It was the end of October, and Feng Yu was preparing for this year's New Year's Day Awards Ceremony. Suddenly, he received a call from Jiang Wanmeng. Pirated VCD discs had appeared in the market.
The VCD discs were not difficult to manufacture. Those who could manufacture CDs could also manufacture VCD discs with a little research. The production cost of a VCD was also not high. It was only about 1 RMB. A movie, AB side and 2 discs, including the packaging and transportation, would not cost more than 3 RMB.
Genuine VCD discs were priced based on Wind and Rain. Their prices were between 10 RMB to 30 RMB. The 10 RMB discs were for old movies, music videos, etc. The 30 RMB discs were mainly for new movies and music videos. As time passed, the prices would drop.
No matter if it was the 30 RMB or 10 RMB discs, the profits from the VCD companies were about the same. Feng Yu had thought that this way, there would not be a big market for his competitors.
After all, the discs produced by Wind and Rain and Aiwa could be sold at the VCD shops. Those who were buying VCD players would also buy a few discs.
But Feng Yu was able to prevent the piracy of VCD players, but he could not prevent the piracy of CD players. There was no difference between listening to songs or watching movies for a 5 RMB CD and a 10 RMB CD.
Especially those small video parlors. Those video parlors relied on these videotapes to make money. They only charge 50 cents per person for a movie. Naturally, the lower the cost, the better.
Feng Yu had asked his men to promote the VCD players at these video parlors. This had increased the VCD player's sales. But at the same time, those pirated companies saw this as a business opportunity.
Feng Yu went to the video parlors outside to see if the situation was as serious as what Jiang Wanmeng had said.
"The world is long, passers-by are in a hurry, the tide rises and falls. Gratitude and grudges, life and death, how many people can see through it? The world of mortals … … "
At the entrance of the music store, a deafening sound system was playing Ye Qianwen's "Walk Naturally and Naturally", a song that pushed Ye Qianwen's career to its peak.
Feng Yu saw a lot of people entering the store, but when they came out, most of them were buying cassette tapes. There were also some who came out with videotapes. Only a small number of people came out with CDs or VCDs.
It seemed that it would take a few more years for CDs to replace cassettes and videotapes.
"What do you want? Go inside and pick it yourself. If you can't find it, you can ask me. We have everything in our store. As long as you tell me, even if we don't have it for the time being, I can help you find it," the store owner said enthusiastically when he saw Feng Yu come in. The service of a privately owned music store is much better than that of a state-owned one.
"Where is the VCD?"
"The shelf in front, this side is for songs, and the other side is for movies and TV series."
You want VCD? That means you have a VCD player at home. VCDs are more expensive than cassettes, and he can earn more from them. Especially now, the price of VCDs is lower than cassettes!
Feng Yu looked at the shelves. There are some concert videos and some song collections. Feng Yu does not know which are produced by his company and which are pirated.
But when Feng Yu saw a Mandarin and Cantonese VCD, he knew it should be pirated. His company will not produce this type of VCD. Especially when Feng Yu saw MJ's concert VCD, he was sure that this VCD must be pirated.
MJ's contract was with Sony, and why would Sony sell the rights to Feng Yu? If the box was printed with other companies' labels, it would be fine. But Wind and Rain Music Store was printed on it. This was impossible!
But the pirated VCDs in this era were not as crude as the ones in Feng Yu's previous life. Even the packaging was the same as the original. If a store had pirated VCDs, there will be no more original VCDs. This was because the profits from pirated VCDs were higher. Feng Yu suspected that most of the VCDs in this store were pirated VCDs.
Feng Yu turned to the other side and looked at the movie VCDs. There were movies from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and the US. There were also some classic movies from Feng Yu's previous life. Every VCD was outsourced, and there were no signs of pirated VCDs.
But Feng Yu knew that there must be a problem. Should he make a laser security logo? But this logo should be easy to imitate. After all, these VCDs were laser-engraved VCDs.
"Brother, have you picked?" The store owner walked over and asked. There was a woman sitting at the entrance. She might be the store owner's wife.
"How much are these two VCDs?"
"18 RMB. You can give me 35 RMB for these two VCDs."
Feng Yu pretended to be troubled: "Can't it be cheaper?"
"Eh … our prices are quite expensive. How about this? If you really want to buy, I will give you two VCDs for 33 RMB. This is the cheapest price." The store owner said.
"Don't try to bluff me. I heard that other stores are selling VCDs for 10 RMB each." Feng Yu wanted to test the bottom price.
"Can the quality of their VCDs be compared to mine? Look, all my VCDs are original VCDs. The sound quality and video quality are much better than theirs. Never mind. Two VCDs for 30 RMB. It can't be any cheaper. "
"Ok. Thank you. I want these two VCDs."
Feng Yu returned home and inserted one of the VCDs into the VCD player. After the video was played, Feng Yu frowned.
The clarity and sound quality were not bad. Feng Yu had not bought the rights to the videos in the VCDs. If these VCDs were produced by Sony, it would be fine. This was because it was hard to import these VCDs. Even if these VCDs were imported, the volume would not be high.
But these were pirated Wind and rain VCDs. Feng Yu was helpless.
Feng Yu made a phone call to Fu Guangzheng. He wanted to discuss what to do next.
"Brother Feng, we don't need to care about this. Our own VCDs are selling well. Only when we have more VCDs, will our VCD players sell better. At that time, it will be like a TV and will be an essential home appliance. Furthermore, we do not have the rights to many movies and music. If others want to watch them, what should we do? "
"Then we will allow them to do so?" Feng Yu asked. Last month, Feng Yu had asked Hu Ge to stop making pirated games, and The Little Tyrant had stopped production.
"These pirated VCDs will harm our profits. Do you know that some pirated VCDs are more expensive than our original VCDs? Also, they are using our brand's name. This will not be good for our brand image. What if someone sues us and accuses us of counterfeiting? "
Fu Guangzheng was shocked: "You are saying that there are some big companies supporting these pirated VCDs?"
"I had seen a lot of Sony's movies and music videos. I feel that this is not a simple case." Feng Yu suspected that this was a trap set up by Sony. If Sony sues him for copyright infringement, all his VCDs will be taken off the shelves. This will affect the VCD player's market!
Feng Yu also started to make phone calls. He wanted to find out who was the one making the pirated VCDs. Why must they use Wind and rain as their brand?!
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