Huayu: Starting by piggybacking on the fame of "Fairy Mom"

Chapter 42 Record Deal Negotiations

One week later, at nine o'clock in the morning.

orphanage.

Today, we have Chen Minghua from Yangcheng Times Records Jiangcheng Company and Secretary Li from the head office.

Yangcheng Times Records was one of the top record companies in China in the 90s, and signed artists such as Yang Yuying, Mao Ning, and Lin Yilun, among other well-known singers.

Yang Yuying has a sweet appearance and a sweet and clear voice, and her artistry surpasses that of this era.

Just now, Zhou Xiaobai compared Yang Yuying to An Qianqian, saying that An Qianqian's voice was a whole level worse than his, which made An Qianqian so angry that she waved her little fists and hit him.

Inside the orphanage office, Chen Minghua adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. Despite his unassuming appearance, he represented the most core branch of Times Records in Central China.

some days ago,

When Chen Minghua visited Wang Shuzhen, he listened to An Qianqian sing "Learn to Meow" and immediately had the idea of ​​signing her as an artist in his company.

The lyricist for this song is An Qianqian—this was a strategy agreed upon beforehand by Zhou Xiaobai and An Qianqian, aimed at increasing her popularity and thus gaining a lot of popularity points.

But Chen Minghua was more interested in Zhou Xiaobai. As a professional, he had a high level of musical literacy and could judge the quality of a song at a glance.

Despite Wang Shuzhen's great efforts, in his eyes, Zhou Xiaobai was undoubtedly a genius.

His talent at the young age of eight foreshadows a creative career of at least fifty years, and his future potential is immeasurable.

The real rise of mainland Chinese musicians began in the last decade or so.

The number of new generation composers is limited, while the older generation mainly consists of professionals from academic institutions and some senior artists.

These veteran artists mostly dedicated themselves to creating revolutionary songs or musical works with a contemporary historical context.

In the pop music market, creators who are both famous and talented are as rare as morning stars.

Chen Minghua has met all sorts of creators, and he knows that finding a good song is extremely difficult, often requiring advance booking.

The day before yesterday, after receiving all the sheet music, he hurriedly sent it back to the head office to discuss the results.

These songs vary in style, some are inspirational, some express family affection, some convey blessings, some express friendship, and some are even suitable for dance.

The songs are not only suitable for children to sing, but perhaps even more suitable for adults.

According to Chen Minghua and the company's professionals, these songs all have the potential to become classics, and almost every one of them is capable of becoming the album's title track.

If we add some songs from outside and incorporate them, it would be enough to make three or four albums.

Zhou Xiaobai scoffed at his idea. Are there any classic songs recommended by the system outside?

A song's quality can only reach its full potential within its historical context. It's not that we don't have good songs; we're just testing the waters first.

He was also worried that these pieces might not be accepted, but he had to try to find out.

If all else fails, we'll just get another batch—we have plenty of music.

Based on this consideration, Zhou Xiaobai immediately refused Chen Minghua's request to sing outside.

Today's negotiations involve issues such as contracts, copyrights, revenue sharing, terms, creative control, and artistic autonomy.

Zhou Xiaobai also wants to learn about some aspects of shooting music videos (MVs), which will be one of the topics of discussion today.

Wang Shuzhen also asked if she wanted to come and talk to him.

Zhou Xiaobai flatly refused: "You can help back things up and act as a peacemaker."

In his past life, he was a mountain king, and negotiating on the mountain was a common occurrence for him. He could get through those kinds of fights and killings, let alone business matters like this.

The core of negotiation is to have confidence; with confidence, there is nothing to fear.

I'd rather overturn their table and eat all the food myself.

Upon hearing this, Wang Shuzhen let go—in her heart, she had already begun to regard Zhou Xiaobai as an adult.

But whether someone can stand on their own is not something that can be said, but rather something that can be seen in reality. She also wanted to see if Zhou Xiaobai was a true genius in other areas as well.

Anxixi, on the other hand, was just watching the show with a "wait and see" attitude.

If you're talking business, you should act like you're talking business.

"President Chen—" Zhou Xiaobai was interrupted as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Xiao Bai, as we said last time, you call me Uncle Chen and I call you Xiao Bai. If you call me President Chen, I'll have no face to face Teacher Wang." Chen Minghua spread his hands and glanced at Wang Shuzhen.

"Haha, everyone can call each other what they want. You are the boss, so calling you 'General Manager Chen' is perfectly fine," Wang Shuzhen joked, which was not unreasonable.

"That won't do. I'm your student, and Xiaobai is practically my nephew. If I call you President Chen, I'm worried my classmates will bury me alive." Chen Minghua shook his head with a smile.

"Alright, alright, then Xiaobai will call you Uncle Chen." Wang Shuzhen said with a smile. She had always had a good impression of Chen Minghua. It was one thing that they lived nearby, but there weren't many people like Chen Minghua who would visit her during holidays. Moreover, Chen Minghua had helped a lot with the orphanage.

"Xiaobai, call him Uncle Chen," Wang Shuzhen instructed Zhou Xiaobai.

"Hello, Uncle Chen!" Zhou Xiaobai said to Chen Minghua.

"Okay, okay!"

Now, let's get down to business. At the outset, Chen Minghua immediately offered him an artist contract.

Zhou Xiaobai rejected the idea without even thinking about it.

Are you kidding me?

It's true that singing can make money and gain popularity, but for him now, releasing records is a tool to start his path to immortality.

In the future, he and Anxixi will be looking towards a wider world, so how could they possibly be tied to a record company?

Besides, do you, a mere mortal, have the qualifications to sign us? The fact that we're talking to you today is an opportunity to help you soar to new heights.

"There's a signing fee. If it's an artist's contract, payment is made immediately upon signing." Chen Minghua held up five fingers, demonstrating his financial power, "500,000." He had discussed this in detail with the head office, and their bottom line was 5 million over ten years.

"So many?" Anxixi was stunned and interrupted.

Her eyes were filled with nothing but symbols of money, and her mouth was agape wide enough to fit a small fist.

She knew very well how much her mother earned from a single performance; this signing fee was more than her mother had earned in her entire life.

Although Zhou Xiaobai had mentioned to her before that records could earn tens of millions, that was something for the future, and not nearly as tangible as the huge sum of money in front of her.

Even Zhou Xiaobai was completely unprepared for such a high signing fee. An Qianqian looked at Zhou Xiaobai, waiting for him to nod.

Zhou Xiaobai was also stunned; he hadn't expected children to be so valuable.

But he quickly shook his head, dismissing the idea.

Five hundred thousand is a huge sum of money for him now, but what about six months from now?

Thinking of this, he shook his head at Chen Minghua, his words concise and clear: "Uncle Chen, Qianqian and I are minors and still in school. We have other plans for the future, so signing an artist contract is impossible. Today's discussion only involves other issues."

When Chen Minghua kept increasing the offer and gave a bottom line of five million over ten years.

Zhou Xiaobai suddenly laughed: "Uncle Chen, you're so eager to sign us...aren't you afraid of losing everything?" Before Chen Minghua could react, her words, seemingly harmless, hit the nail on the head: "Besides, can an artist contract be signed without our parents' approval? And this record contract is being kept secret from our families—"

"Well……"

Chen Minghua was speechless for a moment.