Jinzhou Evening News (reporter Li Zhaozhao) mentions the "Shuguang Audio and Video" in the 1990s. Almost everyone in Jinzhou knows about it. When it comes to buying tapes at that time, many people's first reaction is to go to "Shuguang Audio and Video" ". Because of "Shuguang", people who like music remember the boss Li Jihong, and even after he came to Beijing to develop, some people are still thinking about "what's going on with that Shuguang boss now".
Li Jihong, who is sitting opposite the reporter, is elegant and polite. He has no grudges when talking about work, life and even personal situations. His speech reveals enough sincerity, wisdom and humor. He is almost the same as him. The hours of chatting were enjoyable.
Li Jihong, who has been working in Beijing for more than 10 years, has never left the music and culture industry. From packaging singers, to getting involved in film and television shooting, to now the most cutting-edge Internet industry, he has done prosperously in all aspects. With 20 years of successful operating experience in the music culture industry, he owns a brokerage company and two substantive film and television music culture companies, as well as a music portal "Original China Network" created for music lovers. Under the banner of Li Jihong Company, many well-known singers, music works and film and television works have been released. Among the familiar ones are Tu Honggang's "Loyalty to the Country" and "My Lover", Liu Zun's "Silly Sister", and Sun Yue's "Wish You Peace" , "Auspiciousness" and "Scent of Flowers" by Chun Lei, "Falling Flowers" by Huang Yong, "Moths Fighting into the Fire" by Zhuang Ni, "Marry a Big Big Wolf" by Ya Feng, "Falling Leaves" by Zhang Yu, Chen Rui's "White Fox", Gege's "Fire", May's "Fate" and other hundreds of popular songs, successfully directed more than ten large-scale performances with more than 10,000 people, and also worked for Qi Qin, Liu Huan, Cui Jian, Zheng Jun and others have successfully held solo concerts. The film and television works that he has participated in the investment and production include "A Thousand Years of Love", "Falling in Love with a Boy with Single Eyelids", "My Husband's Family", "The Woman in the Big House", "Unfair Sisters", "Warning Line", and "Flying Butterflies" , "Witness", "Sunflower", "It Rained the Day I Loved You" and more than 20 film and television works.
Looking back at the "dawn", some people say that Jinzhou's Li Jihong was developing in the audio-visual industry "by helicopter"
Back in 1989.
On Heping Road in Jinzhou, opposite the Cultural and Film City, there is a less conspicuous video store. The owner is Li Jihong, who was only 24 years old at the time.
At that time, there were two large-scale audio and video stores in the city, one was Xinhua Bookstore and the other was Shanghai and Guangzhou Audio and Video. For these two large-scale audio and video stores, Li Jihong’s small store had just begun, so he named them It's called "Dawn".
Opening a video store stems from Li Jihong's love for music since childhood. Although he comes from a military family, his family has a very artistic atmosphere and almost everyone knows an instrument. Li Jihong was good at playing the guitar, and he also formed a small band in the military compound called the "Cactus Band". Several like-minded partners often played together to entertain themselves.
After opening a store, purchasing goods is the first and crucial step. At first, Li Jihong purchased goods from the city, but gradually he found that sales were not very good. He concluded that there were two reasons for this: one was the incomplete variety of music, and the other was the lag in popular information. So, he set his sights on Beijing, which has fast and new purchasing channels.
During those days, he still cannot forget the hardship of purchasing goods. "I go to Beijing at least once a week. I don't want to buy a sleeper berth. I get on the train at around 8pm and sit on a hard seat for a night. I arrive at around 5am the next morning. I get off the bus to grab something to eat and go straight to the factory. In order to save money, I finish the purchase. , I have to come back on the same day. "Not only that, in order to save the shipping fee, Li Jihong also had to carry the tapes back. At that time, he had 4 boxes specifically for holding tapes. When full, each box weighed 15 kilograms. The four boxes added together. Exactly his weight. "At most, I have put in more than a dozen boxes, and I have to move the boxes back and forth three times. Every time I put in goods, my shoulders will swell up." At 1.7 meters tall, he is quite skinny.
This state has lasted for nearly a year, and Li Jihong finally saw a glimmer of hope. "The turnaround started with 'Red Boy', an idol group of several Taiwanese boys. It was very popular at the time, second only to 'Little Tigers'. After I knew this information, I listened to their product samples and felt very good. Find the manufacturer directly in Beijing.
"Li Jihong ordered 5,000 boxes as soon as he opened his mouth, and asked for exclusive distribution in Jinzhou. "In fact, this risk was very high, because at that time, all orders were made in cash, and the audio and video bookstore could only buy 600 to 800 boxes at most. If it could not be sold, the tape would be I'll smash it all into my hands. "But precisely because of this, Shuguang Audio and Video immediately attracted the attention of the manufacturer.
After placing the order, Li Jihong took the manufacturer's promotion to Jinzhou TV station to spend money on advertising. After several days of TV previews, Hot, until the day of the official sale, the scene was so popular that he didn’t even expect it. “There was a long queue of people to buy it, hundreds of people lined up on the first day, which scared me. 5,000 tapes were sold in just a few days. Just sold out. "In the final reckoning, the money earned from selling the tapes was just enough for advertising expenses. "Although I didn't make any money, 'Dawn' became an instant hit and its popularity suddenly increased. "
Immediately afterwards, Li Jihong took the initiative and cooperated with TV stations and radio stations to provide on-demand programs and provide all music materials for free. At that time, he also thought of car body advertising, and all buses in Jinzhou had " Li Jihong said that this was the first of its kind at the time.
A few years later, Li Jihong opened a regular store in a prime location on Central Street with an area of ??300 square meters. At that time, "Shuguang" was no longer satisfied with just purchasing goods, and began to carry out wholesale business in the western Liaoning region. "To do audio and video wholesale, you need manufacturers to deliver goods as soon as possible, with a complete range of products, and you must have strong funds. Only manufacturers across the country can supply. , can we do secondary wholesale in the five cities in western Liaoning. So, he went to work one by one, "To impress them with sales volume and character, you also need a certain amount of sales ability." "It took more than a year for Li Jihong to establish relationships with more than 300 manufacturers across the country. At that time, Li Jihong was well-known in the national audio and video industry. Some people say that Li Jihong from Jinzhou was developing in this industry by helicopter." I don’t even need to negotiate, the small manufacturer will ship directly after hearing my name. ”
In the mid-1990s, Sugon Audio and Video ushered in its heyday, with its chain stores growing to six, and almost all audio and video stores in the five cities in western Liaoning purchased goods from Shuguang.
From sales to being an agent, his many years of "star-making" experience have taught him that "the highest level of a real agent is to turn stone into gold"
The rapid development of Shuguang Audio and Video made Li Jihong feel very Confused, not knowing what to do next. By chance, he went to Beijing to participate in record production. In the process, he discovered his potential and gave him new hope.
In 1994, Li Jihong began to focus part of his energy on Beijing, changing from a seller to a producer, contacting singers and finding musicians to record in the studio. At that time, he was involved in both financial and artistic collaborations with singers such as Tu Honggang and Zhu Hua. , Sun Yue, etc., each with a sales volume of more than hundreds of thousands. At the same time, he also produced dance music and famous music records, which sold well.
Li Jihong’s rise to fame in the audio-visual industry has caused a stir. In 1995, China International Broadcasting Audio and Video Publishing House extended an olive branch to Li Jihong and hired him as the deputy editor-in-chief of the publishing house. From then on, Li Jihong officially entered the VCD industry. This type of audio-visual carrier has just emerged. Because of its relatively high price, people are not very accepting of it. However, Li Jihong firmly believed that it would set off a climax in China, so in the first year of his tenure, he edited and released more than 100 varieties of VCD, which were sold all over the country. . At the same time, he broadened his ideas, boldly cooperated with foreign manufacturers, and adopted advanced production technology. The effect of his records was truly unique. "At its peak, the VCDs I produced accounted for 90% of the national market share. "Li Jihong said.
After working in the publishing house for less than two years, Li Jihong resigned to form his own company and became an agent specializing in creating stars. For Li Jihong, "Discovering malleable talents is like being in a company. If you are lucky enough to find good wood in a pile of wood, if you want to make it into a piece of wood, you must have a good designer draw a picture, a good craftsman carve it, and then send it to a suitable place for people to appreciate..." In his eyes, the real thing The highest level of an agent is to turn stones into gold, and singer Zhang Yu is a new star that he has a keen eye for.
Zhang Yu was originally a singer in a bar in Dalian. He came out to sing because of poor family conditions. At that time, the appearance fee was only 150 yuan. Li Jihong accidentally heard him singing once when he went to Dalian and found that his voice was very good and he should have better development. So Li Jihong brought Zhang Yu to Beijing. After a year of training and professional packaging, all aspects have been greatly improved. In 2008, through the overall building of the company and Zhang Yu's unremitting efforts, he won the annual championship of CCTV's "Avenue of Stars" column and was called "Mainland Zhang Yusheng." Nowadays, Zhang Yu's popularity has soared, and his appearance fee has reached 100,000.
In parallel with the development of film and television dramas, producer Li Jihong said: Our dramas are very realistic and the ratings are very good
"Star-making" is Li Jihong's main business, but in addition to In addition, he is also interested in other fields, such as investment in film and television dramas and production and promotion.
In 1997, Li Jihong, who was in his early thirties, signed up to take the China Television Production Committee exam, and later went to a training class at the Communication University of China to teach himself screenwriting and directing, because he knew very well that “producers must be all-rounders. Business management is one aspect, and there is also technology, such as lighting, makeup, and sound. You should be familiar with all aspects. Only by understanding this industry can you know who is the best."
“There are several aspects to consider when making a TV series, including the quality of the script, national policies and regulations, market demand, and cast. For producers, they must have a keen sense of the market.” Talking about film and television dramas In terms of production, Li Jihong prefers urban emotional dramas because "our dramas are very realistic. Although it is difficult for this type of drama to win awards, the ratings are very good."
Generally, a 20-episode TV series takes at least half a year from planning, filming to post-production. Li Jihong's company's annual progress is "two dramas a year, running at the same time, with the same team." During the filming process, Li Jihong believed that team unity was very important. "As a film and television company, there will be many surprises during the production of any drama. Therefore, a mature team must make solid preparations. Otherwise, if something happens to the crew, it means the drama will be ruined."
So far, Li Jihong Company has invested in and produced more than 20 film and television dramas. Among them, the TV series "Not Sisters" ranked first in ratings in Shanghai, Heilongjiang, Guangdong and other provinces and cities after it was aired. "A Thousand Thousand Tribulations", filmed in cooperation with the Film and Television Center of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, was one of the top ten TV dramas with the highest ratings in 2000. A-list actor Li Youbin was very happy to play the leading role in the drama, which was very popular among the audience that year. .
To build China's first original music portal, Li Jihong has both responsibilities and obligations
In addition to "President of the Company", Li Jihong's business card also has another identity - Internet Society of China Secretary General of the Network Alliance.
In 2004, Li Jihong and the famous musician Guo Feng jointly founded the "Original China Network". As the seat of the Secretary of the Internet Society of China, it integrated the works of hundreds of the most authoritative Internet artist members in the country and provided them with Build a platform for communication and interaction with netizens. Today, "Original China Network" is not only an online platform for a series of activities such as the "Top Ten Newcomers" competition in CCTV's "Original China" column, but also provides a platform for Chinese original musicians and new forces in original music to showcase their talents and develop their music careers. .
In recent years, many online songs have become popular from this website, such as "Two Butterflies" and "White Fox".
In 2006, the song "White Fox" spread throughout the country with its poignant and resentful music style. This song was originally posted to the original China website as an original work. Li Jihong took a fancy to it at first sight and immediately bought the copyright. After the company's full efforts to create it, it became popular on the Internet overnight. "White Fox" became a golden mountain unearthed by Li Jihong.
"Original China Network" has added another task. In response to the green campus health activities proposed by the China Care for the Next Generation Committee and 12 ministries and commissions, the website plans to host a campus song collection and selection event. "This event is relatively large and the task is relatively arduous. It requires personal planning and operation for all stages of elementary school, junior high school, high school, and university." Li Jihong said that what he values ????more is that "the significance of the event is very important."
“Nowadays, children listen to love songs because there are no school songs that are close to them. Through the song competition, we want young people across the country to sing their own songs.” During the interview, the reporter learned that This activity is completely self-funded. In this regard, Li Jihong believes that although entrepreneurs attach great importance to interests, they should pay more attention to social responsibility. "When you make money, you should use part of it to do meaningful things and repay society. Only then will the company have greater value."