sovbooks Chapter 48 Album Release Negotiation Completed
Chapter 48 Album Release Negotiation Completed
Before entering the room, Li Si'an was actually quite nervous.
I wasn't exactly panicked, but my throat felt tight, as if something was pressing down on it, and I couldn't swallow or spit it out.
In his past life, he was a programmer; in this life, he's a small record store owner, and he's talking face-to-face with a record company boss about a collaboration—a scene he's never experienced in either of his lives combined.
Before coming, I had rehearsed what I was going to say in my mind several times, but when I got to the door, all those words fell apart, and I couldn't piece them back together.
When he pushed open the door and saw Xu Zhongming's face, he wasn't nervous anymore.
He himself couldn't explain what was going on. Xu Zhongming sat behind his desk, holding an enamel teacup. He had a slightly round face, dark skin, and his hair was neatly parted to the side.
This ordinary middle-aged man, sitting there, looked no different from any other office director on the street.
But when the photo that came to Li Si'an's mind—Xu Zhongming in the dock in 2010, head down, hands folded on his lap—overlapped with the face in front of him, the tension in his heart suddenly eased.
What about the big shots of the future? Didn't they still end up in jail?
Besides, now he's just a record company boss. He drinks tea from an enamel mug, his ashtray is full of cigarette butts, and his desk is a mess. Just like him, two eyes and one mouth.
By the time Li Si'an sat down, her heartbeat had stabilized.
Xu Zhongming leaned back in his chair, his gaze lingering on him for a moment.
"Sing a couple of lines for me."
Li Si'an stood up. He didn't rush to speak, but first stretched his shoulders, then turned his neck, and then took two deep breaths to calm himself down.
The office was quiet. Outside the window, the two rows of old locust trees rustled in the wind, and the shadow of the Tianning Temple Pagoda in the distance fell in the courtyard, looking gray and dusty.
He cleared his throat and began.
"Speeding at 70 miles per hour, feeling carefree. Hoping the finish line is the Aegean Sea, running at full speed, my dream is on the other side..."
He didn't finish the song; he only sang the first verse and chorus before stopping. Just as the last note faded, the wind outside the window stopped, and the room became so quiet that only the hum of the fluorescent lights could be heard.
Xu Zhongming leaned back in his chair and clapped twice lightly. It wasn't just a polite clap; it was slow, rhythmic, and carried a hint of genuine approval.
"Alright."
Li Si'an sat down again.
Xu Zhongming picked up his enamel teacup, took a sip, and his gaze lingered on the man's face for a moment.
"Your looks are truly top-notch. Old Zhou wasn't exaggerating; if you put that face on stage, young girls would go crazy." He put down his cup.
"His voice is also quite good. You can tell he's received professional training—his breath control is steady, and his resonance is where it should be. It's good enough for singing pop songs."
He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.
"The song is good, and I've met the singer. Now let's get down to business."
Xu Zhongming leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"My idea is this: Jingwen will be responsible for the entire process of this album, from production to distribution to availability."
I'll arrange the recording studio, I'll find the musicians, and if you have suitable arrangers, you can use yours; if not, I have some available. Mastering, pressing, printing, and distribution—all of these will be handled through Jingwen's channels.
He picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"We can sit down and discuss how to divide the profits."
After listening, Zhou Weidong didn't rush to reply. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, pulled one out, and twirled it between his fingers twice.
"Old Xu, we'll do this part ourselves."
Xu Zhongming's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he didn't speak and waited.
Zhou Weidong lit the cigarette, took a drag, and slowly exhaled.
"I'm not afraid to be frank with you. The root cause of Si'an's decision to start her own company is just one thing—copyright."
He wrote the song himself, and he'll be the one singing it. He has the copyright in his own hands, which gives him peace of mind. And it gives me peace of mind too.
He flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"So we handle the production ourselves. We find the recording studio ourselves, hire the musicians ourselves, and pay for it ourselves. The copyright of the finished product belongs to our own company."
Xu Zhongming, holding his enamel teacup, didn't rush to reply. He blew on the floating tea leaves, took a sip, and placed the cup back on the coffee table. His fingers circled the rim of the cup twice, as if mentally processing an account.
After a few seconds, he looked up.
"You can handle the production yourself, so we'll sign a distribution agreement. Jingwen will only be responsible for distribution and stocking; you'll have control over the production, and you can keep the copyright."
He paused.
"What about stocking up? Are you going to do that yourselves?"
Zhou Weidong stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and smiled.
"Old Xu, regarding the inventory, the money we have is already barely enough to cover the production. We simply can't afford to stock up on inventory."
Xu Zhongming glanced at him but didn't say anything. Zhou Weidong didn't beat around the bush and laid it all out.
"We won't stand on ceremony with you. My son and I together only have about 300,000 yuan. After production starts and we need to set aside money for promotion, there won't be much left."
"We need at least 300,000 yuan in deposit for the inventory, which we can't afford. Jingwen has to take on this responsibility."
Xu Zhongming leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers twice on the armrest. His expression remained unchanged, making it impossible to tell whether he agreed or disagreed. After a while, he picked up his teacup, took another sip, and put it down.
"Okay. Prepare the goods from Jingwenlai."
He leaned forward slightly, his tone still unhurried.
"In that case, let's follow the rules of the market for distribution contracts. You are the producer, and Jingwen is the distributor."
Royalties are tiered—for orders under 500,000 copies, you get 8% of the wholesale price. For orders between 500,000 and 1 million, it's 10%. For orders over 1 million, it's 12%.
Zhou Weidong nodded after listening. This price was the market price; there was no pressure to lower it, nor was it raised.
Xu Zhongming didn't cut corners just because they were a new company, nor did he offer extra concessions because of his relationship with Zhou Weidong. He handled matters strictly by the book, clearly and efficiently.
"Okay. Do it this way."
Xu Zhongming picked up his teacup and took a sip. Just as he was about to say something, Li Si'an spoke up from the side.
"Mr. Xu, there's something else."
Xu Zhongming turned to look at him.
I want to make a music video for the song "Fairy Tale".
Xu Zhongming nodded, not taking it seriously. "Let's shoot the music video then, just find a camera—"
"It's not a camera," Li Si'an interrupted him. "I plan to shoot on film."
The air in the office paused for a moment.
Xu Zhongming's teacup hovered in mid-air, his brow furrowed. He slowly put the cup down, the bottom hitting the coffee table with a dull thud.
"film?"
"right."
Xu Zhongming leaned back in his chair and stared at Li Si'an for several seconds. His expression wasn't one of anger, but rather one of "Do you even know what you're saying?"
Do you know how much it costs to shoot a music video on film?
Li Si'an opened his mouth, as if to speak, but then closed it again. To be honest, he really didn't know how much it would cost.
In his past life, he had seen the music video for "Fairy Tale" and knew that it was shot on film, and the image quality was completely different from that of a camera.
That story—the girl got leukemia, and the boy played the piano for her in the concert hall—brought tears to my eyes when I read it back then, even though I was a grown man in my thirties.
He knew that if the music video were filmed with a camera, it would lose at least half of its original charm.
But how could he say that to Xu Zhongming?
"Mr. Xu, I want to make the music video for the song 'Fairy Tale' into a story."
He paused, "It's not the kind where the singer stands there lip-syncing. It's a complete story, the kind that's very moving. The audience will cry when they watch it."
Xu Zhongming didn't reply, and waited.
"If this music video were shot with a camera, it wouldn't have the right feel. It has to be shot on film. That's the right feeling that comes from film."
"How does it feel?"
Li Si'an opened his mouth again. He couldn't answer. In his past life, he was a programmer; how could he possibly understand the difference between a camera and film?
All he knows is that the original was shot on film, became a hit, and became a classic. But is that a valid reason to justify it?
"Anyway, it's just... different." He hesitated for a long time before finally saying this.
Xu Zhongming stared at him for several seconds, then picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said nothing.
Zhou Weidong didn't say anything, but tapped his fingers lightly on the sofa armrest.
Xu Zhongming put down the cup and leaned back in his chair.
"You can't explain why you insist on using film, but you just have to?"
Li Si'an nodded.
Xu Zhongming remained silent for a while. Outside the window, the wind rustled through the leaves of the old locust tree. The shadow of the Tianning Temple Pagoda stretched long in the courtyard.
"Okay." He placed the teacup on the coffee table. "If you want to use film, that's fine."
Li Si'an's eyes lit up.
"But Jingwen will not pay this money."
Li Si'an's smile froze on her face.
"You'll have to pay for the music video production yourself," Xu Zhongming said calmly, looking at him.
"If you think shooting on film will help this album sell more money, then go ahead and put your money where your mouth is. I won't stop you."
He picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"However, there's one condition—if this album sells well and makes money, I'll reimburse you for the music video cost from my subsequent profit sharing. If the album doesn't make money—"
He put down the cup. "Then you'll have to bear this cost yourself. Consider it your tuition fee."
There was a moment of silence in the office. Zhou Weidong's fingers paused on the sofa armrest.
Xu Zhongming leaned back in his chair and looked at Li Si'an.
"Do you dare?"
Li Si'an looked at the enamel teacup on the coffee table. There was a ring of yellow rust around the rim of the cup, which could not be washed off.
Xu Zhongming had just stockpiled over a million boxes of Grammy Selection in his warehouse at the beginning of the year and lost money.
For him now, every penny must be spent where it makes a difference.
In his eyes, film music videos were just a hole that made no sound.
But he didn't completely shut the door. "You pay for it yourself, I'll make up the difference if you make a profit, and you'll bear the losses if you lose." This absolved him of all responsibility and passed the buck back to Li Si'an.
Li Si'an raised her head.
"Okay. I'll pay for it myself."
Xu Zhongming stared at him for two seconds, then smiled. The smile was brief, a quick twitch at the corner of his mouth before fading away.
"Old Zhou, your nephew is quite a character."