou Hexuan smiled secretly in his heart.

Jerry, Tom, why don't you play cat and mouse together?

Li Kaisheng put down the staff of civilization with elegant movements, and said in greetings: "Mr. Zhou, I admire Mr. Zhou's talent very much, and I wanted to visit him a long time ago, but unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to see him. ”

"Mr. Li, let's make it clear if there's anything." Zhou Hexuan didn't want to go around the bend.

"That's right," Li Kaisheng said with a smile, "I have a junior who is also a graduate of Jiaotong University. He heard Mr. Zhou sing last night, singing a new song, and wrote down a few melodies to hum to me. I think it's a very beautiful song, and I want to ask Mr. Zhou to record it. Of course, if Mr. Zhou is willing, EMI Records also wants to buy the rights to "Orchid Grass" and "On the Songhua River". ”

"Orchid Grass" is Zhou Hexuan's "adaptation" of Hu Shi's vernacular poems, which has been widely circulated in the past two years, but Zhou Hexuan has never sold the copyright, and the records circulating outside are all pirated strictly speaking.

As for "On the Songhua River", although it is loved by the masses, no record company dares to release it. Because this is a typical anti-Japanese song, it is seriously forbidden.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "You also buy "On the Songhua River", but do you dare to release it? ”

"Of course I dare," Li Kaisheng subconsciously straightened his waist and said proudly, "We are a British company, with the support of the British Empire behind us, and neither the Chinese nor the Japanese government dares to do anything to me." ”

Li Kaisheng, a new generation comprador, graduated from St. John's University in Shanghai, and went to the United States to study, successively served as the manager of Tianxin, Wantai, Yitai, Kangying and many other foreign companies, and co-founded a number of silk factories, the family business is quite rich, at this time as the manager of Baidai Records China Company.

Speaking of the record industry of the Republic of China, there are three companies that have to be mentioned, namely Baidai, Shengli and Greater China, known as the three giants of the Republic of China. Although there are a large number of other record companies, they are at most studios, and they don't even have their own recording equipment, and they have to go to the Big Three to rent records when they make records.

The Great China Record Company was founded at the earliest, co-founded by Sun Yat-sen and Japanese businessmen, and has now become a completely Chinese-funded enterprise, calling itself the "Three People's Principles of the Record Industry", which can be described as having its roots in the middle.

Victory Records is an American company that was the latest to be founded, but its business has surpassed that of Greater China Records.

As for EMI Records, it is now the strongest and has the most complex capital structure. It started as a French company, but four years ago it was acquired by British Columbia, which in turn is a subsidiary of American Columbia. Just this year, the British Gramophone Company (HMV) acquired Columbia, and the composition of its stake is already difficult to say.

EMI Records is actually no longer called EMI Records, but EMI. It's just that because Baidai's name in China is very loud, it has been used.

As for the names of the common people, they are more vivid and direct.

The label of Great China Records is two parrots, so it is commonly known as "double parrots". The label of Victory Records is a dog listening to songs on its stomach, so it is commonly known as "sleeping dog" and "dog listening to opera". The label of EMI Records is a red rooster, so it is commonly known as "big rooster" and "red rooster".

In general, if someone buys a record from EMI, he will say, "I bought a big." ”

At this time, it was difficult for the Chinese record industry to do, first, the competition was too fierce, second, it was affected by radio stations, and third, the situation was turbulent.

Take EMI Records as an example, the "128" incident two years ago caused the company to lose serious money. And Victory Records took the opportunity to make trouble, poached each other, lowered prices and promotions, and the competition between the two companies became well-known, and was jokingly called the "chicken and dog war".

This "chicken and dog war" lost both, and although the "big rooster" retained its leading position in the industry, it was greatly damaged by the "sleeping dog".

However, the "double parrot" is not bad, after all, this is the only national enterprise among the Big Three. If Chang Kaishen's speech is to be recorded as a record, it must be recorded by a Greater China company, and the government agencies must also seek cooperation with Greater China, whose main business is government business.

"How long has Mr. Lee been at EMI Records?" Zhou Hexuan asked suddenly.

Li Kaisheng said with a smile: "I just took office three months ago. ”

"No wonder you didn't take the usual path, and actually came to me to buy the copyright of "On the Songhua River"." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Li Kaisheng has just become the manager of EMI China, so he naturally wants to make some achievements in order to win the recognition of the British boss.

Nowadays, pop songs are not very popular, and 99% of the records sold on the market are opera content, and song records are very rare.

Li Kaisheng said: ""On the Songhua River" is Mr. Zhou's painstaking work, and you also want it to be widely circulated. Only we, EMI, dared to resist the pressure of the Nanjing government and the Japanese to release such anti-Japanese songs throughout the country. ”

"If you can guarantee the smooth release of "On the Songhua River", I can consider selling the copyright to you." Zhou Hexuan said.

Li Kaisheng said with a smile: "I want to ask Mr. Zhou to sing in person." ”

Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said, "I'm not professional, you better find a professional singer to sing." ”

Li Kaisheng persuaded: "Mr. Zhou, you can think like this. If you sing and record songs in person, you will definitely be able to get a lot of attention, which is very good for propaganda against Japan. You and I are both Chinese, and although I started as a comprador and was scolded as a foreign dog, I am also patriotic. I also hope that an excellent anti-Japanese song will be widely circulated. ”

"Perhaps." Zhou Hexuan smiled, he didn't believe in the other party's patriotism, I'm afraid it was mainly to increase record sales.

"If Mr. Zhou sings in person, it is also an elegant thing to say, so it is better to think about it again." Li Kaisheng continued to persuade.

Zhou Hexuan was noncommittal, and asked with a smile: "If I record it myself, how much can the total royalty of singing and songwriting be?" ”

Li Kaisheng said tentatively: "10%? ”

Zhou Hexuan raised his eyebrows: "My voice is so worthless?" ”

"How much does Mr. Zhou think?" Li Kaisheng asked.

“30%。” Zhou Hexuan tripled in one breath.

"Shhh...... Let me think about it. Li Kaisheng gasped, and now it was his turn to hesitate.

Zhou Hexuan is also a capitalist, how can he be so easy to talk about in terms of money?