In fact, Cao Zhiqiang has already produced the music album "Blooming Life", and he still paid out of his own pocket in advance and recorded a large number of records.

Because Li Youfu has contacted a number of domestic tape factories and added a lot of tape manufacturers, coupled with the previous batch of tapes that were returned to the Beiping tape factory for refilling, the music album "Blooming Life" has been hoarded a lot.

How many are there?

Let's put it this way, by the time Cao Zhiqiang officially took the college entrance examination, that is, on July 15, Cao Zhiqiang had hoarded more than 1.5 million boxes of audio tapes in the name of Huaxia Audiovisual Company, which was absolutely unprecedented.

Why is it unprecedented?

This is because before this, when the domestic release of audio tapes, there was no precedent of hoarding more than one million tapes in advance when the records were not on the market, and it would be good to stock up to 100,000 at most.

Under normal circumstances, domestic record companies first stock up on 20,000 or 30,000 tapes, and then choose whether to add or not to add them according to the degree of popularity after they are listed, which is the safest and the least financial pressure.

Cao Zhiqiang's new record has not yet been listed, and he mentioned the situation of hoarding more than one million records, judging from the current situation in China, even big-name singers do not have this kind of treatment.

For example, Teacher Li Guyi, she was the hottest inland singer in China during this period, and she wanted to release records, and she didn't stock up on millions of records in advance.

The reason why other domestic record companies did not stock up on millions of records in advance before the new records were released is not that they can't do it, but that they can't do it.

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

Huaxia Audiovisual Company is different, this company is nominally a joint venture company controlled by a state-owned enterprise, and it is also a state-owned enterprise, but in fact it is more like a leather bag company, or to be more precise, it is Cao Zhiqiang's Yiyantang.

So what Cao Zhiqiang wants to do, as long as he is willing, and he is willing to pay for it, it will not be a problem.

To put it mildly, Huaxia Audiovisual Company is just a tool in Cao Zhiqiang's hands, nominally a state-owned enterprise, but in fact, it is no different from Cao Zhiqiang's personal company.

Of course, the reason why Cao Zhiqiang is willing to pay out of his own pocket and spend a lot of money to stock up so many records in advance is because he is full of confidence in his personal album.

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

Before this, Cao Zhiqiang had not carefully investigated the domestic record market, and always took it for granted that as soon as his good songs came out, they would definitely be shocked.

So in order to maximize profits, he chose to release a single tape, and that single tape is undoubtedly "Red Flag Fluttering".

Not only that, but he also cooperated with CCTV with ingenuity to create a new program that was widely advertised, and the first program of the new column was the MTV of "Red Flag Fluttering" to promote his songs.

There is no doubt that purely in terms of the song "Red Flag Fluttering", it is indeed famous, and this song is being sung all over the country, and even many elementary schools have begun to teach primary school students to sing this song.

However, the sales of the single tape with the red flag fluttering were not satisfactory, or rather, it did not meet Cao Zhiqiang's expectations.

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

Because during this period, the most popular in China was actually the cassette recorder, although the real record player appeared earlier, but due to the expensive price and vinyl record itself is too expensive, too few songs are recorded, etc., it is not popular in China, and the number is not much.

The so-called singles generally refer to the kind of vinyl records, after all, vinyl records have a limited storage capacity, and generally one record can record two songs, that is, the front and back.

Although the new dense record can record more songs, the price is ridiculously expensive.

Nowadays, a dense record on the market costs about 15 yuan, which is what the average family can afford.

Therefore, there is no cheap tape record that is the most popular form of record in China.

However, the storage capacity of ordinary audio tapes is very large, and it is generally able to store more than ten songs.

So if you use a cassette record to release a single, then unless you set the price very low, which is about the same as a blank tape, the average person will not buy it, because they think it is too pitiful.

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

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

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

Therefore, during this period, many self-employed people have long been in the business of ripping pop song tapes.

Self-employed people use dual-card tape recorders to rip, although it is not as fast as direct recording from tape factories, and the quality and quantity cannot be compared, but you can't stand enough self-employed people doing this.

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

The ripped tapes are collections, not only "Red Flag Fluttering", but also Hong Kong and Taiwan pop songs, a tape with more than a dozen 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, the price is cheap, it sounds the same, and you can listen to more than a dozen pop songs, how cost-effective.

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

To put it bluntly, the domestic people are too sensitive to price at this time and have high requirements for cost performance, which can be seen in India at the beginning of the 21st century.

Don't look at the fact that six yuan is only two more than four yuan, but two yuan in this era is quite valuable.

In addition, you have a box of audio tapes for six yuan, and there is only one song, which is about equivalent to a blank tape, so unless you like it very much, it is not bad for money, such as a unit that can be reimbursed, otherwise ordinary people, who is willing to be the wronged leader.

Therefore, before a detailed investigation, Cao Zhiqiang's first single was undefeated and defeated.

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

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

And the sales of the genuine single cassette of "Red Flag Fluttering" have also exceeded 30,000 early, including the sales of vinyl records, which is very good compared with other records.

The so-called failure is just what Cao Zhiqiang thinks himself, because this achievement is good in the eyes of outsiders, and in his own opinion, this is a failure.

Therefore, Cao Zhiqiang later learned from the pain, and after summing up the lessons and lessons, he changed his original plan to continue to release singles, that is, "Bloodstained Style", and instead re-recorded an album that is more in line with this era - "Blooming Life"!

"Blooming Life" is a rock style, both the style and the lyrics are very in line with this era, and it can definitely move people's hearts.

In this era, this album can definitely be said to be nuclear explosion-level.

At the same time, Cao Zhiqiang also set the price of this album very humanely, no longer high, but a uniform price of 2.8 yuan.

In other words, a "Blooming Life", a total of twelve songs (full of "Red Flag Fluttering"), full of sincerity and weight, but the price is only two pieces of eighty-one plates.

At this price, many pirate vendors can't do it directly.

You must know that the wholesale price of blank tapes on the market and domestic blank tapes 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 above 4 yuan.

Cao Zhiqiang directly set the retail price of the album at 2.8 yuan per plate, which almost cut off the piracy road of all pirate vendors.

Because piracy is not profitable, you can't make money.

You think, pirate dealers buy a domestic blank tape, at least 2.5 yuan a disk, this is still the wholesale price of large quantities, small quantities can never be bought.

Even if the minimum is 2.5 yuan a plate, plus all kinds of tossing, even if it is not manual, but you have to pay for packaging, right?

The packaging cost of a tape has an additional cost of at least three cents, and it is absolutely impossible to be more exquisite than that of a regular manufacturer.

People's regular tape factories can package in large quantities, and the price can naturally be lowered if the quantity is too large.

You are a small vendor, how can the packaging cost be lower than that of the tape factory?

To reduce costs, you can only compress the quality, and then compress the quality, and the cost cannot be less than three cents, generally about five cents.

It's like if you buy a whole car very cheaply, but if you buy exactly the same auto parts and install it yourself, the price is much higher than the whole car.

But you can't take out pirated tapes for takeout, but they can't be more expensive than genuine goods for 2.8 yuan, right?

If the price of pirated goods is the same as that of genuine goods, why should everyone buy pirated goods?

Therefore, the retail price of 2.8 yuan directly makes the pirated books at this time want to cry without tears, and I can't pirate them, because it is not cost-effective.

Unless it is an individual who buys a blank tape, do not package it, and directly hard-record.

But blank tapes are not cheap, if you buy them at retail prices, domestic blank tapes cannot be less than three yuan a plate, so it is better to buy genuine goods.

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

Of course.

Cao Zhiqiang's price is cheap.

The price he used to take was 1.3 yuan a tape, which is the price of the packaging, and the simple tape is only eight cents.

Now because he wants a larger amount, plus cash in advance, in fact, the price can be cheaper, even if the price of different manufacturers is different, on average, the cost is 1.2 yuan a tape, which is also calculated together with the packaging.

According to the price of 2.8 yuan, once a tape is sold, the gross profit is 1.6 yuan, that is, a piece of six.

Of course, that doesn't actually work out that way.

Because the sale of audio tapes is a sharing model.

At present, Cao Zhiqiang has two sales channels.

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

As for this channel, it is basically to distribute half of the pricing to these publishers, that is, 1.4 yuan a plate.

In this way, through formal distribution channels, Huaxia Audiovisual Company can only receive 1.4 yuan for every tape sold by these units of Xinhua Bookstore.

Subtracting the cost of 1.2 yuan, theoretically speaking, Huaxia Audiovisual Company can only earn 0.2 yuan, or two cents, on each tape.

Don't be too little, this is actually very good, who let Cao Zhiqiang make the price too low.

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

And small profits can sell more, especially this is Cao Zhiqiang's first album, the key is to become famous.

As long as you have fame, it will not be a problem to set the price a little higher in the future.

What's more, Cao Zhiqiang not only has a formal distribution channel, but also his own distribution channel.

Strictly speaking, there are two distribution channels for this one, namely the sales department of the Red Light Publishing House and the Red Light Department Store.

Hongguang Department Store is actually a chain convenience kiosk that is currently being piloted in Beijing.

Since the number of convenience kiosks is not enough at present, until now, there are only 12 official opening kiosks.

Although a lot of new convenience kiosks have been built, they cannot be fully expanded before the government fully approves them, so they can only operate the 12 pilot convenience kiosks first.

But no matter what, twelve pilots are equal to twelve sales points, and for a city in Beijing, the sales volume is still very objective, and it may not be worse than Xinhua Bookstore.

After all, Xinhua bookstores are limited in number, so they are not as flexible as convenience kiosks.

Not to mention anything else, the price of goods in Xinhua Bookstore is dead and cannot be bargained, but the convenience kiosk can.

In particular, the convenience kiosk project can also be said to be Cao Zhiqiang's own project, so in his own convenience kiosk, selling his own manager's song album can naturally bargain.

The sales model of the convenience kiosk is a consignment system, which is also to sell the goods first and then give money.

The difference is that the "Blooming Life" album sold in the convenience kiosk is sold at a price of 2.5 yuan.

That is to say, for the music album "Blooming Life" sold in the convenience kiosk, for every plate sold, only 2.5 yuan needs to be handed over to the headquarters, and the remaining three cents are considered the redundancy of the convenience kiosk salesman's own.

In this way, the salesman can sell at the original price of 2.8 yuan a plate, earn the three cents himself, or be slightly cheaper*** such as 2.7 yuan a plate, there are more or less two room for ups and downs.

After the 2.5 yuan was handed over to the headquarters, 0.3 yuan was left for the Hongguang Department Store, and the remaining 2.2 yuan was sent to the Huaxia Audio-visual Company.

In this way, for every plate of "Blooming Life" sold at the convenience kiosk, Huaxia Audiovisual Company can get 2.2 yuan back, minus the cost of 1.2 yuan, and the gross profit is 1 yuan, that is, one dollar.

Of course, convenience stores are trivial, and the real money is another, that is, the sales department of Hongguang Publishing House.

The sales department of Hongguang Publishing House is managed by Li Youfu, which is actually some self-employed people.

It is not entirely correct to say that it is co-opted, it should be said that it is a cooperative relationship.

Li Youfu got in touch with the individual self-employed wholesale head, and then whatever goods were sent by Hongguang Publishing House, they could get the goods at a preferential price.

For example, the genuine goods of "Blooming Life", those subordinate dealers under the jurisdiction of the sales department of Hongguang Publishing House, or those who join the self-employed, can get the goods at a price of 2.3 yuan.

After these self-employed individuals get the goods at a price of 2.3 yuan a plate, even if they sell at a price of 2.8 yuan, they can also have a profit of five cents, which is already quite a profit.

Not to mention, some self-employed people who are a little farther away, as long as they buy more than 10,000 tapes at one time, they can let the transportation team of Hongguang Machinery Factory help with the distribution, and the distribution fee is very cheap, and you only need to pay a transportation cost price.

Don't underestimate this, transportation is very troublesome during this period, there are many checkpoints, and Hongguang Machinery Factory is a state-owned enterprise, which can be exempted from inspection, which can reduce how much trouble.

After Hongguang Publishing House gets the payment of 2.3 yuan per plate, 0.3 yuan is left to Hongguang Publishing House, and the remaining 2 yuan is directly Huaxia Audiovisual Company.

2 yuan minus the cost of 1.2 yuan, which is 0.8 yuan.

That is to say, the sales department of Hongguang Publishing House, a channel to join self-employed individuals, has a gross profit of eight cents for every tape sold.

Although eight cents is less than a dollar for a convenience kiosk, it can't hold a large number.

Moreover, these franchised self-employed people purchase goods in advance, and in terms of profits, they are far more than the regular sales channels of Xinhua Bookstore.

So the real question is how popular and how high the sales of "Blooming Life" can be.

After all, Cao Zhiqiang's sales strategy this time is a simple small profit but quick turnover.

If sales are not good, then everything is for nothing.

(End of chapter)