The business circle in Shanghai is not big, so Lin Zixuan asked an intermediary to meet Zhang Shichuan and expressed his idea of ​​starting a film company with Zhang Shichuan.

Lin Zixuan thought this was a natural thing, which was equivalent to giving money to Zhang Shichuan.

But at this time, Zhang Shichuan was confident in entering the securities investment industry and preparing to do a big move.

He even chose the address of the company, right on Guizhou Road in Huangpu District.

He is a shrewd businessman with only a few thousand yuan in capital, but he claims to have raised more than 300,000 yuan in funds to attract others to invest.

Play the good show of making money with nothing.

Zhang Shichuan knew that Lin Zixuan was a bank, so he tried his best to encourage Lin Zixuan to invest his money in his company and promised a generous return.

Lin Zixuan was amused and crying about this.

He was not very interested in investing in this speculative model, and he did not find any information about stock trading during the Republic of China in his mind.

The two of them had their own thoughts and couldn't talk about going together.

Lin Zixuan was quite regretful, but besides Zhang Shichuan, he had other alternative candidates, so he was not in a hurry.

No one expected that in the following months, a financial storm occurred in the securities investment industry.

In the autumn and winter of 1921, many big cities across the country set off a craze for stock exchanges, and exchange stocks were flying all over the sky.

Among them, Shanghai has the most established, with more than 140 companies.

With so many exchanges established in one place, the normal business volume cannot be guaranteed at all, and it can only focus on speculative behavior.

At the end of 1921, it was the end of the year.

Some stable banks and money houses have shrunk funds and then stopped housing payments, which is short of money.

Speculators who have always relied on borrowing to work in stocks, their funds were not working well and they were in trouble. The securities prices plummeted, and a large number of trust companies on exchanges went bankrupt one after another.

In the end, more than 100 exchanges and trust companies closed down, and the remaining few were barely supported by the strong and organized ones.

This is the famous "trust and intercourse trend" in Shanghai's modern economic history.

In early August 1921, EDA Records published a large advertisement on "Shenbao".

"The sound of nature sings the earth."

Next to the advertisement, there is also a photo of Meng Xiaodong. Meng Xiaodong is sitting on a chair, holding her cheek with her hands, and wearing the clothes of female students that are popular in schools.

Pure as water, graceful and moving.

In this era when radio broadcasts were not available, advertising in newspapers was the most common way of publicity.

In the past, when Hundreds of Dians released records, they would also publish advertisements, which were nothing more than introductory words such as "New movies arrive, please buy them quickly".

This time the advertising creativity comes from Lin Zixuan.

Popular songs are different from previous opera records. In addition to the songs themselves, they also need to highlight the role of singers.

That is to praise singers.

Otherwise, if everyone just listens to the sound and doesn’t know who sings, it wouldn’t be in vain.

In this era, singers cannot make money by relying on records. Making records is a one-time reward and no share of the money.

In other words, the quality of the record has nothing to do with the singers, and singers can make money through other stage performances.

This starts with the cost and profits of the record industry.

Take Eidi Records as an example. It has its own record manufacturer in China and can make records in China. The material cost of a record is about two cents.

The main expense is to pay the actors.

According to the market conditions at this time, the salary for a famous opera actor to record a record ranges from 500 yuan to 1,000 yuan, which varies depending on the person's fame.

In the 1930s, salaries continued to rise, and the remuneration offered by BD to the famous opera artist Yu Shuyan was 5,000 yuan per piece.

What is this concept?

Lin Zixuan wrote "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", and the royalties were worth three yuan, and he spent more than half a year to finish writing one million words, and the royalties were worth 3,000 yuan.

The purchasing power of silver dollars in this era is still very strong.

For example, Lin Zixuan paid Pingqianya a salary of 180 yuan per month, general editors ranged from 80 to 120 yuan per month, primary and secondary school teachers’ salary is about 40 yuan, typists’ monthly salary is 30 yuan, and office secretary’s minimum salary is 50 yuan.

In Shanghai, a single person rents a house of about 6 yuan a month, and it costs ten yuan a month to make a meal. If you go to a restaurant, you won’t cost a meal.

It is cheaper to take a rickshaw, which is only one or two cents.

A bachelor, if he has 40 yuan a month, can live a good life in Shanghai.

From this we can see how high the salary is to record a opera record of 5,000 yuan, of course this is for top drama artists.

Compared with famous opera artists, singers have to pay more, and recording a record is basically one or two hundred yuan.

This is because famous opera artists have become famous and have an audience base, so they don’t have to worry about sales of records.

When a singer releases a record, it depends on the market response, and the risk is too great.

Furthermore, it takes decades of foundation to sing opera, and singers can sing popular songs with a good voice and a certain musical foundation, which is one of the reasons why singers pay for their rewards.

Meng Xiaodong received a reward of 150 yuan when recording this record.

The price the record company gives the publisher is two yuan for a record, and the material cost of the record is only two cents. Even with various labor costs, the record company can make nearly half of the profit.

The greater the sales volume, the more they make.

Lin Zixuan wanted to sign a share agreement with BD.com to draw a dime from each record.

He also designed a plan, if the sales volume of records is less than 10,000, he would not have any fees, and this is the bet agreement.

Unfortunately, the French are not fools, and Zhang Changfu, the manager of EMI, also disagrees. They will not change the company's operating model for a little profit.

EDA Company has a relatively conservative estimate of the sales of this test record, and they believe that it should be between 4,000 and 6,000 copies in the end.

This is because there were no examples to refer to before, and no one knows whether the Chinese society, which has always been conservative, can accept it.

Lin Zixuan needs to rely on the mature sales system of EMI to make Meng Xiaodong famous overnight and thus create China's first pop star. He has to use various means to increase Meng Xiaodong's popularity.

The photos on "Shenbao" are just the first step. There are similar advertisements in newspapers and magazines such as Peking's "Morning News" and Tianjin's "Ta Kung Pao", and only Meng Xiaodong's photos are slightly different.

Some sit upright and hold their chins, quiet as water, while others lean and stand alone, with a sad look...

Dozens of photos, graceful and gentle, each with its own charm.

The advertisement caused a lot of response, and at the same time, the record was sent from BD and shipped to all parts of the country.

The first sale was naturally in Shanghai. When a dealer took out the record he had just delivered and put it on the phonograph, a soft and clear voice sounded and drifted in the air.

"The south wind blows cool, the nightingale sings in detail, the flowers under the moon fall into dreams, only that night comes with fragrance, revealing fragrance."
Chapter completed!