I'm unbeatable at extracting skills from celebrities!

The arpeggio of sixteenth notes flowed smoothly, the plucking and striking of the strings were clean and crisp, and the timbre, like an evening breeze in the wilderness, filled the small room.

No one spoke. Chen Jiantian, Wang Fei, and Zheng Jun all leaned forward slightly, but their eyes were filled with a quiet melancholy.

As the prelude solo of Jiangnan's "Hometown" came to a close, the room was silent for two seconds before Chen Jiaying took the lead and gently clapped.

"Slap slap slap..."

Then came enthusiastic applause from everyone. Zheng Jun, for example, clapped his hands and gave Jiangnan a thumbs up while shouting "Awesome!"

That's just how musicians are!

Awesome is awesome, there's no faking it. Just look at Jiang Nan's bass finger rolls, you can tell he's incredibly professional just by glancing at him.

Pressing down two adjacent strings on the same fret with one finger allows the melody to flow smoothly without needing to switch fingers.

"Hmm... Jiangnan, right?"

"I've signed you. Now tell me, what are your terms?" Chen Jiantian spoke amidst applause.

"I don't ask for any other conditions, as long as the contract terms for me and Brother Zheng are the same."

Chen Jiantian was very open and honest. When discussing the contract with Jiang Nan, he did not avoid Zheng Jun, nor did he communicate with Jiang Nan in Cantonese.

And Jiangnan is also very free and easy.

"You've seen my physical appearance, my creative ability, and my instrumental playing skills."

  

"As long as you treat everyone equally, I can sign immediately."

"Are you 18 years old?"

Seeing that Jiangnan's requirements were not high, Chen Jiantian took out two standard contracts and one already signed contract from his desk drawer.

"Two more months until I turn 19!"

Jiang Nan pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, took out his ID card, and handed it to Chen Jiantian. Chen Jiantian glanced at it and said:

"Zhao Xiaodong, come here, make a copy of Jiangnan's ID card. We'll sign the contract with him now."

"OK!"

Zhao Xiaodong, the art planner of Red Star Production Company, took Jiang Nan's ID card and went to room 8002 to make a copy.

Room 8002 served as Zheng Jun's dormitory, the office of the Red Star Production Cooperative, and a reception room.

If domestic colleagues come to visit, Chen Jiantian will order a few dishes at the Sichuan restaurant downstairs and drink in room 8002.

"Jiangnan, this is the singer contract that Zheng Jun signed with Red Star Production Company. This is our company's standard contract. Please compare the two. If you don't understand or have any questions, just ask me." As soon as Zhao Xiaodong left, Chen Jiantian handed over several contracts.

"OK, thanks!"

Although Jiang Nan had seen Zheng Jun's singer contract countless times in his previous life, and because of the lawsuit between Zheng Jun and Red Star Production Company, he had even hired a lawyer on behalf of the company to carefully study the singer contract.

But throughout his life, Jiangnan has always taken things very seriously.

After all, this concerns my own vital interests!

Recording and Publishing Contract

1. Contracting Parties: Party A, Red Star Music Production Company (founded by Chen Jiantian); Party B, Zheng Jun

2. Signing date: July 20, 1992, in Beijing;

The contract was effective from August 1, 1992 to July 31, 1994, and was a basic two-year contract.

3. Background of the contract: Zheng Jun was originally preparing to study in the United States, but after being introduced to Chen Jiantian by Guo Chuanlin, he gave up his plans to go abroad and signed the contract.

On the day of signing, Red Star paid HKD 3000 for living expenses and RMB 6000 in advance for the entire album's royalties.

……

※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Jiangnan has signed a contract!

The moment he put down his pen and signed the document, he received 5000 RMB for living expenses and 6000 RMB in advance royalties for his first album from Chen Jiantian.

The reason he had 2000 yuan more in living expenses than Zheng Jun was because he didn't want the pager provided by the Red Star Production Cooperative.

So Chen Jiantian didn't hold back and directly paid for the pager.

At the same time, Jiang Nan also got the key to room 8003 of the Liufang Hotel, where he could stay and eat in the restaurant downstairs, all for free.

After signing the papers and recording a demo of the song "Single Love Song" using a dual-cassette recorder, Jiangnan left the Liufang Hotel.

When we arrived, the sun was shining brightly; when we left, the sun was already setting.

Holding his first contract and with 11000 yuan in his pocket, Jiang Nan planned to take a taxi back to school to celebrate with Li Naiwen, Tang Xu, Zhu Yuanyuan, and Wang Jinpeng.

In our previous life, we had an excellent relationship.

This lifelong friendship must naturally be renewed.

However, before Jiangnan, who was standing by the roadside, could even catch one of those yellow taxis that were all over the city, a tall and beautiful woman appeared beside him, looking fresh and elegant.

"Waiting for a taxi?"

"right!"

"Are you getting ready to go back to school now?"

"yes!"

Looking back at Wang Fei, Jiangnan was even more sparing with her words.

"Jiangnan was upstairs just now, guarding his former agent Chen Jiantian. I couldn't tell you."

Actually, your contract has many problems. First of all, the royalty base is low. You can only get 15 cents for selling one cassette tape.

In contrast, the contract stipulates that the royalty for each cassette tape in the overseas, Hong Kong, and Taiwan markets is HK$1.2, and the royalty for each CD is HK$2.4.

"I know!"

Before the beautiful woman could finish speaking, Jiangnan interrupted her.

"You knew that, why did you still sign it?" Wang Fei asked, puzzled.

"I think the album 'Single Love Songs' will sell better in Hong Kong and Taiwan than in mainland China," Jiang Nan explained with a smile.

Actually, there are some things he can't say to others.

In my past life, the reason I was able to thrive in Beijing's music scene was because of Chen Jiantian's support; in this life, it doesn't seem like it's a big deal that he took advantage of me a little in terms of income.

It's just two years and two albums anyway!

Once the two albums are finished, if he can't provide me with the appropriate compensation, then I can leave Red Star Production Company.

I believe that by then, I will have gained fame.

"That…"

Wang Fei frowned slightly and said, "Red Star Production Company permanently holds all global rights to all recordings and music videos during the contract period: copyright, reproduction, distribution, and audio-visual publishing rights, covering all media including magnetic tapes, CDs, and videotapes. Have you carefully read this provision?"

"I've looked at it carefully!"

At this point, Jiangnan looked around, then around, and seeing that no one was paying attention to their conversation, he pretended to be mysterious and said:

"There is a loophole in this regulation, which is that it does not explicitly define the ownership of the copyright of lyrics and music."

"So?" Wang Fei asked curiously.

"From now on, every time I create a song, I will bring the lyrics, music, and a demo to the Music Copyright Society of China to complete the registration and filing."

Although the music video, recording, and audio-visual distribution rights for the song all belong to Red Star Production Company, they still cannot produce and distribute it globally, or authorize others to use it, without my authorization.

"ah…"

Having lived in Hong Kong for many years, Wang Fei considers herself the most knowledgeable singer in the mainland about the business rules of the music industry. She never expected that this young man in front of her would know even more than she did and could instantly grasp the loopholes in the rules.

"Fei-jie, is there anything else? If not, I should go now."

At that moment, a yellow van stopped in front of Jiang Nan.

"It's alright, you can go now!"

Actually, Wang Fei had something to do.

She wanted to ask Jiangnan if he could finish composing the song "Sky" and sell it to her; otherwise, she wouldn't have come to reveal the inside story of her former manager Chen Jiantian's company.

But seeing how clever Jiangnan was, she decided to make friends with him first.

"Okay, goodbye!"

Jiangnan waved his hand and got into a taxi.

The taxi left.

Wang Fei stood there, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, flicked one out, put it in his mouth, lit it with a match, took a deep drag, and tried to exhale a few smoke rings, but found that he couldn't do it no matter what.