1990: Starting from Baojia Street

In fact, negotiating the price is not mainly done by Takuma Yukichi, but he will definitely give some advice. How much the company can offer depends to a certain extent on his determination.

If he is determined enough, the company will definitely consider increasing the budget.

The one and a half minute video was finished quickly.

But as soon as the video ended, an audience member shouted, "Play it again."

The music was so beautiful that the audience was not satisfied with just listening to it once.

However, Nomura did not satisfy the audience's request. He smiled and said, "If you want to listen, remember to pay attention to our new program after you go back."

After hearing this, the audience could only howl in disappointment, but they also said that they could understand Nomura Shu's refusal. After all, they were recording a program and there was no time for them to listen to songs.

At this point, the live music session is over.

The subsequent segments are similar to the previous ones, and are more interview-oriented.

Their program actually has quite a few games that create a lively atmosphere, but considering Zhou Yan's identity, the program team did not add them to this episode.

In fact, if they really want to add it, Zhou Yan will cooperate. As long as it is not a particularly crazy or perverted game, he can accept it.

After the recording of the program was over, Zhou Yan specifically asked Nomura Shu, "Do you have enough material for this episode?"

Nomura Hide smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's enough."

Of course it is enough. Nomura Shu believes that the music part alone is enough to edit out most of the program. There is no need to even use repeated scenes to increase the length. The reaction of the live audience can be edited for a long time.

If other steps are added, trade-offs will have to be made later.

"That's enough." Zhou Yan looked down at his watch and found that it was almost five o'clock, so he said to Nomura Hide, "Since the program recording is over, I will leave first."

Nomura Hide hurriedly tried to persuade him to stay, "Zhou Yanjun, let's have dinner together tonight. It's not easy for you to come to Tokyo, so I should do my best to be a good host."

Zhou Yan smiled and waved his hand, "You're welcome, Nomura. We've talked for quite a long time today. It doesn't matter whether we eat or not. When you go to Yanjing, I'll treat you to a meal."

Seeing Zhou Yan's refusal, Nomura Hide could only reveal his true intention, "Actually, there is another friend who wants to meet you."

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes. He roughly guessed that it was someone from SQUARE, but he still made a puzzled expression and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Takuma Yukinao, the production manager of the development department of SQUARE."

"What does he want from me?"

"In fact, the video I played for you today is the CG footage of Final Fantasy 8."

Zhou Yan smiled secretly, Nomura Shu finally told the truth.

"Is it the CG picture of Final Fantasy 8?!" Zhou Yan was surprised, "Didn't Final Fantasy 7 just come out?"

Nomura nodded, "Yeah, so the graphics of Final Fantasy 8 are not very mature either."

"Then today..."

Nomura Hide smiled and said, "For details, I can ask Takuma Yukina to tell you in person."

Zhou Yan looked at his watch again and said, "Forget about the meal, but I can meet with Minister Takuma Yukino."

He was going to have dinner with Akina and Shizuka tonight, so he definitely didn't want to stay.

"That's fine. I'll arrange a meeting room for you." Hearing that Zhou Yan was willing to meet, Nomura Hide breathed a sigh of relief.

……

Ten minutes later, Zhou Yan met Takuma Yukinao in the conference room arranged by the TV station.

As soon as he saw Takuma Yukino, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Minister Takuma, you are sitting in the first row of the audience today, right?"

After hearing what Zhou Yan said, Nomura Hide and Takuma Yukino were both very surprised.

"Do you remember this?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Minister Takuma has an extraordinary temperament. I paid more attention to him."

In fact, Zhou Yan had impressions of most of the audience members in the front rows near the middle, and he could remember anyone at random.

The reason for saying this is to praise Takuma Yukino to death. For Zhou Yan, this is just a convenient thing to do.

A leader like Takuma Yukino would of course often hear all kinds of flattery, but when the words of praise came from someone like Zhou Yan, it gave him a very different feeling.

Moreover, Zhou Yan's flattery is not something that ordinary people can flatter. This is to remember that Takuma Yuki is sitting in the first row. It sounds like Zhou Yan's words are sincere.

Therefore, when Takuma Yukino heard what Zhou Yan said, his heart was filled with joy.

This Zhou Yanjun really has a keen eye! He saw the difference between me and others at a glance.

Takuma smiled and said, "Thank you, I'm still a long way from that."

"Minister Takuma is too modest." Zhou Yan smiled and immediately got to the point. "I heard from Nomura that the video played today is the CG footage of Final Fantasy 8?"

Speaking of business, Takuma Yukinao nodded seriously, "Yes, what is being played today is the CG screen of Final Fantasy 8. In fact, after the release of Final Fantasy 7, we started the plan for Final Fantasy 8. Compared with the previous work, the new work will have better 3D effects. Now the main character settings have been determined, and the storyline is almost certain. We plan to release the new game at the end of next year or the beginning of the year after."

The main reason is that the sales performance of "Final Fantasy 7" was too good. Their company couldn't wait to release the sequel. They also wanted to implement many technologies that were not implemented in "Final Fantasy 7" in the sequel.

"What does this have to do with me?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Of course it's related. I hope to let you compose the music for Final Fantasy 8. We plan to make a theme song for the game. I just listened to the song you composed on the spot. I feel it is very suitable. I wonder if this song can be made into a song?"

"Of course." Zhou Yan nodded.

Zhou Yan's quick and decisive answer made Takuma Yuki stunned for a moment.

Could it be that when Zhou Yan was composing the music, he had already thought about making it into a song?

However, hearing Zhou Yan's affirmative answer, Takuma Yukino was very happy, "That's great, I wonder if Zhou Yan-jun is willing to cooperate with us?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Of course I am willing. As long as the price is right, I will not refuse any commission."

When discussing any project, Zhou Yan never beats around the bush and always gets straight to the point about price. In his opinion, whether a project can be successfully cooperated depends mainly on the price.

If the price gap between the two parties is too big, there is no need to discuss further, which is a waste of both parties’ time. And everyone who discusses cooperation with Zhou Yan for the first time is basically surprised by his directness, because they all think that Zhou Yan is an artist, and artists are disdainful of talking about money, at least on the surface.

Takuma Yukino was also surprised, but Zhou Yan's directness was indeed very convenient. He thought for a moment and said, "The specific cooperation method and price still need to be discussed with the professionals in our company, but I can tell you that the budget for Final Fantasy 8 is more than million US dollars, and our budget for music is at least %."

Seven percent, which is five or six million US dollars.

This price is of course very high for ordinary music producers, but it did not arouse Zhou Yan's interest. The key point is that they also want a theme song this time.

If this song "Because of You" was given to Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, or other top female singers in Europe and the United States to sing, the share of the profits they would get would definitely be high.

However, Zhou Yan did not rush to say no, but smiled and said, "I don't really care about the remuneration, I am more concerned about the copyright share."

"Excuse me, when you say copyright sharing, do you mean games or music?"

"Music." Zhou Yan replied.

If possible, he would certainly like to share the profits from the game, but that also requires the other party to be willing.

Takuma nodded and said, "Of course we can discuss the copyright of the music."

"It's fine as long as we can talk. Then let's make an appointment and sit down and talk it out. That's all for today."

Zhou Yan also heard that this was all the information Takuma Yukino could give, and there was no need to talk further.

Judging from the information revealed by Takuma Yukinao, this project still has great potential.

What Zhou Yan hopes is that their company can increase the music production budget to 10% or even higher, which is more than 8 million US dollars.

In addition to the US$8 million fee, Zhou Yan will definitely get a larger share of the music copyright fees. In the future, whether it is a single of "because of you" or a collection of music from "Final Fantasy ", he will get a piece of the pie.

Takuma Yukinao is a smart man. He also knows that this is all he can talk about with Zhou Yan today. As long as Zhou Yan is willing to talk further, their meeting today will be a success.

At least it shows that there is hope for cooperation between the two sides.

……

Takuma Yukinao and Nomura Hide together saw Zhou Yan off from the TV station.

After the car carrying Zhou Yan left, Takuma Yukichi turned around and said to Nomura Hide with a smile, "Nomura-kun, thank you for your hard work today."

"You're welcome. It's just a small favor. We would be very happy if we could facilitate the cooperation between your company and Zhou Yan."

"I hope it will be successful." Takuma Yukina took a long breath and said, "I would also like to ask Nomura-kun to give me a copy of the soundtrack that Zhou Yan made today."

"Of course, no problem." Nomura Hide nodded and agreed, and then instructed, "But, before our show starts, please make sure this song is not spread outside."

"Don't worry about this. We won't spread it, and we won't use this song in the game without permission."

Nomura Shu smiled and said that as long as SQUARE didn't leak the song before their show was broadcast, they wouldn't care about anything else.

Even if AQUARE used the song in the game without permission, it would have nothing to do with their TV station. After all, after the program was broadcast, the song would be made public, and no matter who used it for commercial purposes, it would be a direct dispute between them and Zhou Yan.

……

After Takuma Yukinao got the tape, he rushed back to the company and went to the office of President Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Sakaguchi Hironobu knew what Takuma Yukinao had done today, and when he saw him come back, he asked, "Any results?"

Takuma Yukina nodded excitedly, "Well, Zhou Yan wrote a very high-quality piece of music for Final Fantasy 8, and this piece of music can be made into a song."

Hearing what Takuma Yukichi said, Sakaguchi Hironobu felt complicated.

As the president, he must be very happy that the soundtrack work of "Final Fantasy 8" has made progress, and the "Final Fantasy" series of games can be said to be his child.

The reason why he made "Final Fantasy" was because the company was struggling to survive and he was ready to quit the gaming industry, but before that he wanted to make a game to commemorate his dream, so the name of this game is Final Fantasy.

In addition to being happy, he also felt a little regretful, and this regret was for Nobuo Uematsu.

Nobuo Uematsu was Hironobu Sakaguchi's neighbor, and it was Hironobu Sakaguchi who brought Nobuo Uematsu to their company. The music of the "Final Fantasy" series was also mainly composed of Nobuo Uematsu.

Emotionally speaking, Hironobu Sakaguchi certainly hopes to continue to be responsible for the music composition of "Final Fantasy 8", but in reality there are many issues he has to consider.

First, the company is indeed considering making the game more international, and finding a more internationally renowned musician to take charge is obviously in line with the company's plan.

Second, after Final Fantasy 7, Nobuo Uematsu's condition began to have problems. Even Nobuo Uematsu himself said that his best condition was in Final Fantasy 6 and Final Fantasy 7. Now he feels that he has reached a bottleneck and lacks creative inspiration.

If the news that Takuma Yukinao brings back today is not ideal, and the quality of the music written by Zhou Yan is not high, then Sakaguchi Hironobu doesn't have to worry about it and can just continue to use Uematsu Nobuo, so that he won't have any psychological burden.

But now Zhou Yan has made a very high-quality song, so he has to give up Nobuo Uematsu, at least in this part.

Looking at the videotape in Takuma Yukino's hand, Sakaguchi Hironobu said, "Let me listen to it."

Takuma Yukina nodded and walked over to the player to play the tape for Sakaguchi Hironobu.

After a while, music started.

Hironobu Sakaguchi only listened for about ten seconds before he sighed secretly. Now Nobuo Uematsu had even less hope.

Nobuo Uematsu is indeed very talented. Hironobu Sakaguchi has always believed that he is a musical genius who specializes in composing game music.

But compared with Zhou Yan, Nobuo Uematsu pales in comparison.

It’s not that Nobuo Uematsu is not great, but that Zhou Yan’s talent is too dazzling.

A master of music who has won an Oscar for best score, his work is truly extraordinary.

After the music ended, Sakaguchi Hironobu asked, "Have you talked to Zhou Yan?"

"We have already talked about it. We roughly exchanged opinions and he expressed his willingness to arrange a time for further communication."

Sakaguchi Hironobu took the lead and said, "In that case, let's hold an internal meeting tomorrow morning to determine what price to offer and how to negotiate with them."

Takuma Yuki asked directly, "Do you want Zhou Yan to complete this song, and then we can discuss it in detail?"

Sakaguchi Hironobu thought about it and said, "That's fine."

The melody alone is still a little lacking. It would be better if the complete song could be heard. (End of this chapter)