Chapter 131: Enormous Income

  "But... uh...? Wait a minute, I think I've got it. This kind of performance won't do, but what if we change the method... A cool and handsome performance that's etched in my memory... I think I've thought of something...". If someone were to notice Zhou Xiao at this moment, they would definitely see his eyes shining like the brightest star in the night sky. Any normal person would be able to tell that he must have thought of some kind of scheme.

  "This way and that... yeah... if it really succeeds, it will be absolutely cool and have enough eyeballs... and the location can also be carefully selected... I heard every morning... yeah..." Zhou Xiao was getting more and more excited, his brain constantly thinking, while his hands were waving wildly with joy.

  They spent the whole day shopping outside until evening, and as their boss, Zhou Xiao even treated them to dinner. More than a dozen girls followed Zhou Xiao to Chinatown for a delicious Chinese meal before dispersing, with Zhou Xiao footing the bill and sending them back to their dormitory.

  The next morning, several employees of azx came to work on time, because the work to be done today will determine the direction of the company for a long time in the future.

  "The company's recent income, including movie and single song brokerage commissions from Mr. Zhou Xiao, has left a total of approximately 13 billion 120 million in liquid funds. In addition to the film and CD splits, the use of copyrights for TV stations and karaoke fees for Mr. Zhou Xiao's singles are also substantial sources of income. Although film revenue accounts for the majority, it differs from music which can generate continuous income for several years or even decades. Film revenue typically only comes from box office and DVD sales."

  "Hiss......" Although everyone had known that the company had made a lot of money recently, it wasn't until now that they realized just how much.

  "Also, I'd like to report some good news. On last week's Karaoke chart, Mr. Zhou Xiao's two singles, with a total of four songs, all entered the top 20. Among them, 'Little Love' ranked seventh, 'Secret Base' eleventh, 'Powder Snow' second, and 'March 9th' nineteenth. This achievement has never been accomplished by anyone before." Watanabe Keiko continued to say.

  "Clap, clap, clap..." All the company employees except Zhou Xiao applauded, they were sincerely admiring Zhou Xiao. At just eighteen years old, he had already earned tens of billions of yen from just two singles and one movie. The total economic benefits he created were probably over 50 billion.

  "Thank you everyone, although this money belongs to the company. But in all fairness, I have absolute control over it, so I've decided that out of the 12 million, I'll take out a portion to treat the crew and staff who worked on last year's film and single to dinner, of course, everyone from the company will also participate. As for the remaining 10 million, it will be invested in the company's welfare construction!" Zhou Xiao had originally wanted to divide the 10 million among them, but there aren't many people in the company now. Apart from the inactive girl group Twelve Girls' Band, there are only three agents, Zhou Xiao and his uncle, as well as one artist, Miyazaki Aoi. If they were to split the 10 million among themselves, each person would get a few million, which is a bit too much. But if it's invested in welfare construction, although the benefits will ultimately go to them, it's undoubtedly better to have a steady stream of benefits over time. Moreover, it can also increase employees' sense of belonging to the company.

  "So the next question is, what does the company... or rather, what does Zhou Xiao want to do next?" said Inoue.

  "Then let me share my thoughts," Zhou Xiao said: "Actually, I am the company. The company can't always revolve around me, so next, I hope to expand the company's artist department, sign more artists and agents, and at the same time, pay more attention to Miyauchi Aoi's usage. Although she is still in school and doesn't have much time, since she has gained fame now, not giving her work arrangements would be inappropriate. My suggestion is that you can look for movies that want a female lead and take her to audition, as long as it's not a movie that overly damages her image. With her acting skills, there shouldn't be any problems. However, before that, the first thing to do is to assign her a dedicated agent, got it? She is now our company's number one female artist."

  "Alright, Mr. Zhou, I'll take care of this," said Watanabe Keiko.

  "So, regarding the signing of artists, Uncle Inoue, I want you to be busy for the next few days and help me make a list of potential young stars who can be signed or poached. However, this is a one-time task, and after giving me the list, I hope you can recruit a batch of talent scouts into the company. The number doesn't have to be too many, full-time or part-time are both fine, at least we can't let the company want to use someone but no one is available." said Zhou Xiao.

  "Leave it to me, don't worry." Inoue nodded and said.

  "That's good, so there won't be many problems left, because after the company was established, it immediately invested in film production and promotion, so these basic things were not done well. Now it's like we have to make up for all of this, so everyone will probably be very busy for a while. I'm also not planning on filming anything to waste everyone's time. Next, I plan to practice being the music production department...I plan to release an album." Zhou Xiao said.

  "Releasing an album!?" Everyone looked at each other, their faces full of surprise, is it... too early?

  Releasing an album in Japan and releasing one in the Chinese music scene are different.

  In the Chinese music scene, singers mainly release music in the form of albums. It's rare for a singer to release an EP single. However, in Japan, the main product released is singles rather than albums. Generally, a singer releases 4 or 5 singles, or after more than a year has passed, before they can release an album. The price of an album also rises accordingly.

  "A new album? That means there are at least six more songs needed..." Ikeda murmured.

  "Yes, for the next period of time, I will focus on recording songs. In addition to releasing an album and getting the company back on track, I hope to produce a movie within this year. Most importantly, I also want to have a late-night show!" said Zhou Xiaodao.

  "Late night... program? You mean... late-night variety show?" Inoue asked.

  "That's right! I want to produce a show rather than just appearing on other people's shows." said Zhou Xiaodao.

  The term "late-night program" sounds somewhat evil, but in fact most late-night programs have nothing to do with evil. Japan's entertainment industry is very developed, but corresponding to this development is that only six television stations nationwide monopolize almost all viewing rates, and local TV stations can only compete locally and cannot broadcast outside. This is completely different from the fact that almost all local TV stations in China can "go on satellite".

  In this state, every time slot of these six TV stations is extremely precious, and it's impossible to have nothing to broadcast until late at night. In this state, late-night variety shows and late-night TV dramas were born.

  On the one hand, some late-night shows are indeed somewhat risqué and evil, but most of the rest are proper programs.

  A variety show with a idol group backed by someone... in the experimental stage, if it gets a good response, it can advance to the golden time slot of comedy programs... even including those not-so-important so-called "music programs", these shows occupy most of the time slots from 11pm to 3am, almost monopolizing the late-night time slot. Perhaps this is how Japan's TV production teams can create better-looking programs, because bad-looking programs usually end after one season and then there are countless people waiting for your vacant spot.

  "Is it really okay to produce a spin-off now? Are you planning on making a limited spin-off?" Inoue asked.

  "It's not a limitation, if possible, I hope it can last for at least a few years," said Zhou Xiao. He couldn't be sure if the show could continue until AKB was born, on one hand he doubted whether he could keep the show going, on the other hand he wondered if after a few years he would get bored with it himself...