Why bother writing songs? Fast forward to the "Don't Laugh Challenge"

Chapter 26 You're insane! Signing this kind of contract with him!
Meanwhile, in another studio at July Records.

When Zhang Hao received the news that Xia Shen had arrived at the company, he finally showed a satisfied smile.

"Still want to apply for an A visa?"

How can it be!

It must be said that this was indeed his work.

Perhaps Zhou Yumeng has already spoken to the company and indeed prepared an A-level contract for Xia Shen.

Perhaps Zhou Yumeng is not simple either; she may have some connections and networks within the company.

But don't forget, the A-level creator contract he signed as soon as he joined the company means he's not someone to be trifled with.

His brother-in-law was actually a director within the company, in charge of artist team transfers and management, and wielded considerable influence within the company.

Otherwise, how could he have gotten the company's star singer to sing his songs so soon after joining the company?
He was very dissatisfied with Xia Shen's joining, and under such circumstances, he naturally wanted to do his best to prevent this from happening.

Zhou Yumeng was one of the reasons he did this, but it wasn't entirely because of her.

There is an even more important reason, which lies in the collaboration invitation itself from Kelida Films.

A short video musician who writes catchy pop songs and produces internet garbage would have been considered a so-called "internet singer" in the past. They were not in the same league as, and should not have been in the same league as, legitimate musicians.

He was unwilling to give such a good opportunity for his work to stand out to someone like this.

Doesn't he like to force his way into certain circles?

Give him a performance-based agreement and see if he dares to sign it.

He wanted to make the other party see their own limitations and then back down, so that they wouldn't think that just because they had a lucky break and wrote a hit song, they could step into circles they shouldn't be in.

A performance-based agreement—if you dare to sign it and fail to meet the requirements, the consequences will be dire. He doesn't believe that someone who has just debuted, has little experience, and is merely a half-baked songwriter who writes trash on short video platforms would dare to sign such a contract.

Moreover, he had already made arrangements, and the entire artist management department was staffed by his people. Even if Zhou Yumeng wanted to help, she couldn't solve anything, and no one would listen to her. He had also spoken with his brother-in-law in detail and roughly understood that Zhou Yumeng's connections were likely from outside the company.

Then they would be unable to intervene in the company's internal management.

He didn't believe Zhou Yumeng could bypass the management department and go directly to the higher-ups.

So if the other party backs down, the soundtrack contract will be his.

On the other side, Xia Shen was holding the contract in his hand. Zhou Yumeng, standing beside him, didn't hold back and questioned, "Why is this a performance-based contract? Wasn't it supposed to be an A-level producer contract?"

"I'm sorry, Professor Zhou, this is a decision made by higher-ups. The specific reasons are quite complicated. As you know, our company has a limited number of contracts each year, and this year's quota has already been filled. Applying would be very troublesome, and it's very likely that we won't be able to meet the project schedule."

An employee from the other party's artist management department looked at Zhou Yumeng with an apologetic gaze and adopted a very humble attitude.

“A quota? I’ve never heard of such a thing before,” Zhou Yumeng said, frowning.

"This was decided by the director during the last meeting."

“Then I’ll call and tell them myself.” Zhou Yumeng wasn’t going to back down and was about to take out her phone.

She really wanted to ask what was going on.

This collaboration was finalized a long time ago, and it was personally discussed with the vice president, so there's no reason why the lower-level staff wouldn't know about it.

However, she also believed that as long as she made the call and explained the situation, the matter would definitely be handled properly.

However, Xia Shen reached out and pressed Zhou Yumeng's hand, shaking his head: "Don't rush."

He looked at the contract.

There aren't many clauses above.

Unlike formal contracts, so-called performance-based agreements don't actually have that many clauses.

Because the so-called "betting" is all about "betting".

The most significant characteristic of this agreement is that if the goal is not achieved, the losses will be substantial.

But there's another very important point: if the goal is achieved, the rewards are also enormous—outrageously so.

For example, this current contract
[Party A (Shanghai July Records Culture Media Co., Ltd.) and Party B _____ regarding the proposed cooperation project by Party C (Kelida Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd.) (hereinafter referred to as Party C): the production of the original soundtrack for the large-scale live-action TV series "The Legend of Immortals and Demons".]

This is basic information and not very important.

The most important thing is the information about the target, which is the formal target of this performance-based agreement.

"In other words, if the number of views for a single track on the album exceeds 5 million, then the copyright and all revenue from that single track will belong to Party B," Xia Shennian said.

"If the single's reach does not exceed 5 million, the copyright and all revenue will belong to Party A, and will remain valid for 50 years after the author's death."

Xia Shen looked at Zhou Yumeng and asked directly, "You received payment for this album, right?"

“Yes.” Zhou Yumeng nodded: “I was paid.”

"That's good." Xia Shen nodded.

That was exactly what he had in mind.

Generally, the copyright of works resulting from such collaborations between companies should, without exception, belong to the company.

Even if Zhou Yumeng is a singer and the original singer, she can only enjoy the right to perform.

Even many singers themselves are not allowed to perform, although this is relatively rare.

However, generally speaking, regardless of the singer himself, the company will give an extra sum of money to buy out the singer's vocal rights.

In other words, even if Zhou Yumeng loses the bet, it will not harm her own interests.

Then
A hint of madness and excitement flashed in Xia Shen's eyes: "Actually, this contract isn't impossible to sign."

Indeed, at first glance, this clause seems extremely harsh.

That's incredibly harsh.

It needs to reach 5 million views within two months, and that's for a single song.

In other words, an album actually contains more than a dozen singles, and each of them will be included in the betting scheme.

It's separate; it doesn't mean that if an album surpasses 5 million views, you own the copyright to all the singles.

Instead, each song only belongs to you if it reaches 5 million views. Songs in the same album that don't reach this standard still belong to the company, and you won't get anything.

This contract looks like it's at the hell level of difficulty.

For most musicians, they definitely wouldn't sign such a contract.

But for Xia Shen, it was different.

After two consecutive songs riding the fast-paced train of fast-food culture, he truly witnessed just how powerful the spread of a trending topic can be in today's fast-food culture.

With hundreds of millions of views, it's as easy as playing around. These are extremely exaggerated figures, something that the traditional media industry never even dared to dream of before.

The two songs related to him have now been circulated over 100 million times.

"I Dryed the Silence" is even more exaggerated, and has now surpassed 10 billion views.

Although these traditional, high-quality artistic works cannot be compared with those focused on online streaming media.

However, we should not overlook a larger premise.

That is, you also need to consider the background of this cooperation.

"The Legend of Immortals and Demons" is a collaboration between top-tier drama kings!
The fact that this show became a hit even before it aired is the best way to describe it!

On the other side, Zhang Hao, who was waiting for the good news that Xia Shen had given up, was met with an angry roar.

"Zhang Hao! Who gave you permission to do this in my name without my consent? Are you crazy! Signing this kind of contract with him!?"

(End of this chapter)