I became a music industry godfather by writing confidantes.

Chapter 149 Agreements and Nominations

On the afternoon of January 31, Yang Du received another call from Fang Lei.

This is the sixth phone call Fang Lei has made since the evening of the 29th.

As soon as the call connected, Fang Lei's slightly tired voice came through, sounding completely drained.

"Do you know how many meetings our company held internally to prepare for this collaboration between you and Xu Xiao?"

"Director Fang, you've worked hard," Yang Du replied with a smile, "contributing to the prosperity of China's music industry."

"screw you."

Fang Lei chuckled and scolded, then got to the point: "The discussion results are in. A production cost of 150 million, plus 3% of the producer's points, and 2% of the master tape copyright—these are the basic conditions."

Yang Du knew things wouldn't be that simple. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are there any additional conditions?"

"That's right, it comes with a performance-based agreement."

Fang Lei explained, "The content is very simple. The first condition is that if you produce Xu Xiao's album and its cumulative sales exceed 1000 million within a year, you will receive an additional 3% for the master tape copyright."

In the Chinese music scene, the albums of singers at the level of the "Four Little Heavenly Queens" typically achieve double platinum status, which is equivalent to 600 million sales.

If it can reach triple platinum status and 900 million, it can basically be considered a blockbuster of the year.

1000 million is an even higher level of achievement.

Although in terms of certification, 9 million and 10 million both fall into the category of triple platinum and there is no essential difference, breaking 10 million is definitely a milestone achievement in the industry.

As for diamond albums, among the four divas, only Shen Dai has an album with a net sales of 3700 million copies.

But for Yang Du, 1000 is not an insurmountable goal. It should be noted that Tao Cheng's "Swallowtail Butterfly" has sold a total of 890 million copies in eight weeks.

So he smiled and nodded, then asked, "What about the other conditions?"

"The second condition," Fang Lei continued, "is that if this album can bring Xu Xiao a Golden Bell Award, the master tape copyright will be increased by 5%."

The base is 2%, plus 3% from sales, plus 5% from the Golden Bell Award, totaling 10%.

Including 10% for lyrics and music royalties and 3% for producer points, the total is 23%.

"This is the best solution we can come up with after many rounds of discussions."

For Jin Shi, this plan could appease Xu Xiao, the rising star, and also give Yang Du some real motivation.

Most importantly, such an agreement can also provide an explanation to the board of directors, proving that the master tape copyright was not given away for nothing.

Even if the album doesn't meet expectations, at most the loss would only be 2% of the master tape copyright, which can be considered a risky investment in Yang Du, the newly minted gold medal producer.

Yang Du glanced at Yuan Xiuqing sitting opposite him.

The phone was on speakerphone, and Yuan Xiuqing could hear it clearly.

She smiled and nodded.

"Okay, I have no objection," Yang Du said. "I'll have my agent go to Jinshi later to coordinate and prepare for signing the contract."

"Okay, let's go through the formalities and sign the letter of intent first. As for when to start work, we'll talk about that after you've finished your solo album."

After hanging up the phone, Yang Du and Yuan Xiuqing exchanged a glance, both seeing joy in each other's eyes.

In fact, for Yang Du, this contract with the attached performance-based clause is advantageous.

Originally, Yang Du planned to discuss the master tape copyright issue after the Golden Bell Awards in March of this year, when Yang Du would return with a wealth of awards and achievements, and then negotiate with him based on his solid awards and accomplishments.

Xu Xiao's sudden invitation to Yang Du to be the album's producer was merely a trial balloon, a way to test the waters and see where Jin Shi's bottom line was.

Surprisingly, they actually managed to negotiate a deal, which was a pleasant surprise.

Yuan Xiuqing had previously said that if the negotiations failed, the best course of action would be to wait until March to restart them.

On the other side, at the headquarters of Jinshi, Fang Lei, who had just hung up the phone, was also filled with emotion.

He increasingly felt that Yang Du's decision last year to reject his offer and not join Jinshi as an exclusive producer was quite farsighted.

If Yang Du had joined Kingstone back then, he would be a high-level employee now, and would have no chance and no right to share the master tape copyright with Kingstone today.

"To have such insight and ambition at such a young age, given time, she'll be extraordinary!"

The next day, February 1st, at 9:55 AM.

Yang Du paused the recording to let the musicians rest, and took out his phone to log on to the Golden Bell Awards website.

In five minutes, the Golden Bell Awards will announce this year's nominations.

As the most authoritative and prestigious music award in China, it attracts the attention of countless industry professionals and fans every year at this time.

The musicians in the recording studio naturally huddled together, took out their phones, and began to discuss in hushed tones.

The official website refreshed precisely at 10:00 AM.

The most anticipated awards are naturally the four major awards: Album of the Year, Production of the Year, Single of the Year, and Male/Female Singer of the Year.

It's called one of the four major awards, but there are actually five. In the early years, the Golden Bell Awards for Best Male and Female Singer were combined into one award called Best Singer, but they were later separated.

However, for any singer, there are only four major awards to compete for, since no one can be both a male singer and a female singer at the same time.

Therefore, the name "Four Major Awards" has been used ever since.

"They're out! They're out!" Old Bai shouted.

First is Album of the Year, an award given to the singer, album producer, and the entire production team behind the scenes.

The name "Swallowtail Butterfly" was prominently listed, along with Luo Gengyun's "Phoenix" and Du Li's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

Goodbye, but the feelings remain.

Secondly, there's the Production of the Year award, given to singers, producers, recording engineers, mixing engineers, and mastering engineers.

"Unstoppable" has been nominated.

Then there's the Song of the Year award, given to the songwriter and composer. Both songs, "Painted Heart" and "Red Rose," were nominated.

Tao Cheng was also successfully nominated for Female Singer of the Year, competing with Du Li and other powerful singers for the highest honor of Queen of Song.

Congratulations, Producer Yang!

Yang Du had just finished reading the nomination list for the four major awards when a group of people surrounded him to offer their congratulations, with the recording engineer Lao Ji being the most excited.

The other musicians expressed their envy.

This group of people can be considered the old team that started when Yang Du entered Jinshi Recording Studio to produce "Flammable and Explosive", so they naturally know that Lao Li has participated in almost every single and album produced by Yang Du.

According to the Golden Bell Awards rules, if you win Album of the Year or Production of the Year in March, in addition to the singer and producer, recording engineers, mixing engineers, and mastering engineers like Lao Li can also go on stage to receive the award.

You can also get your own trophy, the kind with your name engraved on the base.

Who would have thought!

Old Li couldn't stop smiling and couldn't help but start imagining what it would be like to win the award.

His position within the company will inevitably be promoted one level, and his salary will naturally increase accordingly. In addition, he can also increase his quote by 50% when he takes on freelance work outside.

These are all tangible benefits.

And all of this is related to the young man in front of us.