Chapter 23: Intercepted Midway

A day later, Ethan sat in the recording studio of Faith Music Company, watching as the sound engineer, Garcia, recorded a young black girl with her hair in a ponytail. Garcia appeared disinterested, giving occasional advice while distractedly playing with his phone.

The girl's singing was subpar, even worse than Raymond's, as at least Raymond didn't sing off-key.

After the girl finished singing, Ethan discreetly left the studio and headed to Yesan's office.

As he approached, he saw the door open, with Yesan and Giorgio exiting, both smiling and seeming to have had a pleasant discussion.

Upon seeing Ethan, Giorgio extended his hand, "I've finished talking with Mr. Yesan. Thank you, Ethan."

"It seems like you two have reached an agreement?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, with a half-smile.

Giorgio glanced at Yesan, who was dressed in suspenders and a white shirt. They both smiled knowingly.

After Giorgio left, Yesan called Ethan and Raymond into his office.

Raymond, seeing Yesan's expression, sensed that the negotiations had gone smoothly and couldn't contain his excitement.

"So, Yesan, did Republic Records offer a better deal than SBK?" Raymond asked eagerly.

Yesan lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled, letting the smoke envelop him before answering, "Yes, Republic Records offered a much better deal than SBK—35% commission, ample promotional budget, and no deductions from mechanical royalties."

"Wow! That's fantastic!" Raymond exclaimed, pumping his fist.

"But there's a small condition," Yesan said, looking at Raymond.

Raymond frowned, "What condition?"

"You'll need to release your singles and subsequent albums under a pseudonym," Yesan said.

Raymond immediately objected, "No way!"

"Why? Raymond, do you want to release your new album under the name of the notorious Beast Star from the New York accident?" Yesan exhaled smoke, hiding his expression behind it.

"Should I use some ridiculous name like Big A or Old T? I'll lose face in the community!"

"Face or money is more important!" Yesan retorted.

Raymond didn't agree, "I want to be famous so people can recognize me and say, 'Hey, it's rapper Raymond!' not have them ask, 'Who the hell is this?'"

Ethan interjected, "No, Raymond, you need to understand, you've already been seen in the MV. People will recognize you as the singer of that great song. And it's only temporary—once the sales take off, you can reveal your real name!"

"But that's not what I want!" Raymond persisted, "Am I supposed to correct everyone who calls me Big A by saying I'm Raymond? Who's going to remember that? And what if it gets out later? 'Wow, Big A actually sang a terrible song! Didn't see that coming!'"

Raymond mimicked a sarcastic tone, his chest heaving.

Ethan shrugged. It was clear Raymond was reluctant to let go of the Beast Star name, perhaps out of stubbornness, but that's the nature of a performer.

"Alright, let's not dwell on this," Yesan said, clearly frustrated with Raymond's attitude, waving the smoke away. "We'll talk about names later; let's focus on the contract. I'm inclined to accept Republic Records' terms."

"What about Fes' offer?" Ethan asked.

"Yesan replied, "He left everything to me." Yesan added with disdain, "That fool is always wrapped up in women's issues and even wants to make her a star. Damn it, Fes seems bewitched; he agrees to anything as long as it makes money."

"And SBK?" Ethan asked.

Yesan banged the table, "Let those greedy vampires die. I don't give a damn about them anymore. They'll regret their tricky contracts."

Just then, someone barged in, "Is that so? Who will regret?"

"Damn it!" Yesan looked astonished at the newcomer.

Ethan and Raymond didn't recognize the man.

"Edmond, what are you doing here?" Yesan asked. Only he knew that the thin, middle-aged man with a briefcase and gold-rimmed glasses was one of the senior figures at SBK who had proposed the harsh contract.

Edmond smirked, "I'm here about your new song, Raymond."

Ignoring Yesan's displeasure, Edmond sat on the sofa and said, "I wanted to remind you that while Republic Records is a subsidiary of Universal, they only have one artist and lack experience in promoting singers. SBK, on the other hand, is a major player, part of the Big Five. To put it bluntly, even a dog could achieve platinum sales with us."

He clasped his hands on his knee, leaning forward, and continued, "So, choosing Republic Records is a shame... It means missing out on platinum sales and professional promotion."

The others fell silent. Ethan countered, "But Republic Records' artist 3 Doors Down just achieved five-times platinum sales."

"Yes, and so what?" Edmond said dismissively, "Such results are common with us."

Edmond then suddenly asked Ethan, "Are you the producer of this song?"

Yesan answered for him, "No, he's the MV director!"

Edmond squinted, noting Ethan's face.

Raymond, irritated by Edmond's attitude, snapped, "So what's professional promotion? Is it just making me use a pseudonym and deceive everyone?"

At Raymond's outburst, Yesan's chair scraped sharply, and Ethan frowned.

Edmond, on the other hand, smiled, "A pseudonym? Republic Records has some interesting ideas, but we don't need such promotional strategies. We have plenty of critics and radio channels. If you want to change your image with fans, just one word from us will do it!"

"Really?" Raymond seemed intrigued.

Yesan interrupted quickly, "Even so, the contract? I can't accept SBK's deal, and neither can Raymond!"

Edmond adjusted his glasses, "That's why I'm here. Don't get the wrong idea. Just because you contacted Republic Records doesn't mean we'll back down. After our joint assessment, we believe your single deserves more promotion. We can increase the promotional budget by 50%."

"Additionally, I personally like your song, including that Beast Star one. So, we can reduce the commission by 5%, bringing it to 35%. For a newcomer, this is already a fantastic deal. I hope you consider it carefully."

After speaking, Edmond abruptly stood up and left, just as suddenly as he had arrived. He paused at the door to add, "I advise you not to harbor unrealistic fantasies. If you choose Republic Records, your song's sales will definitely suffer. SBK never goes easy on competitors. A pseudonym? Ha, that's quite amusing."

Once Edmond left, Ethan shut the door firmly, while Yesan smashed his ashtray on the floor with a loud crash.

"F**K! Did you see that? He's threatening us!"

"But he didn't make me use a pseudonym!"

"Idiot!" Yesan fumed, "Who knows how much promotional budget we'd actually get! And he didn't even budge on mechanical royalties! Do you know how much those are worth? Hundreds of thousands? Millions! F**K, ask yourself if you can make that much with your next album!"

"Why not?"

Ethan sat back on the sofa, crossing his legs and watching the argument.

Seeing that neither was backing down, he interjected, "Alright, let's stop this. The Republic Records contract is better, and as their second signed artist, they'll allocate all promotional resources to you. But with SBK, do you want to compete with dozens of well-known artists for resources?"

Seeing Raymond fall silent, Ethan continued, "Also, regarding the pseudonym, since SBK knows about it, Republic Records can't use that strategy anymore. But that doesn't mean we don't have better options. Who says you can't have both a bad reputation and high sales?"

....

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