HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 30 [030] Joining Warner, Million-Dollar Endorsement
When Song Ke came to find Qi Yuan, Zhou Jianhui was standing next to him.

Qi Yuan: "President Song..."

Song Ke coughed twice to interrupt Qi Yuan, reminding him, "Yuan, you should use your job title when you're working. I'm not President Song anymore, I'm the Executive Vice President and Production Director of Warner Music China."

Qi Yuan: "..."

That old guy got promoted; no wonder he changed the Wheatfield label to Warner Wheatfield overnight.

The choice between the CEO of a small record company and the vice president of Warner Music China is obvious.

This is Warner Music, one of the world's five major record companies.

Of course, Song Ke works for Warner UFO, which is just one of the brands under Warner Music Group, focusing on the Chinese music market.

But Warner Bros. UFO is pretty impressive, even though it's been a bit sluggish lately. A lean camel is still bigger than a horse.

Warner Music remains a giant among Chinese-language record companies, only overshadowed by Rock Records and PolyGram.

The remaining companies, Shanghua and Fenghua, are developing rapidly, but they still have a long way to go to surpass Warner UFO.

Warner Music's problem with UFO Records is that after acquiring UFO Records, Warner's top management and the original UFO team had differing ideas, resulting in extremely chaotic personnel changes. The loss of a large number of well-known singers this year is a direct result of this internal turmoil.

Zhou Jianhui took office as the general manager of Warner UFO, and this was the problem he was tasked with solving.

In fact, Zhou Jianhui handled it very well. In his previous life, he personally signed Sun Yanzi, a very famous "niche singer", and created the Queen Palace Project, which brought Warner UFO back to its peak.

Qi Yuan's meteoric rise to fame in the mainland music scene created a butterfly effect, drawing Zhou Jianhui's attention.

"Director Song, is this our musical prodigy Qi Yuan?" The moment Zhou Jianhui saw Qi Yuan, it was as if he had seen a great beauty.

Don't get me wrong, he's not interested in men, he's just particularly satisfied with Qi Yuan.

This image is great! They're both into R&B, but in terms of looks, Tao Ze from Taiwan is a complete knockout.

Is Tao Ze handsome? Even die-hard PPT fans wouldn't dare say Tao Ze is handsome; at best, the young Tao Ze was not ugly.

Qi Yuan is different. She is good-looking, sings well, and is talented. With all these advantages combined in one person, it would be hard for her not to become famous.

"Hello Qi Yuan, I am Zhou Jianhui, the head of Warner Music Group's China region and the general manager of Warner UFO." Zhou Jianhui extended his palm in a friendly manner.

Qi Yuan also extended his hand in a friendly gesture to shake hands with the other party.

After some pleasantries, Zhou Jianhui got straight to the point: "Wheatfield's previous inventory was too conservative, and the promotion was also inadequate, which caused us to miss the golden sales period."

But it's not a big problem. What's done is done, and we won't dwell on the past.

We will release this album in the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets on January 1st next year.

We can make up for the records that sell poorly in mainland China by selling them in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other parts of Asia.

Our Warner UFO company has distribution channels in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Zhou Jianhui immediately introduced Warner UFO's formidable strength.

These days, the internet is underdeveloped, and information spreads slowly.

Qi Yuan's self-titled album was a hit in mainland China, but in Hong Kong and Taiwan, apart from music figures like Zhou Jianhui who pay attention to the mainland music scene, ordinary people don't hear much about Qi Yuan.

These days, publicity mainly relies on traditional media such as magazines, television, and newspapers.

When Hong Kong and Taiwan singers release Mandarin albums, they usually release them first in Taiwan before importing them to the mainland market.

Karen Mok's "Be Yourself" is a good example. It sold very well in Taiwan in October, but the official album was not released in mainland China until the end of November.

Because records from Hong Kong and Taiwan need to undergo censorship before being released in mainland China, it's difficult to release them simultaneously. Their albums can be released first in Hong Kong and Taiwan before being introduced to the mainland.

Similarly, Qi Yuan's album can also be introduced to the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets.

Qi Yuan hadn't dared to think about it before because Wheatfield was too small. It hadn't fully explored the mainland market, its sales channels hadn't reached Hong Kong and Taiwan, and it hadn't cooperated with record companies in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Now that Wheatfield Music has transformed into Warner Wheatfield, Qi Yuan's debut album can naturally enter the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets through Warner.

In this regard, Qi Yuan and Zhou Jianhui reached a mutual agreement.

Qi Yuan hopes her debut album will be a huge success in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

After taking over the mess that was Warner UFO, Zhou Jianhui hoped to achieve something to give headquarters an explanation.

The appearance of this young man, Qi Yuan, gave him inspiration.

By acquiring Song Ke, Wheatfield will become a franchise sub-brand of Warner UFO.

Qi Yuan, a new singer under the sub-brand, sold 600,000 to 700,000 copies of his debut album in mainland China. Doesn't that count as an achievement for him as the general manager of Warner Music?
If Qi Yuan's debut album continues to sell well in Taiwan and Hong Kong, then he'll be awesome. He can immediately write a brilliant report and submit it to Warner headquarters. He'll be able to firmly hold onto his position as the general manager of the China region. Even Jesus couldn't take it away from him, he said.

Qi Yuan has become the key to his rapid leadership in pulling Warner UFO out of its slump.

To be fair, Zhou Jianhui was much more generous than Song Ke.

Zhou Jianhui immediately transferred several skilled assistants from Taiwan and also arranged a personal agent for Qi Yuan—Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao is from mainland China. He used to be an extra, but realized that he was not suitable to be an actor, so he changed career paths and mentored several Hong Kong and Taiwan artists.

In 2018, a large number of singers left HAT Entertainment, and many people in the management department also left. Zhang Hao did not go with them; he was promoted.

He understands the situation in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and being from the mainland, he can get along better with Qi Yuan.

Zhou Jianhui put a lot of thought into choosing this agent for Qi Yuan.

After arriving in Beijing, Zhang Hao immediately took over Song Ke's previous job as her agent.

Zhang Hao is also in charge of endorsing Wahaha mineral water.

"Wahaha has raised their price and offered a two-year contract for one million yuan," Zhang Hao told Qi Yuan.

"No rush, let's wait a bit longer. Let's see after my album is released in Hong Kong and Taiwan in January," Qi Yuan replied calmly.

If he remembers correctly, Wang Lihong was the first spokesperson for Wahaha mineral water in his previous life.

Wahaha offered Wang Lihong an endorsement fee of 500,000 yuan per year.

At that time, Wang Lihong had just shed his nickname "Little Zhang Xueyou" and was not well-known in mainland China.

If an unknown Wang Lihong can earn 500,000 yuan, and someone whose album sells well in mainland China also earns 500,000 yuan, then isn't his album selling for nothing?

If Qi Yuan's record company is still Wheatfield, one million for two years is worth considering.

Now that Warner Music has been added before Wheatfield's name, his debut album is about to premiere in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

He wasn't in a hurry to talk to Wawaha at all.

If his debut album can replicate its success in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it's hard to say whether Coca-Cola or Sprite will hire him as their spokesperson.

In short, let's play along with them for now and not rush to sign.

(End of this chapter)