Li Mubai was full of energy for his new song and stayed in the recording studio for three hours straight.

Adhering to the spirit of pursuing excellence, even though Uncle Qiao could not find any fault with it, Li Mubai still repeated the recording as always.

His goal was clear.

—Strive for perfection!

"Xiao Rui, take a look."

Luo Qi handed the draft profit-sharing agreement to Lin Rui.

Lin Rui has signed a contract with Tianrui Entertainment, and he will split the revenue from each song he releases with the company 50/50.

Of course, this is only the publicly disclosed revenue sharing.

In fact, the entities that need to be divided also include lyricists, arrangers, and singers who are responsible for performing.

According to industry regulations, if a company commissions a song or designates a singer, these portions will be deducted from the company's share of the profits.

Conversely, the composer is responsible for the composition.

However, Lin Rui's situation is different. He handles all the composition, lyrics, and arrangement himself, so he doesn't need to share money with these people.

The only part he had to pay was the singer's share.

Of course, Lin Rui didn't think it was unreasonable for the company to take 50%.

Even the best wine needs to be advertised.

In a world where entertainment is unprecedentedly developed, the power of an individual is incredibly insignificant.

Whether a new song can succeed depends on the support of capital in the market.

The entire publicity and promotion process requires a massive investment of human and material resources.

To put it bluntly, it's burning money!

The reason why "Those Years" was able to climb to fourth place on the graduation season new song chart so quickly is not only because of its high quality, but also because of Li Mubai's millions of fans.

With just these million fans, Tianrui Entertainment has to spend a large sum of money every year to maintain and expand them.

Not to mention, Zhou Rongze also spent a huge sum of money to buy a promotional column on [Xiazhou Cloud Music].

All of this money was funded by Tianrui Entertainment behind the scenes.

Zheng Jing also mentioned that even if "You Are the Apple of My Eye" topped the charts and downloads skyrocketed, the company still wouldn't make any money.

From the moment the promotional column was purchased, regardless of the song's final outcome, it was destined to be a losing proposition.

Lin Rui, who was still enjoying the free meals at work, took a moment to glance at the contract and was somewhat surprised: "Li Mubai only takes 10%?"

"This is my opinion. According to Mu Bai, he thinks it doesn't matter whether he takes the money or not."

"But as an agent, I have to be responsible for my team and can't let my artists do whatever they want."

Lin Rui isn't good at business negotiations, but that doesn't mean he knows nothing about them.

When Zheng Jing signed the contract with Han Jiayu, although the other party also received 10%, Zheng Jing explained that Han Jiayu was not famous, so the share was lower.

But Li Mubai is different; he's a third-tier celebrity with millions of fans, so taking 30% isn't unreasonable.

"Isn't that a bit too little?" Lin Rui hesitated for a moment.

"That's quite a lot."

At this point, Luo Qi changed the subject: "I also revised the contract details, changing the single-song system to a lifetime system."

"Simply put, even if Mu Bai becomes a superstar in the future, he will only take 10% of the credit for any song you write. And as long as you ask for a song, he must accept it regardless of its quality."

"Luo Qi!"

This was undoubtedly a bombshell. Zheng Jing, who had been smiling, suddenly changed her expression and could no longer sit still.

Old fox!

Is this a buyout?

He practically licked Lin Rui's boots and told him that Li Mubai would be his personal singer for life.

They're the kind of people who come when called and leave when dismissed!

Given Luo Qi's shrewdness, how could she possibly sign such a contract that has no advantages and no disadvantages?

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a contract of servitude!

That's incredible!

But upon further reflection, Zheng Jing began to understand Luo Qi's intentions.

She's gambling!

Betting on Lin Rui's creative ability is not a fleeting moment of brilliance.

Thinking about this, Zheng Jing couldn't help but admire Luo Qi's courage.

Lin Rui didn't understand the intricacies of these contracts, nor did he want to. Anyway, Li Mubai only took 10%, which meant he could earn more money, and that was enough for him.

After signing her name, Luo Qi left with the contract, satisfied.

After lunch, Lin Rui, seeing that there was nothing to do at the company, wanted to leave, and Zheng Jing offered to drive him back to school.

On the way, Zheng Jing received a call from Shen Yun, who was reporting on the latest developments in the graduation season's new song charts.

"Shen Yun hasn't rested much these past few days, she's been keeping an eye on the rankings," Zheng Jing said casually.

Lin Rui, recalling Shen Yun's popularity at the company, asked curiously, "Is Sister Yun also an employee of the company? By the way, which department is she in?"

"You don't know her?"

Zheng Jing looked surprised.

know?

Lin Rui felt that this scene was familiar; Shen Yun had the same expression and asked the same question back then.

"What does Sister Yun do?"

Lin Rui was somewhat innocent.

"I'm starting to wonder how I even got you into the entertainment industry in the first place."

Zheng Jing was both amused and exasperated: "Strictly speaking, Shen Yun is not an employee of Tianrui Entertainment. She is a singer who almost made it into the top tier."

So that's a second-tier singer?

Lin Rui was somewhat surprised. After confirming that Zheng Jing wasn't joking, he asked doubtfully, "And now?"

"It was banned five years ago."

"The entertainment industry is a big dye vat. Ordinary people only see its glamorous exterior, but they can't see the filth hidden under the cloak."

"The entertainment industry changes too fast these days. Five years of being sidelined is enough to make a top second-tier star completely forgotten."

Zheng Jing's tone revealed unspeakable indignation.

"What exactly happened?"

Lin Rui was somewhat curious.

"Because of a man."

To start something and then abandon it?

Unspoken rules?

Lin Rui shook his head inwardly. Zheng Jing didn't grit her teeth; instead, she looked helpless.

“At the time, Shen Yun was at the peak of her career when she fell in love with a man, and the two were very much in love.”

"Just as they were starting to discuss marriage, the man was taken away by his family."

“He comes from a large family and is the sole heir of the family. His family intervened and forced Shen Yun to leave.”

"In the eyes of these powerful families, Shen Yun, who was always in the public eye, was not qualified to be a man's wife."

Zheng Jing's tone gradually turned cold: "This is the traditional conservative thinking of large families."

"Did Sister Yun give in?" Lin Rui pressed.

“Of course not.” Zheng Jing shook her head: “In a fit of rage, the other party used their connections to blacklist Shen Yun.”

"That's outrageous!" Lin Rui exclaimed indignantly. "This melodramatic plot is infuriating! And what about the man? He just cowers away like a coward?"

"In the past five years, the man has rejected thirteen arranged marriages with his family; he has been fighting against it."

"However, he must have made some compromises with his family afterward. At the end of the year before last, the entertainment industry gradually lifted its ban on Shen Yun."

"Of course, Shen Yun also considered making a comeback, but the results were not ideal."

"It's incredibly difficult for a star who's been out of the spotlight for five years to regain their former status in the entertainment industry, which is a notoriously unpredictable place."

Zheng Jing looked wistful, whether from lamenting Shen Yun's tortuous life or the survival of the fittest in the entertainment industry.

"Have you met that man all these years, Sister Yun?"

"No, I guess this should also be within the scope of that man's compromise."

Lin Rui was slightly moved.

…

bite!

[Congratulations, host, on achieving the milestone: Artistic Reputation Points reached 100,000]

Host health increased by 10 points.

Host: Lin Rui

Age: 19

Healthy: 49 (normal value is 50)

Literary Reputation: 3721

Artistic Reputation: 132950

Overall Reputation: 135771

The Room of Items: "Since Parting"

Reputation Lottery: Available for lottery draw

Other features: To be released

Music theory is a dry and boring course, so Lin Rui, feeling utterly bored, opened the system.

As a warm feeling seeped into every corner of his body, Lin Rui felt full of vitality.

Now, his physical weakness has completely disappeared, and from now on, he has successfully shed the label of a sickly person.

Open the lottery interface.

[Would you like to spend 100,000 points of General Reputation for a 10-pull lottery...?]

"Sure."

[Your first 10-pull using your combined reputation will randomly grant you 1-3 Collector's Edition prizes...]

Collector's Edition?!

Lin Rui's heart was pounding!

Ten pulls!

I must do a 10-pull!

Just do it!