Traffic Star Development Program

Chapter 45 The Long Tail Effect

"Penguin Music has a larger user base," Zeng Hao said, "but your audience isn't there. If you flip to the first page, I had someone pull up the platform data for several mid-sized singers from the second half of last year. You can see the age distribution of users in the comment sections of NetEase Cloud Music and Penguin Music."

Xue Zhijian picked up the first page again; there was a column of notes on the right side of the table.

The line on NetEase Cloud Music reads: "The main users in the comment section are 22-32 years old. The average playlist propagation chain takes 7-12 days, showing a significant long-tail effect."

The line for Penguin Music reads: "The user base is large but scattered. The playlist recommendation algorithm is biased towards popular music. The natural spread efficiency of non-popular music is about 40% lower than that of NetEase Cloud Music."

After reading those two lines, Xue Zhijian tapped his finger on the table and asked, "Where did you get this data?"

"It's an industry report," Zeng Hao said. "It's from the second half of last year. I didn't make it up. You can check it yourself."

Xue Zhijian didn't speak immediately. He flipped through the first page, then picked up the second page and asked, "What are the conditions the platform offers for a seven-day exclusive premiere?"

"This is what I want to talk to you about," Zeng Hao said. "NetEase Cloud Music's copyright acquisition budget in Q1 was nearly 30% higher than in Q4. The reason is that they suffered losses in last year's copyright war and are actively replenishing their reserves this year. So now is the window of opportunity to talk. They are willing to offer better terms than usual. We can push up the exclusive fee and at the same time negotiate the platform revenue sharing ratio to 60% for the production company and 40% for the platform."

Xue Zhijian put down the form in his hand. "June 4th?"

"Yes," Zeng Hao said.

"I've spoken about this elsewhere before," Xue Zhijian said. "50/50 is the normal level in the industry. Would they agree to 60/40?"

"Yes," Zeng Hao said, "but they're not willing to give it to everyone. It depends on the singer's popularity and the platform's prediction of the song. Now that you've gained more Weibo followers after the Happy Camp broadcast, they have internal data and they know you're on the rise. They're willing to give better conditions to singers on the rise because they want to secure your future resources."

Xue Zhijian went through the words in his mind, his finger stopped on the table, and he didn't tap again. "So, for my side, the split is 70/30 for the song, you get 70% and I get 30%, right?"

"It's written in the contract," Zeng Hao said.

Xue Zhijian was silent for about eight seconds, then pushed his chair back and leaned against the backrest. "President Zeng, let me be frank. A 60/40 split between the platform and the production company is a good thing, but if the platform takes 60% and the production company takes 40%, and I take 30% of the production company's share, then I actually only get 12% of the total revenue. Do you think this ratio is reasonable?"

Zeng Hao picked up the hot tea beside him, took a sip, and put it down. "You think it's unreasonable?"

"I think it's too low," Xue Zhijian said calmly, simply stating his position. "I wrote this song, and I also participated in the arrangement. According to industry practice, this is the creator's right—"

"Industry practice," Zeng Hao continued, "the industry practice is that the creators receive a share of the lyrics and music copyrights. This share is a separate system, not on the same account as the distribution share. We haven't touched your lyrics and music copyrights. The money you receive from the copyright side each year is settled separately. This is in your contract, and you can check it when you get back."

Xue Zhijian listened to this and did not speak immediately.

He picked up the cup of coffee beside him, took a sip, and put it down. "How much can we get from the copyright revenue sharing each year?"

"I can't give you an exact figure for this year," Zeng Hao said, "but I can give you a reference. If 'Ugly Monster' is released at the end of April to coincide with the popularity of 'I Am a Singer,' the number of views in the first month is conservatively estimated to be over 30 million. If the copyright of the lyrics and music is calculated at 0.003 yuan per view, the copyright alone will be 90,000 yuan in the first month. This money will be given to you separately and will not be deducted from the distribution revenue."

Xue Zhijian calculated the number in his mind: 90,000 plus the distribution fee, the total income for the first month would be roughly in this range.

He turned his coffee cup around. "What do you mean by 'coordinating with 'I Am a Singer'?"

"Xu Jiaying," Zeng Hao said, "She will be on the third season of 'I Am a Singer' this year. I set the release date of 'Ugly Monster' on the weekend of her first episode. The show's popularity and the song's release will coincide, and the search volume will have a cumulative effect. This effect can push the first week's play count of 'Ugly Monster' to about twice the normal level."

Xue Zhijian looked up. "Is she sure she's going to go?"

"OK," Zeng Hao said.

Xue Zhijian kept this information in mind. He knew what "I Am a Singer" was. After the first season came out in 2013, the entire industry saw the song promotion effect of the show. If a song was broadcast on the show, the number of plays in that episode could double.

He pulled his chair back towards the table. "So, how do you plan to proceed with the issuance plan?"

"We've confirmed that we've chosen option B today," Zeng Hao said. "This week, I'll have Xu Wen contact NetEase Cloud to discuss the exclusivity fee and revenue sharing. Once that's done, you can review the contract. If there are no issues, we'll sign it. The whole process should be completed within two weeks."

Xue Zhijian stacked the two forms on the table, pushed them back, and said, "Fine, go talk to them, and show them to me when you're done."

"There's one more thing," Zeng Hao said. "The production team of 'I Am a Singer' might contact you to be the opening act. It's not for the competition, but for an encore performance after an episode. If they contact you, tell Xu Wen that I'll negotiate the terms. Don't agree to anything yourself."

Xue Zhijian stood up, picked up his coat and draped it over his arm. "I understand."

He walked towards the door, then turned back halfway and asked, "Mr. Zeng, has Xu Jiaying found out about 'I Am a Singer'?"

"I don't know," Zeng Hao said.

After listening to the answer, Xue Zhijian nodded, asked no further questions, and turned to leave.

The door closed, leaving Zeng Hao alone in the conference room.

He put away the two forms on the table, tucked them into the folder next to him, picked up his phone, and sent a message to Xu Wen: Release plan B confirmed. Contact NetEase Cloud's copyright acquisition department this week for initial contact. Discuss the seven-day exclusive premiere fee and the revenue sharing ratio of 60% for the production company and 40% for the platform. Let's sound them out first and not rush to set any numbers. Report back to me after you've done the research.

Xu Wen replied: Received. I'll find the contact person today.

He put down his phone, picked up the hot tea, took a sip, but the tea had gone cold. He put the cup back and didn't drink any more.

At 4 p.m., Ms. Lin finished the first phase of the second week's physical assessment in the training room.

She placed the evaluation form on the table. Five names were listed from top to bottom, with two columns next to each name: one for the problem description and the other for the current progress.

Zeng Hao stood at the door, and Xu Wen took the assessment form and handed it to him.

He read through the evaluation form from beginning to end.