Superstars of Tomorrow

Chapter 447: Is It So Difficult To Just Purchase Rights?

Fang Zhao arranged for Zuo Yu and Yan Biao to send the two elder Fangs off. There were a lot of media and journalists outside the concert hall. These were media that HuangArt had screened and allowed onto their campus grounds. There would surely be even more entertainment reporters waiting outside the school.

Even if the reporters weren’t here for Fang Zhao, they had come for the people who attended the concert today.

Fang Zhao’s concert was trending online and had appeared on push notification news headlines multiple times today. There were so many big shot celebrities present that it didn’t even seem like they were attending a concert! How could the media let such a big opportunity for generating site engagement slip by?

Great-grandfather and Great-grandmother Fang were already rather aged and couldn’t withstand the media’s persistence. These entertainment reporters could get rather wild when it came to finding the scoop. Fang Zhao was only able to rest easy by sending Yan Biao and Zuo Yu to escort the two old Fangs back.

As Great-grandfather Fang was getting into the car, he still told Fang Zhao, “Don’t worry, if we run into any shameless reporters, I will send them flying with my walking stick if they dare try anything! This time, I brought my new tactical self-defense walking stick!”

Fang Zhao: “...Real impressive.”

Great-grandfather Fang happily got on the car and left.

The graduation concert came to a close smoothly. Fang Zhao’s remaining time at HuangArt was also ending. All that was left was some administrative matters regarding his thesis and academic reports. Other than that, he would also have to handle talks regarding the sales of his copyrights.

While walking from the concert hall back to his dormitory, Fang Zhao received close to a dozen calls.

At the same time, Yanzhou’s Silver Wing Media, which had received firsthand information of this concert, was ecstatic.

After all, Fang Zhao could be considered a star that they had nurtured. The recognition and high evaluations from academics also brought glory to Silver Wing! Other artists at Silver Wing would also benefit from the reputation boost.

Without even considering copyrights or gaming, Fang Zhao was still contracted to them on the music side, so they still had the rights.

Seven songs!

They had been given an A+ high score by HuangArt’s evaluation committee!

They had the choice in how many copyrights they wanted to keep for internal use and how many they wanted to auction!

Silver Wing’s current problem was to determine the process in how to sell them and who to sell them to.

Unlike Fang Zhao’s previous concert that had live broadcasts that were made public, the graduation concert’s processes were different. There hadn’t been too many people attending the concert, so there was a lot of opportunity for marketing promotions.

When the graduation concert’s final evaluation came out, Silver Wing Media CEO Duan Qianji got her secretary to convene an online meeting for relevant personnel within the company to discuss the issue of Fang Zhao’s seven song copyrights and how to get the most out of them.

It was still very early in the morning over in Yanzhou due to the time difference, and many people still hadn’t woken up yet.

When the senior executive in charge of copyrights and marketing received the notification, he didn’t even have time for his normal morning routine. He hurriedly threw some water on his face before joining the conference call.

They had already discussed the matter about Fang Zhao’s concert beforehand and made preparations. Now, they were just making a final decision according to the concert’s evaluations before beginning follow-up actions.

Once everyone was present and the conference was about to start, Duan Qianji’s communications device rang. She had to disconnect to take the call.

Duan Qianji had a slightly complicated look on her face when she returned to the conference call but she quickly hid it.

“We’re gathered here to discuss the marketing for Fang Zhao’s graduation concert’s songs. Just moments ago, the Inter-planetary Fund contacted me. They have decided to buy out ‘η’ and have a reasonable offer. Therefore, we now only have to discuss the remaining six songs.”

Most of the senior executives were very surprised at this news. They never imagined that the song they felt would be hardest to deal with would actually be sold first. And, it had been a straight buyout!

“The remaining six songs...”

A senior marketing executive had merely said this when Duan Qianji’s communications rang once more. It wouldn’t have rang during the conference call if it wasn’t important.

Thus, nobody complained about the interruption. Everyone merely exchanged glances at one another while trying to guess who was it that was seeking out Duan Qianji.

Duan Qianji’s eyes lit up when she saw the displayed number on the communications device. This was a number that she really couldn’t reject.

Thus, Duan Qianji once again disconnected to take the call. Approximately five minutes later, she rejoined the conference call and informed the other participants. “The song ‘Bu’ has been reserved by Bu Base. Straight buyout. Aside from that, they also have an inclination towards ‘Limitless’.”

The participants of the conference call fell silent.

“The song ‘Bu’ is indeed rather compatible with Bu Base. It is no surprise Bu Base acted so quickly. As for ‘Limitless’, we can hold onto it first to wait and see how it goes.”

Duan Qianji nodded. “I also have the same opinion. Then, let’s talk about the remaining five songs...”

Beep Beep Beep!

Hurried beeps from a communications device’s notifications interrupted the conference call.

The holographic projections of the various senior executives all turned to look at Duan Qianji.

Duan Qianji glanced at the displayed number on the communications device and was silent for a few moments. “I will have to leave the call again for a bit.”

This time, Duan Qian left for a slightly longer period of time and returned once more after about ten minutes.

“Baiji Military District wishes to buyout ‘Limitless’. The offer is extremely high.”

A very high price...

Everyone present starting playing out the pros and cons in their head.

“Since it’s a very high offer, it isn’t like we can’t take it. ‘Bu’ was reserved by Planet Bu, so the complete ‘Limitless’ rights can be sold to Planet Baiji,” someone said.

The others nodded their heads in approval. “Bu” and “Limitless” weren’t what they considered must-keeps. This arrangement wasn’t a violation in any way.

The conference call had merely gone on for ten minutes, and three out of seven songs had already been sold. Furthermore, these were complete buyouts where buyers weren’t willing to share the copyrights. Fortunately, these three songs weren’t in Silver Wing’s core plans.

However, another senior official couldn’t help but blurt out, “Director Duan, three songs are enough! We can’t sell the complete rights for the remaining songs! At least, we can’t sell them all now. Let’s hold them first. We can allocate the copyrights carefully and negotiate authorizing collaborations. We should also especially retain the ones suitable for rearranging and adaptation right? This year’s circumstances aren’t too good. The company’s plans are to further promote some of our core singers. It just so happens that there are some suitable pieces amongst Fang Zhao’s pieces this year. These excellent resources cannot be given out!”

Nothing would be left if a few more similar calls were answered!

——

Huangzhou TV Station.

As the TV station possessing the world’s largest music library, Huangzhou TV Station spent massive amounts of resources to purchase rights every year.

They had money! They could be assertive!

The person in charge of purchasing music rights also had his eyes on Fang Zhao’s graduation concert. Recently, Fang Zhao’s concert was trending and frequently appeared on news notifications. Today, the news regarding the concert erupted, and it was too difficult not to notice.

It just so happened a documentary director of the TV station had attended this concert and was fervently recommending the TV station to just get all of Fang Zhao’s seven songs.

There was no need to be the exclusive buyer and just obtaining the rights would do. In any case, it wouldn’t be that much money. After doing the budgeting, this little bit of expenditure was something their Huangzhou TV Station could accept.

The manager viewed this purchase with great importance and specially called his staff over to inquire about the progress.

“How are the negotiations regarding the seven songs of Fang Zhao’s graduation concert?”

“We have already gotten ‘Splendor’ and ‘The Return Of Life’!” the purchaser reported.

“What about ‘Lighthouse’?” the manager asked.

“It’s in the middle of negotiations. There’s been a few problems.”

The manager wasn’t pleased. “If there are problems, then resolve them! Is it so difficult to negotiate copyrights?”

He frowned while browsing through the purchasing plan in his hands and asked again. “What about ‘η’? I heard that this song has some special characteristics that stumped the HuangArt evaluation committee.”

“We can’t get this song anymore. Silver Wing has said ‘η’ has already been exclusively bought out by the Inter-planetary Fund,” the agent replied.

The manager was expressionless as he rapped his knuckles on the table. “The Inter-planetary Fund moved really quickly.”

Alright, that couldn’t be helped.

“Then, what about ‘Bu’?” The manager continued asking.

“Uh... we can’t get this either. Silver Wing said that it has already been reserved by Planet Bu in an exclusive buyout too. No authorization for sharing was given.”

“Are you certain it is a straight buyout? What does Planet Bu need this for?”

“A new round of talent recruitment by the various bases has started, and Bu Base wants it for publicity. However, from my personal point of view, I also think that besides Bu Base valuing ‘Bu’ highly, their actions are also in a sense returning a favor. Fang Zhao directly donated many billions to Bu Base, and they are probably doing this as a show of support.”

“Makes sense, Planet Bu received a change in fortune from Fang Zhao.”

The manager shut his eyes.

Okay, they too couldn’t be dealt with.

“What about ‘Limitless’? HuangArt’s evaluation committee gave it a very high evaluation. We definitely have to get this!” the manager said.

“This... also... also can’t be obtained,” the agent stuttered. “Silver Wing says that Baiji Military District intends to buyout.”

There was a cracking sound. The pen being fiddled with by the manager snapped, and his breathing was somewhat ragged.

“What is Planet Baiji buying it for?”

“It... it is said that Planet Baiji currently values cultural and creative constructs... From what I understand, in the current graduation season, they are targeting graduates and doctorates as well as other elite talents who intend to change jobs. These bases won’t yield the slightest when it comes to vying for talent. Planet Baiji seems to have really put in great effort for publicity. They set their sights on ‘Limitless’ and have a publicity film coming into circulation in the near future. This is also an exclusive buyout with no authorization for sharing. It’s a really firm stance and can’t be negotiated.”

The manager inhaled sharply.

Is a buyout necessary for making a publicity film?!

Those bunch of upstarts on Planet Baiji! Does having ore make you all that great?!

Is it so difficult to just purchase rights?!

What’s wrong with all these people? Exclusive buyouts at the drop of a hat!