Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 919 Award-nominated film theme song
"Will you still think of me, my dearest friend, when I decide to let go of everything and embark on the road to freedom..."

Just looking at the first four lines of lyrics, Liu Yao smiled wryly and said, "Bian Lang deliberately chose these lyrics for me, didn't he?"

Bian Lang didn't mean it that way. When he heard about it, he just glanced at Leather Pants' playlist and thought the song was suitable for Liu Yao.

Many of Leather Pants' songs, especially his great ones, are very suitable for female singers to perform, and this one is one of them. The chorus, in particular, sounds even better when sung with a slightly smoky, husky voice.

For example, Bisha from the original Earth...

"Just tell me if you want it or not."

Faced with Liang Kuan's obvious questioning and coercion, even Liu Yao had no choice but to grit her teeth and admit it: "Who wouldn't want Bian Lang's song? Since it's a gift, I'll be even less polite."

"Is it okay if I only have the right to sing but not to record?" Bian Lang didn't mention this condition; it was Liang Kuan who added it.

Upon hearing this condition, Liu Yao quickly considered it in his mind and then readily agreed.

She understood perfectly well that the reason she did that was to give the company and President Wu a little push. It was perfectly reasonable not to give her the recording rights if someone gave her a song to sing for free, but if she made the song a hit at her concert, the management company would definitely be jealous.

Rock Records wanted to sign Liu Yao, and Liu Yao was also interested. However, she is a prolific singer herself, and her past conflicts with the company regarding the copyrights of so many songs are similar to those of G.E.M. from the original Earth. They were fine when making money together, but once the partnership ended, all sorts of conflicts arose.

Therefore, Rolling Stone's gradual application of pressure is helping to advance the negotiations.

Rolling Stone wasn't very interested in the copyright revenue from Liu Yao's previous songs. Given Bian Lang's inventory, they could have just given her one or two albums directly. What Rolling Stone valued was her influence.

But he himself didn't think that way. Putting aside the royalties from that one small goal a year, the emotional connection these songs had to him personally was something he couldn't sever.

"If Bian Lang were to give me half a concert's worth of songs, Lao Wu would definitely get high blood pressure from anger!"

Liu Yao just said it casually, and Liang Kuan, after hearing it, replied half-jokingly, "That's not necessarily a bad thing..."

After parting ways with Liu Yao, Liang Kuan rushed off to his next event. This time, it wasn't a singer he'd booked, but rather an art-house film director who had approached Bian Lang to commission a song. In the past, Liang Kuan usually wouldn't have been so keen on getting these kinds of offers.

After all, art films are aimed at winning awards, so their budgets aren't as large as those of commercial films. Bian Lang's songs are in high demand and low demand; there's already a long line of films wanting to collaborate with him, so it's not worth turning down money. Besides, most art films submitted for international awards won't be released domestically, so there's not much box office revenue to be gained.

But times have changed!
The film's director recently contacted Qiu Luo to relay a message to Liang Kuan, saying he wants to submit the film to the Berlin Film Festival. And this year's Golden Bear jury president is a Chinese director. Most people might think this kind of news is unremarkable.

Firstly, the three major European filmmakers are no longer very popular with Chinese audiences, or rather, Chinese filmmakers. They're basically making films that can't be shown domestically, and what they export is simply catering to Western tastes of Chinese suffering.

However, some of the works on genuine realist themes are indeed quite remarkable. They don't simply pander to Western tastes; they also express their own sorrow and helplessness regarding certain unique circumstances in this country!

Qiu Luo's initial words to Liang Kuan were, "If this movie were submitted to Brother Lang, he could definitely write an awesome song!" Qiu Luo didn't contact Bian Lang directly for this reason. He was afraid that Bian Lang would get too attached to the film and write another song that couldn't be broadcast, which would...

But now the situation has changed. Bian Lang can't even appear on camera in China. So, according to their plan, they should stir up trouble abroad! Since it's a film that can be exhibited in Berlin, and Bian Lang is probably very interested, it's worth the trip for her.

The director and she met at a café tucked away in a hutong (traditional alleyway). Stepping inside, the atmosphere was reminiscent of the small bars on Renmin Road in China's early days. Regardless of size, each one had its own distinct character, artistic and with its own ecosystem, not keen on tourists or seeking excessive popularity…

A large golden retriever and various ethnic-style cotton and linen outfits are the standard attire for the owner and his wife. Whether or not they have leaves and baked biscuits is another matter entirely.

Although Liang Kuan's outfit seemed out of place here, he was spotted by the director who was already waiting there as soon as he entered.

"Sister Liang, over here!" Hearing the voice, Liang Kuan turned around and saw a man wearing a Rolling Stones logo shirt standing up and waving at him.

Liang Kuan thought to himself, "This is a bit too deliberate! It seems like someone who wants to do things but doesn't really know how." But having this intention at least proves their willingness to cooperate.

"Director Duan, I've heard so much about you!"

After Liang Kuan sat down, he took out a bag of Bingguo watermelons from Yuxi and gestured to Director Duan.

Director Duan waved his hand, picked up the Zhongnanhai cigarettes on the table, and said, "I still prefer to smoke these... Sister Liang, I really want to ask Professor Bian to direct our film. I know our fees might not be as high as others, but our film can give Professor Bian a very comfortable creative space. If we can win an award in Berlin..."

After taking a puff of his cigarette, Liang Kuan immediately interrupted, "These are not problems. I just want to ask you one question: given Bian Lang's current situation, are you sure you're not afraid of being affected?"

Duan Yu laughed when he heard this: "Sister Liang, I may not be able to give you a definite answer to other things, but when it comes to this, I can swear on my life that there will be no problem! Regarding the matter mentioned earlier, I listened to Teacher Bian Lang immediately!"

As he spoke, he took out his phone, opened Weibo, and showed it to Guo Sichu!
"I'd rather make a mistake than be bored! I'm on the side of the bandwagon this time!" After reading this sentence, Liang Kuan checked the time and confirmed that it was indeed posted immediately that day.

"If you have time, you can go watch the movie first..."

"No need, it's not important whether I look at it or not, let's talk about money... I think you've already inquired about Bianlang's prices. Since you've been consistently contacting us, you should have a good idea of ​​what's going on. Name your price..."

This really stumped Duan Yu. After the first round of funding for the film came in, the investors broke their promises due to some issues. He and his team had to scrape together the rest of the money and borrow money to finish making the film.

He still has over 100 in debt, so even if he has a budget of 60 to 80, he still can't come up with the cash...

Although Liang Kuan hadn't done a background check before coming, he could basically guess what was going on based on Duan Yu's behavior.

So after waiting a little while without getting a response, Liang Kuan took the initiative in the negotiation: "How about this, I'll propose a plan, what do you think? Bian Lang's current price for a song is 200, but whether he writes it or not depends entirely on his own mood."

"Since I'm here, it means I'm confident he can write. Let's not talk about the 200-unit price; that's just a barrier that keeps some troublemakers out. Give us a figure of how much you've invested so far, and we'll value Bian Lang's songs at 100 units each… Even if you don't get a single penny in the end, Rock Records will accept it!"

Duan Yu had considered this method before, but he thought Rolling Stone would never agree to it, so he passed on it directly. He didn't expect Liang Kuan to bring it up now!
Although it still differed from his expected price, he felt that since Liang Kuan had said he would accept the sale of Rolling Stone for even a penny, it would be unreasonable for him to be pretentious. "Okay, then Sister Liang, how do you plan to proceed with this? Berlin is next February, which is already a very tight timeframe for us."

He didn't need to remind him; Liang Kuan chose him because Berlin was closer in time.

Another issue is, as Duan Yu said, that he absolutely supports Bian Lang.

Despite the previously arrogant tone of those production companies, when Liang Kuan only tentatively inquired, they started stammering and making excuses. Only Duan Yu's side maintained their previous stance, which is why Liang Kuan personally made this trip.

As for whether Bian Lang will accept the offer or not, even his old brother Qiu Luo said those things, so there is no possibility that Bian Lang will not accept it!
"Why don't you just fly to Berlin and find him? If he's inspired, writing a song will be a piece of cake. If he's not inspired, then consider my suggestion null and void..."

Upon hearing this, Duan Yu instinctively asked, "Then, the performance in Berlin..."

"Don't worry, whether things work out or not, everything will be arranged!"

"Thank you, Sister Liang, I'll take it..." Duan Yu never expected the talks to go so smoothly tonight, because he could even listen to a live performance by the Rolling Stones, it was simply perfect.

Although this meant having to borrow a friend's card to cash out again, he felt that as long as Bian Lang agreed, many things would take a turn for the better!

……

Two days later, Fangmao directly announced that he had joined Rock Records, and some singers that Liang Kuan had previously teased started to get restless.

After the news of Bian Lang's alleged ban broke, many people came up with a possible explanation. Since Bian Lang can no longer perform on stage, his focus is likely to shift towards songwriting, and joining Rock Records would increase his chances of getting good songs.

This is especially important to singers who rely solely on their vocal abilities and lack songwriting skills.

After all, while Bian Lang's output was unparalleled in the industry, rock music was the majority, and pop songs were relatively few. Moreover, his collaborations with pop singers were mostly with top-tier artists, which made many of the lesser-known singers Liang Kuan had approached hesitant, fearing they would be neglected after joining his band.

After all, while Rolling Stones is a force to be reckoned with in the rock scene, its resources and scale are incomparable to those of their current company in the broader entertainment industry. Although Liang Kuan has a reputation and resources, his main focus is on Guo Sichu, so there's also the question of whether he'll be valued if he goes there.

But if Bian Lang focuses on behind-the-scenes work, the situation will be different; just look at Chen Xuan, Huang Wei, and Tao Xiaoyu to see.

The popularity of Chen Xuan, the "Fried Chicken Girl," needs no further explanation; it all started with a catchy, albeit somewhat unremarkable, song by Bian Lang. While its musicality couldn't compare to Bian Lang's other works, Chen Xuan rose from obscurity to a singer capable of making a living off a single hit.

Don't be fooled by the fact that its sales can't compare to the big hits from Rolling Stones; these are the kinds of songs that clients love to perform at commercial events. Chen Xuan may seem relatively unknown at first, but she's undeniably Rolling Stones' number one performer at commercial events. Otherwise, her manager wouldn't have dared to skip rehearsals for "The Big Band."

As for Chen Xuan now, Liu Wanting is temporarily filling in, and even then, she's constantly doing commercial performances. However, after what happened last time, she really doesn't dare to get arrogant anymore. Her previous agent even encouraged her to switch agencies after Dong You went to Europe, but she ultimately didn't do it.

When she got under Liu Wanting's wing, the first thing she did was analyze a practical problem for her: "The copyright of 'Fried Chicken' belongs to the company. If they don't want you to sing it, it's just a matter of a word. Without this song, you'll lose your value for commercial performances. But the company's loss is at most the income from one or two commercial performances. I think finding someone similar to you to replace you shouldn't be too difficult!"

Aside from this blatant "threat," Chen Xuan is also grateful to Bian Lang, so she's being very obedient now!

When the news of Fang Mao joining the company was released, everyone felt that Bian Lang was going to shift to behind-the-scenes work and cultivate new talent this year. Fang Mao was someone Bian Lang had previously chosen and given a song to; he had gained some popularity in the industry, but not enough to become a mainstream sensation.

The fact that they didn't force anyone to sign back then, but are only doing so now, sends a signal that makes people wonder.

Moreover, Bian Lang and Guo Sichu are together, and Guo Sichu has taken over another lead singer position at Rock Records. Now everyone can strive for more and think about it.

As for "The Big Band", Xia Yuxi and Dingding had been rehearsing online for several days. After finishing their rehearsal that day, before they even turned off the video, they saw Bian Lang appear in the frame. Xia Yuxi greeted him, "Brother Lang, how was my performance?"

"You really want to hear my opinion on this kind of network transmission quality?"

"Then forget it!"

"By the way, don't hang up yet. I have a movie theme song to discuss. Listen to it. If it turns into a hedgehog, we'll have to make a version here."

"Row!"

After a short while, Duan Yu appeared in Bian Lang's camera view. Xia Yuxi was quite envious when she saw the Rolling Stones logo shirt.

Duan Yu sat down and, without wasting any time, immediately began to explain the synopsis of the movie to Bian Lang:

Set in Northeast China, the story tells of a young man's struggles to survive. His father is constantly worried about his marriage and job, and after the decline of Northeast China, the son is forced to go south to work.

In an era dominated by capital, everyone seems to be living in a jar, with life being endlessly oppressive. The wife is lost in the bustling city, and the son returns to his hometown only to find that the village has disappeared.

The good old days are gone forever. The gap between rich and poor, the migration of northerners to the south, the merging of villages and towns, the polluted land, the dried-up rivers, the escape from hometown, the desire to return but the inability to go back, the beauty of the past only exists in photo albums.

As Bian Lang listened to the synopsis, countless movie clips flashed through his mind, one of which was "Hello! Mr. Tree".

Then a song immediately popped into my head:

"This is a million yuan dowry."
A vow to love you only.
The letter has been slipped into the factory manager's pocket.
The only tomorrow I can give you

Like a jar!

(End of this chapter)