Chapter 55: The Super Girls’ Miserable Contracts
August 2nd.
A piece of news caused a huge stir in the media, dragging all other Super Girl contestants into it.
【Zhao Jingyi, the Changsha Division Champion of Super Girl, was eliminated in the Top 8. Yesterday, her negotiation to terminate the contract with Tianyu failed, and she filed a lawsuit against Tianyu 】
Tianyu, already under intense scrutiny, was immediately attacked by a large number of media outlets.
Among them were official media such as Xinhua Daily.
Some experts even stated that without freedom or autonomy, the Super Girls, who appeared glamorous in front of the public, were actually reduced to high-end “indentured servants” for Tianyu.
In just half a day,
a discussion about ‘Super Girl and Tianyu contracts’ erupted online.
“Tianyu regretted not signing Zhang Hanyun last year. So, while the competition was still in full swing in various divisions this year, Tianyu signed the top 50 contestants for contracts ranging from 8 to 10 years.”
“Holy crap, such long terms? It’s a slave contract, right? Zhao Jingyi is still in her third year of high school.”
“Tianyu must be desperate for money. They have no money, no talent, and are constantly seeking commercial performances and endorsements, even accepting gigs at bars.”
“I’ve said it before, it’s just a makeshift operation. There are no professionals, just a bunch of people from Mango TV messing around. What will they do to cultivate talent after the Super Girl competition ends? Producing one album costs at least 1.5 million, so packaging 50 Super Girls would cost 75 million. Tianyu can’t even afford 5 million.”
“They will definitely sell most of the Super Girls in bulk to other companies, just like last year’s third-place winner, Zhang Hanyun, who was sold to Tianzhong Culture by Tianyu for 1 million.”
“I also heard that after the competition in Chengdu ended in July, an event promoter approached Li Yuchun, He Jie, and Feng Jiamei for performances, and Tianyu quoted 150,000 per person.”
“The finals haven’t even concluded, and Tianyu is already making them earn money? That’s too heartless.”
“A few days ago, a pen manufacturing company wanted to invite Zhou Bichang for an endorsement, and Tianyu asked for a 2 million yuan endorsement fee.”
On the phone, Shen Qing and Zhang Lu were discussing cooperation. When the topic of Zhao Jingyi came up, both of them heavily criticized Tianyu.
Their methods were too crude.
This was also a major reason why Shen Qing strongly wanted Zhang Liangying to break free from Tianyu.
Just as netizens were scolding, Tianyu was short on money and talent, their contracts were too harsh, and they even engaged in coercive signing practices…
Are these contracts really valid?
Zhao Jingyi, who was eliminated just a few days ago, tested the waters and provided the answer – she sued Tianyu, citing valid reasons: first, she was a minor, and second, she was induced.
In her previous life, Zhao Jingyi won this lawsuit.
She only paid Tianyu tens of thousands of yuan for training, accommodation, meals, and travel expenses.
When Zhao Jingyi won her lawsuit, many Super Girls saw hope. Some terminated their contracts through negotiation, others through monetary compensation, using various methods.
This was enough to show how unpopular Tianyu was.
As for Zhang Liangying, shortly after the competition ended in her previous life, “Wei Dongfang Records” in Beijing wanted to sign her at a high price and have her study vocal music in Beijing, then hire a famous American music producer to create her first album.
But…
The price quoted by Tianyu was somewhat outrageous.
Tianyu was willing to cooperate in the form of shareholding, meaning: Zhang Liangying would let Wei Dongfang Records invest in her training, and Tianyu would take 30% of the money Zhang Liangying earned, while Wei Dongfang would take 70%! After 5 years, all of Zhang Liangying’s income would return to Tianyu.
Wasn’t this treating “Wei Dongfang” like the Japanese?
Who knows who came up with such a clever idea.
In the end,
Tianyu gained nothing and was instead forcefully inserted into by the Beijing Circle’s Huayi Brothers… Huayi successfully helped Zhang Liangying terminate her contract by filing a lawsuit.
…
With the release of this explosive news today, the eight Super Girls who were filming outdoors all started having their own little thoughts.
They weren’t stupid.
And,
they all had their own considerations.
Who wants to join a shell company?
The entertainment industry values background and resources the most. Ordinary artists who join shell companies can’t make any waves.
Especially Li Yuchun and Zhou Bichang, they desperately wanted to leave Tianyu, but they both knew it was very difficult.
Given their current fame and popularity, Tianyu would never let them go and would keep them locked down tightly.
After the finals concluded that year, Tianyu had Zhou Bichang and Li Yuchun participate in commercial performances, but their share was less than 10%.
They were treated worse than the working class.
As for Zhou Bichang’s hit single that made her famous – 《Notes》, its ringtone revenue in 2005 was 6 million, but she only received 300,000.
A mere 5%, and she still had to pay personal income tax.
Anyone would find this unbearable.
Ultimately,
Zhou Bichang could no longer stand it and defected to Lelin Culture in December 2005, winning her lawsuit.
That year, Lelin Culture signed Zhou Bichang with a 2.5 million yuan compensation fee + 8 million yuan advance payment. Netizens jokingly called her ‘selling herself to pay off debt’.
All day today, the eight Super Girls were absent-minded.
Everyone was contemplating their future.
When it was eight o’clock in the evening, after finishing their day’s activities, the eight of them walked towards the hotel together. Ye Yiqian suddenly broke the silence.
Instantly,
the other seven opened up.
But in the end, there was no resolution. The eight of them didn’t dare to say too much, only complaining a few words.
They were worried about an informant who might relay their words to Tianyu.
But the seed of contract termination had been planted in their hearts.
Each of them would find their own way to succeed.
…
Meanwhile,
Zhang Lu called Shen Qing around nine o’clock in the evening.
“Shen Qing, President Song has agreed to your proposal, but he still needs to consider the specific profit-sharing ratio.”
“Additionally, President Song will be going to Changsha in the next few days to attend a Tsinghua alumni gathering. There, he will meet Wang Peng from Tianyu through an arrangement by his classmates…”
“President Song wants to try a soft approach first, to see if a negotiated termination is possible. If not, we’ll have to resort to harder tactics.”
“…”
Song Ke graduated from Tsinghua, and his classmates are also very influential.
Perhaps,
this time, Wang Peng could be made to compromise.
If they could negotiate a termination before the finals, it would save a lot of trouble and avoid going to court, maintaining everyone’s reputation.
Otherwise, if they met in court, everyone would think Mango TV couldn’t handle it – as a satellite TV station, didn’t they hold a nationwide talent show for public entertainment? Resorting to the trick of ‘elimination if you don’t sign’ was so disgraceful.
Shen Qing: “Thank you, President Zhang. I hope our cooperation will be pleasant.”
Zhang Lu: “Haha, it will definitely be pleasant. We are partners, unlike Tianyu’s model.”
Taihe Rye Music’s concession was also due to their recognition of Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying’s talent.
If they were newcomers, they would have no chance to have an equal conversation with Taihe Rye Music. Zhang Lu would have simply said, “Sign it or get lost.”
But the combination of Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying was sought after by countless record companies.
First come, first served.
There wasn’t much room left for Taihe Rye Music to negotiate.
Therefore, Song Ke only considered it for one night before agreeing to Shen Qing’s cooperation framework and actively starting to make arrangements.
This was all built on their strength.
…
While busy with these matters, Shen Qing did not give up on creation.
An original song has already been completed.
