The encounter with Minoru Endo was an accident, and the benefits of this accident were real.

Not to mention anything else, at least with Minoru Endo's introduction and recommendation, Cao Zhiqiang can more easily negotiate cooperation with Warner Pioneer Records in Japan.

Although without Minoru Endo's help, Cao Zhiqiang is confident that he can make a name for himself in the Japanese singing industry, but in that case, the progress will be a little later and the process will be a little more troublesome.

Therefore, even if Cao Zhiqiang believes in the strength of "himself", since he can have noble people to help him and have a shortcut, why not do it.

Naturally, the interest and recommendation that can arouse Endo Minoru is actually due to Cao Zhiqiang's strength.

If it weren't for Cao Zhiqiang's registration of a hundred songs at one time, he would not have aroused the interest of Minoru Endo, who happened to be here.

If it weren't for Cao Zhiqiang's 100 songs, each of which was a fine product, Minoru Endo would be at most a surprise, and he would not have come to Cao Zhiqiang, the "original".

If you hadn't found Cao Zhiqiang, the "original creator", you wouldn't have heard the demo of "As Long as You", and naturally you wouldn't have discovered Cao Zhiqiang's singing talent.

If so many things add up, it was decided that Minoru Endo decided to help Cao Zhiqiang, a "foreigner".

Without him, in addition to loving and cherishing talents, there are also strange goods to live in.

What Cao Zhiqiang doesn't know is that Minoru Endo, as an old-timer in the Japanese music industry, not only likes to promote newcomers, but also likes to make money.

In fact, Minoru Endo is different from ordinary musicians, he doesn't have many real works, but he has a very good eye for people and apprentices.

Very early, I liked to accept disciples, promote talented newcomers, and then rely on these disciples to reap rich rewards, which can be called fame and fortune.

For example, Kazuo Funaki, Chimasao, Kobayashi Asahi, Chiyoko Shimakura, etc., and other famous masters in the Japanese music industry are actually his apprentices.

These apprentices are still called by name, and as for other unnamed apprentices, or nominal apprentices, there are countless of them.

Therefore, Minoru Endo's music creation ability is actually average, but his vision of seeing and promoting people, as well as the means of using people, are truly superb.

It was with his apprentices who he may not be able to remember that he became the boss of the Japanese singing industry, and he was a powerful senior.

If nothing else, after entering the 90s, in addition to winning a bunch of medals and becoming a bunch of presidents, he also started a "Endo Minoru Song and Music Promotion Foundation" by himself.

The nature of this "Endo Minoru Music Promotion Foundation" is similar to that of venture capital, which is to invest in a group of potential singers and songwriters in advance, and then wait for these people to become famous, and then get returns in various ways of cooperation.

That is, with these operations, although Minoru Endo's musical strength is average, he has an amazing reputation and amazing energy, and even after his death, he won a "National Honor Award"!

The "National Honor Award" is not so easy to get, and the fact that Minoru Endo can win this award shows his strength in itself.

In other words, Minoru Endo's kindness to a person has a purpose, and only the person he likes will be good to you if he feels that he can get ahead in the future.

If he doesn't like you, it's useless for you to recommend yourself.

This can't be said to be bad, at least he still insists, that is, he insists on choosing talented people to invest.

From this point of view, it is not surprising that Endo can take a fancy to Cao Zhiqiang.

Without him, just as Masashi Sada firmly believes in Cao Zhiqiang's awesomeness, Minoru Endo also understood Cao Zhiqiang's talent from the hundred songs and the demo of "As Long as You Are There", so he decided to live in a strange commodity and give charcoal in the snow.

Not to mention, Cao Zhiqiang still intends to open a record company, so Minoru Endo has to intervene.

This is the difference between Bole and ordinary people.

Like Cao Zhiqiang, who went to JVC Records and Polydor Records before, although they also thought that Cao Zhiqiang's DEMO of "As Long as You Are There" was very good, they only stayed on a good basis, only thinking about buying song copyrights, and never thought about investing in Cao Zhiqiang.

The reason is that Cao Zhiqiang is a mainlander, and the visa is still a business visa, and the situation is complicated, and there is a high probability that he will not be able to stay in Japan for too long.

Of course, it was also because they didn't see Cao Zhiqiang write a hundred songs in one go.

If they also saw Cao Zhiqiang write a hundred songs in one go, it is estimated that it would not be so sloppy.

But no matter what, if you can let Minoru Endo bump into it, this can be regarded as a fate, and it can also be said that God is helping Cao Zhiqiang.

"Okay, no problem." Minoru Endo, who had just hung up the phone, smiled at Cao Zhiqiang and Masashi Sada.

"You've all heard that, I just greeted President Yamamoto of Warner Pioneer and told me a little about your situation.

President Yamamoto is very interested in you and has decided to meet you at Kaisha right away.

So, just go straight now, and President Yamamoto will see you directly and promise not to treat you slowly. ”

"Thank you so much." Masaki Sada's bow happily, "Endo-senpai, thank you very much!" ”

"Hahaha." Endo Minoru waved his hand heroically, "It's still Cao Sang's strength is strong enough, and Sada-san's vision is also powerful, you two together, you will definitely be able to succeed, I'm just adding fuel to the fire."

Okay, it's still early, don't waste time with me, and hurry up and meet President Yamamoto.

Settle the cooperation as soon as possible, and the next work will be carried out, hahaha. ”

"Hey!" Masaki Satta bowed again, "Endo-senpai, let's go now, no matter if we succeed or fail, we will definitely come to the door to thank you in person!" ”

"Let's go!" Minoru Endo waved his hand impatiently again, "Go ahead, there's a lot of nonsense!" ”

After bowing again, Sada Masashi pulled Cao Zhiqiang away.

During this period, Cao Zhiqiang was also a little embarrassed, after all, Sada Masashi bowed at every turn, and he was very uncomfortable as a person who just nodded.

Alas, if you don't say it, the Japanese love to bow is really tiring to the neck.

After leaving the headquarters building of the Japan Music Copyright Society, Masashi Sada immediately said excitedly to Cao Zhiqiang: "Cao San, great, with the help of Endo's seniors, this Warner Records will definitely be negotiated, I have this hunch."

Let's go to Warner immediately, don't take the subway, take a taxi, I'll pay! ”

"Can you rest for a while before you go?" Cao Zhiqiang shook his right arm and said, "I wrote too many words before, and my arm is sore." ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Masashi Soda smiled, "I forgot, you just wrote so many songs in one go, and you really need to take a break."

Well, let's go find a café nearby, have a cup of coffee, and then go. ”

Cao Zhiqiang nodded, and agreed.

After drinking coffee, eating a little snack, and resting for a while, Cao Zhiqiang followed Masashi Sada again, took a taxi, and went straight to the headquarters of Warner Pioneer Records.

Although Warner Pioneer Records is an American-funded company, after all, Warner Heads Office accounts for 50% of the shares and is the largest shareholder.

But in fact, most of the people who manage this company are Japanese.

There is no way, Japan has a high degree of modernization, but at least in the early 80s, it was actually a very conservative society, and many traditional things were difficult to change for a while.

Therefore, don't look at Japan as a colony of the United States, but in fact, at least in the early eighties, the penetration of American capital into Japan was not obvious, and it was not as arrogant as it was later.

Of course, no matter what, Japan is the little brother of the United States after all, so Japanese companies with American backgrounds will basically not be particularly suppressed in some specific industries, such as the entertainment industry, which is the so-called entertainment industry.

Yakuza organizations like the Yamaguchi-gumi would not dare to use some unacceptable methods to find companies like Warner Pioneer.

Not to mention the giant Warner Company behind it, even if it is another major shareholder, Pioneer Electronics Company, it is not ordinary people who dare to find trouble in Japan.

To put it mildly, the Japanese Warner Pioneer Records in the early 80s, although in terms of fame, are far inferior to JVC and Polydo, but when it comes to the strength background, it is not much worse.

In Japan, in the 80s, if you want to mix in the entertainment industry, if you don't have a background, it's useless to have strength.

For example, Teresa Teng, although she worked very hard in Japan in her early years, it was actually the Chinese-speaking circle that made her really famous.

As for the Japanese circle, Teresa Teng was okay when she was mixed in Japan in her early years, but since Teresa Teng left Japan, she has long since disappeared, and not many people remember her.

The reason is very simple, that is, the competition in the Japanese record industry during this period was really fierce, and singers emerged in an endless stream, and if you didn't pay attention to it, it disappeared.

Therefore, the singers who can fight their way out of the siege in the 80s are really not ordinary people.

Because of this, whether it is Akina Nakamori or Kyoko Koizumi, they are all real cattle people.

Cao Zhiqiang's so-called disdain is just that he doesn't understand this history.

After a while, Cao Zhiqiang and Masashi Sada came to the headquarters building of Warner Pioneer and went straight inside.

Because they had made an appointment before, the two of them quickly met Tokugen Yamamoto, the president of Warner Pioneer.

Yamamoto Tokugen is a man who looks like he is in his early fifties, and he is also dressed in a decent suit, but he looks more serious and steady, and he is more majestic than Minoru Endo, and he looks like a big man.

Unlike Minoru Endo, he looks more like a well-dressed and smiling uncle.

Although Yamamoto Tokugen was a little unsmiling, but after all, it was introduced by Minoru Endo, so I still listened carefully to Sada Masashi to introduce Cao Zhiqiang's situation and some of his cooperation demands.

After listening to Masashi Sada introduce his intentions and listening to the demo of "As Long as You", Yamamoto Tokugen nodded lightly: "Not bad, Endo-san didn't lie to me, he really sang very well, and the song was written well, very good, I liked it as soon as I heard it, and it has the potential to be a big hit." ”

After praising Cao Zhiqiang's song, Yamamoto Deyuan frowned again, and then nodded at Cao Zhiqiang and Sada Masashi and said: "This, I have a general understanding of Cao Sang's situation, although he is not Japanese, he is from the mainland, and he is still on a business visa, so there is a little trouble, but this is not a big problem."

After all, this is a period of friendship between China and Japan, and the visa issue can be solved as long as we are willing to help.

The real problem is that you're too demanding, and you just want to work with us on this song, which isn't good. ”

After thinking about it, Yamamoto Tokugen said: "In this way, for the sake of Endo's seniors, we are willing to sign a sincere artist contract with Cao Zhiqiangjun."

Originally, our artists here generally get a fixed salary, but I guess you definitely don't like it.

In this way, I also think that Cao Sang's talent is very good, and in the future, as long as Cao Sang writes and sings the songs himself, he can get three percent of the wholesale price, how about it?

By the way, Cao Sang probably doesn't know what this wholesale price of three percent means, let me give you a brief explanation. ”

After speaking, Yamamoto Tokugen introduced what it means to be three percent of the wholesale price.

To put it simply, Warner Pioneer produces a record, makes its own record, publishes its own record, and then sells the record to some wholesalers at a wholesale price.

These wholesalers usually include some retailers, or music publishers.

Generally speaking, the retail price of a single record in Japan is 3,000 yen, which is generally a flat price.

The wholesale price of a record with a retail price of 3,000 yen is generally around 2,000 yen.

Of course, the specific wholesalers are different, and the price of the goods is different, anyway, it is about 3,000 retail prices, and the wholesale price of the goods is about 2,000.

If the original copyright of a song is in the hands of the artist's agency, not Warner, then the agency can get three percent of the wholesale price.

For example, if the wholesale price of a single record is 2,000 yen, then the artist's agency can get three percent, or 60 yen.

This percentage is already very high.

If it's an album, the price is high, usually between 6,000 yen and 8,000 yen, and the price can be as high as 10,000 yen for a particularly awesome singer.

Generally speaking, if a newcomer wants to sign a record company, he or she has to sell the copyright of the song to the record company, and then the record is sold, and the copyright fee belongs to the company, and the artist can only get one percent of the wholesale price, or simply only have a fixed salary.

Don't dislike it, in fact, as a newcomer, even if you are willing to sell the copyright of your song to the company, people don't have to, and they may not be willing to sign you.

To put it bluntly, for the current Japanese record industry, there is never a shortage of singers, what is lacking is a good platform.

Warner Pioneer is a very good platform, only if you sign a big platform, this platform is willing to support you, you have a chance to become famous, and only when you become famous and become a star can you make money.

Looking at it this way, Warner Pioneer Ken signed Cao Zhiqiang as soon as he came up, and he was willing to give a three-percent agreement, which is already very sincere.

The only problem is that Warner Pioneer wants to sign Cao Zhiqiang's five-year contract, and he can only be an artist of Warner Pioneer for five years.

In other words, within five years, all the songs written by Cao Zhiqiang can only be published and distributed by Warner Pioneer, and they are not allowed to be sold to other record companies, even if the copyright is your own.

This is called copyright restriction.

In other words, Warner Pioneer does not require copyright ownership, but there must be copyright restrictions, and for five years, Cao Zhiqiang will be the exclusive artist of Warner, and the songs written and sung by Cao Zhiqiang during this period can only be published and distributed by Warner.

Of course, if Cao Zhiqiang doesn't want to sing the song himself after writing it, he has to sing it for others, but it can only be released by Warner and is not allowed to be handed over to other companies.

There are some such copyright restrictions, how to say it.

Although it is indeed a rule, it is much more relaxed than other record companies, but Cao Zhiqiang still feels very restricted.

Because that's the equivalent of selling yourself for five years.

In the past five years, all the songs that Cao Zhiqiang wants to release, whether he sings it himself or for others, can only be handed over to Warner Pioneer for distribution, and is not allowed to be given to others.

It's like if you are a netizen in the future, you sign a contract with the starting point, and the contract stipulates that there is a five-year copyright limit, and then during the contract period, you can only publish the book at the starting point, and you are not allowed to publish the book on other websites.

Even if your work has already been written, the copyright belongs to you, and even the pen name is different, and you are not allowed to post it on other sites.

It seems fair, but Cao Zhiqiang is not happy to be subject to this restriction.

Without him, this is equivalent to him selling a lot of famous songs and songs at a low price in five years, unless he deliberately hides them in the snow for five years and then takes them out after five years, which he can't bear.

Cao Zhiqiang plagiarized, no, the songs he created are all really good songs, and they are the essence of another world.

Good songs are also dignified!

Cao Zhiqiang does not allow himself to sell these good songs easily, and he doesn't want to make wedding dresses for others.

So, it's okay to collaborate on a few songs alone, but if you want to buy out his five-year copyright distribution rights, no!

(End of chapter)