Four Hundred and Eighty One Throw

George Slander.

Renly knew very little about him. He never asked about George's personal situation. He never knew about George's past. He just knew that George was a producer. ; George's dedication and focus on music has a moth-to-fire heat and surging Renly downfall.

Admiration for George Renly. Because in him Renly saw the madness and passion that he spent all his life putting into the pursuit of his dream career.

George is not a young man who has just stepped out of the society, just relying on his passion to realize his self-worth and to pursue his dream of freedom; he has gone through countless trials and vicissitudes in his sixties but still maintains a pure heart. He completely burned his life and devoted his life to the music career he loves.

Such a craftsman is awe-inspiring.

Even Renly wouldn't dare to say that thirty years later he can still maintain his passion for acting as he is now. A lifetime commitment is too far and too heavy.

Renly felt George's sincerity when he decided to make the album. "It's all about music" is George's promise to put aside commercial considerations, put aside the needs of the market, and really go back to the music itself to make an album that's pure, pristine, and sincere.

But Renly's heart still stirred when he heard Matthew say the terms of the contract. George almost gave Renly all the decision-making power in terms of artistic creation; in other words, giving Renly enough rights to maintain his own creation is equivalent to giving Renly the ability to create an album based on his own ideas. right.

This is completely impossible in the film field because the producer is the supreme being of the entire crew and has the decisive veto power; but in the music field, the singer is the soul of the entire album, which gives the singer the ultimate The right to decide, but not everyone can have this right.

Even singers like Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Madonna, and Mariah Carey have a solid fan base after years of rolling in the industry, and their artistic style has been affirmed before the record company. Willing to let go. Otherwise, it is still the record company that has the right to decide.

Now George has given all the rights to the fledgling Renly so boldly, so decisively and so determinedly is not only amazing but also admirable. It's hard not to be moved by being more powerful than "crazy in love" Derek Doremus George's desperate gamble.

Renly recalled today's exchange, the two of them just had a brief conversation without much discussion of the details. Who would have thought that there was such an earth-shattering content hidden behind the understatement.

Holding the lemonade in his hand, Renly was a little lost for a while.

Matthew's understanding of the entertainment industry is infinitely close to zero, but as a lawyer and an ordinary person, he also understands the meaning of this contract and can't help but tug at the corners of his mouth and sneer, "If I didn't know you, I would think that you must have passed The unspoken one who got this contract and the kind of Daddy Sweetheart."

There was also a smile in Renly's eyes, and he returned calmly, "It's really a good deal for a sweetheart to get a contract like this."

Matthew smirked and had to admit that Renly was right because it wasn't the whole of the contract.

"George also stated in black and white in the contract that the royalties you can receive through this album are 15%, and his income is 25% of the royalties you receive. The budget for the album is ten $50,000." Matthew put the contract on the table with a hint of surprise in his eyes "I don't know where this level is in the industry but I know if he's not your sweetheart then he's a lunatic.

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Renly didn't respond immediately, took a sip of lemonade, calmed his turbulent mood a little, and said with a small smile, "He is indeed a lunatic who broke his family for music."

Renly is not surprised about the album's dividend model. George had talked to Andy Rogers before. Andy was a professional film manager. He only knew the skin of the music part, but before negotiating, Andy had a deep understanding of the current market and completed all the negotiations.

Renly remembers Andy's comment at the time, "He's too honest and I'm embarrassed to keep raising the price. If every job is so easy, I'm useless. You can do all the signing work yourself."

The process of making an album is, in a way, the same as a movie.

In the first stage, the production company allocates a budget to set up a project and hand it over to a producer to start production.

In the second stage, the producers look for the director, actors, writers, and the entire production team to start shooting the work with the budget until the work is completed.

In the third stage, the production company looks for the distribution company to sign the contract. The distribution company contacts the theater chain to develop a publicity and distribution strategy and then the film is released.

In the fourth stage of the box office, the production company, production team, distribution company, and theater chain will divide the revenue.

The fifth stage production company excavates the peripheral value of the work.

Roughly speaking, the same is true for albums made in this way, just by changing the production company to a record company. It's just that the "Phase Two" album and movie are different.

After the contract is signed and before the record is made, the record company allocates a budget, but this budget is not for the producer but for the artist.

This money is not the signing fee, it is called advance payment in jargon, but it can be regarded as part of the signing fee. This is the income that belongs to the artist.

But in fact the so-called "freedom" still has a premise. Because this advance payment is not only the living expenses of the artist before earning income from the album, but also the cost of producing the album. In other words, the entire team that made the album was formed by the artist himself and paid for it himself.

In the process of making an album, artists first need to find a suitable producer; then set up a recording team including a recording engineer, orchestrator, arranger, etc.; then rent a recording studio and invest in formal recording work; finally, it is necessary to complete Mixing and post-production.

All costs of the entire process are covered by this advance payment. Of course, if it is a new singer, the record company will arrange the entire production team, but the cost is still paid by the artist himself.

Generally speaking, it costs about 200,000 to 300,000 US dollars to make an ordinary pop album. This is just the most basic cost, not including the cost of hiring a big-name singer, not including the cost of shooting a music video, not including insurance, and the cost of unforeseen circumstances.

The music market is in a slump now, and record companies aren't as generous as they used to be when it comes to paying artists upfront. Newcomers are generally under $350,000. Intermediate artists are around $350,000 to $500,000, while top superstars can get $500,000.

In the current market environment, the cost of an album could hardly be higher. But there are exceptions to everything. If a superstar like Beyonce intends to make an album that burns more than half a million dollars, the record company chooses to nod and agree after careful consideration, but they will not pay in one go, but choose to pay in batches. Funding will continue after the first batch is exhausted.

But what if the production cost of the album exceeds the upfront payment agreed upon by the record company?

Then the record company will pay the second or even the third advance payment until the album is made. The difference is that the first payment belongs to the artist, which means that it does not need to be repaid in the future; but the record company will not pay after the album is released. The corresponding amount is deducted from the artist's income.

So many rookie singers sign their first record contract and spend a lot of money on luxury cars or drink, do drugs/drugs, and splurge on parties, and they will soon fall into a "debt" dilemma.

Renly is now working on Don Quixote, but things are a little different. Because of the special nature of the album, George did not find a record company for Renly, so they now not only have no record company network support but also no upfront cost support.

Instead, George poured himself into the production of the album entirely out of his own pocket.

But what is certain is that after the album is recorded, George will still find a suitable record company and distribution company. After all, as an independent individual, they have no packaging channels, distribution channels, and publicity channels. After all, the album can only be locked in the computer and never made public. day.

When the record company agrees to the contract, they will pay Renly an upfront payment that can be considered a signing fee or an album production fee. Renly could then pay the advance payment to George to repay the album's production costs.

But the problem is that the unique style of this album was chosen to be produced independently from the record company because it was worried that the mainstream market would not appreciate it. If no record company is willing to sign the album, the album will only be stored in the warehouse, which means that George's investment will be completely lost.

Even if "Don Quixote" managed to sign with a record label, George was taking far more risks than that. The production cost of the album is only a fraction of the cost until the third stage, and there are also royalties involved and the contract continues the same pattern, putting all the risk on George alone!