Chapter 53

August 24th, Tuesday, morning.

Changsheng Records, General Manager's Office.

After arriving at the company, Zheng Changsheng spent a few minutes signing the necessary documents, then picked up the phone and dialed the number of Ma Xiang, the deputy manager of the production department.

A moment later, the call was answered. Zheng Changsheng said, "Old Ma, it's me, Zheng Changsheng. Yes, how's it going over there? ... Oh, they've all been taken away? No more trouble? ... Yes, yes, good! Keep an eye on it over there. In the next two weeks, we only have these three production lines. The output is still not enough, so I think we'll still have to queue up. The dealers from Jiaxing Nansheng represent the southern provinces, and they always have a large volume of sales every year. If they get anxious and say some harsh words, don't get angry. Just pacify them and apologize. Swallow your pride! I'll celebrate your success when you come back. ... Yes, yes, good!"

He hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and couldn't help but raise his fist.

Although it was a bit risky, the matter was finally resolved.

After the album "Liao Liao" was out of stock just ten days after its release, not only Changsheng Records but also the dealers across the country were anxious. They somehow got the news that even if the supply could be restored, it would not be sufficient. As a result, dealers from all over the country flocked to the capital city within a day.

It's important to note that although these dealers were not from the music industry, they had deep connections in the record sales business. They easily found out that Changsheng Records had secured three production lines from Sony Records, Huage Records, and Nansheng Company in Jiaxing to produce the cassette tapes of "Liao Liao." This meant a daily output of less than 30,000 units, so... whoever got them first would be the winner!

After all, they were the ones directly facing the market and could clearly sense the purchasing impulse of the fans due to the insufficient supply. They also knew that in the next few weeks, every CD and cassette tape of "Liao Liao" represented profit.

However, in a few weeks, as the supply gradually increased, whether this purchasing impulse would dissipate and lead to a sharp drop in the album's sales... no one could predict.

Moreover, although the crackdown on piracy had been getting stricter in recent years, in about ten days, various pirated versions would start to hit the market. At that point, selling pirated copies would be even more profitable.

Therefore, only by securing a sufficient supply as soon as possible could they truly represent real profit!

Unexpectedly, these dealers, as if they had made a pact, directly blocked the production lines on Friday morning last week!

Half went to Sony, and half went to Huage!

Upon receiving the news, the production manager of Changsheng Records, Old Liu, was terrified and quickly split up with Zheng Changsheng to rush to both places to patiently explain the situation. After a lot of effort, they finally managed to calm everyone down.

Then, there was only one solution: no one would rush, and everyone would show their sales figures from last year. They would calculate the total production for the past week and distribute the products according to the ratio. ... Those farther away would be shipped first!

Starting from Saturday, dealers from various provinces began to receive and ship the products. By today, even the dealers from the southern provinces who went to Nansheng in Jiaxing have started to receive the products. Although the current production lines for "Liao Liao" could not meet the market demand, the dealers were still eager. However, by yesterday, the majority of the provinces had started to see the products back on the market.

But... being at the mercy of others was not a pleasant feeling!

In the past, for a medium-sized record company like Changsheng Records, with annual sales of a few million cassette tapes, as long as the production was arranged in advance, Sony would be happy to take the job. Before the company officially launched the promotion and release of an album, there would already be enough stock in the warehouse to last for two to three months. So, despite not having its own production lines, the company had never felt any discomfort in production.

However, this time, with the album "Liao Liao" becoming a hit, Zheng Changsheng suddenly felt the pain of walking with one leg: whether intentionally or unintentionally, the three major record companies, which had a complete industrial chain, dealt a heavy blow to Changsheng Records during the peak sales period of "Liao Liao."

Sony and Huage were not refusing to do business with them, but they only gave them one production line!

As for Xin Da, they even demanded a high price, which not only infuriated Zheng Changsheng but also almost made the production manager, Old Liu, throw his cup in anger!

And Nansheng... well, although their production lines were the same as Sony, Xin Da, and Huage, their scale was much smaller. The company only had three lines, and it was during the peak period of the record market in the summer. They had already taken on many orders and could not breach their contracts. To squeeze out a production line for Changsheng Records, which they had never dealt with before, was already a great favor.

Thus, the consequence of not having its own production lines was that when faced with insufficient stock, the company could only beg and plead, and in the end, only secure three production lines.

Three lines, with a weekly output of around 200,000 units!

In other words, even if there were countless people wanting to buy the album "Liao Liao," the sales for the next week would be capped at 200,000!

But what could he do? Set up his own production lines?

Clearly, he didn't have the heart to do it!

Apart from the unexpected success of the album "Liao Liao," Changsheng Records had about a dozen male and female singers, and their combined annual sales were only a few million units, which was not enough to support a production line.

Moreover, from Zheng Changsheng's perspective, he knew very well that the tape, which currently dominated the market, would not last much longer. The future of the record market would definitely belong to CDs and digital audio.

However, the current CD production lines... even the three major record companies were still using their production advantages to force smaller record companies to produce CDs in a bundled manner. If he set up a production line now, it would clearly be gathering dust for at least a few years!

And... CD production lines were also too expensive!

So, he could only think about it and satisfy his desire in his imagination.

But every time he thought about the album "Liao Liao," which was performing extremely well in the market but couldn't achieve high sales, he couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Subconsciously, he opened the drawer and took out the sales ranking of Dongguan Bookstore from last week.

"Liao Liao," second place, weekly sales of 11,484 units.

When he first saw this data yesterday, Zheng Changsheng couldn't help but take out the data from the previous two weeks and carefully calculated it three times with a calculator: the initial shipment to Dongguan Bookstore was 17,000 units of tapes, CDs, and vinyl records. The sales for the first two weeks were 1,128 and 4,386 units, respectively, and adding the 11,484 units from this week, the total was 16,998 units.

Only two units were unsold, probably sent to some branch store!

Zheng Changsheng estimated that those two units were likely vinyl records.

And with such explosive sales, "Liao Liao" probably only took about two days!

Every time he thought about this, Zheng Changsheng couldn't help but feel extremely regretful!

There was no need to mention the pre-release sales forecast and production preparation, as no one had the foresight. If anyone in the company's upper management had predicted this correctly, it would only be Liao Liao.

What truly made him regretful was that if he had known this, he should have placed an order with Sony as soon as he saw the rising sales data from Dongguan Bookstore last week. If he had done that, even a two-day head start would have allowed the market to start receiving the products by the weekend!

If "Liao Liao" had been in normal supply for three or four days last week, even Liu Mingliang's new album, which was released in the first week, would have been overshadowed!

After all, Liu Mingliang's new album sold only 13,241 units in the first week at Dongguan Bookstore!

A difference of less than 2,000 units! "Liao Liao" could have easily outsold it with just one more day of sales!

Imagine if "Liao Liao" could have topped the charts in the third week after its release, surpassing Liu Mingliang's first-week sales. That feeling... would be absolutely amazing!

And if it really happened, Liao Liao would truly become a sensation in China!

Unfortunately... unfortunately...

Just as he put the folder containing the sales rankings from the past weeks back, someone knocked on the door. Zheng Changsheng had just said "Come in" when Zhao Meifeng stormed in, slamming a messy stack of papers on his desk, glaring at him like a lion, "Mr. Zheng, when did you transfer me to the agency department? Shouldn't I get a raise?"

"Ah?" Zheng Changsheng was a bit taken aback but quickly tried to calm her down, "Meifeng, Meifeng... don't be in a hurry! Let's talk slowly! Come, come, sit down, I'll make you a cup of tea! Sit, sit down and talk!"

"Alright, no need to make me tea. Just quickly arrange a manager for Liao Liao!"

Zheng Changsheng was a bit surprised but didn't rush to get the tea. He asked curiously, "What's going on? Who in the agency department upset you? What does it have to do with Liao Liao's manager?"

Zhao Meifeng walked over, picked up the stack of papers, and handed them to Zheng Changsheng, "You look for yourself!"

Zheng Changsheng took them and his eyes immediately lit up!

It was a commercial performance invitation!

The other party requested a contract for five performances, quoting 50,000 yuan per performance. They also mentioned that if the cooperation went well, they could provide a contract for 20 performances, quoting 60,000 yuan per performance!

Flipping to the next page, it was another commercial performance invitation!

This one was even more generous, directly quoting 100,000 yuan per performance and requesting a contract for 20 performances!

They were truly wealthy and generous!

Zheng Changsheng's eyes almost sparkled as he flipped through the pages—there were nearly twenty commercial performance invitations, with the highest quote reaching 120,000 yuan per performance!

If they accepted all these performances, Liao Liao wouldn't need to do anything else for the next year, just start a private jet subscription!

But... this was all money!

As the boss of a record company, he couldn't bear to refuse any of these offers!

However, after a quick glance, Zheng Changsheng quickly looked up at Zhao Meifeng and smiled, "I understand, but... why did the agency department send these to you?"

Zhao Meifeng, already furious, exploded, "Is this my fault? Who knows what those people in the agency department are doing! Liao Liao doesn't have a manager, but these commercial performances are their responsibility, right? But they went and gave out my contact information! I'm a producer! Producing albums, selecting songs, and arranging songs are my job! But these commercial performances, what do they have to do with me? The ones you see are still the better ones, as they sent the quotes directly to the company