Recently, Beihai, a live broadcast company to which the Douyin Internet celebrity "Lu Xianren" belongs to tens of millions of fans, is in arrears of employees' wages tomorrow, because Lu Xianren's MCN Sanya Stay Up Culture owes a large amount of funds to Beihai Tomorrow, and there are four related disputes. However, according to an eye investigation, the equity of the companies involved is intertwined, and Sanya Stay Up Culture is a 70% shareholder of Beihai Tomorrow, and the reporter contacted the relevant companies but did not receive a response.
Lu Xianren's company was exposed to wage arrears, and the shares of the companies involved were intertwined
According to public information, Lu Xianren used tree branches and woven bags to make clothes. Posting it on social platforms has garnered a large following. Up to now, it has 675,000 followers on Weibo, 1.09 million followers on Xiaohongshu, and 10.81 million followers on Douyin.
According to public information, the last live broadcast of the "Lu Xianren" live broadcast account was on December 29 last year, and it has been suspended for more than 20 days.
Lu Xianren account
Lu Xianren's live broadcast company Beihai Tomorrow Advertising Media Co., Ltd. said that the cooperation with Lu Xianren began on July 24 last year, and the content of the investment agreement shows that Sanya Stay Up Culture, as Lu Xianren's contracted company, is responsible for providing Lu Xianren's Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu main accounts for live broadcasts, and all proceeds belong to Lu Xianren's live broadcast company Tomorrow Media. Beginning on July 31 last year, Lu Xianren officially started live broadcasting, according to the requirements of the official platform of Douyin, the live broadcast commission income of Lu Xianren's account is directly bound to Lu Xianren's brokerage company, that is, Sanya Stay Up Culture.
After Sanya Stay Up Culture received the commission, it transferred all the income from the live broadcast to Lu Xianren's live broadcast company, Tomorrow Media, which was only a collection relationship. However, Beihai said tomorrow that all the live broadcast commission income in the past six months has entered the Sanya Stay Up Cultural Account, and its legal person has been in arrears for various reasons, and the current accumulated amount has exceeded 2.1 million yuan.
Tomorrow Media said that all income into the Sanya Stay Up Culture account, their own no income will go to bankruptcy liquidation, the shareholders unanimously agreed to start the liquidation of the preparatory work, external accounts receivable, that is, Sanya Stay Up Culture owes 2.3 million yuan to Tomorrow Media. Tomorrow, the media will no longer be able to pay the full wages of the employees, and the two sides will begin to have disputes.
However, the reporter checked the two companies and found that Tianyancha information showed that Sanya Stay Up Culture was a shareholder of Beihai Tomorrow Advertising Media Co., Ltd., with a shareholding ratio of 70% and a subscribed capital contribution of 700,000 yuan. Chen Dali, the executive director and financial director of Beihai Tomorrow, holds 50% of the shares in Sanya Stay Up Culture. Supervisor Lu Tiantian also holds 50% of the shares of Sanya Staying Up Late Culture.
Beihai Tomorrow shareholding structure
The relationship between Internet celebrities and MCNs needs to be standardized
In fact, in recent years, many celebrities and Internet celebrities have devoted themselves to the field of live streaming with their own appeal and star effect, but while reaping huge benefits, many disputes have also arisen.
Business big data monitoring shows that in the first 10 months of 2023, the sales of live broadcasts in mainland China exceeded 2.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.9%, accounting for 18.1% of online retail sales.
At the same time, the popularity of online live streaming in recent years has also led to an increase in the number of MCN institutions year by year, but some MCN institutions have weak compliance awareness at the time of establishment, and have not formulated a reasonable internal control system, resulting in compliance loopholes in the company's operation. In the eyes of industry insiders, as a new type of social relationship, the relationship between Internet celebrities and MCNs is more complex, and it is necessary for relevant departments to continue to deepen and refine relevant laws and regulations, and increase regulatory enforcement.
Focusing on various non-standard behaviors in the operation of MCN institutions, supervision is also refining and standardizing. In September 2021, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the Measures for the Administration of Online Performance Management Institutions, which stipulates the obligations of MCN institutions in six aspects, including obtaining licenses, signing agreements with performers, and strengthening the management and training of contracted online hosts. In addition, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Work Related to the Regulation of Online Information on Entertainment Stars", requiring that the management of accounts and entities such as celebrities, brokerage companies (studios), fan groups (support clubs), and MCN institutions be strengthened.
"Big Vs must have a clear understanding of their own fame and appeal, have a detailed understanding of the goods they bring with them, and make a comprehensive assessment of their responsibilities and obligations. Cui Lili, an e-commerce expert, said that when merchants sign contracts with celebrities and big Vs, they should agree on the rights and responsibilities of both parties as carefully and clearly as possible. Only when merchants and celebrities can be within the framework of rules and norms, I believe that the live broadcast industry with goods will usher in new development opportunities.
Source丨Cover News
Editor丨Lu Lina