A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 57 Teasing My Wife
They left, and Lin Jianlu still didn't see them off.

That evening, Sylvia Chang called to inform him that Duan was eager to discuss a new production contract with her. In the end, the other conditions remained largely unchanged, but Sylvia Chang managed to negotiate the producer's share of the entire album down to 16%—a figure that neither Luo Dayou nor Li Zongsheng had ever received.

According to her, Lao Duan finally agreed after gritting his teeth.

But she personally went to Rolling Stone to see the new eight songs, and she insisted that Lin Jianlu deserved 16%!

The tug-of-war didn't last long, only about ten minutes. It was mostly Lao Duan trying to persuade her with various methods, presenting facts, and explaining industry practices, but Zhang Aijia wouldn't budge, so he eventually chose to compromise.

As a top producer in the record industry, Luo Dayou has always received a 15% royalty cap. Li Zongsheng was already able to get 14% in the late 1980s. With the great success of Chen Shuhua's album "Tell You, Listen to You" which included "When Dreams Awaken" and Zhou Huajian's album "Let Me Be Happy, Let Me Be Sad", he finally got 15%!

They all receive royalties as part of the production team.

For example, Lo Ta-yu, who later worked in Hong Kong, often collaborated with Hong Kong songwriters. Among them were big names like Lam Sai, whose lyrics have generally received a 5% royalty in recent years, which is the absolute top in the industry. So, when collaborating with him, Lo Ta-yu would actually receive 10% for his own composition, arrangement, and production.

The same applies to Li Zongsheng.

Other producers within Rock Records, such as Chen Sheng, Xiao Chong, and Bao Xiaobo, generally work as a small team and receive royalties ranging from 10% to 12%. They are responsible for a series of tasks, including inviting songs, composing music, writing lyrics, arranging music, and producing. They negotiate royalties with creators at each stage according to their own value.

Of course, it's not complicated. Everyone here is a seasoned veteran; there's no question of asking for an exorbitant price and then negotiating. Prices are always the same, and unless someone experiences a significant leap in skill or performance within a certain period, they'll remain unchanged for years.

For example, Lin Jianlu wrote the lyrics for Su Huilun's "Lemon-tree". The contract was negotiated by Zhang Aijia. His lyrics accounted for 4% of the song's royalties. Because it was to be used as the first single, it accounted for 0.5% of the album's royalties – which is almost the royalty share of top creators in the industry.

Lin Jianlu produced "Too Softhearted" for Richie Jen. The lyrics, music, arrangement and production were all done by Lin Jianlu. The contract stipulated that this song would be the first single from Richie Jen's next album, and Lin Jianlu would receive 1.5% of that album's revenue.

His producer, Xiao Chong, is no ordinary person either. If you ask for too much from one song, it's a bit disrespectful to him!

However, if Chen Shuhua were to produce her next album, it would be quite different from previous industry practices.

There has almost never been a case in the industry where one person completely handles all the lyrics, music, arrangement, and production for an entire album—moreover, Lin Jianlu is currently the only Diamond Album King in the entire Chinese music industry, and the quality of his works speaks for itself.

As a result, he received an extraordinary price.

But it didn't matter anymore; I hung up the phone and tossed it aside.

Is there a big difference between taking 15% and 16% of the revenue from an album?
As agreed, he was supposed to go to Taiwan and Hong Kong again in mid-August, or at the latest around the 20th, for autograph sessions to boost sales. When Lao Duan first arrived in the capital, he specifically reminded him of this, but later, especially before leaving, he never mentioned it again. For Lin Jianlu and Rock Records, does it matter whether Lin Jianlu goes or not, whether he does autograph sessions or not, or whether the difference in sales is 10,000, 20,000, or even 30,000 to 50,000 copies?
Of course, Lin Jianlu still upheld her professional ethics and went as required.

…………

August 7th, the 8rd day of the sixth month in the lunar calendar.

Today is the beginning of autumn.

It was scorching hot outside, and there wasn't a breath of wind even at six in the morning. You didn't need to do any exercise or run; just standing downstairs for half a minute was enough to make you drenched in sweat.

But Lin Jianlu deliberately ran a few extra kilometers.

Getting home and taking a long, refreshing shower makes me feel incredibly good.

Having a big meal makes it even more enjoyable.

Around 7 o'clock, Gao Yuanyuan called, "Brother Lu, I've finished eating, come pick me up!"

"Alright! Just you wait!"

I promised to go shopping with her today.

In fact, her role in "Spicy Love Soup" was also not very big. Filming was completed in July, but she had a hotel to stay in on set and free boxed meals. Apart from going back to her home in Fengtai every few days to pretend to report to her parents, she just stayed on set and refused to leave.

Compared to being confined at home, being on set is much freer!

Her parents were too busy with work to investigate her lies.

Lin Jianlu supported her receiving a salary from the production crew without working, so Zhang Yang turned a blind eye.

Actually, after spending just a few days together, Lin Jianlu gradually realized that with this girl's limited abilities, the college entrance examination would definitely be a major hurdle for her—not only because she was not smart, but also because her mind was not on studying.

This is only because she is in the capital and has the advantage of a household registration. Otherwise, she would most likely have been on par with the Lin Jianlu of the past. However, she doesn't seem to have attended schools like the Beijing Film Academy or the Central Academy of Drama. Although Lin Jianlu liked her a lot in her previous life, he really didn't know much about her in that regard.

Of course, she probably managed to get into university eventually, at least. Whatever!

My wife is beautiful!
Anyway, Lin Jianlu didn't expect her to get into a good university, find a good job, become famous, or earn a lot of money—she believed that her current and future earnings were more than enough to support her family of five. So, let her be!
He drove his BMW 3 Series to the hotel where the film crew was staying to pick her up.

Although we're fairly familiar with each other, we're not really that close yet, so simply strolling around together and taking her to get ice cream along the way is enough to make her happy.

Lin Jianlu planned to hold the girl's hand again in a few days.

Ok……

What? You mean kissing?
Seventeen years old!

Do you want to test the sharpness of my 404 stainless steel sword?
"I don't believe you! I've been watching closely, Chen Shuhua definitely likes you! And Su Huilun too! I saw the way they looked at you! There are so many young couples at our school, I've seen them!"

Wow, you've got a good eye for observation. "So what? It's not normal that more people like me. Does their liking me mean I'm dating them?"

"Tch, so vain!"

The girl's adorable, slightly arrogant demeanor is very beautiful.

"Hey, when you record your new song, can you take me to one of those recording studios you mentioned? I've never been before, it must be so much fun! Just imagining you singing inside, and me being able to see you through a big glass window and hear you live makes me think it would be incredibly interesting!"

"Sure! Easy! I'll call you when the time comes!"

"That's great! Hey, Lu Ge..."

"Say!"

"Have you kissed Su Huilun?"

"How did we come full circle again? Trying to trick me? I've kissed them! Not just Su Huilun, let me think... my first kiss was with Liu Ruoying, and then Su Huilun, Liang Yongqi, Chen Shuhua, and Lin Qingxia, I've kissed them all! Satisfied? Not at all, if I wanted to, I could easily seduce Guan Zhilin! Having three wives and four concubines wouldn't be a dream!"

The girl burst out laughing, "You're bragging!"

But then she immediately asked, "Who is Leung Wing-ki?"

Lin Jianlu didn't care at all. "There's a girl from Hong Kong, super tall, 176cm, our heights match perfectly. This girl is head over heels in love with me, she's been pursuing me relentlessly! If I didn't have someone else in my heart, I would definitely have fallen for her! She's so beautiful and pure! She's considered the second generation of the Jade Girl leader! By the way, have you seen my 'Ten Years' MV? She's the female lead! And... you might not have seen it, actually I didn't get to see it either, she acted in a movie last year, playing the male and female leads with Andy Lau, called 'Full Throttle,' which grossed over 30 million."

Hearing that it was indeed a real person and a real story, the girl's face fell.

Not very nice.

Although she had been in school and then joined the film crew during her vacation, she had not yet seen the "Ten Years" MV and did not know whether Liang Yongqi was really as beautiful and pure as Lin Jianlu said.

Lin Jianlu laughed, "What's wrong? You're unhappy now? Then why did you ask?"

The girl pouted, but then thought about it and felt a little amused. She poked around in the ice cream bowl with her spoon. "Well... if she's so nice and likes you so much, why don't you date her?"

"Tsk! What are you saying! Did I just say nothing at all? Just because someone likes me, does that mean I have to date them? With my looks, how many girlfriends would I need if I did that?"

Upon hearing this, the girl immediately smiled again.

With a touch of petulance, she retorted, "What else? Are you really planning to find a few more?"

Lin Jianlu thought for a moment and said, "Six or seven! Six or seven will do! ...Seven, I'll keep it up! Three wives and four concubines, it sounds orderly and impressive!"

She laughed, "Dream on! If your future girlfriend heard you say that, she'd dump you for sure!"

"That's not necessarily true! I just said that, and I haven't seen you kick me yet!"

"Tch, I'm not your girlfriend!"

Lin Jianlu was having a good time playing with his wife when his phone suddenly rang. He answered it and immediately recognized Zhang Zien's accent. Zhang Zien was the director of the music videos "Xiao Xiang Yu" and "Hua Tian Cuo".

"What's up, Lao Zhang? Want to eat? Sure! Anyone else? Oh, okay!"

(End of this chapter)