Chapter 108: Chief Content Officer!

“This is…” Jiang Lun looked over the documents. “Is the government about to launch a major campaign to regulate the music market?”

“Yes!” Liu Xiahui nodded. “Several IT giants have already begun taking action, including our company’s music platform, EasyListen Music. So far, we’ve paid more than seventy-five million yuan in licensing fees to obtain legitimate music rights. The negotiations will continue, and before the end of July, every song without proper authorization must be removed.”

“For people who make music, spring has arrived. For the major IT giants, though, it’s the dead of winter.” Fu Chunli laughed. “If I were in President Liu’s position, I’d certainly have a headache. But now that I’m the general manager of Rainy Day Music, I have to stand up for musicians. I can only applaud this campaign!”

Liu Xiahui gave a wry smile. “I’m not worried. It’s only a matter of spending money. If money can solve a problem, then it isn’t really a problem! Still, once we’ve spent it, we’ll have to earn it back. As far as the music market is concerned, I believe that with you joining us, Sister Fu, every difficulty can be overcome.”

“You’re putting me on too high a pedestal!” Fu Chunli said with a smile. “Jiang Lun mentioned his ideas to me last time. The proposal for paid digital music is certainly worth trying. But I’d still like to hear more of his thoughts about the specifics.”

“Oh?” Liu Xiahui’s eyes lit up as he turned to Jiang Lun. “You have a plan?”

Jiang Lun smiled modestly. “Only a number of ideas. They haven’t been tested by the market, so they’re still rather immature.”

“That doesn’t matter. Speak freely!” Liu Xiahui said. “Having ideas is a good thing. We can all work together to refine them. EasyListen’s transformation is urgent, and any worthwhile proposal is worth trying.”

“All right, then. I’ll explain.” Jiang Lun said, “First of all, no matter what the product is, user experience is the most important thing. Being able to provide a good experience and retain a large user base is the key to success.”

“Exactly.” Liu Xiahui nodded without expressing either agreement or disagreement. “That’s the core of every application. But with the problems surrounding music copyrights in our catalog, user experience is gradually losing its competitive edge. Right now, the major IT companies are competing over one thing: whoever has the largest catalog will claim the greatest share of the market.”

“Not necessarily.” Jiang Lun shook his head with a smile. “Small changes can also improve the user experience. But before we discuss that, I’d like to know how many songs EasyListen currently has in its catalog.”

“More than two million songs have been licensed, but that still isn’t enough. Nearly ten million songs remain unauthorized. We’ve set up a special team that’s currently negotiating with record companies everywhere, trying to obtain the rights to their catalogs,” Liu Xiahui replied.

“We could offer them certain terms. For example, instead of purchasing their catalog rights outright, we could share the revenue generated by their songs and pay them every month. That would create a lasting stream of income, which might make them more interested.”

At this, Liu Xiahui frowned. “Revenue sharing? What would we use to pay them each month? Music is still free at this stage, so we aren’t making any money at all.”

“There are certainly ways to turn a profit.” Jiang Lun smiled. “For instance, we could introduce EasyListen memberships. It wouldn’t have to cost much—ten or fifteen yuan a month, roughly the price of a pack of cigarettes. But members could enjoy many features unavailable to ordinary users, such as lossless audio and music videos. We could also cooperate with celebrities, allowing our members to receive priority access to the events they organize.

“Furthermore, merchants on the Yida e-commerce platform could embed music players on their store pages. That feature would also require them to subscribe to EasyListen. When customers entered a shop and heard music playing, they would get the feeling of stepping into a physical store.

“On the software side, we could cooperate with major telecommunications carriers to create an ‘EasyListen Exclusive Data Plan.’ Users could listen to music cheaply and without worry even when they weren’t connected to Wi-Fi. For example, five yuan a month could provide one gigabyte of data, while ten yuan could provide three gigabytes, and so on.”

“These are all excellent proposals. Your thinking is remarkably broad; you’ve broken through the restrictions we’ve imposed on ourselves.” Liu Xiahui praised him repeatedly. “Listening to you, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Of course, I have many more ideas. But everything has to be done gradually. Turning a product into a profitable venture is a long process.”

Jiang Lun naturally had no intention of revealing all his core ideas. He had conditions of his own. It remained to be seen whether Liu Xiahui would agree to them.

“The entire company may be in a hurry, but as long as we have a way to make a profit and can get ahead of our competitors, taking the initiative, we’ll already have succeeded in the first small step,” Liu Xiahui said. “If you have any requests, put them forward. You’ve brought the company far too many surprises for me to count. What you’ve done goes well beyond what one musician should be capable of. I’m very curious to hear what else you have in mind.”

“My requests are simple.” Jiang Lun pressed his lips into a smile. “First, EasyListen Music must be integrated into Rainy Day Music and become one of its products. That way, I’ll be able to communicate more effectively and make suggestions whenever necessary.”

“That can be arranged.” Liu Xiahui nodded. “I’ll issue the document later and instruct the network company to move the entire EasyListen team over to Rainy Day Music.”

“There’s one more thing. I want to increase my stake in Rainy Day Music by five percent.”

After saying this, Jiang Lun fixed his eyes on Liu Xiahui.

Liu Xiahui’s brows drew together slightly, but soon relaxed again, and his expression returned to normal.

After a moment’s thought, he smiled. “That can be arranged as well. I’ll give you five percent. But I have one condition of my own.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“You will serve as Rainy Day Music’s chief content officer.”

“What?” Jiang Lun waved both hands repeatedly. “That won’t do. I have no experience in this field. What exactly does a chief content officer do?”

Liu Xiahui turned to Fu Chunli. “Sister Fu, explain it to him.”

Fu Chunli smiled. “Actually, being a chief content officer isn’t difficult. You simply need to understand the market, the media, copywriting, visual presentation, storytelling, and user insights.”

“That sounds like a lot of trouble…” Jiang Lun felt a headache coming on.

“It’s not as frightening as you imagine,” Liu Xiahui explained. “Unlike the chief content officers at other companies, you’re a celebrity. Your schedule is already packed, and you’re constantly traveling from place to place. You probably wouldn’t spend more than twelve hours a month in the office. But since you’re proposing plans for the company’s products, we have to give you an appropriate title. ‘Chief content officer’ is only a title.”

“I see!”

Jiang Lun finally understood. In other words, the position held little actual authority. It might be enough to intimidate a few people, but in front of a room full of executives, it was hardly worth mentioning.

Fortunately, he would also have shares in the company. With that backing, the title of chief content officer would no longer be an empty shell.

…

That morning, every department at Yida received a notification by email.

The announcement stated that EasyListen Music and its entire team would be integrated into Rainy Day Music and, effective immediately, would be operated by Rainy Day Music.

The second item concerned Jiang Lun’s appointment.

The news astonished employees throughout the company.

A celebrity was going to serve as chief content officer?

Would he really be able to handle it?

Some people saw through the situation at a glance and could not help scoffing.

Rainy Day Music was such a small operation, merely a subsidiary of the entire Yida Group. Did it really need a dedicated content officer—let alone a chief content officer?

At the same time, Yida Network Technology received the same order.

“Whew…”

The company’s general manager heaved a sigh of relief. “That money-losing nuisance called EasyListen has finally been kicked out of our hands!”

“Heh. Now let’s see what Rainy Day does with it.” The deputy general manager sneered. “Even with Liu Xiayu overseeing the operation and Fu Chunli joining them, they won’t amount to much.”

“What a joke. Our professional IT company couldn’t keep it afloat. Do they really think a music company can make it work?” another deputy general manager scoffed. “Product development is about business planning, not indulging in sentiment. Let’s just sit back and watch them suffer.”

“Quiet!”

The general manager made a silencing gesture, though he was smiling as he spoke. “We can’t behave that way. The EasyListen team is packing up and preparing to move. Let’s go see them off and show our sorrow. Remember, I want every one of you to look like you’re about to cry!”

“Understood!”

“Right away!”

“…”

For the employees of the EasyListen team, the change might amount to nothing more than moving from the twenty-eighth floor to the seventh and having a new chain of command.

But for EasyListen itself, it meant a complete change of leadership.

They had no idea how far the product could go—or how long it could survive—after leaving the support of a network technology company and falling into the hands of a music company with little understanding of internet technology.

…

After leaving Liu Xiahui’s office, Jiang Lun and Fu Chunli headed back toward the company.

Inside the elevator, Jiang Lun said, “Sister Fu, I’ll have to trouble you with this from now on. I’ll go back and write a detailed proposal, then bring it to you when I have the time. Implementation will depend on you. I have too many activities scheduled next month, so I probably won’t have much time to sit down and handle EasyListen’s affairs.”

“Don’t worry. The company has already begun recruiting. If we really intend to make sweeping changes, we’ll need at least three hundred people to get the operation moving. You focus on your own work. If there’s anything I don’t understand, I’ll come and discuss it with you.”

“Good. I also need to visit Brother Wu later, so I won’t accompany you back to Rainy Day Music.”

“Go ahead.”

The elevator stopped at the floor occupied by the management company.

Jiang Lun stepped out, waving goodbye to Fu Chunli. Only after the doors closed did he turn and walk toward Wu Chaoyang’s office.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

He raised his hand and tapped on the door. A moment later, Wu Chaoyang’s voice came from inside.

“Come in!”

Jiang Lun pushed open the door. Wu Chaoyang immediately rose to his feet, his eyes filled with anticipation.

“Have you written the game’s promotional song?”

“Yes.” Jiang Lun nodded and unlocked his phone. “Listen to it first. If it passes your approval, I’ll have Rainy Day Music begin production.”

When he finished speaking, fierce rock music burst from the phone.

After the song ended, Wu Chaoyang nodded.

“Good. Go ahead and have this one produced.”