Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 918 Liang Kuan poachs people
Olaf, having apparently received a great deal of benefits from the fans, surprisingly urged Bianlang: "Wave, can we record these two new songs first?"

"No, I'll keep these two versions for now. If we come across a more suitable voice, we'll let him be the original singer!"

Olaf, who knows Bian Lang very well in terms of songwriting, asked again upon hearing this, "Not many songs?"

Bian Lang nodded: "Indeed not many!" He could only remember four of Mao Buyi's songs completely in his mind.

Creating another alt account is really unnecessary. It's better to save them for when the right voice comes along and promotes these songs. After all, his primary profession is still rock music. He can use the other songs when the opportunity arises, and if not, he can put them in the music library, giving Liang Kuan more resources to recruit talent!
When it comes to recruiting, Liang Kuan's approach and methods are a super-enhanced version of Chen Shuting's. As long as she thinks someone can work with Rolling Stones, she will go directly to their door to poach them.

Before this incident, she wasn't in a hurry; she just wanted to find her target and chat with them slowly. But after this incident, she discovered a problem: the number and quality of the bands in the company were so great that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they represented half of the Chinese rock scene. Bian Lang himself could easily claim to represent half of the Chinese rock scene, not to mention all the other bands.

However, the volume is too small. If there were more first- or second-tier artists in the pop music scene, the impact would be different.

The decision above will not be changed, but with such a big commotion, the Rolling Stones are still bringing honor to China abroad. You banned their lead singer for a year in China, so you have to make up for it in some other way.

It's not that Rolling Stone will do anything, but the effusive praise from the foreign affairs departments of several countries is enough to put pressure on them. Not to mention the overwhelming support from netizens and the genuine and fabricated support from the entertainment industry.

Ultimately, the whole thing is just too far-fetched. If there weren't any human factors involved, as long as Bian Lang didn't publicly sing "Hurricane 2000" in China, they wouldn't be able to find any strong evidence.

As for Vice President Xu's mentor who had used money to stir up trouble, while he wasn't exactly a pariah, those in the circle who sensed something amiss began to keep their distance. No matter how hard he tried, people were ignoring him.

According to one of them, "It's fine if you make money from favors, but we've already paid back what we owed. Now you want to use favors to save face? Sorry, we've already used them all!"

As for the compensation, Liang Kuan knew it would be resources that were not usually easy to obtain.

However, these resources would probably be wasted on rock bands. After thinking it over, Liang Kuan felt that resources like satellite TV galas and broadcast on satellite channels were not suitable for bands other than Rolling Stones.

After all, just like the original Earth, it was quite fitting that Tang Dynasty was invited to sing "Dreaming Back to Tang Dynasty" at a gala, but Lao Ding was the only one singing live. Lao Ding, whose voice had already deteriorated, was certainly not in the same condition as in the 1990s. Compared to the others who simply played the original recordings, Lao Ding was almost criticized online as a sinner who destroyed Chinese rock.

Finally, a certain sharp-tongued critic couldn't stand it anymore and posted a video of a singer pulling the microphone for half a meter without any change in voice or breath, which diverted Lao Ding's attention.

As a result, the person who was targeted for lip-syncing retorted to Lao Ding, "This isn't a concert; it's for freeloaders. Why sing live?"

Returning to this resource, its value can only be maximized by having pop singers from Magic Stone Records utilize it. Of course, this was obtained at the cost of Bian Lang's one-year ban, so Magic Stone Records must have a reason for using it.

If the resources were given to Guo Sichu, no one would say anything, but even if they were given to Guo Sichu, she wouldn't be interested. Tao Xiaoyu can use some of them, but not all of them, so recruiting more people is an urgent matter.

So at this moment, Liang Kuan was sitting in Kou Yong's office, and his imposing manner was truly impressive: "Old Kou, we're old friends now. You don't actually think that the favor you showed Dong Youbian before is still useful now, do you?"

"Sister Kuan! Aunt Kuan! Grandma Kuan! Bian Lang finally managed to pick someone who could break out of the circle for us, how come you're going to take her away as soon as you arrive!" Kou Yong was also very flexible and didn't care about his image or face at all when he was playing the victim.

After all, it was Liang Kuan who came, so it was a business deal. At worst, he could haggle over the exorbitant price, and even if the deal fell through, they could still be on good terms. But if Bian Lang personally asked for the landlord's cat, then he wouldn't have the right to refuse.

Putting aside Rolling Stones' help to their company, just consider that after Bian Lang took over Ovation, his music store business flourished. Add to that the fact that Dong Youbian's so-called "family," and his "wife" running off on her own, Kou Yong lost face!
"Don't tell me you don't know the truth about Dong Youbian's matter. If you sign Fangmao to us now, this connection will be renewed. You can't imagine how many songs Bianlang has in his repertoire. If we just let one or two of them slip out, they'll not only make you a top star, but they'll definitely be masterpieces!"

Kou Yong couldn't refute this statement, and not only him, but no entertainment company boss in China could refute it either!

"Sister Kuan, just give me a hint, why do you only want the two of them? There are plenty of similar combinations in the entertainment industry..."

"Stop! First of all, Bian Lang gave these two girls some pointers, so they'll definitely remember his kindness and be easier to manage now that they're here. Secondly, look at the marketing results of the songs Bian Lang writes for others, and then look at yours... these two girls aren't even as good as those masked online singers!"

When it came to this last point, Kou Yong's mental defenses, which he had been trying to maintain, crumbled instantly.

Liang Kuan was absolutely right. It wasn't that they didn't provide resources; they just weren't good at managing these two young girls. Although they sang folk songs like Dong Youbian, Dong Youbian had also traveled extensively on her own, bringing back genuine talent and releasing her own album.

Fangmao's current creative level is not up to the standard of Dong Youbian back then, so it's really too much to ask them to make an album following the ideas of Bian Lang's songs.

If things continue like this without any improvement, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they've ruined the business.

So it would be better if Liang Kuan spoke up now, and he could find them good husbands and continue their family line with Rolling Stone: "These two won't do something like Dong Youbian again, will they?"

After thinking it over, Kou Yong took a sip of tea and sighed, "Alright, alright! Since you've already said all that, I'll give you and Bian Lang face! But you can't shortchange us. We won't talk about money, but we hope that the singers we've selected this time..."

"Don't worry, you'll be given priority under the same conditions..."

When the two young girls from Fangmao heard that they were going to sign with Rolling Stone, they were so excited that they didn't know how to express themselves. They stood there in Kou Yong's office for a full half minute before they came to their senses!
"Thank you, thank you, Mr. Kou. Well... then we..."

The two were naturally very willing to sign with Rolling Stone. Putting aside everything else, just in terms of the creative environment alone, Kou Yong's situation was worlds apart from Rolling Stone's; there was simply no comparison.

If you try to ask any creative questions here, the music director will just tell you: "Find someone to write it. Bianlang has already set the stage for you two. It's too difficult for you two to continue it on your own."

If they went to Rolling Stone, even if they couldn't get answers to their questions from the great Bian, at least they could get guidance from someone like Liu Ziyang.

"What's the rush? You've both worked for me before, so I'll give you both some experience. Otherwise, looking at how naive you two are, you'll be sold out and still be counting the money for the seller!" "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Kou..."

"I reckon you'll be signing with Magic Stone Records. Remember, stay close to Liang Kuan here. If she assigns you another agent, try to negotiate with her to get her to manage you personally in the early stages. Also, don't get too close to Guo Sichu!"

"why?"

"The more I look at Bian Lang, the more sinister he seems! Who knows if Guo Sichu will be the next Dong Youbian, so you can think about it yourselves..."

Upon hearing this, the two also felt that the possibility was quite high, after all, that was Bianlang!

Meanwhile, Liang Kuan had already rushed to Liu Yao's company without stopping. The CEO personally greeted him: "Ah Kuan, to be honest, your idea is really too audacious! We've poured a lot of resources into Ah Yao over the years. I don't care how you negotiate when the contract expires, but now..."

"Mr. Hu, now that things have come to this, I'll be frank! Liu Yao has entered a major creative bottleneck, which she can't overcome on her own, and your company can't offer her much more help in this area."

The man called "General Manager Hu" was so angry he laughed: "Indeed, given the relationship between A Yao and Bian Lang, it wouldn't be difficult for us to buy songs from Rolling Stone."

"But you have to think about it, after the Rolling Stones return from their tour, will Bian Lang's price still be the same as before?"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Hu laughed even more angrily: "Ah Kuan, we have considered what you said. But even if Ah Yao wanted to go, there are so many issues regarding the ownership of song copyrights. Just negotiating those would take a long time."

"Anyway, I'll pass on the message first. As long as there's an opening, we'll continue the discussion. Liu Yao's rise to fame in the rock scene and his continued popularity are largely thanks to you. But now that he's achieved even greater success, it's simply a matter of exchanging interests."

I think it won't be difficult for us to reach a consensus on this!

That last sentence actually carries a hint of coercion, since Liu Yao's personal will is the dominant factor in this matter. If Rolling Stone's resources were lacking before, then with Liang Kuan as a strong ally, there's really nothing more to say.

He believed that if Bian Lang were to smash an album in front of Liu Yao, Liu Yao would have to pay out of his own pocket to breach the contract and go there. This was truly unsolvable!
If someone else told him about it, he would just laugh it off and wouldn't even consider the possibility. But this is Bian Lang!
The song "No Place to Hide" that Liu Yao bought from him last year has already proven his talent. As the company boss, he is also a beneficiary. Moreover, looking at the price of that song and the final profit now, it's not much different from giving it away for free.

and so……

"I'll think about this carefully. I'll also talk to Ayao. I hope that regardless of whether things work out or not, our two families won't become enemies..."

"That's for sure..."

Liang Kuan then left the company and immediately arranged a private dinner with Liu Yao.

Liu Yao, Guo Sichu's best friend, had no idea about her relationship with Bian Lang before, and wanted to hear Liang Kuan's story.

The two arranged to meet at a private restaurant, a place where privacy was guaranteed for acquaintances.

Liu Yao didn't bring her agent either. Upon meeting Liang Kuan, she immediately asked, "Sister Kuan, are those two acting?"

"Don't you know what kind of personality your best friend has?" Liang Kuan retorted irritably!

"No, weren't the secrecy measures done a little too well before?"

"What's so good about it? Her fans were all fanning the flames before. Now that it's a done deal, they're all dumbfounded! Besides, you were the one who introduced them, weren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yao felt a sudden sense of disappointment.

It wasn't that she had a crush on Bian Lang, but rather that she remembered that she and Bian Lang had met on the show "The One and Only Band," where she was a mentor and Bian Lang was a contestant.

But now, only a year has passed, and Bian Lang's status has made her feel that she can no longer reach him.

This sense of incongruity was something she'd never felt before in all her years in the industry. And now that their relationship was official, she naturally knew why Liang Kuan had come to see her, but…

"Yeah, it was just over a year ago, and I was a mentor back then. If you asked me to be his mentor now, I wouldn't dare even if you gave me a hundred faces!"

"As for their situation, you should ask Chuchu directly when they get back! I came here to talk to you about coming to Rolling Stone..."

Having just extended an olive branch, he immediately followed up with bait: "I have a song here, which Bian Lang asked me to pick from the music library. It's a thank-you gift for you, my matchmaker!"

"What the hell?" Liu Yao almost exploded upon hearing this!
She believed Bian Lang was willing to spend, but he wouldn't use such a clichéd excuse. Only Liang Kuan would drag such a purely work-related matter into a personal favor that's hard to refuse!
"You heard me right. Bian Lang is giving you a song as a thank you gift to thank you for introducing him to Chu Chu!" Of course, Bian Lang agreed to this, and he even helped choose the song.

"Then let me see the song first!" Liu Yao didn't care about the excuse or pretext. As long as she could get the song, especially a new song that Bian Lang hadn't released before, she wouldn't lose out!
As for joining Rolling Stones, she definitely wanted to!

But as Mr. Hu said, with so many copyright issues over the years, it's not something you can just walk away from.

She's not Guo Sichu; she doesn't have that kind of confidence! That kind of absolute control is something she only dares to dream about!
Thinking this, she opened the file Liang Kuan sent her and started reading it. When she saw the song title, she was stunned: "Free as a Dream"!
(End of this chapter)