Hollywood Tycoon [US Entertainment + Business War]

In May, another important day accompanying the arrival of the film summer vacation is the summer vacation of the students.At this time, it is also the best release period for major youth products. Beginning in May of 2001, major television networks and cable channels in the United States received advertisements for a product consisting of several commercials for a portable player.Along with the TV advertisements, a large number of similar advertisements have been pasted on newspapers and station advertisement columns in major cities. It seems that a new generation of portable players is about to be released.

As the world's largest player player manufacturer, Sony Group said that the new product will not pose a threat to Sony's walkman and discman products.But Apple is facing a formidable enemy. Jobs and others have long known that Google has a product similar to the iPod, but they did not expect this product to be launched so early.

In mid-May, when teenagers all over the United States were fascinated by this cool-looking portable player device, Google finally announced the name of this product, gplayer.According to google's instructions, this product must be used in conjunction with googlestore.Through the music section of Google Store, all gplayer users can buy genuine audio products, which are much cheaper than genuine albums.And googlestore also allows users to split enough to buy, that is, not enough to buy an album and only buy a few singles.Of course, the retail price of the album is slightly higher than the price of the whole album, but the price is still slightly lower than the price of buying a genuine album.

At present, among the major western record companies, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, emi and bmg have authorized googlestore to sell genuine music, while eastern record companies also have Avex, Polly Canon and Rolling Stone.It is equivalent to saying that in addition to Sony Music Entertainment Group, other major record companies have joined this new sales form.Japan's Sony Music Group, which was originally independent from Sony Music Entertainment Group, wanted to join the sales alliance, but was urgently stopped by the Sony Group headquarters when signing the agreement.

It didn't take long for gplayer and googlestore to go on the market, and all the major record companies saw the changes brought about by the new products.The performance that had been continuously declining unexpectedly rebounded briefly in the summer, and the main driving force for the rebound was sales from Google Store.And compared to the channels of record stores and supermarket chains, online sales are more attractive.There's no packaging cost at all, music videos are free to stream (you have to pay to play them on music channels), and importantly, teenage shoppers approve of the purchase.Of course, as the most mainstream search engine at present, Google directs all search results for music to Google Store on the grounds of protecting copyright content. Coupled with Google Store’s affordable prices, the total amount of online music sales once approached Wal-Mart as a sales channel.The new changes brought by gplayer have also triggered discussions in the industry.

"Rolling Stone" magazine published an editor's comment: "With the advent of the Internet age, piracy has become more and more uncontrollable, which is a fatal blow to the music industry. However, Google Store and GPlayer launched by Google this year are In reversing this situation, genuine sales channels and genuine sharing channels give genuine music a chance again. Moreover, low pricing makes consumers more willing to accept genuine records, and unpackaged audio sales not only solve the cost problem of record companies, It is also a good environmental issue. Of course, what we are most happy about is that Google returns [-]% of the sales gross profit to the production company, so that singers and producers have more funds for the production of the next album."

And "Billboard" also commented: "In this summer, a brand-new music sales method has entered our world. What the editors did not expect is that this method was not only quickly accepted by consumers, but also decisively It has become one of the most important sales channels. According to the acceptance of a large record company, Wal-Mart is currently the first channel for record sales, and Google Store is the second channel. The record company said that they are very interested in the sales model of Google Store. It will further strengthen the cooperation with Google. Some independent musicians or production studios say that the sharing model of Google Store allows them to have more funds to survive, which is undoubtedly a challenge for some independent music or alternative music lovers. Gospel. Of course, as the sales figures of Google Store continue to increase, "Billboard"'s two most important lists, "Hot 100 Singles List" and "Selling 200 Albums List", are also considering including music sales in the list Come in the weight."

With the popularity of gplayer, more and more investors are also looking forward to the listing of Google, but according to the internal information of Sherman Interactive Entertainment Group, the listing of Google will not start until 2005 at the earliest, so many investors expressed dissatisfaction.The reason why Jed didn't let Google go public was because he was considering whether Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and other social network media companies should be integrated into Google.If these companies are integrated, then Google in the future will be an Internet giant, so it will definitely attract the attention of the federal government. In the end, the company must be split up in the name of "anti-monopoly".Therefore, Jade has been conducting internal evaluations, which led to Google's postponement of listing.

But at this time, Jed was having lunch with Gusta, the president of Lionsgate Entertainment, and Gusta was in high spirits at this time.Lionsgate Films, a subsidiary of Lionsgate Entertainment, has finally gained a firm foothold in Hollywood with a small fight, and the just-acquired Summit Entertainment has also brought considerable benefits to Lionsgate Entertainment.And according to Jade's intelligence, Lionsgate Entertainment has extended their tentacles to a film company called Street View.Compared with the continuous integration and low-key approach of Galaxy Films, Lionsgate Entertainment's attitude is relatively much higher.

"I really envy your Galaxy Film Company, there are as many as ten production companies alone." Gusta said.

Gusta's words made Jade worry. The reason why there are so many production companies in Galaxy Movies is not based on legal risks and financial control on the one hand, but also because of some special reasons on the other hand.However, with so many production companies, there are many labels under Galaxy Films, which is not suitable for the company's image promotion at all.

The current Milky Way movies have the same problems as Disney movies back then. At that time, Disney had more than a dozen production companies and several distribution companies. Distributing companies that are willing to close down are sold.Later, selling Dimension Films and shutting down Hollywood Films were all considered in this way, and this was also the reason for the final confrontation with Miramax.After the pain of losing weight, Disney has only three distribution companies under Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Bowei International.Disney Pictures releases films that conform to Disney’s mainstream values, while Touchstone releases films aimed at relatively mature audiences. As for Buwei International, it releases films produced or purchased by Disney’s satellite companies.

Jade's idea is also to integrate up to six distribution brands.And Lionsgate Entertainment is undoubtedly the goal that Jade coveted in his heart. Jade has already begun to calculate how to divide Lionsgate Entertainment. Lionsgate Films will be used to distribute horror and thriller films, and Summit Entertainment will be used to distribute youth films and couple films. , Street View can be used to distribute independent films and art films, plus Galaxy Animation, the main brand Galaxy Films and sub-brand Marvel Entertainment, which are used to distribute animated films, are almost in full swing.

However, Gusta did not expect that the man in front of him was planning to annex Lionsgate Entertainment. He was trying to persuade Jed to join the ranks of acquiring MGM.The MGM trademark has too much meaning and burden for Americans, which is why MGM has fallen into the brink of bankruptcy several times and was finally rescued.

In order to keep MGM alive, the U.S. federal government and the California local government have adopted methods of tax cuts, debt relief, and state relief loans, but MGM is hard to get back. After being acquired by Sony in 2005, it turned out that Sony found that the company it had fought for half its life to come to was a cash black hole. In the end, Sony was so angry that it simply let MGM forget it.

In 2010, it was Lionsgate Entertainment, Telescope Entertainment and United Artists who rescued MGM, which was about to close.It's a pity that in 2012, the new shareholders couldn't bear the black hole effect of MGM and retreated one after another. Finally, MGM was forced to sell again in 2012. Even Kari, who is known as the most investment vision in the entertainment industry, Kandu announced that he no longer holds shares in MGM, and is willing to transfer his MGM shares at a low price, just to get out of the predicament.

Of course, Jed covets MGM, whether it's MGM's trademark or MGM's film library, that's what every filmmaker dreams of.But Jed is very aware of Sony's experience. Sony not only spent nearly 10 billion US dollars to acquire MGM with others.Later, when it was in operation, Sony spent nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars, and MGM, which finally cost 20 billion U.S. dollars, forced Sony to cut its flesh. In 2005, MGM was still worth $48 billion; by 2012, with inflation, the price of MGM was reduced to $24 billion.

Jed would not spend so much money to enter the market and be locked up. If he wants to buy it, he should enter the market for the second time.The price at this time is not only reasonable, but after several restructurings, MGM's non-performing assets have also been almost stripped off.But Jed doesn't mind putting Lionsgate Entertainment and Sony Group together at the time of the first acquisition to prepare for his own monopoly of MGM and annexation of Lionsgate Entertainment in the future.

You must know that Sony Group established MGM Holdings to acquire MGM. The company’s six largest shareholders, except Sony and Comcast (the future boss of NBC Universal Group and a well-known cable TV operator in the United States) are entertainment industry In addition, the rest of Prosden Capital Partners, Texas Pacific Capital Fund, DLJ Commercial Bank Partners and Quartet Group are all commercial investors. They are not interested in running a company, they just want to make quick money.This is why the first acquisition failed in the end, and it also caused the two major companies, Sony and Comcast, to give up completely.

"Mr. Gusta, are you interested in our acquisition of MGM together?" Jed suddenly asked indifferently.