Rebirth 03: Starting a Business After Giving Up a Secure Job

Chapter 73 The Appearance of Imitators

Manager Zhang from XunJie Audio was very efficient this time; the contract for the "Mice Love Rice" ringtone was delivered the very next day.

The agreement terms are clear, with the profit-sharing ratio, the responsibilities of both parties, and the settlement cycle all clearly stated.

Lin Feng looked at it carefully and then signed it.

The release date for the "Mice Love Rice" ringtone on XunJie will be determined in conjunction with Yang Chengang's campus performance.

That afternoon, Xu Qiang returned home looking rather strange. He threw his bag on the table, pulled up a chair, and gulped down most of a bottle of water.

"What's wrong?" Lin Feng looked up from his computer.

"Brother Feng, a copycat has appeared. I just came back from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and the distributor there told me that other MP3 players on the market have started offering free music recently."

"What song?"

"It's a mess, they have everything." Xu Qiang frowned. "There are online songs, old songs, and I heard they even have 'Lilac Flower.' Their machines are cheaper than ours."

The office fell silent. Wang Peng took off his headphones, and Su Wan looked up from her documents.

"Which company sells these?" Lin Feng asked.

"I've never heard of the brand before, it's called 'Sheng Yue'. It's also sold by students," Xu Qiang said. "They not only give away songs, but they also do campus agent programs like we do, and their commission rate is two percentage points higher than ours."

"How's the agent's response?"

"No one has defected yet, but there are definitely some who are up to something. After all, the goods are cheap and the commission rate is high, which is not a small amount for students."

Lin Feng tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

As soon as the MP3 market started to heat up, imitators appeared. Generic models were cheap to produce; they could be sold simply by slapping a label on them. Adding songs was even easier; you could just download some pirated music online, pre-install it on the device, and that was a selling point.

"So, what do you think are our advantages?" Lin Feng asked.

"The quality of the songs," Su Wan spoke first. "We sent the officially licensed 'Lilac Flower,' and now we have 'Mice Love Rice.' The ones they sent were either of poor sound quality or of dubious origin."

"After-sales service," Wang Peng added. "Our machines have after-sales service if there are problems, but who do you contact if those no-name brands break down?"

Xu Qiang said, "But their price is cheaper. Should we lower our price?"

Lin Feng shook his head: "Prices can't be lowered, or it will cause chaos. In the end, everyone will lose money and only gain publicity."

"Then how should we deal with it?" Xu Qiang asked.

Lin Feng thought for a moment: "Two things. First, make it clear to the agents that all the songs we send out are officially licensed and protected by copyright. Their songs of dubious origin could be taken down at any time, and if users come back for them, the agents will be the ones in trouble."

"Secondly, as Wang Peng said, our machines come with a warranty. Other generic MP3 players don't have warranties. You can rest assured when making our products!"

Xu Qiang noted it down: "Okay, I'll contact the agent for a meeting tonight."

Lin Feng looked at Su Wan: "We need to speed up the promotional materials for 'Mice Love Rice.' Posters and flyers must be distributed this week. For online forums, find a few music section moderators to do some promotion; the cost is negotiable."

"Okay, I'll do it now." Su Wan quickly made a note in her notebook.

"What's the situation with the event?" Lin Feng asked Shen Jingyi.

"The event is proceeding according to your revised plan," Shen Jingyi replied.

The first event of the "Campus Folk Song Festival" is scheduled for next weekend at the Xichuan University Auditorium. Saturday's featured performance is by Tang Lei, who will sing "Lilac Flower" and his new song.

Zhou Tian will be performing Yang Chengang's song, "Mice Love Rice." A ringtone download area will be set up on-site; the equipment and personnel provided by XunJie have already been arranged.

"Where are the tickets?"

"It's free, but there's a limit to the number of attendees. Tickets will be distributed mainly through the Digital Music Club and various campus agents, and entry will be by ticket only," Shen Jingyi added. "This way, we can control the number of attendees while ensuring that only our target audience comes."

"Okay." Lin Feng looked at Tan Zhao. "Have Tang Lei and Yang Chengang's itinerary, airport pick-up and drop-off, and accommodation arrangements been made?"

Tan Zhao, who was in charge of logistics, replied, "Everything is arranged. I've booked the plane tickets and hotels in advance."

"Good!" Lin Feng was very satisfied with all the preparations.

"For online promotion, Wang Peng will work with Su Wan. We'll focus on Tianya, Xici Hutong, and Rongshuxia. The titles need to be attractive, like 'The sweetest love song of the year' or 'You'll be able to hum it after hearing it.'"

Wang Peng gave an OK sign.

Tasks were assigned one by one. Xu Qiang made phone calls, Wang Peng started organizing forum accounts, and Su Wan buried herself in revising promotional materials; everyone performed their duties. The various tasks at Fengchi Digital Studio progressed rapidly.

Lin Feng walked to the window. The sky outside was gradually darkening, and the lights in the distant teaching building came on.

Imitators appeared as he expected. Any profitable business model, once proven viable, will attract a flood of followers.

He had never heard of the brand "Shengyue" before; it must be that they saw the potential in this business model and wanted to get a piece of the pie.

Low prices, high commissions, and bundled pirated songs. This is the most blatant way to compete, but it's often the most effective, especially in the student market.

The key is to build a sufficiently high barrier for yourself.

"Lilacs" and "Mice Love Rice" represent content barriers, but they are not enough. Campus agent networks represent channel barriers, but they are easily impacted by high commission rates.

The real barrier lies in binding with the source, continuously updating content, and building an ecosystem advantage. But that takes time, investment, and patience.

He walked back to his desk and opened his email. There was an unread email from Wu Wenjie about the production progress of the next batch of MP3 players.

Lin Feng quickly glanced at it, added a few sentences in his reply, inquiring about the delivery time and reminding him to pay attention to quality control.

My phone vibrated right after I sent it. It was Tang Lei calling.

"Lin Feng, are you busy?"

"It's alright. What do you say, Brother Lei?"

"I just received an invitation to a commercial performance. I'll be in Hunan this weekend and then come to Chengdu later next week."

"No problem. Just get here before next Saturday."

"no problem."

"Okay, you handle it. The atmosphere at the event is the most important thing. When the time is right, just remind the fans to download the ringtones."

"rest assured."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Feng glanced at the time; it was almost eight o'clock. The people in the office were still there.

He clapped his hands: "That's all for today, everyone go back and rest."

Xu Qiang hung up the last call and breathed a long sigh of relief: "Finally, it's all settled. The agents have made things clear, and no one is wavering for now. But I reckon 'Shengyue' will definitely make another move."

"We'll deal with whatever comes our way," Lin Feng said. "Making the event a success and making the song a hit is more important than anything else."

Su Wan saved the document and shut down her computer: "I'll send the promotional copy to the group chat first thing tomorrow morning, everyone can take a look. I've also sent the poster design to the printing shop, and samples should be available the day after tomorrow."

Liu Qian handed over a piece of paper: "This is the performance budget breakdown. Take a look. The venue fee, equipment rental, material printing, and staff meal allowances are all here."

Lin Feng took it and quickly glanced at it; the numerical entries were clear.

"Okay, let's do it this way. We won't skimp on necessary expenses, but we won't spend a single penny on unnecessary ones."

Everyone left together, turning off the lights and locking the door.