American Entertainment: Taylor Swift wrote a song for the beginning

Chapter 104 Long-term contract (Subscription required)

In the dim main hall, electronic music was booming in her ears. 22-year-old Ellie Goulding was nodding to the rhythm. On her shoulder was a man's arm. That was her current boyfriend, whose stage name was Frankmusik, a DJ who released a single on Island Records last year.

As an annual event in the DJ world, Frank Musick certainly would not miss it, and this time he also brought his girlfriend along.

"See those two people in front? Kevin Harris, and next to him is Ryan Rivers." Frank Musick pointed diagonally forward.

Ellie looked over and could only vaguely see the backs of the two people among the cheering crowd.

"You should go up and talk to them? Get to know them?" Ellie Goulding tried to say.

Ellie is a young girl with a dream of music. She moved to London and captured a group of listeners with her unique voice on Myspace. At an accidental party, she heard Frank Musick's music from a friend's computer. This electronic style of music caught her attention, so she sent a demo to Frank Musick, hoping to collaborate with him.

Not long after the collaboration began, she and Frank Musick slept together, which was very common. Frank Musick later introduced her to a producer in London, helped her produce her first single, and actively looked for a record company for her. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, and no record company has extended an olive branch to her.

Frank Musick put his arms around her neck, and the two of them struggled through the crowd and came behind Ryan and Kevin Harris. Just as they were about to get close, they were blocked by two burly men, who were Ryan's bodyguards.

"Can you please let us over? We are Ryan's friends." Frank Musick said with a smile.

The bodyguards ignored them, and it was Daddario who finally spotted the two.

Kevin Harris followed suit, he just happened to have listened to Ally's music on Myspace.

As one of the Thirteen Taibao, Kevin Harris's relationship with Ellie Goulding before he met Taylor was also well known! The two have collaborated on more than one classic single, typically complementing each other.

But that was a few years later, and today was the first time the two met.

"That girl has a very special voice. If your new record company needs to recruit new people, she would be a good choice." Kevin whispered to Ryan.

Ryan nodded and asked the bodyguards to stop stopping the two men.

"Ray! Welcome to London, I'm..." Frank Musick introduced himself to Ryan enthusiastically, but Ryan was not very interested in him and instead looked at his girlfriend.

Ellie Goulding followed suit and introduced herself.

"It's too noisy here. Let's go to a quieter place later." Ryan said loudly to her.

·
Late at night, in Ryan's room, Ellie Goulding seemed a little reserved.

"I'm interviewing a female singer, introduced by Kevin Harris... She's a DJ I just met, and I decided to sign her. Her contract is about to expire... I'll be returning to the United States soon, and this time I may have to go directly to Florida. DJ De Polo is already waiting anxiously. No problem, let's meet in Orlando... There are outsiders in front of me, okay, mua." Ryan had to make a boo into the microphone before hanging up the phone.

"It has to be Taylor Swift," Ally whispered, immediately realizing who was on the other end of the line.

Next to her, Daddario, who was leaning against the table with his arms crossed, raised his eyebrows and looked as if he had eaten a fly.

"Where were we just now?" Ryan threw the phone aside.

"You let me sing." said Ellie.

"Ok, start your performance." Ailie began to sing Ryan's previous hit song "Unstoppable" a cappella. Ryan had a version of this song sung by Sister Tooth Cleaner in his mind, and Leona Lewis sang another version. Both of them had good singing skills, and Ailie interpreted the third version, which was a bit similar to Taylor's previous demo. Her voice was very - coquettish, a real sheep voice, which was not forced out, but a natural voice.

The year she made her debut, the Super Girl competition was popular in China, and Chinese netizens even nicknamed her "British Zeng Yike". However, Ai Li Ke did not disappear after a few years, but became more and more popular, becoming the number one star in the British pop music circle.

As of 2023, she is the female singer with the most number one albums in the UK, tied with Adele.

After the song, Ryan asked her to sing other songs and then let her leave.

"So, did I pass?" Ellie Goulding tried to ask.

Ryan nodded: "I have already locked you in advance."

He even asked Daddario to print out a temporary agreement to lock in Allie directly, and Ryan also paid a signing fee of 5000 pounds, which would be counted as part of the record advance. The profits from Allie's new album would be used to repay the advance first.

Then Ellie left happily with her current boyfriend. It would take her boyfriend two or three months to earn the 5000 pounds.

"How long are you going to sign the contract for?" Daddario asked at this time.

"It'll take at least fifteen years and seven albums," Ryan said casually.

Before, others tried to cheat him, but now it's his turn to cheat others. The record contract is not like an agency contract, and the first one can only be signed for a year at most.

Although the agreement also stipulates that the record company is obligated to produce a full seven albums for her, album production is like making a movie. The budget can be high or low, and it is easy to water down the budget.

Following Ellie Goulding is Kevin Harris. Ellie is a semi-amateur, while Kevin Harris is a little famous, so it is much more difficult to get him to sign a long-term contract.

He came here completely for Ryan, and he has already worked with major record companies like Columbia under Sony. Even though tonight was just a preliminary discussion, he and Ryan had a long argument, even though he didn't bring his own agent. For a long time, he insisted on signing only one album every two years.

In the end, Ryan had to add a betting clause, that is, if Kevin Harrison's album sales are higher than a certain number, the contract will be extended and an additional album will be produced, up to an additional six years and three albums. In total, it is eight years and four albums.

This condition is fairer to Kevin Harris and is acceptable to Ryan. Under the advance payment system, it is difficult for record companies to suffer huge losses. However, the sales of physical albums are getting worse year by year, and the traditional record industry is actually shrinking slowly.

Therefore, Ryan probably didn't expect the record company to make him rich. He placed more importance on the nightclub that was integrated with the record company.

David Guetta has already explained the business model to Ryan, who is in urgent need of relevant professionals.

He called Spenny Records personally and expressed the hope that they could introduce someone who had relevant nightclub operation experience in London, preferably someone who had been involved in the management of a music studio.

·
Two days later, when Ryan had returned to Florida, he received a call from a man who called himself Sean. He was currently the manager of the "matter" nightclub in London, another nightclub founded by the owner of the famous nightclub "Fabric". It is located in the famous 02 Stadium. However, the nightclub is currently closed for rectification because there have been drug-related deaths here for three consecutive months.

Sean said there was a high chance the nightclub's license would be revoked and he might have to find another job.

Ryan couldn't help but sigh at his good luck and immediately invited the other party to Orlando.

(End of this chapter)