"Zhou, you haven't released an English album for almost two years. Do you think it's time to put the English album on the agenda?"
On November 5, Angus, the new president of EMI Records in Asia, personally visited Zhou Ziheng.
The purpose, naturally, is English records.
Zhou Ziheng’s last English album was released in late 1996.
It has been almost two years now.
It's normal for EMI to be anxious and come here in person to urge them.
“Mr. Angus, you know, I’ve been very busy lately, I’m hosting something for the movie theater chain.
There is definitely no way I can prepare a new album this year."
Zhou Ziheng also felt a little embarrassed towards EMI Records for not releasing an English album for such a long time.
The record contract signed by both parties at the time did not clearly stipulate how often an album must be released.
But according to convention, it is normal to release one album per year, or even one album every two years.
When it came to him, he didn't release a single album for two years.
Of course, it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say that I was holding it back.
If Zhou Ziheng really wanted to, he could release multiple albums a year.
Songs… there were plenty of them in his mind right now.
The main reason is that he has a successful career now.
Gradually, I became lazy and didn't want to work so hard as a singer or actor.
In the past two years, his company has grown bigger and bigger.
As he made more money, he increasingly wanted to step back and become a boss.
This also made him less and less concerned about the production of records.
“You need to take care of your company’s affairs this year, but what about early next year?
You should be ready to release an English album early next year, right?"
Angus was relentless and insisted that Zhou Ziheng make the decision on the new album.
"April, April! What do you think?
I will hurry up and finish all the things I have on hand, and then devote myself to the production of the new album as soon as possible.
We are aiming to release it in April.”
Zhou Ziheng, who originally wanted to refuse, saw that he couldn't get away with it, so he could only say helplessly.
"Haha! Great! We are waiting for your good news.
I think European and American listeners will be very happy that you are releasing an English album again after two years. I will ask the company to disclose this news to the media and fans right away."
Angus got the timing right and immediately burst out laughing.
But when Zhou Ziheng heard his words, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
This foreigner is very smart.
In order to prevent Zhou Ziheng from making excuses to delay, he chose to announce it to the public directly, so that Zhou Ziheng could no longer postpone the time.
"You go and notify them!"
The words have been spoken, and Zhou Ziheng cannot go back on his word.
I can only accept that the album will be released in April.
After Angus left, Zhou Ziheng began to think carefully about the new album.
Since we are going to release a record, we certainly can't just do it casually.
He now has a very good reputation in the international music scene.
His first few albums brought him great fame and also gained him a large number of fans.
In the eyes of fans around the world, his songs have always been a signature.
Therefore, the new album cannot be made in a perfunctory manner.
Zhou Ziheng thought about it.
He had previously copied songs by Westlife and Backstreet Boys.
The reason why I copied these two groups at that time was not only because their songs were widely popular, but also because their songs were suitable for my age.
This time, it’s best to copy songs that suit you.
“Maybe, I can try a new style!”
Zhou Ziheng glanced at the guitar in the office and had an idea in his mind.
This time, he decided to copy rock.
I might as well just copy Lincoln Park. If I don't copy it now, in a few years, Lincoln Park will be popular, and by then I won't be able to copy it even if I want to.
Do it when you think of it. In the next few days, Zhou Ziheng wrote down some songs of Linkin Park.
"Numb".
In the End.
Heavy Is the Crown
New Divide
One More Light
……
After writing the lyrics and music of the songs, Zhou Ziheng immediately arranged for his personal arrangement team to arrange the songs for this album.
He mainly provides suggestions for composing music.
Because he has the arrangement of the song in his mind, he can directly tell the other party how to match it, which will be faster and closer to the original song.
After handing over some of the preliminary work for the album to others, Zhou Ziheng then devoted himself to the planning of the theaters.
He established a new company, Hengyu Co., Ltd., and re-divided and planned all its cinema chains and film companies.
Although cinema chains in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places belong to the same cinema chain company as those in the mainland, they have different management procedures.
Then there are the agencies.
He directly set up a new agency and appointed Florence Hui as the general manager.
The time came to December.
There is finally news about Shenzhen Tencent, which Zhou Ziheng has been paying attention to.
The Tencent startup team led by Ma Huateng is short of money and is currently contacting fund investors.
As soon as he learned the news, Zhou Ziheng immediately went to Shenzhen to meet with Ma Huateng in person.
Zhou Ziheng is not an unknown person.
Although he is not a large fund.
But Ma Huateng was very welcome to his investment.
After all, with the endorsement of an international superstar and his various connections, it can only be good for Tencent.
Finally, after several negotiations.
Zhou Ziheng reached a consensus with Tencent.
Zhou Ziheng invested 5 million US dollars and holds 40% of Tencent's shares.
Of course, Tencent’s decision to give up so many shares to Zhou Ziheng alone was not without conditions.
Zhou Ziheng needed to give up the voting rights of his shares, which meant that although Ma Huateng's shareholding in Tencent was not high, the company's specific operations and management were still mainly in the charge of him and several co-founders.
And this itself is not a big problem for Zhou Ziheng.
He didn't know how to run Tencent in the first place, so he handed it over to Ma Huateng and took the money himself. This is actually a good idea.
In addition, Zhou Ziheng also signed an agreement with Tencent.
That is, from now on, Tencent will not be able to interfere with the layout of the video website and music website that Zhou Ziheng is building.
This was done by Zhou Ziheng to avoid investing a large sum of money in setting up a video website and music platform, only to be reaped the benefits by Tencent.
For Zhou Ziheng, investing in Tencent is at best a matter of following the trend.
Instead, he pays more attention to video and music platforms.
If he can develop the two platforms of Hengyu Video and Hengyu Music.
In the future, the market value of these two platforms alone will be enough to make him a wealthy man.
Of course, the construction and development of these two websites is not that simple.
Zhou Ziheng can only say that he has a relatively better advantage.
After all, he is a person in the entertainment industry and has the copyrights of many movies, TV series and songs.
In addition, he had made arrangements in advance, so the possibility of success was even greater.
Considering that the music platform and movie and TV playback platform that Tencent has built with others will be very expensive.
After these two projects started, Zhou Ziheng immediately stopped his business plans.
As I said, he is not suitable for business, so just let him be.
Moreover, the current investment is enough for him.
(End of this chapter)
On November 5, Angus, the new president of EMI Records in Asia, personally visited Zhou Ziheng.
The purpose, naturally, is English records.
Zhou Ziheng’s last English album was released in late 1996.
It has been almost two years now.
It's normal for EMI to be anxious and come here in person to urge them.
“Mr. Angus, you know, I’ve been very busy lately, I’m hosting something for the movie theater chain.
There is definitely no way I can prepare a new album this year."
Zhou Ziheng also felt a little embarrassed towards EMI Records for not releasing an English album for such a long time.
The record contract signed by both parties at the time did not clearly stipulate how often an album must be released.
But according to convention, it is normal to release one album per year, or even one album every two years.
When it came to him, he didn't release a single album for two years.
Of course, it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say that I was holding it back.
If Zhou Ziheng really wanted to, he could release multiple albums a year.
Songs… there were plenty of them in his mind right now.
The main reason is that he has a successful career now.
Gradually, I became lazy and didn't want to work so hard as a singer or actor.
In the past two years, his company has grown bigger and bigger.
As he made more money, he increasingly wanted to step back and become a boss.
This also made him less and less concerned about the production of records.
“You need to take care of your company’s affairs this year, but what about early next year?
You should be ready to release an English album early next year, right?"
Angus was relentless and insisted that Zhou Ziheng make the decision on the new album.
"April, April! What do you think?
I will hurry up and finish all the things I have on hand, and then devote myself to the production of the new album as soon as possible.
We are aiming to release it in April.”
Zhou Ziheng, who originally wanted to refuse, saw that he couldn't get away with it, so he could only say helplessly.
"Haha! Great! We are waiting for your good news.
I think European and American listeners will be very happy that you are releasing an English album again after two years. I will ask the company to disclose this news to the media and fans right away."
Angus got the timing right and immediately burst out laughing.
But when Zhou Ziheng heard his words, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
This foreigner is very smart.
In order to prevent Zhou Ziheng from making excuses to delay, he chose to announce it to the public directly, so that Zhou Ziheng could no longer postpone the time.
"You go and notify them!"
The words have been spoken, and Zhou Ziheng cannot go back on his word.
I can only accept that the album will be released in April.
After Angus left, Zhou Ziheng began to think carefully about the new album.
Since we are going to release a record, we certainly can't just do it casually.
He now has a very good reputation in the international music scene.
His first few albums brought him great fame and also gained him a large number of fans.
In the eyes of fans around the world, his songs have always been a signature.
Therefore, the new album cannot be made in a perfunctory manner.
Zhou Ziheng thought about it.
He had previously copied songs by Westlife and Backstreet Boys.
The reason why I copied these two groups at that time was not only because their songs were widely popular, but also because their songs were suitable for my age.
This time, it’s best to copy songs that suit you.
“Maybe, I can try a new style!”
Zhou Ziheng glanced at the guitar in the office and had an idea in his mind.
This time, he decided to copy rock.
I might as well just copy Lincoln Park. If I don't copy it now, in a few years, Lincoln Park will be popular, and by then I won't be able to copy it even if I want to.
Do it when you think of it. In the next few days, Zhou Ziheng wrote down some songs of Linkin Park.
"Numb".
In the End.
Heavy Is the Crown
New Divide
One More Light
……
After writing the lyrics and music of the songs, Zhou Ziheng immediately arranged for his personal arrangement team to arrange the songs for this album.
He mainly provides suggestions for composing music.
Because he has the arrangement of the song in his mind, he can directly tell the other party how to match it, which will be faster and closer to the original song.
After handing over some of the preliminary work for the album to others, Zhou Ziheng then devoted himself to the planning of the theaters.
He established a new company, Hengyu Co., Ltd., and re-divided and planned all its cinema chains and film companies.
Although cinema chains in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places belong to the same cinema chain company as those in the mainland, they have different management procedures.
Then there are the agencies.
He directly set up a new agency and appointed Florence Hui as the general manager.
The time came to December.
There is finally news about Shenzhen Tencent, which Zhou Ziheng has been paying attention to.
The Tencent startup team led by Ma Huateng is short of money and is currently contacting fund investors.
As soon as he learned the news, Zhou Ziheng immediately went to Shenzhen to meet with Ma Huateng in person.
Zhou Ziheng is not an unknown person.
Although he is not a large fund.
But Ma Huateng was very welcome to his investment.
After all, with the endorsement of an international superstar and his various connections, it can only be good for Tencent.
Finally, after several negotiations.
Zhou Ziheng reached a consensus with Tencent.
Zhou Ziheng invested 5 million US dollars and holds 40% of Tencent's shares.
Of course, Tencent’s decision to give up so many shares to Zhou Ziheng alone was not without conditions.
Zhou Ziheng needed to give up the voting rights of his shares, which meant that although Ma Huateng's shareholding in Tencent was not high, the company's specific operations and management were still mainly in the charge of him and several co-founders.
And this itself is not a big problem for Zhou Ziheng.
He didn't know how to run Tencent in the first place, so he handed it over to Ma Huateng and took the money himself. This is actually a good idea.
In addition, Zhou Ziheng also signed an agreement with Tencent.
That is, from now on, Tencent will not be able to interfere with the layout of the video website and music website that Zhou Ziheng is building.
This was done by Zhou Ziheng to avoid investing a large sum of money in setting up a video website and music platform, only to be reaped the benefits by Tencent.
For Zhou Ziheng, investing in Tencent is at best a matter of following the trend.
Instead, he pays more attention to video and music platforms.
If he can develop the two platforms of Hengyu Video and Hengyu Music.
In the future, the market value of these two platforms alone will be enough to make him a wealthy man.
Of course, the construction and development of these two websites is not that simple.
Zhou Ziheng can only say that he has a relatively better advantage.
After all, he is a person in the entertainment industry and has the copyrights of many movies, TV series and songs.
In addition, he had made arrangements in advance, so the possibility of success was even greater.
Considering that the music platform and movie and TV playback platform that Tencent has built with others will be very expensive.
After these two projects started, Zhou Ziheng immediately stopped his business plans.
As I said, he is not suitable for business, so just let him be.
Moreover, the current investment is enough for him.
(End of this chapter)
