Huayu 1992: Starting with the CCTV Young Singers Competition

Chapter 93 Cooperation Negotiations for New Era Audio-Visual

Lin Hanjiang's original plan was to go to the Central National Orchestra to find his senior, Feng Xiaoquan.

Feng Xiaoquan also graduated from the China Conservatory of Music, a few years ahead of him, and is now quite well-known in the field of folk instrumental music.

At the age of 13, she won the gold medal in the first National Ethnic Instrumental Solo Competition.

At the age of 16, he was awarded the title of "Outstanding Literary and Art Worker of Beijing" by the Chinese Musicians Association, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League.

title.

At the age of 18, he was admitted to the China Conservatory of Music without taking the entrance exam.

At the age of 22, he joined the China National Traditional Orchestra.

Although they are in different fields, they are no less capable than Zhang Ye.

Moreover, they come from a musical family.

More importantly, the early performer of "Chinese Folk Song," a song that Lin Hanjiang remembered was destined to become a hit across the country, was Feng Xiaoquan.

He considered whether he could use his connections at the school, even if it cost money, to secure the rights to perform the song and even get credit for its creation.

It served as a powerful tool for conquering the pop music scene in the south.

He's willing to make this investment.

But at that moment, an editor from New Era Audio-Visual Company suddenly appeared, disrupting his plans.

The only thing he could think of was that this editor, Wang, wanted to produce records and tapes for him.

After all, the two songs from the CCTV Young Singers Competition had already spread throughout the country.

Of course, there are people who want to make money from these two songs.

That should be it now, otherwise there would be no reason to contact him.

After a moment's thought, Lin Hanjiang nodded: "Then I'll trouble Editor Wang."

17

"No trouble at all, it's my honor to have you here."

Wang Zhongxiang was overjoyed and quickly led Lin Hanjiang over.

A nearly new red Jetta stood out starkly against the sea of ​​gray bicycles.

Wang Zhongxiang eagerly opened the car door.

The car drove out of the school gate and merged into the traffic on the street.

Wang Zhongxiang was clearly a sociable person. While driving, he enthusiastically introduced himself and New Era Company, his tone filled with pride: "Mr. Lin, to be honest, although New Era is based in Guangzhou, our vision has always been nationwide. You certainly know Mao Ning and Yang Yuying; their success is inseparable from the company's comprehensive planning, production, and promotion. We now not only produce pop music, but also pay close attention to promising works and singers, hoping to broaden our product line and create more substantial and high-quality works."

He observed Lin Hanjiang's expression through the rearview mirror: "Your performance at the CCTV Young Singers Competition, especially your two original works 'The Story of Spring' and 'Entering the New Era,' has been highly praised by everyone in our company. We believe these are rare musical works in recent years, which have brought the main theme of the song to the whole country. They have both ideological depth and extremely high artistic value and dissemination power."

Lin Hanjiang listened quietly, offering no comment.

He's heard plenty of commercial hype these past few days.

We arrived at Wangfujing soon.

Wang Zhongxiang parked the car with practiced ease and led Lin Hanjiang into Cuihualou, a restaurant with a small storefront but rather elegant and antique-style decor.

Cuihualou, a representative of Shandong cuisine in Beijing, was bustling with people at the moment, its air thick with the aroma of scallions.

Wang Zhongxiang had clearly made a reservation in advance; it was a private room with a small round table that could seat four or five people.

When they sat down to order, Wang Zhongxiang was very attentive, ordering local Shandong dishes such as chicken slices with egg white, braised sea cucumber with scallions, braised prawns, and stewed cuttlefish eggs, as well as a pot of jasmine tea.

After all the dishes were served and the waiter had left, he got down to business, his smile fading slightly and replaced by a more serious expression: "Mr. Lin, I'm a straightforward person, so I won't beat around the bush. Our New Era Audio-Visual Company is very interested in collaborating with you to produce high-quality records of the two excellent works, 'The Story of Spring' and 'Entering the New Era,' including vinyl records, cassette tapes, and CDs, for nationwide distribution."

Lin Hanjiang steadied his hand holding the teacup: "Editor Wang, thank you for your company's appreciation. However, my song—in terms of style—may be quite different from the pop songs your company has promoted in the past."

"That's precisely where our unique perspective lies."

Wang Zhongxiang leaned forward, lowered his voice, but it was even more forceful.

"The market needs diversity and benchmarks. Your song is more than just a song; it carries the emotions of the times and represents a positive national sentiment."

With excellent production and promotion, it can completely break through the audience limitations of traditional revolutionary songs or gala songs, enter a wider range of ordinary people's homes, and become a true classic that will be passed down through generations.

This will not only bring you greater artistic recognition, but also very considerable economic returns.

Lin Hanjiang did not answer, but looked at him, gesturing for him to continue.

Wang Zhongxiang paused for a moment, then presented his concrete conditions: "Our initial idea is to produce a personal EP (mini-album, also known as a mini-disc, a music release format between a single and an album) for you, with these two songs as the main tracks, and one or two of your other works or adaptations of classic folk songs selected from among them."

In terms of production, the company will invite the best arrangers and the best bands to record in the best recording studio in Guangzhou to ensure artistic quality.

You don't need to worry about distribution channels. New Era has its own distribution network nationwide and has in-depth cooperation with Xinhua bookstores and audio-visual stores across the country.

"What are the conditions?"

Lin Hanjiang went straight to the core issue.

No profit can not afford to be early.

He's a businessman himself, so how could he not know these intricacies?

Wang Zhongxiang smiled, took out a simple draft of a letter of intent from his briefcase, and pushed it in front of Lin Hanjiang: "We have two cooperation models for you to choose from. One is to buy out the copyright, whereby the company will pay you a one-time fee to obtain the permanent recording copyright of these two songs and the exclusive distribution rights for a certain number of years. This is based on our assessment and market forecasts."

We can offer a very competitive buyout fee.

He held up two fingers, "2 yuan, after tax."

In 1992, 2 yuan was undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

That's enough to tempt many people.

Lin Hanjiang didn't even blink. For him, the value of these two songs was too great; 2 yuan was out of the question.

But he didn't say anything. Isn't there a second option?

Wang Zhongxiang continued, "The second type is the royalty sharing model, where we pay you a basic recording service fee, which may not be high, such as one thousand to two thousand yuan."

However, after the record is released, you will receive a percentage of the royalties for every cassette tape or record sold.

We can discuss this percentage. The industry standard for newcomers is around 6% to 8% of the retail price. Considering the uniqueness of your work, we can negotiate for 8%.

If your records sell well, your long-term income can be very substantial. For example, Yang Yuying's first original music album, "Blessings for Love," sold over 20 cassettes in less than six months after its release.

The price of a cassette tape is now around 10 yuan, so that means 200 million tapes were sold.

At 8%, one could receive 16 yuan.

After deducting the cost of recording tapes and marketing, companies can typically earn a profit margin of over 40%.

Lin Hanjiang did not answer; this matter could not be done.

Because if she sings it again, everything that Teacher Li Guyi has done before will be in vain.

The most important thing to do is to let these two songs disappear from Lin Hanjiang's life.

Observing Lin Hanjiang's reaction, and seeing that he was still thinking, Wang Zhongxiang immediately added, "Of course, the choice of which model to choose depends on your own considerations. A buyout is safe, and you can get a large sum of money immediately. Revenue sharing is riskier, but the potential is higher. Our company prefers to establish long-term cooperative relationships with promising artists, so we also advocate the revenue sharing model, sharing profits and risks."