America: Child stars start with The Shining

Angus Young's first reaction upon seeing Charles was:

Did something go wrong?

Why is there only one child in the meeting room?

Where did Mr. Charles go?

He stood at the door, somewhat taken aback. He first glanced at the conference room, then at the folders on the table, and at the receptionist standing next to him who looked perfectly normal.

Finally, he realized something.

There is indeed only one child here.

What's going on?

Surely this child couldn't possibly be Ciel? Or is he Ciel's son?

That's not right.

Even if it's his son, he shouldn't be in the meeting room, right?

Angus Young suddenly felt like his mind was going blank.

What a joke! He had never seen a record company like this before.

Thinking of this, Angus Young couldn't help but whisper to the girl beside him:

"Excuse me, where is Mr. Charles? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"

The girl paused for a moment.

She seemed surprised by the question, paused for half a second, then pointed to the child at the head of the meeting room and said:

"Uh, Mr. Angus Young, this is Mr. Charles in front of you."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Angus Young froze on the spot.

He glanced at the girl, then at the child sitting in the chair.

No, he must have misheard.

Just then, Charles stood up, walked up to him, extended his hand, and said with a smile:

"Hello, nice to meet you. I am Charles, and Huamei Records is currently one of my companies."

Even after Angus Young and Charles shook hands, he still couldn't recover.

As is well known, Australia is often jokingly referred to as "Tu'ao" (土澳), a term Angus Young used to dismiss.

Although they are an Australian band, they have always been very proud of this place.

But now, he suddenly felt as if he really came from a small town, looking completely unsophisticated.

Has a big city like Los Angeles really become this open?

It's unbelievable that even a little kid can start a record company!

You should know that before this, he had never even heard of such a thing.

This completely changed his understanding of Hollywood, and even the entire American entertainment industry.

Angus Young sat in the chair for several minutes before he recovered and managed to restore his expression to normal.

Charles casually flipped through the documents on the table and said calmly:

"Sorry, I may have surprised you a bit just now."

Angus Young's lips twitched suddenly.

However, he quickly recovered and gave a dry laugh:

"That's true to some extent."

Since he was already there, he could only accept this somewhat unreliable fact.

After all, Huamei Records is now their band's only lifeline.

Charles smiled, not dwelling on the issue, and went straight to the point.

"I've listened to your songs. They're very powerful, and the guitar tone is very distinctive. To be honest, there are quite a few hard rock bands on the market now, but you guys are quite different from them."

"This is also why Huamei Records has taken a liking to you. I think that new album has the potential to achieve good results in the American record market."

Upon hearing this, Angus Young's eyes flickered slightly.

When he saw that the person he was negotiating the contract with was a child, he thought it all seemed very absurd, and he even suspected that Huamei Records was deliberately fobbing them off.

But now, he suddenly felt that this kid in front of him seemed to really understand rock and roll?

Angus Young couldn't help but press the other party for an answer:

"In what ways do you feel this new album is different?"

Charles smiled and said:

"Your songs are very powerful and impactful, which is exactly what I'm looking for."

"I think you have the potential to reach a larger market and create a new wave of rock music."

The meeting room suddenly fell silent.

Angus Young fell silent, not because he didn't know what to say, but because...

He had a vague feeling that Charles, for some reason, seemed to have a lot of confidence in their new album and was very certain about them.

Charles wasn't in a hurry. He quietly watched Angus Young, giving him some time to consider.

AC/DC's style is indeed very unique for this era.

But if placed in later generations, it would not seem strange at all.

The general public might just think of them as a fairly typical, even stereotypical, hard rock band.

But the problem is...

This so-called typical hard rock style was brought into the mainstream by their own hands.

In other words, AC/DC defined the mainstream style of rock bands that followed.

This is what gives them their enormous influence over the next few decades.

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open.

Ovitz entered with several documents and placed them one by one in front of Angus Young.

One contract is for the band's signing and album release, and the other is CAA's management contract.

Angus Young picked up the document and began to read it.

His expression quickly underwent a subtle change.

Both contracts were quite good, at least, not what you'd expect from a rock band in dire straits.

First, Huamei Records holds the copyright to the first album, as well as the copyright to the subsequent five albums. Furthermore, the first album must be delivered immediately within a few months of signing the contract.

This is no problem at all for AC/DC, after all, they have already produced a demo.

With the help of record companies, the finished product will only be produced faster, and it is entirely possible to deliver it ahead of schedule.

At the same time, there is a signing bonus of $30,000, as well as ample budget support for recording and touring.

Furthermore, they receive 10% of the album's revenue, while the tour revenue is split 70% between them and the company.

It's important to understand that for rock bands, album revenue is usually not the main source of income; the real money comes from tour revenue.

Therefore, Huamei Records' signing contract is indeed very sincere.

Moreover, all the subsequent support conditions were clearly written in the contract, which made Angus Young feel very at ease.

What's more, they also received an additional manager's contract, something a rock band like theirs would never even dream of.

They had always grown up unchecked, without any agents providing any assistance.

Angus Young took a deep breath and glanced at Charles.

As mentioned before, he came here specifically to connect with Huamei Records as a representative of the AC/DC band.

Therefore, he has the right to make decisions on the spot, and the other band members will support him in making any decisions.

So, should he sign this contract?