In fact, Cao Zhiqiang had already produced the music album "Blooming Life", and he still spent his own money in advance to record a large number of records.

Since Li Youfu has contacted many domestic tape factories and added many tape manufacturers, plus the previous batch of tapes that were returned to the Peking Tape Factory for re-mastering, the music album "Blooming Life" has been heavily stocked.

How many are there?

Let's put it this way, by the time when Cao Zhiqiang officially took the college entrance examination, which was July 15th, Cao Zhiqiang had already stockpiled more than 1.5 million audio tapes in the name of Huaxia Audio and Video Company, which is definitely called

unprecedented.

Why is it said to be unprecedented?

This is because before this, when audio tapes were released in China, there was no precedent of hoarding millions of tapes in advance before the records were released. A hundred thousand at most would be good.

Under normal circumstances, domestic record companies first stock up on tapes worth RMB 20,000 to RMB 30,000, and then choose whether to add or not add additional recordings based on their popularity after they are released. This is the safest way and the least financial pressure.

Cao Zhiqiang talks about hoarding millions of records even before new records are released. Judging from the current situation in China, even big-name singers do not have such treatment.

For example, Teacher Li Guyi was considered the most popular inland singer in the country at this time. When she wanted to release a record, she did not stock up on millions of records in advance.

The reason why other domestic record companies don't stock up on millions of records before new records are released is not because they can't do it, but because they can't do it.

Because domestic record companies at this time were all state-owned enterprises, the procedures for releasing records were very cumbersome, especially when it came to money, which was very delicate and required layers of approval.

Huaxia Audio-Video Company is different. This company is nominally a joint venture controlled by a state-owned enterprise, and can be considered a state-owned enterprise, but in fact it is more like a leather company, or to be more precise, it is Cao Zhiqiang's Yitang.

So whatever Cao Zhiqiang wants to do, as long as he is willing to do it and he is willing to pay for it, then it won't be a problem.

To put it bluntly, Huaxia Audio and Video Company is just a tool in Cao Zhiqiang's hands. It is a state-owned enterprise in name, but in fact it is no different from Cao Zhiqiang's personal company.

Of course, the reason why Cao Zhiqiang was willing to spend a lot of money out of his own pocket to stock up on so many records in advance was because he was confident about his solo album.

This confidence is not only reflected in the confidence in the work itself, but also in Cao Zhiqiang's understanding of the current domestic music market.

Before this, Cao Zhiqiang had not carefully investigated the domestic record market. He always took it for granted that once his good songs were released, everyone would be shocked.

Therefore, in order to maximize profits, he chose to release a single tape, and that single tape was undoubtedly "Red Flag Flying".

Not only that, he also ingeniously cooperated with CCTV to create a new column that was widely advertised. The first program of the new column was the MTV "Red Flag Flying" to promote his song.

There is no doubt that the song "Flowing Red Flag" is indeed famous. This song is being sung all over the country, and many primary schools have even begun to teach students to sing this song.

However, the sales of the single tape with the red flag flying were not satisfactory, or in other words, it did not meet Cao Zhiqiang's expectations.

Later, after some investigation, it was discovered that the tape sales were poor, mainly due to ignoring the factors of the times.

Because during this period, the most popular thing in China was the cassette recorder. Although the real record player appeared earlier, it was not popular in China due to the high price and the fact that vinyl records themselves were too expensive and had too few recorded songs.

, not many in number.

The so-called singles generally refer to vinyl records. After all, the storage capacity of vinyl records is limited. Generally, one record can only record two songs, that is, the front and back sides.

Although new LP records can record more songs, they are ridiculously expensive.

A LP record on the market now costs about fifteen yuan, which an average family can't afford.

Therefore, cheap tape records are the most popular form of records in China.

However, ordinary audio tapes have a large storage capacity and can generally store more than ten songs.

So if you use tape-type records to release singles, unless you set the price very low, which is similar to a blank tape, ordinary people will not buy it because they think it is too cheating.

Cao Zhiqiang originally priced his first single tape at six yuan per box, which was beyond the psychological expectations of most people.

In addition, tapes are easy to copy and pirate, so people would rather buy those cheap replicas, which don't sound much different anyway.

Although domestic audio recorders cannot rip, imported dual-card audio recorders can easily rip.

Therefore, during this period, many self-employed people had already started the business of ripping pop song tapes.

Self-employed people use dual-card tape recorders to rip. Although it is not as fast as recording directly from a tape factory, and the quality and quantity are incomparable, there are enough self-employed people who can't handle this.

As long as someone can have a dual-card tape recorder that can rip tapes, get some blank tapes, and then buy an authentic tape of "Red Flag Flying", they can set up a small workshop to rip.

The ripped tapes are a collection, including not only "Flying Red Flag", but also popular songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan. One tape has more than ten songs, and the price is only four yuan, which is the same as the price of an imported Panasonic tape.

In this way, of course everyone is willing to buy pirated copies, which are cheap, sound the same, and can listen to more than ten popular songs. What a bargain.

At this time, the people in China were generally not wealthy. Although everyone had entertainment needs, they had to do what they could.

To put it bluntly, the domestic people are too price-sensitive at this time and have high requirements for cost-effectiveness. For this, you can look at India in the early 21st century.

Although six yuan is only two yuan more than four yuan, two yuan in this era is quite valuable.

In addition, the tape you paid for a box of six yuan only has one song, which is about the same as a blank tape. Unless you really like it and don't need money, such as an employer that can reimburse you, then ordinary people, who can

I'm happy to be taken advantage of.

Therefore, without detailed investigation, Cao Zhiqiang's first single was considered a failure without defeat.

In fact, strictly speaking, Cao Zhiqiang's first single did not fail, but was a great success.

After all, the song "Flowing Red Flag" is now a popular song in China, and many people have heard it.

In addition, the sales volume of the genuine single tape of "Red Flag Fluttering" has already exceeded 30,000, including the sales of vinyl records, which has already exceeded 10,000. Compared with other records, the results are very good.

The so-called failure is only what Cao Zhiqiang thinks, because this result looks good to outsiders, but in his own eyes, this is a failure.

Therefore, Cao Zhiqiang later learned from his experience and lessons, and changed his original plan to continue releasing a single, namely "Blood-Stained Style". Instead, he re-recorded an album that is more in line with this era - "Blooming"

life"!

"Blooming Life" is in the rock style. Both the music style and the lyrics are very consistent with this era, and it can definitely touch people's hearts.

In this era, this album can definitely be said to be at the level of a nuclear explosion.

At the same time, Cao Zhiqiang also set the price of this album in a very humane way, no longer being too high-minded, but with a unified price of 2.8 yuan.

In other words, "Life in Bloom" has a total of twelve songs (including "Red Flag Flying"), full of sincerity and weight, but the price is only two yuan and eighty a plate.

This price puts many pirate vendors out of business.

You should know that the wholesale price of domestic blank tapes on the market today is between 2.5 yuan and 3 yuan, and the retail price is between 3 yuan and 3.5 yuan, while imported tapes are generally more than 4 yuan.

Cao Zhiqiang directly set the retail price of the album at 2.8 yuan per disc, which almost stopped all pirate vendors from piracy.

Because piracy is unprofitable and you can’t make money.

If you think about it, a pirate vendor would pay at least 2.5 yuan a piece for a domestically produced blank tape. This is still the wholesale price for buying in large quantities. You can never buy it in small quantities.

Even if the minimum price is 2.5 yuan per plate, and all kinds of troubles are included, even if it does not count labor, you still have to pay for packaging, right?

The additional cost of packaging a tape is at least 30 cents, and it is absolutely impossible to be more exquisite than the ones from regular manufacturers.

Regular tape factories can package in large quantities. The higher the quantity, the lower the price.

If you, a small vendor, sell a small quantity, how can the packaging cost be lower than that of a tape factory?

To reduce costs, we can only reduce the quality. If we can further reduce the quality, the cost cannot be less than 30 cents, usually around 50 cents.

This is just like buying a complete car is very cheap, but if you buy the exact same auto parts and assemble them yourself, the price will be much higher than the complete car.

But you can’t pay more for takeout pirated tapes than the 2.8 yuan genuine ones, right?

If the price of pirated goods is the same as that of genuine goods, why would anyone buy pirated goods?

Therefore, the retail price of 2.8 yuan directly makes pirated books cry at this time, and I cannot pirate them because it is not cost-effective.

Unless you are buying a blank tape for yourself, do not package it and record directly.

But blank tapes are not cheap. If you buy them at the retail price, domestic blank tapes cannot be less than three yuan per tape, so you might as well buy genuine ones.

So, with the price of 2.8 yuan, can Cao Zhiqiang make a profit?

Of course there is.

Cao Zhiqiang’s prices are very cheap.

The price he paid for the goods before was 1.3 yuan for a tape. This was the price including packaging, and the tape alone was only 80 cents.

Now because he wants a larger quantity and gives cash in advance, he can actually get the goods at a cheaper price. Even if the prices of different manufacturers are different, on average, the cost is 1.2 yuan per tape, which also includes packaging.

never mind.

Based on the price of 2.8 yuan per tape, once a tape is sold, the gross profit will be 1.6 yuan, which is 1.6 yuan.

Of course, this cannot actually be calculated.

Because the sales of audio tapes are based on a profit-sharing model.

Currently, Cao Zhiqiang generally has two sales channels.

One is the formal distribution channel, that is, through Xinhua Bookstore, supply and marketing cooperatives, and department stores.

This channel basically distributes half of the price to these publishers, which is 1.4 yuan per plate.

Calculated in this way, through formal distribution channels, Huaxia Audio and Video Company can only receive 1.4 yuan in payment for each tape sold by units such as Xinhua Bookstore.

Subtracting the cost of 1.2 yuan, theoretically speaking, Huaxia Audio and Video Company can only earn 0.2 yuan, or 20 cents, on each tape.

Don’t think it’s too little, it’s actually pretty good. Who told Cao Zhiqiang to set the price too low?

But there is no way, if he doesn't set such a low price, he can't prevent the army of pirates from all over the country.

Moreover, small profits can lead to high sales, especially since this is Cao Zhiqiang's first album. The key is to gain fame.
To be continued...