The richest person in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 20 This requires extra money
Zhang Chen's ultimate goal of coming abroad is to earn a lot of American dollars.

So far, the total sales of "Dream" has exceeded 600 million copies, which also means that Zhang Chen can obtain a 6-star or above platinum record certification medal from the American Music Association.

Zhang Chen couldn't help but sigh, it's great that there are no pirates sucking blood. In just this month, he has received dividends including the share of album sales, totaling more than 2000 million US dollars, and the money-making ability of a popular album is so strong.

Of course, in order to avoid taxes legally, Zhang Chen also acquired a small film and television company in the United States that was about to go bankrupt.

The record business requires too much investment and energy, so it is not easy for small record companies to survive. It is better to cooperate with global record companies such as Warner. However, film and television companies are different. They can develop together with large companies. As long as they operate properly, the returns are still substantial.

Although the United States does not have explicit regulations that minors cannot start a company, contracts signed by minors are generally considered to have no legal effect, and the guardian's permission or representative is required to sign the contract.

This was the goal Zhang Chen set at the beginning:
Domestic albums attract global record companies

Before developing the domestic entertainment industry, I was frantically making money abroad.
The money earned will be invested in various industries in the country that are about to take off.

Of course, the number of industries may be exaggerated, but he will not leave out any of the entertainment sector, including Internet companies. If he wants to avoid being controlled by others in the future, it is important to grasp a large group of interests.

After all, he decided long ago that even if he couldn't achieve global success, he would still be the top person in the Chinese-speaking world.

While Zhang Chen was happily planning his future development path, Zhou Jianhui came to Zhang Chen's residence.

When Zhou Jianhui saw Zhang Chen when he entered the room, he smiled and said, "Zhang Chen, do you know how people outside call you now?"

"They all call you the Little King." Before Zhang Chen asked, Zhou Jianhui couldn't wait to say it.

The title of "little king" is just for show. If you really follow his words, you will be led by the nose when talking about business.

But it didn't stop him from being happy after hearing it.

If someone else is his age, they will easily become arrogant after hearing too much flattery, such as Xiao Jia.

But Zhang Chen has the thinking of an adult after all, and as long as he is steady, it is only a matter of time before he drops the "little" in "little king".

"Mr. Zhou, please stop joining in the fun. I still have self-awareness. In Europe and the United States, it is not easy for us Asians to recognize this title." Zhang Chen looked at Zhou Jianhui helplessly.

"Mr. Zhou, why are you visiting us this time?" Sun Fangping, who was standing next to Zhang Chen, asked Zhou Jianhui about his purpose.

Zhang Chen had some vague guesses in his mind.

Sure enough, Zhou Jianhui put away his smile and said to Sun Fangping in a more formal tone: "Mr. Sun, I'm sorry to bother you this time because I want to discuss our cooperation with you."

"You see, we have had two good collaborations, so what about future cooperation?" Zhou Jianhui continued.

"Mr. Zhou, you must have some ideas about our cooperation since you came here this time. You might as well tell us directly."

"Then I'll be frank." Zhou Jianhui took out a few contracts from his bag and said, "These are the contracts I fought for from Warner headquarters."

After Zhang Chen and his mother picked up the contract and began to look through it, Zhou Jianhui continued, "This contract contains a lot of content, and the main idea is that Zhang Chen will hand over the record distribution business to Warner. You can look at this page first."

Zhou Jianhui asked Zhang Chen and his mother to turn to a very important page in the contract. The content on it can be summarized in two key words: signing fee! 3000 million US dollars. Of course, the 3000 million is not paid in one lump sum, but in five years, 5 million in the first year, and 1400 million in the next four years.

In return for the income, Zhang Chen needs to give Warner at least one album to release every year in the next five years, and the subsequent copyright management rights of the album must also be handed over to Warner.

The sales and copyright shares of each album maintain the original dividend ratio: 40% and 60% for the album, with Zhang Chen 4% and Warner 6%; the copyright shares 70% and 30% for Zhang Chen 7% and Warner 3%.

Zhang Chen knew that this contract was given with great sincerity.

He also knows how much commercial value he has. As a singer-songwriter who can conquer the global music scene, commercial value is immeasurable. Michael Jackson is an example, and Taylor Swift is also an example.

However, Zhang Chen feels that this is not enough, and next year he plans to cut off Xiaojia's path to fame.

You should know that within one and a half to two years of Xiao Jia becoming famous, the company behind him successfully earned hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Although it would be much more difficult for him to replicate this path, it would not be so bad that he would only have the money provided by Warner.

It’s okay to cooperate and make money for each other, but you can’t let others take away too much.

However, it is difficult to prove one's future commercial value. Even Zhang Chen himself is not sure.

Warner only drafted this contract based on Zhang Chen's current achievements. After all, it is a record contract, and Zhang Chen's agency activities are not included in this contract. In other words, Zhang Chen's future commercial endorsement income, commercial performance income, etc. have nothing to do with Warner.

There was nothing that could be done about it. Zhou Jianhui was also very clear about the reason why Zhang Chen did not sign the contract before, which was that he did not want to be too restricted.

What Warner is betting on now is that Zhang Chen can at least make their money back.

"Mr. Zhou, my next English album is already in production." It was difficult to directly ask for more money, so Zhang Chen could only reveal a little information.

Zhou Jianhui did not expect that Zhang Chen, who came from a not particularly wealthy family and was so young, would not agree directly to such a large sum of money.

Zhang Chen had no choice. Starting from the end of this year, he needed a large amount of funds for investment. If you miss some opportunities, you will miss them for a lifetime. He could only bite the bullet and ask Zhou Jianhui to add more money when the future was uncertain!
"Oh? Are you going to release another song so soon?" Zhou Jianhui had a new understanding of Zhang Chen's creative ability.

"Also, there is a song that should be able to top the list if Billboard doesn't do anything shady." Zhang Chen continued to add his bet.

After hearing this, Zhou Jianhui began to understand what Zhang Chen meant. He felt that the price was not high enough.

But for now, Warner's assessment of Zhang Chen's commercial value can only allow them to offer this price.

Zhou Jianhui thought for a moment and asked, "Would it be convenient for me to listen to your new song?" In the end, he decided to listen to the song first. If it was really as good as Zhang Chen said, it would not be a bad idea to pay more.

　Fortunately, I saved the manuscript. I just went out for a midnight snack and burned my finger.

　　There are also some saved drafts for tomorrow, don't worry that I will take a leave and stop updating.

　　I just want you to understand what I mean, right? Hahaha
　　
　
(End of this chapter)