The Road to Superstardom: Starting as a Singer

Beijing Capital International Airport, July 30.

The great clamor has faded away, and Beijing remains busy on the eve of the Olympics.

Huang Shengchang escorted his grandson to the VIP entrance, and all his words boiled down to one sentence: "Focus on your album, everything is fine at home, don't worry about anything."

Huang Weijie hugged him tightly: "Grandpa, when my album is released, I'll take you to the United States for a concert."

"Haha, okay." Huang Shengchang smiled kindly. "Alright, go ahead. Call me when you land to let me know you're safe."

"Okay, Grandpa."

Huang Weijie took one last look at the sky over Beijing, then turned and walked into the passageway.

In just two short weeks, he firmly established himself in the domestic public opinion arena with multiple labels such as "international supernova," "high-quality idol," and "Chinese pride."

In the VIP lounge, Huang Weijie was using a tablet to log into Tieba (a Chinese online forum).

The peak viewership rating for last night's live broadcast was 12.7%, right during his performance.

"Huang Weijie's CCTV live broadcast" topped the Baidu search trending list.

His personal Baidu Tieba account saw a surge of 200,000 followers within two hours of the performance ending.

Online discussion is also soaring.

There were also many posts on the forum, which Huang Weijie glanced at casually:

[The scene is back! Jace is breathtakingly handsome in person! I almost died when we high-fived!!!]

[Even with CCTV's close-up shots, her face is so stunning, is this beauty real?]

Didn't everyone think his dance was incredibly cool? Are there any artists in China with that level of singing and dancing ability?

[Just a passerby, I'm totally hooked on the song, this kid is really good.]

【…】

Besides Baidu Tieba, QQ Space, and various forums, everyone is discussing clips of his performance last night.

A video of a high-five taken by a front-row audience member on their phone, though not in high definition, quickly garnered tens of thousands of shares.

The comments section went completely crazy:

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! That profile! That jawline!"

"His smile is so charming, I'm smitten!!"

"The atmosphere was amazing! The whole audience was singing along? What kind of treatment is this?"

"Who said he had no connections in the country? Doesn't this number of followers prove them wrong?"

"Am I the only one who noticed that his grandfather was also there? The camera panned to an old man wiping away tears, and it looked like it was his grandfather!"

"Added to the comment above! I saw it too! So touching!"

"..."

Huang Weijie scrolled through the feedback on his tablet, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Jace," Madeline said, holding a laptop, "tell me about the endorsement?"

"Hmm, go ahead and say it." Huang Weijie turned off the tablet and looked at the laptop in Madeline's hand.

"Within three hours of your performance last night, I received seventeen new brand inquiry letters in my inbox."

"So?"

"So, as per your request, I've selected two: Sennheiser, a German professional audio brand, who invited you to be the spokesperson for their new in-ear headphones; and Armani, a top Italian luxury brand, who invited you to be the spokesperson for their casual watches."

"Armani?" Huang Weijie asked in surprise.

Some people may not have heard of Sennheiser, but even if some people haven't bought Armani, many people have definitely heard of it.

He never imagined he would reach the point where he could endorse "Armani".

The ancients were right after all; we should not underestimate ourselves!

"Yes~ They really appreciate your youthful and clean-cut 'East-meets-West' fusion. Armani is also actively using global celebrities to expand its market this year and needs fresh faces to attract young, high-spending consumers," Madeleine explained.

How much is the endorsement fee?

"Sennheiser is worth $80 a year, and Armani is worth $100 million a year."

Huang Weijie nodded slightly, silently calculating in his mind.

In no time, he calculated that his pre-tax income was approximately $46.

Wow, the total endorsement amount is 180 million, and my income is less than a quarter of that!

No wonder the company is so eager for me to get endorsements and commercial performances; I didn't even realize how exaggerated it was before I started making money.

Because he was a newcomer when he signed the contract, Huang Weijie wanted to ensure that the copyright of the songs remained in his own hands. So, not only was the recording copyright split 30/70, but the commercial revenue split was also 30/70.

Of the 1.8 million, Jive Company takes 70%, which is 126 million, and Huang Weijie gets 540,000. However, the agent's commission (15%) will also be deducted from his income.

That's $8, so his pre-tax income is about $46.

$46, or more than three million RMB, sounds like a lot, but Huang Weijie was not happy at all.

It's not because the company's profit-sharing ratio is high, but because the taxes it has to pay are very high.

The United States currently implements a high and multi-tiered progressive tax system, and Huang Weijie knows that there are three types that must be paid.

联邦个人所得税（按收入阶梯分为：28%、33%、35%）、州个人所得税（11%）、工资税（7.65%）。

All of these need to be submitted!

Moreover, the higher the income, the more you pay!

A quick calculation shows that the income of 46 is about to be halved!

If he were an ordinary American musician, spending money extravagantly, and something happened to him, and he didn't have the habit of saving money, then the financial crisis might really come!

Huang Weijie felt relieved, thinking that it was no wonder that some people in later generations would take the risk of evading taxes.

He used to think those people were ungrateful, making so much money yet unwilling to pay taxes, they deserved to die!

Now it's his turn...

Tsk tsk…

It's really hard to part with them!

Despite his thoughts, Huang Weijie still knew what he should and shouldn't do.

"Then let's settle on these two. You go and talk to them. Make sure the terms are detailed, especially regarding the scope of my image usage during the endorsement period and restrictions on competitors' behavior." Huang Weijie looked at Madeline.

The latter nodded: "OK! Also, the red carpet look has been finalized based on this direction. Since it's a collaboration with Armani, although I'm not endorsing their clothing line, renting clothes from them is no problem."

"I guess they also wanted to see how it would look on me?"

"Wow~ Jace, you're so smart! If the clothes you're wearing see a significant increase in sales after the awards ceremony, I believe they'll consider a deeper collaboration in the future."

"That'll depend on whether I'm willing or not," Huang Weijie said with a faint smile. "Let's continue. What about the album?"

"The recording studio and post-production team in Los Angeles are already booked, and time is very tight."

Madeline pulled up another schedule, "After you attend the awards ceremony on August 4th, you need to start recording all the remaining harmonies, finalizing the vocals, and mixing. The music video shoot is scheduled for mid-to-late August, and the director and script are being finalized."

"That day, the 8th..."

"I'm sorry, Jace, time is really tight. Not to mention that the production team has already scheduled a collaboration time, just the round trip by plane will take three days, you..."

"OK, OK, stop reading." Huang Weijie rubbed his head.

Although she felt a little regretful that she couldn't witness the opening ceremony of the Olympics in person, Madeline was right; time was very tight.

His most important task right now is to maintain his current popularity.

How to maintain it?

A new work!

The popularity of "Baby" cannot last forever. Before that, he needs to produce the other songs on the album, especially the song with Taylor Swift that has already been recorded, and gradually start promoting it.

Releasing an album doesn't mean putting all the songs on it at once.

The mainstream standard practice is to adopt a strategy of "first releasing a lead single to test the waters, then gradually releasing multiple singles to build momentum, and finally releasing the full album".

The benefits of doing this are obvious.

That is to continuously generate buzz, constantly attract the attention of the media and the public, effectively transfer the popularity of one song to the next, and accumulate the greatest potential for the final release of the album!

"What Makes You Beautiful," a collaboration with Taylor Swift, is a catchy and upbeat song.

Reaching number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, with global sales exceeding 500 million copies, it surprisingly beat the then-rising star Adele at the 2012 BRIT Awards, and was praised by critics for precisely capturing the attention of teenage listeners and defining a new pop trend at the time…

Moreover, the song's style is suitable for quickly establishing public awareness, making it perfect for generating buzz before a single's release.

Huang Weijie's goals aren't high; he doesn't aim to suddenly become number one, but it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to suddenly appear at the top of various rankings, right?

……

Work is like an endless tide, one wave after another.

"And there are the two movies you asked to be involved in before." Madeline flipped through the memo. "The deal for 'Love Contract' is basically finalized. You've been confirmed to play a Chinese-American assistant. It's not a big role, but it's a likable character. Filming is expected to take place from mid-September to early October in New York. The production company is very happy to have someone as talked about as you join the cast."

"The audition for 'Doug' in 'The Hangover' is on August 10th. Jace, I still have to ask you again, are you really going to take on this R-rated film?"

"Of course, Madeline, what reason have you come up with this time to convince me not to go?" Huang Weijie looked at her with a half-smile.

Madeline is a very professional person, but at the same time, she is also a very stubborn person.

She has always believed that Huang Weijie's participation in this R-rated film was a waste of his time.

So for a while, she would occasionally nag Huang Weijie, trying to dissuade him from taking the role.

"No, I just wanted to confirm if you're still interested." Madeline ignored Huang Weijie's teasing. "The director of 'The Hangover' has shown great interest in you, and the location is also in Los Angeles. What I'm trying to say is that if you take this role, filming will likely take place from the end of October to December, mostly in Las Vegas."

"No problem, there's always time if you squeeze it in. Have you found a performance coach yet?" Huang Weijie waved his hand dismissively. Right now, he was just worried about not being busy enough.

"Found him, his name is Ethan Hawke."

Madeline explained, "I asked a friend to recommend this to me. She said that Ethan is best at helping talented artists who lack systematic training to quickly find a sense of relaxation and conviction in front of the camera. His methods are flexible and not dogmatic."

He's short on time, but he agreed to give you a week of intensive training starting August 6th, three hours a day, in Los Angeles.

"You're best at helping talented people? What if I don't have any talent?"