ECG -Chapter 105 The Spring Festival Gala and Piracy

At this moment, on the desk in Lin Hao’s bedroom were three single CD discs: Shen Zizhe’s “Overdoing It”, Zhao Ni’s “Wish You Peace”, and Wang Xiaonan’s “Mom in the Candlelight.”

Lin Hao thought for a moment.

“Zhao Ni’s ‘Wish You Peace’ made it onto the Spring Festival Gala!”

There was no sound from the other end of the phone.

“Hello? Hello?” Lin Hao had no idea what had happened to the person on the other side. He pulled the phone away from his ear and checked it—no, the call hadn’t disconnected.

“Hello, President Yang?”

“Lin Hao, you’re simply a god!” Yang Qianyi had been so shocked just now that she almost dropped her phone. She had originally wanted to give him a surprise, but she never expected that he would actually guess it.

Actually, this matter wasn’t difficult to figure out. The moment Lin Hao took out these three songs, he already had a rough idea. There was no need to think about the sales of these three EPs—they would definitely do well. Even a small northern city like Chunhe had them for sale, so how could their results possibly be bad?

But these three CDs had already been released for more than a month. Obviously, their sales figures were not the reason Yang Qianyi was so happy.

If it wasn’t for that reason, and considering that the Spring Festival Gala was about to begin, then there was only one possibility: one of the songs had made it onto the Gala.

Of the three songs “Overdoing It,” “Wish You Peace,” and “Mom in the Candlelight,” if he had to choose, he would pick “Wish You Peace” first, and “Mom in the Candlelight” second.

Because “Wish You Peace” was more suitable for the Spring Festival Gala stage, and more fitting for the blessings people across the country gave each other on New Year’s Eve. So his first reaction was that “Wish You Peace” must have been selected for the Gala.

“President Yang, I’m going to have to criticize you!” Lin Hao didn’t follow along with her excitement and instead joked with her.

“Oh? Why?”

“Weren’t Shen Zizhe and the others’ CDs released more than a month ago? You never said you’d mail me a copy. I still had to go buy them myself on the street!”

Yang Qianyi’s face turned red, and she quickly apologized.

“I’m really sorry. I’ve been too busy these days. I’ve been so overwhelmed that I completely forgot about this. Next time you come to Yanjing, I’ll definitely treat you to a meal to make up for it!”

How could Lin Hao really be angry? Thinking about the news surrounding her some time ago—she had been causing a huge uproar over her divorce, then there had been the explosive news about her coming out with Qin Ruoyun. Right after that, she had to arrange the release of three EPs, and one of her artists was also going to perform on the Spring Festival Gala stage. It was easy to imagine how busy she must have been.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before finally hanging up.

After putting down the phone, Lin Hao lit a cigarette. Lin Qingsheng was watching TV nearby and glanced at him but didn’t say anything.

He had noticed long ago that his son smoked. At first, he wanted to say a few words about how smoking was bad. But then he thought about how he himself had smoked for decades, and realized that telling someone else to quit smoking didn’t carry much weight. His son was grown up now, so after thinking about it, he let it go.

Lin Hao rubbed his chin, secretly thinking things over.

He wondered what kind of background Yang Qianyi’s family had. Her divorce and the so-called coming-out scandal had caused such a huge uproar, but in the blink of an eye, all the online media and newspapers had completely gone silent.

Then there was the matter of Zhao Ni and “Wish You Peace” getting onto the Spring Festival Gala.

Don’t think that getting on the Spring Festival Gala was that easy. Zhao Ni was already a faded star, yet she was able to step onto the Gala stage and even sing an entire song. This wasn’t something that could happen just because the song was good. You also needed solid connections. Otherwise, even throwing money at it wouldn’t necessarily work.

He felt somewhat relieved about his decision back then to cooperate with Charming Sound Music. A record company with strong connections would make many things much easier in the future.

Then he remembered another matter, so he picked up his phone and called Yang Qianyi again.

“President Yang!”

Yang Qianyi was having dinner at her parents’ house and had just sat down.

She was a little puzzled and didn’t understand what else Lin Hao wanted. She took her phone and walked into the living room.

“Lin Hao, go ahead.”

“It’s like this. Recently, I found a music website online called Qianqian Listening. I think it’s pretty good. You can keep an eye on it.”

Yang Qianyi frowned. “There are a lot of pirated music websites like this now. I hate them to death. The reason CD sales have been bad these past few years is because of them causing trouble!”

Lin Hao smiled. “I understand. The internet’s free nature will still take a few more years to fade, but you shouldn’t reject it too much either. Because the direct benefit of free content is that it spreads quickly! Personally, I think this Qianqian Listening website is pretty good. It’s obvious they want to do genuine content, but right now they haven’t found a way to make money, so they’ve simply gone with the flow and mixed in a lot of pirated material.”

Yang Qianyi asked curiously, “But what’s the point of me paying attention to it?”

“You have so many artists under your company. Many of their albums from a few years ago didn’t sell well. Instead of letting those pirated websites offer them for free download, why not openly authorize this website? Although it’s still free, the quality of the audio sources you provide will be better than other pirated versions. That way, this website can easily grow.”

Lin Hao thought for a moment, then added, “You could even buy some shares in it. Don’t underestimate the internet. In the future, people’s lives will become increasingly inseparable from the internet!”

Yang Qianyi hesitated. The internet was currently filled with piracy everywhere, and she couldn’t even defend against it. Yet Lin Hao was suggesting that she deliver herself right into their hands?

“Lin Hao, how these kinds of websites make money has always been a difficult problem. Whether they can last is still unknown!” Yang Qianyi said.

“President Yang, trust me. It won’t always stay like this. People just haven’t gotten used to paying yet. But this can’t possibly be the normal state forever. Maybe in three to five years, or maybe ten years, eight years, things will change!”

Yang Qianyi sucked in a breath.

People nowadays were too impatient. They only looked at the profits right in front of them. If it wasn’t quick money, not many people had the patience to wait. Forget three or five years—even if something didn’t make money that year, most people would probably pull out.

But Lin Hao had actually seen things this far ahead. How was this still a 21-year-old young man?

The problem was, if she had to wait ten or eight years before this kind of investment found a way to make profits, the investment cycle was simply too long. She really had no confidence.

Lin Hao knew this kind of thing couldn’t be pushed too hard. This world’s overall environment was very similar to his previous life. The internet bubble had just burst a few years ago, and everything was just beginning again. It was still far from the era when countless internet giants would rise. At this point, saying these things really was a bit too early.

“Think about what I said. Alright, let’s leave it at that for now!”

After saying this, Lin Hao hung up the phone.

After that, he called Fourth Sister again. First, they exchanged New Year greetings, then agreed that after school started, he would go visit her. Fourth Sister even joked that when he came, she would treat him and Wu Xiaozhou to barbecue skewers.

After hanging up, Yang Qianyi sat there in a daze.

Although Lin Hao was young, he was definitely not someone who spoke without reason. If he said something, he must have his own logic behind it.

Besides, putting some old songs online wasn’t really a problem. After all, if she didn’t release them herself, piracy would continue recklessly anyway.

If she gave this website called Qianqian Listening free authorization, it would also be a form of support for them. So many licensed songs, and free at that—this was probably something they wouldn’t even dare dream of.

Another benefit was that it could spread these songs further, allowing users who downloaded them to hear higher-quality versions.

As for the downside, it might affect CD sales. But even if she didn’t do this, those old albums no longer had much vitality anyway. They couldn’t even sell a few copies in a month.

Thinking of this, she took out a notebook from her handbag and wrote this matter down.

The Spring Festival holiday was quite long, and she was afraid she would forget. As for the investment matter, she would wait until the third day of the New Year, when she saw Qin Ruoyun, and discuss it with her.