1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan looked at Anita Mui, not expecting that she would say this.

In fact, Zhou Yan did think about turning If Love Has God's Will into a song before. After all, its original version more than love was a Korean song, and it was later sung into several versions.

However, he has been busy lately, so he wants to finish the soundtrack first, and then finish the songs when he has time and opportunity later. Anyway, as long as the songs are out, there is no need to rush other things.

Now Anita Mui has taken the initiative to mention it, probably because she has become interested in this piece of music.

Zhou Yan took advantage of the situation and said, I did have this idea before, but on the one hand, I have been too busy recently and can't spare any time. On the other hand, I haven't found a suitable singer.

As he said this, he laughed again, I can't sing it myself.

You can sing for me. Anita Mui is indeed a very cheerful person, not sloppy at all, Give me the song and I will make it into a song. I really like this song, and this song The melody of the piece is perfect for a song.”

Zhou Yan nodded, I personally am willing to give you the song to sing, but I signed a contract with Tomson Company, so in terms of work matters, Tomson is now the sole agent.

Anita Mui understood what Zhou Yan meant and said with a smile, As long as you are willing to give me the song to sing, then I will ask Hua Xing to contact Tomson directly.

No problem. Zhou Yan nodded again, and then asked, Sister Mei, are you going to make it in Cantonese or Mandarin?

Anita Mui thought for a while, shook her head and said, I really haven't seriously considered this, but my next album will be in Cantonese, so there is a high chance that it will be in Cantonese.

okay, I get it.

Zhou Yan didn't say much. In fact, he hoped that Anita Mui would be made in Mandarin, because he couldn't get involved in the Cantonese version of the lyrics.

But it doesn't matter, anyway, he can't sell all the copyright of the song to China Star. If Anita Mui only makes a Cantonese version this time, he can take the song back, re-write the lyrics, and make it into a Mandarin version.

It’s not just a Mandarin version. If there is a chance in the future, it can actually be made into a Korean version or a neon version and exported to the outside world.

Anita Mui was very happy to get Zhou Yan's consent. Then she looked at the time and said, It's getting late now, I'll leave first.

It's already dinner time. Let's stay and eat before leaving. Zhou Yan persuaded him with a smile.

Anita Mui shook her head, Before it's too late, I want to contact Huaxing and tell them about the song. If you have time, tell Tomson too so that they can be prepared. .”

It can be seen that Anita Mui is indeed very eager to finalize this matter.

Okay, I'll tell the company later.

…

After Yu Ran and the others left after dinner, Zhou Yan called Xu Feng.

The call was received by a little boy, probably Xu Feng's son. Hearing that Zhou Yan was looking for Xu Feng, he shouted: Mom, look for your phone number.

After a while, Xu Feng walked over and picked up the phone, Hello, who is this?

Sister Feng, I am Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan. Xu Feng laughed, What's the matter with calling me at this time?

Sister Feng, didn't I tell you two days ago that Director Hou asked me to score his new movie?

Well, I even talked to him, what's wrong?

I had written a song for the movie, and Anita Mui happened to hear it, and she wanted to make it into a song.

Zhou Yan suddenly talked about Hou Xiaoxian's movie and Anita Mui. The gap was so big that Xu Feng didn't react at all.

You also know Anita Mui? Xu Feng asked.

Zhou Yan explained with a smile, We just met yesterday. Teacher Li Bihua brought her to my house to listen to the soundtrack of Green Snake.

Xu Feng understood now that Li Bihua was very familiar with Anita Mui. She should have brought Anita Mui to meet Zhou Yan, and then Anita Mui heard Zhou Yan's song from Zhou Yan, and then wanted to make Zhou Yan's song into a song.

Although Xu Feng has not heard the music written by Zhou Yan for Dream Life, but since Anita Mui likes it, it naturally means that the music is very good, and it is definitely suitable for becoming a song.

Xu Feng on the other end of the phone raised his eyebrows. Before, Xu Feng had been thinking that Zhou Yan's songs were all pure music. If he wanted to spread them, they would definitely be through movies or pure music albums. But what Zhou Yan said now, suddenly It opened up Xu Feng's thinking.

It seems that Zhou Yan's music is not impossible to make into a song.

Can you listen to that piece of music for me? Xu Feng asked.

No problem, it was just recorded today, please wait a moment.

After saying that, Zhou Yan went to get the large cassette player from home, then found the tape he had recorded today, put it in, and started playing it into the microphone.

Xu Feng held the microphone and listened carefully. After the first sad melody ended, she knew why Anita Mui liked this song. It was indeed very suitable for making a pop song.

In the second paragraph, Xu Feng's idea was further strengthened because she heard Anita Mui's voice.

Xu Feng had a feeling that this song, even if it didn't deserve the lyrics, would still be nice if it just made Anita Mui keep saying Ah~ like this.

When the whole song ended, Xu Feng said with a smile, If I were Anita Mui, I would definitely want to sing it, and the style of this song is very suitable for her. What does she say now? Do you want to buy this song?

She really wants this song, and I have already told her that I have signed a contract with Tomson and my work is all represented by Tomson. She also said that Huaxing will contact you. Zhou Yan said.

Well, I understand. What about you? What are your thoughts on the price? Xu Feng asked.

I have no idea about the price, but all the copyrights to the music cannot be sold out to them.

Xu Feng smiled and said, It's the same as what I thought. Let's do this. Your business is getting more and more. I will send you a special agent and assistant. In the future, he can handle these matters directly.

Zhou Yan was not surprised at all when he heard that Xu Feng was going to assign an assistant to him. After all, Xu Feng was so busy that he couldn't worry about trivial matters every day.

In fact, before this, Tomson was purely a film investment company, and its working model was simple. The boss paid for it, and the wife of the boss was responsible for organizing the shooting, and later looking for other companies to assist in distribution.

Now that Zhou Yan is here, the model has become a little more complicated. Tomson also has the nature of a brokerage company, and he has to help Zhou Yan, the artist, handle various affairs.

Of course, they don't know how to produce records. In the later stage, if Zhou Yan's album needs to be produced, it will be outsourced to other companies for production and production.

Then where will my assistant work in the future? Zhou Yan asked.

Since he is your assistant, of course it depends on where your work arrangements require him to be. Xu Feng smiled and said, I will give him your contact information, and he will contact you later.

What's the assistant's name?

Zhang Youan, he knows the record industry very well. You can talk to him about anything about music. If it involves movies, you can also talk to him.

Okay, I understand, then I'll wait for his call.

Um.

Xu Feng also smiled after hanging up the phone. She saw more potential in Zhou Yan.

The song just now, if it is made into a song, will definitely not be bad, not to mention becoming a hit. From this point of view, Zhou Yan's songs have hope of developing into pop songs.

In this way, Zhou Yan's development path becomes wider.

…

After talking to Xu Feng on the phone, about half an hour later, Zhou Yan's phone rang.

Zhou Yan ran to pick up the phone, Hello, hello.

Hello, are you Mr. Zhou Yanzhou? I am your assistant Zhang Youan.

The voice sounded like that of a man in his thirties or forties, with a thick Xiangjiang accent.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, Hello, I am Zhou Yan, and I will have to work hard for you from now on. Did Sister Feng tell you about Anita Mui?

Zhang Youan said, I already know about this. If the company receives a call from China Star Records or Ms. Anita Mui, it will be transferred to me and I will be responsible for the call. Mr. Zhou can rest assured.

Hearing Zhang Youan's words, Zhou Yan nodded. The assistant Xu Feng arranged for him gave people a sense of reliability just by listening to his voice.

Will you come to Yanjing soon? Zhou Yan asked again.

I still have some unfinished work in Shanghai. I expect to arrive in Yanjing in three days. I will contact you in advance before going. Zhang Youan replied.

OK.

I heard from Mr. Xu that you don't want to sell the copyright of the music to Huaxing, right?

That's right.

Is there anything else that needs to be paid attention to during the negotiation? For example, fees or sharing ratios. What are your thoughts?

No, you can talk about this while you watch.

Ok, I see.

Well, if there is any problem, we can communicate at any time.

…

In the afternoon of the next day, Zhou Yan received another call from Zhang Youan. Huaxing Company had already contacted Tomson, and Zhang Youan had also talked to people from Huaxing.

Regarding the cooperation model, the two parties have not yet reached a unified opinion. Huaxing still hopes to buy out the copyright of If Love Is God's Will in one go, and said that the fee can be higher.

From Huaxing's point of view, of course, they must get all the copyrights so that they can feel at ease. Otherwise, they may face some unnecessary losses later.

So, they would rather pay a little more at the beginning.

Zhang Youan also insisted on the bottom line, saying that not selling out was the basis for them to continue the negotiation.

In the music market now, there are many cooperation models, and it all depends on how the songwriter negotiates with the record company.

Generally unknown songwriters basically sell out their songs, because if you don't sell them out, the record companies won't want your songs at all, and you won't get much money in the early stage.

Many newcomers, in order to allow singers to use their songs and to get money early, will choose to sell out their songs to record companies.

Some well-known songwriters will choose to sign a copyright agreement with a record company and agree on the subsequent share ratio.

If it is a negotiated share, then as long as the song is still selling or someone sings it, the songwriter can share the money.

These two options have pros and cons. The former can sell your songs as soon as possible and get money, but the latter is more promising and longer-term.

The second model is more suitable for high-quality works, because the higher the quality of the work, the more revenue it can generate in the future.

Zhou Yan is a real newcomer in the field of writing pop songs, but it is impossible for Huaxing to treat Zhou Yan as a newcomer. After all, Zhou Yan has already released many music works.

From the beginning, Zhang Youan's attitude was not low when he negotiated with them.

Our director Zhou is a well-known musician with many works, but there happened to be a song that Anita Mui liked, and she wanted to make it into a pop song. Do you want it?

Of course, how this matter will be negotiated in the end depends on whether the buyer's willingness is strong enough, that is, whether Anita Mui really wants the song.

If Anita Mui really wants this song, then Hua Xing will definitely have to make concessions.

The music was composed by Zhou Yan, and the song was sung by Anita Mui. But in fact, by this time, they no longer needed to intervene in this matter. All that was left was for Hua Xing to talk to Zhang Youan. Zhou Yan and Anita Mui just wanted a result.

The result that Anita Mui wants is for Hua Xing to get the music, while the result that Zhou Yan wants is to keep the copyright and get as much money as possible.

After two more days of back and forth, the two sides finally settled the matter.

The agreement was very detailed, including how to share the shares for subsequent songs included in the album, how to share the shares if others want to cover them, how to share the shares if someone wants to perform commercially... Zhang Youan clearly understood a lot of regulations.

In this song, Zhou Yan received a very small percentage of the share, and the basic fee was only 10,000 yuan. However, what satisfied Zhou Yan was that he had relatively good control over the copyright and would not leave any future troubles.

If Zhou Yan wants to make other versions in the future, it will be easy to operate.

When the two parties were negotiating the agreement, Anita Mui was actually in Yanjing, but she had never been to Zhou Yan's house once.

But the morning after the agreement was negotiated, Anita Mui went to Zhou Yan's house.

When they met again, their identities changed subtly, and they became collaborators.

Anita Mui was very happy to get the song. After meeting, she even patted Zhou Yan on the shoulder generously, Ayan, don't worry, I will definitely sing this song well. Next, I need to find someone to give me the lyrics first. Write it and try to record it before August.”

Have you decided to make a Cantonese version? Zhou Yan asked.

Anita Mui nodded, Well, the company also tends to make a Cantonese version. I happen to have a Cantonese album in November, so I can put it in directly.

Because she will release an album in November, she wants to find someone to write the lyrics as soon as possible and then record it as soon as possible.

Zhou Yan also expressed his understanding of this. After all, Huaxing and the others would not be able to make another Mandarin album specifically for Anita Mui, and it would not be appropriate to put a Mandarin song into a Cantonese album.

Anita Mui may have felt that Zhou Yan wanted her to make a Mandarin version, so she smiled and said, There will still be a chance to make a Mandarin album in the future.

Um.

Zhou Yan nodded. In fact, he had thought about asking Anita Mui to sing a Mandarin version and then put it directly into Dream Life as an interlude.

But the film The Dream of Life is too boring. It's okay to put music in it, but if you put songs in, the music will feel separated from the picture. It doesn't mean that the songs are good and the pictures are good-looking, and they can be matched together. .

In addition, it is a pity that Anita Mui will no longer hold concerts after her farewell concert last year. Otherwise, Zhou Yan could write a Mandarin version for her and let her sing in the concert.

I came here today not only to talk to you about the song, but also to say goodbye to you. I will go back to Hong Kong tomorrow. Speaking of this, Anita Mui smiled, Since the farewell concert ended, I have become a lot more relaxed. , it’s time to get back to work.”

Come to Yanjing more often in the future, I will open the door to you at any time. Zhou Yan said with a smile.

No problem, I'll go to Xiangjiang when I have time. You haven't been to Xiangjiang yet, right?

Zhou Yan nodded and said with a smile, Well, I really haven't been there, but I will go there in a while. The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly is going to have a promotional event, and one of its stops is in Xiangjiang.

Anita Mui asked with a smile, Then do you want me to go support you then?

Zhou Yan smiled and said, Sister Mei, you are such a busy person, how can you have time to participate in our little event.

Anita Mui waved her hands indifferently, I'm not busy... Anyway, when you arrive in Xiangjiang, remember to contact me. Even if I can't go to cheer you up, we will meet when we have time, and I will take you to have fun in Xiangjiang. Yanjing is not bad either. , but Xiangjiang is still very different from Yanjing.

Zhou Yan nodded, I'm also looking forward to the trip to Xiangjiang.

…

After Anita Mui left, Zhou Yan wrote the music for San Mao Joins the Army at home for a while, and then rushed to Yanjing Studio with lunch in hand.

Although he was here for a meal, Zhou Yan still went to the location to have a look as usual.

At this time, the morning scenes have been filmed, the staff are packing things, and director Chen Kaige is talking to the actors.

Zhou Yan saw a familiar figure from a distance. He came closer and looked to the side. Sure enough, it was Gong Li.

Sister Li. Zhou Yan greeted with a smile.

Gong Li turned around and saw Zhou Yan, and was very happy, Hey, I haven't seen him for such a long time. You've gained some weight.

Zhou Yan and Gong Li hadn't seen each other for a year and a half, so Zhou Yan's changes were very obvious in her eyes.

Chen Kaige also smiled and said, Oh, yes, Gong Li, you and Zhou Yan are also old comrades in arms.

Gong Li laughed heartily, Comrade, Zhou Yan is like my brother. I know he is here. I was looking for him when I came here just now.

Others present were not surprised to see that Gong Li and Zhou Yan had such a good relationship. After all, in the movie Raise the Red Lantern, Zhou Yan and Gong Li had emotional scenes.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, Sister Li helped me a lot when I was on the set of Raise the Red Lantern. Otherwise, I, a newcomer who has never acted before, would really not be able to grasp the role of Chen Feipu.

Gong Li smiled and said to the others, I haven't seen him for more than a year, and this kid is still so humble. As you know, if he doesn't have talent, no matter how he teaches him, it will be useless.

Jiang Wenli nodded in agreement, Director Zhou must be talented. His performance in Raise the Red Lantern didn't look like someone who was acting for the first time.

Hearing Jiang Wenli call Zhou Yan Director Zhou, Gong Li clapped her hands again and said with a smile, Yes, yes, you should call me Director Zhou now.

Zhou Yan smiled and waved his hand, Hey, you can call me whatever you want. Did Sister Li just arrive this morning?

Gong Li was still wearing a fashionable dress, obviously she was not filming in the morning.

If she had filmed Zhou Yan, she would also know that Zhou Yan had read the schedule for the filming arrangements on the set these days.

I arrived in a hurry. I didn't even have time to go to my accommodation, and my luggage was still in the car. Gong Li said with a smile.

Chen Kaige looked at the time and said, It's getting late. Let's go have dinner first. Zhou Yan just happened to be here. Let's have a small meeting after dinner.