It was already noon when I came out of Kazuo Hirai's office.

Kazuo Hirai entertained them directly in the company cafeteria.

Sony's size can be seen in the staff cafeteria, which is often overcrowded, even with 1,300 seats and an entire floor.

For this reason, Sony employees will stagger lunch times by 20 minutes depending on the type of job and implement a phased meal mode to effectively avoid crowding.

Kazuo Hirakawa's privilege as CEO is to have an exclusive location and area for dining, but the money still has to be paid.

With a large number of employees, different tastes, and a wide range of menus in the Sony cafeteria.

There are more than 100 types of rice bowls and set meals. If you don't have enough to eat, each person will also receive a free dessert and side dishes.

One of the most popular is ソニーごはん, which is the Sony package.

Kazuo Hirakawa highly recommended this set meal to Niu Li.

It is said that it is a set meal, but this rice bowl was developed by the Women's Nutrition University and pays great attention to the balance of calories and nutrition.

There are almost 20 different Sony rice bowls to choose from, and in addition to the fixed pairing, it is said that the menu changes frequently to give employees more choices.

Niu Li ordered an onion beef rice bowl, and it tasted pretty good.

After lunch, Niu Li returned to his office with Kazuo Hiragawa.

During the morning exchange, Niu Li expressed the idea of wanting to cooperate, but Kazuo Hirakawa was obviously not very interested.

Taking advantage of the lunch break, Niu Li also sorted out her thoughts and analyzed a little of Kazuo Hirakawa's thoughts.

She knows that Sony is eager to open up the American market, and in recent years has invested energy and money to find new talents, but the target is mainly in Europe and the United States.

Compared with Xinghai Culture and Black Hole Band, it is obviously better to hold a local grassroots band in Europe and the United States.

A fake state-owned company, using a Chinese band, to open up the American market, does not sound so reliable.

Columbia and Warner are U.S.-based companies with deep foundations and comprehensive channels, the U.S. market is already in their pockets, and the band itself is not so important to them.

They are interested in the Chinese market behind the sea of stars and black holes.

But Sony is different, its base camp is in East Asia, Xinghai culture and it is a competitive relationship, and the songs of Black Hole and Beyond are also selling well in fake China.

And they also have the idea of entering the American market, and Kazuo Hirai naturally feels a hint of threat.

During the morning conversation, Kazuo Hirai said that he knew the popularity of the Black Hole Band in China and Southeast Asia, and he also listened to "Rock?or Bust", which is indeed a very high-quality album.

He is still very much convinced of the potential of black holes.

But he maintains an ambiguous and subtle attitude about whether to cooperate.

In Niu Li's view, he may not have made up his mind about whether to choose to help an opponent gain a foothold in the United States.

From two perspectives, the short-term benefit of helping Xinghai Culture and Black Hole Band gain a foothold in the United States is only to get some profit share, which is not enough to attract Kazuo Hirai.

The downside is obvious, this decision may set up a rival for Sony in the U.S. market.

Although Sony Music has entered the American market for many years, its development is not much better than that of Xinghai Culture.

Over the years, they have tried to send local singers from fake plate countries to the United States, but they have only attracted some niche fans, and there are not even as many anime lovers.

The attempt to cultivate local singers is also difficult, and compared with the old music companies such as Universal, Warner, and Columbia, Sony Music's brand is still not loud enough.

The vast majority of outstanding local musicians will choose those established music companies.

Over the years, Sony has spent a lot of money, but it has only picked up a few third-rate black rappers, and they can't drag it all day long.

During the years when Kazuo Hirai was in charge of the music sector, he decided on a policy, that is, to take into account the artists and channels and develop them in parallel.

Therefore, while cultivating artists, Sony is also working hard to broaden its own publicity channels.

Over the years, Sony has opened more than 100 record stores across the United States, purchased several entertainment magazines, and invested in the fox television network owned by Twentieth Century Fox.

But it's a pity that there has been no artist who can take the lead.

Six years ago, they had poached the famous diva Britney, but because of channel restrictions, internal conflicts in the management and Britney's personal biases, they finally parted ways.

Therefore, when Xinghai Culture found Kazuo Hirai, although he knew that he shouldn't help his opponent, he was still a little reluctant.

No way, Black Hole's "Rock or Bust" sold so well.

Although Columbia has unilaterally stopped promoting the Black Hole Band, the Black Hole Band has gained a lot of exposure through the NBA halftime show line, as well as the attention accumulated in the early stage.

And with the word-of-mouth effect brought by the quality of the record itself, the album's playback, downloads and weekly rankings are steadily improving.

However, this is all based on the fact that Colombia has not yet taken a position.

If Colombia officially initiates a lawsuit against Xinghai Culture, then the Black Hole Band will inevitably become the target of public criticism, and if they cooperate with Xinghai Culture, they will undoubtedly take over this hot potato together.

Niu Li guessed his concerns, so in the afternoon discussion, she cut straight to the point.

"Colombia will definitely sue us, and we will definitely fight this lawsuit with them, and I know you're worried about the impact, but I would say it's a risk and an opportunity. ”

"Once Colombia initiates a lawsuit against us, the black hole will immediately be on the cusp of public opinion, and even attract the attention of the media in both countries. ”

"This is a huge publicity opportunity for us, and whether we win or lose the lawsuit, the American media and people will remember the name Black Hole. ”

Kazuo Hirai supported his right cheek with one hand, listened to the translation, and muttered: "If you lose the battle, it will have a great impact on the image of the black hole and your sea of stars. ”

"I know. Niu Li said very firmly: "But we have no way out, if we don't succeed, we will become benevolent." ”

Kazuo Hirai pondered for a while, but said: "I still think the risks outweigh the benefits, in fact, to put it bluntly, I don't think Sony has a reason to take such a big risk for a potential competitor." ”

Niu Li was silent, she thought for a while, and suddenly asked: "Then have you ever thought about turning potential competitors into partners to deal with real competitors? I think that the real threat to Sony should be Times, Warners and Columbia, right?"

Kazuo Hirai looked at her in surprise, stunned for a moment, and then smiled in surprise: "I have to admit that I was a little moved by what you said." ”