Reborn Japan for entertainment

Chapter 382 The Crisis of AKB

Inside the cafe.

The hot cocoa was brought up by the waiter.

Sakamoto Kiyoshi kept stirring the cup with a spoon, trying to make it cool faster.

The rising smoke in the cup made Kitagawa Kenji unable to see Sakamoto Kiyoshi's eyes even more.

"What do you mean? I don't quite understand."

Although he said "I don't understand", the expression under Kiyoshi Sakamoto's mask became serious.

Because, from Kitagawa Kenji's words, he thought of a piece of news that he had heard in his previous life.

2008, AKB48, Sony. . .

These three keywords reminded him of something that might not have much to do with him, but had a very profound impact.

"Could it be... that thing?!"

Thinking of this, Sakamoto Kiyoshi's thoughts gradually drifted into the distance.

. . . . . .

AKB48, as a new female idol group founded by well-known producer Yasushi Akimoto, received strong support from Sony at the beginning of its establishment. When it first debuted, it can be said that it has attracted the attention of the public very well.

Bound by the popularity of Kiyoshi Sakamoto's lyrics and composition, AKB48, which has not officially debuted in the mainstream, sold more than 7 copies of its first underground single!

This kind of achievement once made Akimoto Yasushi and Sony all smiles.

However, without the help of Kiyoshi Sakamoto, AKB in theater mode does not seem to have received more public attention.

Although every performance in the theater is full, but the sales figures reflected in the record are so pale and thin.

For the next few singles, instead of rising, sales continued to decline.

This made Sony and the AKS company headed by Yasushi Akimoto express their puzzlement.

At first, in their view, with Yasushi Akimoto's reputation, AKB would inevitably become the next influential kitten club.

However, they never imagined that it would take some time for the public to adapt to a new thing.

However, even in the case of declining single sales and increasing expenditures, Sony still trusts Akimoto Yasushi very much.

Since the establishment of AKB, Sony has given Yasushi Akimoto resources and assistance as much as possible.

AKB's contract record company DefSTAR Records, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music.

As for AKB's music library, Sony Music also owns part of the copyright.

In other words, AKB's single sales are directly linked to Sony Music's profits.

This is why Sony Music asked Kiyoshi Sakamoto to help AKB.

Because, at that time, with Kiyoshi Sakamoto's high popularity, he was able to give a hand. This was a new girl group of his junior sister group, so that this girl group could receive the attention of the public.

Of course, the purpose was achieved.

The underground single sold more than 7 copies, which is the best proof.

Although compared to the AKB in the previous life, the AKB in this life is better developed.

However, factors such as the sluggishness of the record market, changes in the public's aesthetics, and different times have all prevented the fledgling AKB from regaining the glory of the Kitten Club in the 80s.

Even with Sakamoto Kiyoshi's personal help, it would not be of much use.

Can't make AKB a kitten club again, forget it.

However, what Sony did not expect was that in just over two years, what AKB brought to Sony Music was not the imaginary gold and silver mountains, but a loss of hundreds of millions.

Sony has lost more than 20 billion yen on this female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto!
In the end, the one who came still came.

The torrent of history, like an unstoppable train, crashed into AKB again.

Same as the previous life history that Kiyoshi Sakamoto knew, the time node is still the beginning of 2008.

AKB, a nascent female idol group, faced with the ever-increasing operating expenses, the group’s failure to become popular, the serious deficit of AKS as the operating company, and the bottoming out of the company’s financing and borrowing funds, it still encountered difficulties since its establishment. The biggest crisis ever.

Sony is about to drop AKB!

Although Kiyoshi Sakamoto is the music producer of AKB, he, as a producer, is equivalent to a hands-off shopkeeper after the creation of the first underground single, ignoring everything.

Compared to his understanding of AKB, he may be even shallower than Kenji Kitagawa sitting in front of him.

However, he is not ignorant of the current situation of AKB.

Because, he also has a teammate who is Akimoto Yasushi's disciple—Chiba Masaki!
Some time ago, during the usual band dinner, Sakamoto Kiyoshi learned more or less about the situation of the AKB group from Chiba Masaki's bitter face.

At the end of 2007, AKS company's income and expenditure obviously had serious problems.

According to Chiba Masaki, AKS has been unbalanced in revenue and expenditure for several consecutive months, and its books are full of deficits.

However, at that time, Sakamoto Kiyoshi did not realize that AKB was approaching a development dilemma.

He just went to the AKB theater once in a long time, and visited the girls of AKB, cheering them on and cheering them up. . .

It wasn't until Kiyoshi Sakamoto heard directly from Kenji Kitagawa just now that Sony was about to give up AKB that he realized it.

"This...isn't it the eve of the rise of AKB?!"

Surprised, he unconsciously accelerated the speed of stirring the hot cocoa in his hands.

"I know this from my dad. I'm the first to tell you. Don't reveal it!" Kitagawa Kenji couldn't help lowering his voice.

"Well, what's going on? Why is Sony thinking of giving up AKB?"

"Isn't it because AKB's single sales in the past two years have been unable to increase..."

"In addition, his performance in all aspects is also unsatisfactory..." Kitagawa Kenji was also a little sad.

The son of Sony, in terms of idols, it can be said that among the rich second generation, he is relatively familiar and fanatical.

He also didn't want to see AKB go to the point of being abandoned by Sony. . .

However, I have to say that Sony is definitely very dissatisfied with AKB's performance during the DefSTAR period.

You know, AKB, which has been established for more than two years, has already recruited the third batch of students. The total number of AKB is nearly 50.

Such a large number of members is also the reason why AKS's funds cannot make ends meet.

Therefore, in order to recover some funds, the operation of AKS came up with a whim, and they decided to buy a single in the AKB48 theater, and they can randomly get one of the 44 member posters, some of which are signed.

Those who collect all 44 posters will receive tickets to the 48th anniversary concert of AKB[-].

The person who runs AKS thought of such a bad idea as pre-selling tickets for the [-]th anniversary, which is enough.

But this is no longer possible. . .

However, this way of doing it, not to mention the strong condemnation from fans and the media, just being suspected of violating RB's anti-monopoly law and being forced to accept the results of the investigation will make AKS' plight even more serious.

This also prompted Sony's patience with AKB, which almost reached the bottom line.

The sales of the single can't be rushed, there are too many people to support, it is too resource-intensive, and the only way to make money by pumping otaku's blood has been explicitly banned by the relevant departments. At this time, it seems to be a foregone conclusion to abandon AKB for its own benefit.

"I heard that in a few days, Sony will urgently hold an internal board meeting. At the board meeting, they will discuss whether to terminate the cooperation with AKS..."

"Will they abandon this combination that caused them a loss of more than 20 billion yen, or choose to continue to believe in Yasushi Akimoto? All of this should be decided after the board meeting."

Hearing Kitagawa Kenji's words, Sakamoto Kiyoshi also stopped stirring, wordlessly picked up the hot cocoa, and took a sip lightly.

At this moment, Kiyoshi Sakamoto had a lot of thoughts in his mind.

He was thinking about what role he would play in this AKB crisis. . .

Although his current status in Sony is already infinitely close to the number one brother of Sony Music.

Whether in the music world or in the film industry, he is a signature artist under Sony Music.

Moreover, he is a very important figure in front of the boss of Sony Music, Naoki Kitagawa.

But, in the final analysis, he is just an artist who has a lot of influence between AKS and Sony. . .

That's it.

However, others may not know, but Kiyoshi Sakamoto knows!

The history he knows is that not only did AKB not disband in this crisis, but under the leadership of Yasushi Akimoto, a god-like fat man, in just two years, it became Japan's gold-absorbing artifact, and was even called
"Stimulator of the Japanese economy"

Therefore, after hearing what Kenji Kitagawa said about Sony Music's imminent wrong decision, Kiyoshi Sakamoto had an urge to stop it from happening.

In his opinion, he intends to join Sony Music and become the leader of Sony Music. At this time, let AKB, a gold-absorbing artifact, slip away from Sony's hands. Isn't that a company that he will control in the future for no reason? Missing a cash cow? !

Therefore, in just a few seconds, he made up his mind.

Be sure to stop, Sony's withdrawal!
Thinking of this, Sakamoto Kiyoshi could no longer drink that cup of hot cocoa that was too sweet.

He stood up suddenly, took out a banknote from his trouser pocket, pressed it gently under the cup, and then said to Kitagawa Kenji.

"Sorry, I suddenly remembered a very important thing. I may have to leave first. I bought a drink, but don't choose to meet in such a place next time, bye!"

After finishing speaking, Kiyoshi Sakamoto pressed down along the brim of his hat to cover his eyes, and walked out of the coffee shop.

Only Kitagawa Kenji was left looking at his back with a bewildered expression, and muttered to himself, "What's going on?"

He turned his head and pulled out the banknotes Kiyoshi Sakamoto had pressed under the cup.

Holding it in front of him, Kitagawa Kenji's expression turned into a constipated face.

"Fuck, how the hell did I know such a guy..."

I saw that the banknote in his hand was just a thousand-yuan banknote.

However, the drinks for the two of them were more than that. . .

　Thanks to the students for their rewards, thank you!

　　belated chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)