hollywood billionaire

Chapter 501 What's the meaning?
"Twenty million US dollars, exactly."

Faced with Stevie's persistent questioning, Han Yi did not hesitate at all and directly presented this number.

Because the copyright acquisition offer given by Wave Music Fund was really cheap.

For twenty million US dollars, one can acquire the complete copyright library of an artist who, even years after his death, still has a profound influence in the pan-cultural field.

Over four thousand songs, tens of thousands of hours of raw material that can be reprocessed, and portrait rights that can be turned into various peripheral products at any time.

If managed properly, the copyrights of Frank Zappa alone could support a stable and profitable boutique publishing company.

For the past twenty-three years, the estate management committee that Irving J. Sloan has served as caretaker has been such an institution.

They may not make a lot of money or change the industry landscape, but they can certainly live a comfortable life for the descendants of the Zappa family by keeping themselves healthy.

Such a large-scale copyright library, 100% owned by the creators, is still so affordable.

So, how much is your music library worth, which has no master tape copyright, only half the music copyright, and whose revenue needs to be distributed through music distribution companies?
This was the idea Han Yi wanted to deeply implant in Stevie's mind, in order to lower Stevie's expectations and make the deal easier to complete.

“It’s quite cheap.”

Stephenie downed her whiskey in one gulp, then smacked her lips, raised her index finger, and drawled out:

"But that won't be me."

“I’m not an ignorant singer-songwriter who hides in the closet all day and only knows how to carve lyrics on the wall. I know my position in the market, and frankly, in this respect, Zappa can’t even see my taillights.”

"This is undeniable."

Having anticipated Stevens' response, Han Yi's smile remained unchanged.

As for whether Frank Zappa or Stevie Nix is ​​superior in terms of artistic achievement, it's a matter of opinion, and there's no right answer.

However, when it comes to their commercial value, even the most ardent haters of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac have to admit that Frank Zappa is simply not worthy of being compared to her.

Those who can rival her in album sales include Barbra Streisand, ABBA, Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Britney Spears, Coldplay, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber.

In other words, only superstars with absolute commercial dominance at a certain time in a certain era are qualified to be compared with Stevie Nix.

Take Fleetwood Mac's best-selling album, "Rumours," as an example. It ranks twelfth on the list of best-selling albums of all time, with a total of over 40 million copies sold, including more than 4.5 million in the UK alone.

In other words, the sales of just one of Stevie Wonder's albums in one market equaled the total sales of all of Frank Zappa's achievements in his entire life.

With such a huge disparity, even if Stevie wasn't the sole creator of most of her hit singles, even if she only received a portion of the distribution royalties, even if she didn't own the master tape rights at all... the value of the share she held was something that the entire Zappa copyright library could hardly match.

"One thing we want people to understand deeply about Han Music and Wave Music Foundation is that we will not increase our profit margins by reducing artists' compensation. We will never do that."

Han Yi's tone sounded very resolute.

“We seek success by adding value to the work of our artists, not just by exploiting its existing value. We believe our approach is effective and will continue to be effective, which is why we are confident in offering the highest compensation standards in the industry, not only to our employees, but also to the artists we represent, our partners, and the copyrights we acquire.”

"The Zappa family did indeed make a counteroffer based on our initial offer, which we accepted with almost no hesitation. We believe that even after a creator's death, they and their family should be provided with a stable and comfortable living environment. Isn't the purpose of enacting and continuously improving copyright law?"

"What was their counter-offer?" Stevie ignored the latter part of Han Yi's statement about value and asked directly.

"$2250 million."

"The increase wasn't significant."

“Yes, not much, 12.5%.” When he read the number, Han Yi deliberately dragged it out, trying to etch the percentage into Stevie’s mind.

"Is your family life not very harmonious?"

"Hmm?" Han Yi did not understand the hidden meaning in Stevie's words.

“What I mean is, if there weren’t any conflicts among the surviving family members, this agreement wouldn’t have been reached so easily, and the negotiations wouldn’t have taken so long.” Stevie shrugged expressionlessly, her tone cold and her words sharp.

“Yes. You may not know, but it’s no secret.” In recent months, the inheritance dispute surrounding Frank Zappa’s estate has been making headlines in the newspapers and media. Anyone who pays even a little attention to entertainment news couldn’t have missed it… but Stevie isn’t the kind of person who follows entertainment news.

Not at all.

“Since Frank’s death in 1993, his widow Gail has been in charge of the Zappa family trust. She is a mother of four and had a long and stable marriage with Frank since 1967. Most importantly, although Frank was open to all sorts of women, he still maintained a bottom line and did not have any children outside the marriage. Therefore, while Gail was alive, her control over the Zappa copyright library was very stable.”

"The turning point that disrupted the stable situation occurred in 2015. That year, Gail passed away from lung cancer. Before her death, she was said to be somewhat delirious and did two things—first, she changed the inheritance shares of her four children from 25% each to 30% for the two she preferred and 20% for the other two. Second, she made the two children she preferred take over the management of the family trust."

"From that time on, the delicate but relatively stable balance was completely broken. The specific back-and-forth games were quite complex, but in general, it was the four children using their own methods to try to extract more benefits from their father's copyright library than the other three."

“This is the consequence of having children…it’s not surprising at all.” Stevie chuckled twice, shaking her head with a sigh. “Being a crazy aunt is much more fun than being a mother. Raising children is like .Ugh, I simply can’t imagine my children fighting their brothers and sisters in the bloodiest way because of my copyright library.”

"For me, this is definitely a great advantage of not having children... so that I won't be in the tabloids for such a stupid thing after I die."

"Kids are indeed... very difficult to deal with."

It is common knowledge that Stephenie never married or had children. However, Han Yi was quite surprised that she became so emotional when the topic was brought up.

Indeed, Stevie appears calm and collected, seemingly detached from worldly affairs and indifferent to everything... but someone who truly doesn't want children and adheres to the creed of being childless wouldn't mention the word "child" four times in a row in a single sentence.

interesting.

"To get back to the point, the Zappa children are all eager to kill each other, and they cause countless unheard-of antics every day. This chaotic situation is exhausting Owen, who is actually the mastermind behind the family trust."

“I’ve heard him mention this recently.” Steven nodded. “Two or three months ago, he told me that he used to want to work until the day he died, but now he just wants to step down as soon as possible, especially from the various foundations he leads. Only now do I realize that his sudden change is because of this.”

“Yes, Irving said the same thing to us,” Lionel replied. “What exhausted him wasn’t the work itself, but…you know, when someone has been in this industry for decades, he’s bound to make some close friends that time can’t break, become their partners, or even the guardians of their legacy.”

"He treated these legacies as his own, carefully protecting them and hoping they would shine in the next century. He hoped that his old friend's descendants would join in protecting and passing on these legacies, but sadly found that no one cared about his father's talent and spirit. The next generation only wanted to get as much as they could before the name Frank Zappa entered the public domain and became completely free."

"This is the core reason why Irving was disheartened and wanted to withdraw, and also the key driving force behind his insistence on making this deal happen," Han Yi continued. "Because he discovered that we, more than those four kids, cared about the sustainable development of Zappa copyright."

"Those who want to work hard can join the team, and those who want money can take it and leave. It's fair," Lionel concluded.

"But how did you convince them to take the money and leave?" Steven asked.

“Do we still need to persuade them?” Lionel spread his hands, smiling and frowning. “Whether it’s 30% or 20%, no matter how much of a share they hold, they won’t earn the money we’re giving them, at least not while they’re still alive.”

"The oldest is 49, and even the youngest is 37. For the past twenty years, they haven't had any independent careers and have lived off the allowance their mother gives them. Two of the children work as their mother's assistants, and one tours in memory of Frank Zappa. And there's another... damn, I don't even know what the last one does."

"If they still want to make a name for themselves in this world—as all celebrity kids think to some extent—then their best option is to take the money and go their own way...no pun intended."

“So now the deal is finalized.” Stevie didn’t mind Lionel’s use of her famous song “Go Your Own Way” as a pun. She murmured thoughtfully, as if asking a question, or perhaps stating a fact.

“That’s right, Irving is drafting the agreement. This is the last thing he’s done as legal counsel for the Zappa family trust, and the first thing he’s done as a director of the Wave Music Foundation,” Lionel said with a smile.

“Frank Zappa and Dave Stewart…it seems your music foundation is about to dominate the headlines.” Stevie chuckled twice. “It’s sure to send shivers down the spines of those old guys sitting behind their desks in Manhattan.”

"Will they make the news? Definitely. But are the two of them enough to terrify the old folks? I doubt it."

Han Yi seized the opportunity, cleared his throat, and once again extended an olive branch to Stevie.

This time, it was done in the most sincere and straightforward way.

"There aren't many people who can make them uneasy, and you are one of the few remaining. Therefore, it would be our greatest honor if we could not only invite you to join our client list but also to our board of directors."

"I assure you that you will receive the highest and most generous treatment from the Wave Music Foundation."

"Whether in terms of money or the power of the board of directors."

"What...do you think?"

(End of this chapter)