A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 4: Let's make a name for ourselves first!

"Ah Lu, come and take a look. This is the contract that Rolling Stones is giving you!"

At noon, Moyan Records hosted a lunch party. Those who felt they weren't close enough or didn't have a high enough standing in the industry usually left on their own instead of freeloading. But even so, five large tables were still occupied.

As I said before, this is basically the pop music scene in the capital.

In this day and age, the pop music scene in the capital city accounts for more than half of the entire mainland's population.

So today's meal is basically a gathering of the independent, street-smart, and individual artists in the mainland pop music scene up to the end of 1995.

However, it was just a meal and a chat, and there weren't any of those annoying things like toasting or urging others to drink. Many of the lead singers simply didn't drink at all, and those who liked to drink would have a couple of bottles of beer. The whole scene was lively but not noisy.

By the end of the meal, Lin Jianlu had left a large stack of business cards in the pocket of his cotton coat. Some were specially made and very beautiful, while others were completely handwritten.

It has a mobile phone number, a telephone number, a note indicating it belongs to the convenience store at the entrance, and a pager number.

Singers, bosses, producers, agents.

As soon as the dinner ended and they returned to their room at the Metropolitan Hotel, Xue Zhongding immediately presented them with a still-warm contract, and his address had long since changed from "Mr. Lin" to the more intimate "A-Lu".

"I called the head office this morning. Haha, while you were singing, our CEO Duan listened to the whole thing from beginning to end, and then personally made the decision and signed it."

Lin Jianlu took it and quickly flipped through it.

Two copies were made, one of which was only three thin pages.

This was the first time he had signed a record deal in both his previous and current lives, but he didn't find it particularly surprising.

Three years, two albums, with a commitment that the production cost of the first album will be no less than NT$100 million, a commitment that the album will be available in Taiwan and Hong Kong, priority renewal rights, 8% record royalties, an incentive system, and a maximum royalty cap of 10%.

Whether the terms were good or bad, Lin Jianlu didn't know, but he didn't care. He took the pen and was about to sign.

What he wants is to debut, to have the opportunity to release an album.

Whether the conditions are good or bad, as long as the album sells well, it will be a lot of money for him now—earning such a large sum of money in the 1990s is extremely important for his plan to live a relaxed life!

However, before putting down his pen, he added one more point: "I want to make it myself."

Upon hearing this, Xue Zhongding almost without hesitation picked up two more contracts from the table. "We know! We respect your creative rights! Look, everything's ready! Creator revenue sharing agreement, producer agreement! They're all here!"

Upon taking a look, it was indeed true.

While he was looking at it, Xue Zhongding was still explaining from the side, "We at Rolling Stone have always been fair and just, especially valuing creators and producers, so rest assured, even with newcomer contracts like this, we will never be harsh."

Yes, the lyrics and music will each receive a 1.5% royalty share, the arrangement 1%, and the producer 1%.

So... if sales are poor, it's 13%; if sales are good, and you get the maximum commission, it's 15%.

It's okay!
He had seen parallel import CDs from Hong Kong and Taiwan in several music stores. Most Hong Kong CDs were priced as high as HK$98 each. These days, the Hong Kong dollar was worth more than the RMB, so it was equivalent to a little over RMB100. Taiwanese CDs were mostly priced at NT$180 each, which was roughly equivalent to RMB40 or 50.

But the record stores don't care about that. The original Hong Kong and Taiwan versions are all priced at 150 RMB each. Take it or leave it—ha, Grandpa Gao's factory only pays 120 RMB a month to temporary workers!
So why do we have to go to Hong Kong or Taiwan to make records, and not in mainland China?

Inland China mainly sells cassette tapes, with genuine ones priced at only 10 or 12 yuan per box. However, the overwhelming number of pirated copies makes them difficult to sell. As for CDs, it's unknown how many CD players there are in China right now, so how could CDs possibly sell? It's likely that only audiophiles who are not short of money would be willing to spend tens of yuan to buy a single CD, or even 150 yuan to buy parallel import CDs from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

However, Taiwan and Hong Kong have already basically rolled out CDs and are mainly selling CDs!

The pricing is high, and the crackdown on piracy is quite proactive...

If Hong Kong can sell 10,000 CDs, he can earn at least HK$120,000. That's equivalent to RMB 120,000 to 130,000.

Selling 10,000 CDs in Taiwan would earn him over NT$230,000, which is roughly equivalent to RMB 50,000 to 60,000. During lunch, Xue Zhongding also mentioned that Jacky Cheung's 1993 album, "Goodbye Kiss," sold 4.2 million legitimate copies across Asia, making it the top-selling album in the entire Chinese music scene!

We're not comparing ourselves to Jacky Cheung, but their songs are truly great!
Surely we can sell 4.2 copies of one album without any problem?
For Hong Kong and Taiwan, selling just over 20,000 copies each is enough!

That would earn you 400,000!
If we can sell 42 copies...

Hey... In the capital, in a courtyard house, a single-story house, it costs 4,000 yuan per square meter. You can buy a north-facing house for 4,300 yuan. It's not the west wing where the Lin family lives now, nor the east wing where Grandpa Gao lives, nor the dark and damp back room. It's a proper north-facing house, a main house! It will be much more comfortable to live in!

A well-maintained small courtyard house, with a detached house and a floor area of ​​two to three hundred square meters, can only command a price of five thousand yuan per square meter. Please note that when selling a single-story house, only the indoor area is calculated; the courtyard is not included in the price!
Fangchengyuan, located near the South Second Ring Road, is currently selling its second phase. It's one of the very few residential properties in the capital that are sold to ordinary people. It's not like the Asian Games Village, which is sold at high prices to earn foreign exchange, nor is it one of those company-run communities that only sell to work units, where they won't sell to individuals even if you have a sack of money. How much is it priced? 2400 yuan per square meter!
All I can say is that although people don't earn much these days, money is really valuable!

As long as the album sells, Lin Jianlu would record one every six months!
I just want to seize the time to make money right now!
Even if it's not a bestseller now, it's okay. Years later, with the internet age, everyone will do some research and be amazed—wow, back in the day, our country had such an outstanding singer and songwriter! What is trend? Trend is always retro! Then, by participating in a show like "Brother Wave," it'll be a hit again!

Besides, how could it not sell well?
sign!
Release the album first, make a name for yourself, and then we'll talk about other things!

Lin Jianlu picked up a pen, ignoring Zhang Peiren's dejected expression as he sat on the bed not far away, and quickly signed several contracts.

Xue Zhongding took the contract, gave one copy to Lin Jianlu and kept one for himself, with a beaming smile on his face. Then, he turned around and pulled out a stack of old banknotes from his desk drawer.

"Wow, this is..."

"Same as always, signing fee! But this is in mainland China, and you're the first singer we at Rock Records have signed in mainland China, so the rules start with you: 10,000 yuan!"

Lin Jianlu took it without ceremony and flicked it in his hand.

It's so catchy and sounds great!
Although it was essentially payment for selling himself, Lin Jianlu was still very happy. "Alright!" He turned around and pulled out a stack of manuscript papers from his bag. "These are all the works for my first album. I've prepared eleven songs, lyrics, music, and arrangement, all here. I'm ready to record anytime! I'm not very familiar with the industry, so if there are any good recording studios or musicians in the capital, I'll trouble you, Brother Xue, to help me contact them! I do have a production budget, one million New Taiwan Dollars, so let's start spending money now?"

Xue Zhongding's eyes widened suddenly, and he didn't even hear what he said next.

But before he could reach out to take it, Zhang Peiren, who was sitting on the bedside not far away, darted over and snatched the manuscript paper away. Only then was Xue Zhongding awakened. "Oh, good! Don't worry, actually, the six songs you just sang were enough to fill an album! You actually prepared, oh, eleven songs, very good, very good, eleven songs are even better! You've put in a lot of effort, good for promotion!"

As he spoke, he leaned closer, landing on Zhang Peiren's shoulder and looking over as well.

"Good heavens! Your arrangement... You can even do arrangement? You really haven't had any professional music training? Did you just retire from the Communist Party?"

"What old communists! The People's Liberation Army of China!"

The matter was settled, and surprisingly, it went completely smoothly. Lin Jianlu slung her backpack over her shoulder, then picked up her guitar. "Let's go! Contact me as soon as the recording studio and musicians are ready, let's get to work! No need to see me off..."

The two senior music managers looked up in surprise as he opened the door and walked away.

After a moment, the two looked at each other in bewilderment.

"How can there be musicians like this in mainland China?"

"He seems to know everything?"

"It's a pity his heart isn't in rock and roll!"

"Singing pop is great! He's so handsome, he can sing and write songs, he'll be famous!"

"He'll be famous if he sings rock, even more famous than Black Panther! Even more famous than Dou Wei!"

"But if he sings pop, he might become more famous than Chyi Chin or Dave Wong!"

"Making music shouldn't be about just making money!"

"But he seems to really like money!"

(End of this chapter)