Chapter 68: I was suddenly robbed by the gangsters
In 1999, Warner Records officially entered the mainland.
The first person to sign a contract was Pu Shu, who signed a contract for three albums. Later, he recruited Lao Lang, Ye Bei, Wang Feng, Zhang Yadong, La Ying, Sun Nan and others.
Looking at the Chinese music scene, Warner currently also has powerful singers such as Zhang Huimei, Stefanie Sun, and Feier Band. It has made rapid progress in the following years, accounting for one-third of the market share at its peak.
"I am here, right here, as short-lived as a sudden moment, as gorgeous as summer flowers..."
In the recording studio of Warner Records, Pu Shu hummed a few words to the new arrangement, suddenly stopped, and shook his head: "This song is used to express sad feelings with happiness. This style is not good."
"I want to add some drums and flutes, what do you think?" Zhang Yadong asked.
"Well, this is good. It would be even better if you add some harmony. It should be something with national characteristics." Lu Zhongqiang also gave suggestions.
Warner is preparing to release an album for Pu Shu, and this is one of the songs called "Life is Like a Summer Flower." It was originally an advertising song composed by Pu Shu, and now it has been taken over and re-produced.
Zhang Yadong and Lu Zhongqiang had a heated discussion. After Pu Shu expressed his opinions, he listened quietly and kept speaking every word.
Friends are used to his social disorder.
Pu Shu's original name is Pu Shu, and his father's name is Pu Zuyin. He is a professor at Peking University, a physics guru, and an academician of the International Academy of Astronautics. Of course, in Pu Shu's introduction, he became an "ordinary physics teacher."
He has been bored and rebellious since he was a child. Others' rebellion would cause trouble, but he didn't. The more rebellious he became, the more bored he became. As a result, his parents took him to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with "adolescent depression."
At that time, he was in high school. He was confused and almost dropped out of school. The only outlet he had was music. In order to let him study, his father made a promise: "Go to college! If you are admitted to college, you will grow your hair long and play rock music!"
Pu Shu then worked hard and was admitted to the English Department of Capital Normal University. He grew his hair long and played the guitar. Then he dropped out of school in his sophomore year...
This kind of person, to put it nicely, is like poetry. You can only watch it from a distance, don't live with him.
After studying the song for a long time, I came up with a new idea. Zhang Yadong is the main producer. Lu Zhongqiang just gave some references. After chatting for a while, he stood up and left, returning to his studio.
He had nothing to do for the time being, so he was fiddling with a business card on the table, which was left for him by Yao Yuan.
After meeting in a bar, Lu Zhongqiang showed a certain interest in Internet music, and made another private appointment, gaining a deep understanding of the spread of the Internet.
Yao Yuan said two points of view:
One is that the Internet is the mainstream platform for future music.
One is that saliva songs are more suitable for online dissemination.
What is a saliva song? The lyrics are crude, the melody is simple, and the style is down-to-earth. It may not be well written, but it must be catchy and the threshold is extremely low.
In the past, this kind of song could not be included in physical albums, and any musician who was interested in pursuing it would sneer at it.
But Lu Zhongqiang agrees with this point of view. He is a very cutting-edge musician, otherwise he would not represent Guo Degang's digital copyright.
Moreover, he looked at Yao Yuan's website. Although it was a little different from the scammers, it was really popular. He asked a few knowledgeable people and said that this website is super popular and can earn at least one million a month!
Good guy! Give him a fright.
Damn, you earn a million a month, and you ride a little Mulan?
Lu Zhongqiang accepted Yao Yuan's request to help collect songs, hoping to make a friend so that they could meet each other in the future and even collaborate on songs such as "Life is Like a Summer Flower".
"Dong dong dong!"
Just as I was thinking about it, there was a knock on the door and a young man in his 20s came in.
"Teacher Lu!"
"Xiaohu, come in and sit down."
The visitor's name is Wang Hu, an unknown producer in Beijing's music circle. He used to study photography and knows a lot of things. Making music is like becoming a monk halfway.
Behind the vast pop music scene, there is also a broader underground music world.
A famous musician has at least ten dead bones of unknown people stepping on his feet. Where do you think those pop songs came from? Are they all fair trade?
how can that be possible!
Lu Zhongqiang is the big brother. He likes to support newcomers since he was young. He smiled and said: "Why do you want to come here today?"
"I went back to Wuhan a while ago, and a friend introduced me to an underground guy who wanted me to listen to some songs. They were all from my hometown, so I was too embarrassed to refuse, so the guy just played a few songs."
Wang Hu laughed happily, took out a tape, and said: "I don't ask you to give me any advice, how is the level?"
"You kid, you really treat me as free labor."
"You are the big brother, we believe you."
Lu Zhongqiang laughed and cursed, took the tape and inserted it into the machine. There was a sizzling noise and the sound of a guitar playing and singing.
"..."
These songs are rough, primitive, and completely unprocessed. He has no expression and will change to the next one after listening to one.
Wang Hu didn't hold out much hope. After the tape was played, he asked: "Do you think there is anything that can be used?"
"The penultimate song."
"The penultimate song, "Love You Like This"..."
Wang Hu immediately rewound the playback and listened to the song: "I love you, I love you, just like a mouse loves rice. No matter how many winds and rains there are, I will still be with you..."
"Did you buy all these songs?"
"No, how can I dare to buy it without your advice? A thousand yuan is money."
"Stop wearing a high hat on me. What's the name of that guy who sells songs?"
"Yang Chengang, I used to write a few rock songs and submit them everywhere, but no one wanted them. Now I'm hanging out in bars in Wuhan."
"Oh, I can still do this one, the others are rubbish."
"Okay, just one song will do."
Wang Hu was quite surprised. He immediately thanked Lu Zhongqiang and turned around and walked away.
"..."
Lu Zhongqiang sat in the studio by himself, thinking about the song just now. The lyrics were crude, the melody was simple, down-to-earth, and a standard saliva song, which fit Yao Yuan's requirements very well.
He gave Wang Hu guidance to help the younger generation, but that didn't mean he couldn't do other things.
He then searched Warner Records' database, and sure enough he found that a man named Yang Chengang had submitted several rock songs, but they were not used.
Lu Zhongqiang thought for a while and called Yao Yuan.
…………
Wang Hu was eating hot pot and singing songs when he was suddenly robbed by bandits!
Yang Chengang came to the capital.
He was quite puzzled, how could I, a bar singer from Wuhan, end up in the capital?
He didn't care how the song spread to others. Anyway, just give him money and he was quite happy. The market price of a song for an unknown creator was 1,000 to 2,000 yuan. Mr. Yao was very generous and gave him 4,000 yuan and reimbursed him.
Travel expenses.
Buy out all permanent copyrights.
But the procedure was a bit troublesome. Not only was the contract extremely complete, with various signatures, but he was also specifically asked to take a photo showing the contract.
"Don't worry, Mr. Yao, we will never break promises in this business. If we sell it to you, we will sell it to you."
"I'm relieved, but the necessary protection must be provided. Anyway, just take a photo."
Yang Chengang didn't care and followed the arrangement and took a photo.
This guy is not good.
He gave Wang Hu several songs in 2002. At Lu Zhongqiang's suggestion, Wang Hu chose the song "Love You Like This" and initialed the contract.
After Wang Hu got the song, he found someone to arrange and produce it, turned a rough rough into a finished product, and hired another singer to sing.
After Yang Chengang heard about it, he took the finished product and posted it privately on the Internet, misleading netizens into thinking that he was the singer.
Later, the song was renamed "Mouse Loves Rice" and became so popular that he successfully signed a contract with a record company.
During this period, he sold the song at least four times, and several companies went to court. In the end, Wang Hu won because he was the first to sign the contract.
This kind of bad thing happens all the time in the music world.
Everyone knows that the "Mouse Loves Rice" ring tones can make money, but the order must be clear: it is the song that becomes popular first, and then people download the ring tones, not that the song becomes popular after people download the ring tones.
Yao Yuan can manage this song better and be more influential.
After settling the contract, he sent Yang Chengang away. What the hell, he looked like Wang Dazhi!