From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

”Alex, I’m glad we can finally chat formally,” James opened very directly. ”I assume you’ve already looked at our proposal. For a newcomer, this is a standard and sincere contract.”

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Alex nodded, his tone calm: ”Thank you for the appreciation from Universal Music. But I have a few core issues to discuss—mainly copyright and revenue sharing ratios.”

James raised an eyebrow: ”Please, go ahead.”

”First, copyright.” Alex looked directly at the screen, ”I need to retain 100% of the songwriting copyright. I can license the master recording rights to Universal, but the license period cannot exceed seven years; after seven years, the rights will automatically revert to me.”

James shook his head and smiled: ”Alex, you know in this industry, companies need security when investing in new artists. If we can’t own a portion of the songwriting copyright, our investment risk is too high.”

”I understand.” Alex was prepared, ”That is why I have prepared something else to prove the value of your investment.”

He shared his screen and opened an encrypted folder. Inside were not complete songs, but three meticulously prepared ’work outlines’—each outline included the song concept, core melody snippet (15 seconds), lyric summary, and market positioning analysis.

The title of the first outline: ”Blinding Lights”—Synth-pop, retro-futuristic, suitable for radio rotation.

The title of the second outline: ”Stay”—Electropop, minimalist arrangement, strong emotional explosive power, suitable for viral streaming.

The title of the third outline: ”Bad Guy”—Alternative pop, dark rhythm, subversive persona, suitable for young listeners and social media buzz.

Each outline was marked with detailed creative thoughts, target audience, and potential commercial value.

”I have already completed the concepts and core parts for these three songs.” Alex said, ”They are completely different styles from ’Neon Pulse’ and ’We Are Young,’ proving that I have the ability to continuously create diverse hits.”

James stared at the screen, his gaze shifting from skeptical to serious. He had been in A&R for twenty years and could see the professionalism in these outlines—they weren’t the wild thoughts of an amateur, but well-thought-out commercial creations.

”Why are you only showing us outlines and not the complete songs?” James asked.

”Because of copyright.” Alex said candidly, ”If I released the full demos now, you might feel you had already ’heard them,’ and the value would decrease. But what I want to prove is—I have the ability to consistently produce work of this caliber. This ability is worth you being willing to invest even without holding the songwriting copyright.”

The conference room fell silent for a minute. James was calculating rapidly.

”Secondly, revenue sharing ratios.” Alex continued, ”30/70 (30% for the artist) was the industry standard ten years ago. Now, in the streaming era, top new artists can negotiate for 50/50 or even higher. What I want is a tiered revenue share—”

”For the first album, I am willing to accept 40/60 (40% for me). But if album sales or streaming numbers reach specific milestones, the revenue share for the second album will increase to 50/50, and the third to 60/40.”

James shook his head: ”That’s too aggressive. I can consider 40/60, but increasing to 60/40... there is no precedent for that.”

”Then let’s create a precedent.” Alex did not back down, ”Mr. James, the advance you are offering me is only 300,000, with a promotion budget of 1 million—this is just a small-to-medium investment within the Universal system. But if my work truly explodes, the money you make from streaming and concerts will far exceed this investment. All I want is a fair share of that success.”

Marcus chimed in at the right moment: ”James, Alex’s ’Neon Pulse’ was entirely self-created and promoted; it already broke into the Top 100 without any corporate resource support. This proves his independent creative and market capabilities.”

James tapped his fingers on the table, lost in thought. The three work outlines were indeed tempting—if those songs could really be made, each one potentially had the makings of a hit.

”The copyright issue...” James said slowly, ”Universal headquarters will never agree to completely give up songwriting copyright. That is the bottom line.”