raknovel Chapter 111 Planning
Chapter 111 Planning
"The Spring Festival Gala?!"
"Spring Festival Gala!"
"What are the terms?" Cheng Anping calmed his excited emotions. "What kind of cooperation terms did Yang Du offer?"
"At the standard rate, I take 12% of the artist's royalties. As for the master tape rights to the songs, they naturally belong to Qiuniu Studio."
After listening, Cheng An remarked with some emotion, "Your junior is really honest. He's willing to settle accounts with you at the market rate for a project of this caliber."
Generally speaking, the royalty rate for artists who can perform on the Spring Festival Gala will be significantly reduced.
The reason is simple: the Spring Festival Gala is an extremely terrifying platform.
No matter how netizens complain that the Spring Festival Gala is getting worse every year, people still watch it every year; their actions speak louder than words.
This is, after all, a gala that is aimed at 14 billion people across the country and overseas Chinese around the world. Its viewership speaks for itself, it has deeply resonated with people, and it has become a global cultural symbol.
Singers who appear on the Spring Festival Gala can truly benefit from the platform's advantages, increase their national popularity, and see their value rise accordingly.
In the fan community, having their older brothers and sisters perform on the Spring Festival Gala is a significant achievement that needs to be listed separately, something that can be directly slapped in the face of the opposing side during a major battle.
Because of these huge hidden benefits, the production companies that hold the Spring Festival Gala slots are in a typical seller's market, possessing absolute and overwhelming bargaining power.
According to industry practice, for projects like this that involve artists taking on extravagant roles, the production company can deduct 3%-5% of the artist's royalties from the market price.
Some singers who are eager to rise to the top or who know how to get ahead will offer to give up their royalties or even pay out of pocket to secure a spot in order to get the opportunity.
"Yang Du could have easily waited for a higher price and squeezed out your remaining value, but he didn't. What a magnanimous person he is," Cheng An criticized Jin Yong. "And look at you. You were so popular back when you debuted with your first album. You were a top star right from the start, and what happened?"
"If you had just sung love songs honestly, you wouldn't have had to wait until today to get a piece of the pie by relying on your alumni connections."
"Alright, alright, let's get to the airport. As for rap, I can only say that those who understand it understand, and it's useless for me to explain to those who don't. The interests involved are too great. You can think about it carefully."
"Shut up."
"Okay."
……
Yang Du met Jin Yong at the recording studio on October 28th.
This senior, who is a full twelve years older than Yang Du, has a magnetic voice and clear pronunciation, perfectly matching all of Yang Du's expectations for the singer of "Gong Xi Fa Cai".
Previously, Huo Xintong had asked him for a request list, and he listed three requirements:
"First, pronunciation must be clear."
"Gong Xi Fa Cai" is a New Year's greeting song with a medium to fast tempo. If the pronunciation is unclear and the lyrics are not easy to understand, then what's the point of celebrating the New Year and sending blessings?
"Secondly, singers need to be down-to-earth. They can't be too aloof; they need to have that warm and friendly feeling of visiting relatives and friends during the New Year."
"Third, the age should ideally be between 30 and 45. I need singers who can both show care to elders as juniors and send blessings to juniors as elders, so they can't be too young or too old."
Being too young will make you lose your command of the occasion, and your blessings to younger generations won't be very convincing.
If you're too old, you'll inevitably lack the energy to sing with that joyful and festive vitality.
Jin Yong meets all of the above criteria.
"I wish my respected great-aunt a smooth and unperturbed race across all thirty-six laps..."
The lyrics have a very strong rhythm and require a fast pace. In order to keep up with the beat, pop singers often make unclear pronunciation or even swallow words.
Perhaps because of his previous experience with rap, Jin Yong performed this scene with complete ease, conveying a relaxed feeling of exchanging New Year's greetings with his neighbors.
Ok?
rap?
Ah!
Yang Dusu wondered if he might be the straight man he was looking for.
Jin Yong, in the recording studio, didn't see Yang Du's eyes light up for a moment, and continued singing: "I wish my third uncle's business would be famous all over the world, and that he would have great fortune and live in a mansion..."
"Very good, senior brother," Yang Du said. "It's a pleasure working with you."
……
Qiuniu Studio.
"Tuya is a singer from Grassland Tara Music, and Jin Yong belongs to Tianma Music. If we were to have them collaborate on a single, we would retain the master tape copyright, which would be a bit difficult."
As Yuan Xiuqing spoke, she handed over the information on Tuya and Jin Yong.
Yang Du took the documents and gestured for her to continue while reading them.
"Previously, we held the master tape copyright for the 'Lone Warrior' project, which gave us two advantages. First, it was broadcast on the National Day Gala. Second, Lin Xu was a newcomer, so the opportunity was rare. We controlled a monopolistic resource."
"However, Tuya was once one of the top nine divas, and she has a high level of popularity. If we really want to be fair, she should be treated as a minor diva."
When two singers collaborate on a single, the artists' royalties are not added together. Generally, the royalty of the artist who leads the collaboration or has the highest status is capped.
Taking the two as an example, Tuya's artist royalties are 15% and Jin Yong's are 12%. So, if the two collaborate on a single, the portion that can be allocated to the singers is 15%, not 27%.
How the two will divide this 15% is another matter, which requires the three parties' management teams to sit down and discuss and negotiate.
Many bands eventually break up and go solo, or brothers turn against each other, and the problem usually stems from the disparity in wealth and status within the band.
There are countless examples of artists going to court over unequal distribution of royalties, so it's essential to have a written contract from the very beginning.
Finally, Yuan Xiuqing concluded: "No matter how it is distributed, the fact is that both sides will receive less royalties from their artists than usual."
"That's not how you put it," Yang Du retorted. "Although artists' royalties have decreased, the pie has gotten bigger. How can 15% of 100,000 be compared to 5% of 1 million?"
Yuan Xiuqing frankly stated, "I am confident that I can convince both companies on this point. After all, there is a limit to the share of a song that belongs to the singer. It is also an industry practice to cap the royalties of the artist with the higher status among the collaborating parties."
Artist royalties are never determined by the number of people. Idol groups may have many members, but they can only get a maximum of 20%, and that requires a status and works comparable to superstars.
Even in the Korean Peninsula, some girl groups and boy groups with more than a dozen members can only share 5% of the artist royalties for a single song.
A dozen or so people split 5% equally, and the remaining 95% went into the company's pocket.
"The real difficulty lies in the copyright of the master tapes. Mr. Yang, to put it bluntly, we are now using other people's resources to increase our own assets."
Yang Du said, "However, from another perspective, this is a win-win situation. We earn copyrights, and the singers increase their national popularity, thus gaining more solid representative works."
On the art of speaking.
"Okay, okay, I'm serious." Yang Du cleared his throat. "My condition is that I can transfer the distribution rights. If we still can't reach an agreement, we can add an additional condition. For the next three years, whether Tuya or Jin Yong performs this single, Qiuniu Studio will not charge any performance licensing fees."
"Of course, everything will be done after the release of 'Swallowtail Butterfly,' but we can start preparations now."