Chapter 22: 022: Tianyu’s Outrageous Contract
“Netizens, great news! Zhang Liangying’s original song 《Thing》 is now available on Kugou Music, though it’s a recording…”
“Ahhh, it’s so good, I just listened.”
“We have to play it on repeat.”
“This must be the recording from the 20-to-10 competition. My goodness, who was so clever to actually record it.”
“It would be great if there was 《Ambitious Person》.”
“My heavens, just now, 《Thing》’s ringtone went live!”
“Damn, it’s really online, I’m going to activate it right now.”
“It’s only 2 yuan, let’s support Liangying.”
“Netizens, if you’re Liangfen, download the ringtone~”
“…”
This caused a huge stir.
Countless Liangfen promoted it on Tieba, forums, and QQ groups.
In just one day, 《Thing》’s download count on Mobile exceeded a terrifying 100,000+, rivaling that of popular singers.
Beijing.
The boss of Taihe Rye Music received the data and immediately called Zhang Lu, asking him to talk to Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying about the 《Ambitious Person》 contract.
Zhang Lu was in Shanghai and couldn’t return to Hangzhou for the time being, so he called Shen Qing.
“Shen Qing, I have good news for you. 《Thing》’s ringtone downloads have already surpassed 100,000. I feel like it’s going to be a hit of the year…”
“By the way, make sure to sign 《Ambitious Person》 with me!”
“What? You’re having dinner with people from Tianyu? Alright, I’ll come back to Hangzhou the day after tomorrow to discuss it with you. Remember not to fall into any traps.”
“…”
After hanging up the phone, Shen Qing took a sip of Longjing tea.
Two people sat opposite him. One was Wang Han, and the other was from Tianyu. Shen Qing was meeting him for the first time.
Wang Han smiled, “Congratulations, congratulations. 《Thing》 broke 100,000 downloads in less than a day, it’s definitely going to be a hit. I’ll download it too to show my support.”
The Vice President Yu from Tianyu smiled, “I’ll download one too to support our Liangying. After all, we’ll be family soon, haha…”
Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying exchanged pleasantries.
Afterward.
Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying continued to look at the contract in front of them.
President Yu: “I never expected that the musical genius behind Zhang Liangying would be an 18-year-old boy. It’s truly astonishing.”
Wang Han: “President Yu, you have no idea. When I first learned that Shen Qing was writing songs for Zhang Liangying, I was even more surprised than you.”
President Yu: “Haha, that’s genius.”
Wang Han: “…”
The people from Tianyu traveled all the way from Changsha to Hangzhou not just to have dinner with Zhang Liangying, nor to flatter Shen Qing.
Their objective was to sign Zhang Liangying.
As everyone knows, Super Girl is a program jointly produced by Mango TV and Tianyu, and Tianyu is actually an enterprise invested in by Mango TV.
How could Tianyu let such a promising talent slip away?
After all, Tianyu itself is an artist management company…
…
Shen Qing didn’t have much education, and he had never signed a formal contract in his previous life, so reviewing the contract was very slow.
As for Zhang Liangying, she understood even less.
Half an hour passed, and they had only read less than a third of it.
But one couldn’t rush things with this kind of document. After all, a single ‘word’ trap in the contract could lead a singer to an abyss of despair.
Another reason for the ‘slowness’ was that Shen Qing was acting – he deliberately put on a show of being very happy to discuss the signing.
This was to lull the people from Tianyu into a false sense of security.
He wanted to drag it out for as long as possible.
If Shen Qing had directly refused the contract as soon as Tianyu presented it, Tianyu would never have let it go.
They might have even orchestrated a situation to eliminate Zhang Liangying.
The loss would have been too great.
They had to drag it out at least until after the Hangzhou Division finals. Once they reached the finals stage, with the whole country watching, Tianyu wouldn’t dare to go too far.
Even if they deliberately lowered Zhang Liangying’s text message vote count, the public judges’ eyes would be sharp on the PK Stage, so she wouldn’t be eliminated directly.
“10-year contract…”
“For the first three years, the split will be 8/2, and the proportion will increase in the fourth year depending on the situation…”
“The artist cannot terminate the contract without the company’s consent.”
“The company can unilaterally declare termination.”
“If the contract must be terminated due to the artist’s reasons, the penalty for breach of contract is 50 times the previous year’s income. Even if the artist terminates due to health reasons, it will still be 30 times…”
“Copyright belongs to the company. Even songs written by Zhang Liangying herself will belong to the company…”
“The artist is not allowed to bypass the company and sing songs written by others…”
“If the company’s reputation and economic interests are damaged due to the artist’s reasons, the artist shall bear all losses…”
“The artist must obey the company’s arrangements and cannot refuse scheduled events and commercial performances without reason, otherwise it will be treated as a breach of contract…”
“…”
Shen Qing was stunned.
The more he read the contract, the more his heart sank.
What kind of artist contract was this?
This was practically a slave contract!
Even wealthy landowners in ancient times didn’t treat their servants so harshly!!!
An unnamable anger surged within Shen Qing, and he really wanted to beat up the people from Tianyu.
He finally understood why Sun Shao’an, the “King of Fists” from the Northwest in 《Ordinary World》, would often want to hit Xiulian.
Who wouldn’t get angry after reading such a contract?
Shen Qing scratched his head, smiled, and said, “President Yu, the contract is too long, and Liangying can’t finish reading it quickly. How about letting her take it home to look at?”
President Yu hesitated for a moment and said, “Alright, Liangying, you can take it back and look at it. Give me your reply tomorrow… Is morning feasible?”
The old fox, Mr. Yu, knew there were too many traps in the contract.
He also feared that delays would lead to complications.
Therefore, he just wanted Zhang Liangying to sign this contract as soon as possible.
President Yu: “I forgot to tell you, Li Yuchun from the Sichuan Division and Zhou Bichang from the Guangzhou Division, you know them, right? Their popularity is also very high, and their contracts were signed a couple of days ago.”
Shen Qing: “Don’t worry, President Yu. I’ll go back and persuade Liangying. She also thinks highly of Tianyu’s strength. We’ll get back to you soon.”
President Yu: “Little Shen, you might not know, but the 15 contestants participating in the Super Girl national finals all have to sign an agreement with the program team… and once some contestants enter the Top Ten, they must sign an artist contract with Tianyu…”
Shen Qing: “???”
Mr. Yu knew Shen Qing would be surprised and shrugged, smiling, “Little brother, please understand. It’s not easy for us to spend money and effort to organize a competition. It’s reasonable to sign a few artists, isn’t it…”
Shen Qing: “Haha, reasonable, reasonable.”
Zhang Liangying wanted to speak, but Shen Qing held her back.
At this point, arguing with Mr. Yu about trivial matters was useless.
As for Wang Han, he didn’t say a word.
Wang Han was well aware of the nature of Tianyu’s contracts.
If he spoke up now, and these artists later had conflicts with the company, he, as the broker, would be implicated.
…
Back at the hotel.
Shen Qing threw the contract into the trash can and couldn’t help but curse, “Stupid company, no one in their right mind would sign this contract.”
Zhang Liangying pulled him, her brow furrowed, and said, “But Qing, if we refuse, will they deliberately target us?”
Shen Qing nodded, “Definitely. That’s why we need to drag it out for as long as possible.”
Zhang Liangying hugged Shen Qing and said, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. It’s okay if I don’t make it into the Top Ten. As long as we work hard together, we can succeed.”
Shen Qing patted her back, “Don’t overthink it. Just focus on singing.”
If he remembered correctly, Zhang Liangying did sign a contract with Tianyu in his previous life, but she tore it up immediately after the competition ended.
This indicated that Tianyu’s contract had significant loopholes.
Otherwise, Zhang Liangying wouldn’t have been able to get out of it so easily.
Shen Qing thought for a while.
The next day, he called Chen Liang, the president of the Zhejiang University Music Society.
He explained Zhang Liangying’s situation and asked Chen Liang to help contact outstanding students from the Zhejiang University Law Department to have professionals review Tianyu’s agreement and contract.
Coincidentally, Tianci Music Society had master’s and doctoral students from the law school.
At noon, Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying arranged to meet Chen Liang.
Chen Liang brought seven or eight people with him, all of whom were from the Zhejiang University Law School, including undergraduates, master’s students, and doctoral students, and even a lecturer.
Asking online, urgently: Can this team handle Tianyu’s legal department?
