Flying over the bubble era

Chapter 166
"GENZO? What company is that? Never heard of it."

The president of BEING, a music production company located in Minato-ku, Todako, was a bit confused when he heard the name in the newspaper.

Today, the company's scouts came to report, saying that the young musician Seiichiro Kuribayashi who had been negotiating with before rejected the company's solicitation.During the previous negotiation, Kuribayashi Seiichiro showed a certain interest in BEING. He thought that the chances of winning were quite good, but unexpectedly Cheng Yaojin broke out halfway and signed Kuribayashi Seiichiro away.

Nagato Taiko had listened to the demos of Seiichiro Kuribayashi's songs brought back by scouts, and appreciated his talent.The company now has the composer Oda Tetsuro who was recruited as a veteran in the early days of its own business, and is deeply trusted by Nagato Taiyuki.But there is never a reason to only rely on the same tree, and the expansion of composers is imminent.Finally, there was a composer I liked, and I wanted to take him under my command...

It's another matter if someone is snatched away by some big company, but the one who signed Seiichiro Kuribayashi was an unnamed production company.

While Taiko Nagato was confused, he also felt like he had been sniped.

Nagato Taiko was born in Kansai, and later came to study at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo.When he was a student, it happened to be the period when group sounds were on the rise. He also once formed a band and performed in tea restaurants in Tokyo.Having said that, the probability of Aoyama Gakuin University producing musicians and actors is really frighteningly high.

There is a reason for the incident, but the reason is probably because the school has a relaxed style of study, a large number of returning children, a strong music club, and it is the vanguard of accepting foreign cultures.As a top private university, there are not a few students from well-to-do families, so it has become a fertile ground for musicians to grow.

After graduating from university, he returned home to inherit the family business and studied business, but in the end he decided to make music his lifelong career.

In 1978, after gaining experience working around, Nagato Taiko got a sponsorship and established his own music production company BEING. He was just 30 years old that year.The newly established BEING has no such person in the industry, but has done a lot of support, and has been responsible for song production for some bands and idols. The lyrics and arrangements are all provided by the other party. The company is like a parts assembly factory.

Doing part-time jobs can't earn anything that can be put on the table, so for seven years, the company has not made a name for itself in the industry.Until 1985, BEING received an order from CBS Sony to serve as a producer for a band called TUBE.

This time is different, it is no longer assembling the parts, but handing over the full authority of the lyrics and music arrangement to BEING, and even handing over the band's route to Taiyuki Nagato.

1985 was the year that Iwahashi Shinichi came to Tokyo.

It is a year of idol carnival, and it is also a year of idol band carnival. TUBE was positioned as an idol band when it debuted, and the average age of its members was only 19 years old.Nagato Taiko served as producer and produced two singles for TUBE, but the results were not very good.When the third single was being prepared, Nagato Taiko decided to treat this single as a last-ditch effort. If there was no splash, he would abandon the band and repay CBS Sony, saying that they had no commercial value.

As a result, this single sold 30 copies, which is a very impressive achievement now that the record market is shrinking. TUBE has become a newly promoted idol band, and BEING finally has a name in the industry.

Although it is still far from being a prestigious company, it is still much better than GENZO, a company that has never heard of it and has no works.

The rabbit that was about to be obtained was snatched away by the eagle that suddenly came out, and Nagato was depressed.

After asking around, I finally found out what GENZO is. It turned out to be a production company established by the planner of NAONのYAON after he became independent from the office.

Except for his own DREAMS COME TRUE, all the underground bands that NAONのYAON performed on the stage have signed with record companies. Therefore, Shinichi Iwahashi is regarded as a bole by some underground musicians, and has a pretty good reputation.Kuribayashi Seiichiro is also in the underground music circle, and it is not known whether he was summoned by the charm of Iwahashi Shin alone.

Knowing the ins and outs of the matter, Nagato Taiko was still a little depressed, but the matter had come to this point, so he had to give up.

Not to mention whether a newcomer composer who has not passed the market test is worth spending a lot of time to recruit. If it is due to conditions, it may be possible to give it a try. Personal charm is... unsolvable.

……

On the one hand, Nagato Taiko felt sorry for missing Seiichiro Kuribayashi, and by the way secretly guessed in his heart what Shinichi Iwahashi would do after he established this music company—in any case, it is the same music production company, although there is a lot of difference at this stage, But this is not a gap that cannot be surpassed. It is not an exaggeration to say that GENZO is a potential opponent of BEING.

In particular, Yanqiao Shenyi is well-known, what will happen next is both guarding and anticipating.

On the other side, Seiichiro Kuribayashi, who was regretted by Nagato Taiko, also formally signed a contract with GENZO and became the exclusive composer of GENZO.

Although Seiichiro Kuribayashi trusts Shinichi Iwahashi, he must also be responsible for his own life and cannot entrust him with full authority.So when signing a contract, I hope to sign a short-term contract.

If it is a newcomer signed by the firm, this condition is naturally NG.

For artists, signing a one-time five-year contract for their debut is a very basic operation.Because training a newcomer requires cost, starting from scratch, the investment in the middle is very large. If the contract period is too short, the newcomer will leave as soon as the contract is completed, and the company will not be worth the loss.

Of course, in Japan, if the wings are hard and want to fly, there is a high probability that the office will break the wings and pack them up, and they will not be able to climb up. Unless there is some big boss, don't even think about it.

For a more domineering firm, there will be a clause when signing the contract, that is, even if the contract is terminated after the expiration of the contract, it will not appear in the four major civil releases for one to two years, which is the so-called anti-competition contract.

If you offended the original firm instead of getting together and breaking up, and the other party happens to be powerful, even if the two-year deadline has passed, maybe you can continue to block it. Five years is not a dream.

With such a fast-changing entertainment world, let alone five years, two years without being on TV will basically be cool.

It's not that Japanese artists are loyal to the firm and have the spirit of contract, so if they don't become popular, they will sue for breach of contract.

Signing an artist requires a fixed contract, but signing a composer, it doesn't hurt to be more relaxed.Because composers don’t really need this kind of training cost, they are more like being recruited as employees, but even if they are recruiting employees, no one likes short-term employees, so if it is really a one-year signing, it will be a disadvantage for Yanqiao Shinichi .

But it's no fun if you're not happy with the contract.Iwahashi Shinichi thought for a while, and gave Seiichiro Kuribayashi a somewhat special contract.

Within a year, Seiichiro Kuribayashi was able to debut in the industry as a composer.If this is done, the contract automatically renews for one year at the next year's annual settlement.

After that, on the premise that he will continue to publish works every year, the contract will be renewed in this way until five years.

However, during this period, the terms of treatment used the content of the first contract.

After five years like this, GENZO has the priority to renew the contract. If he still stays in the company, then he will be replaced with a new contract based on his performance at that time.

However, if Seiichiro Kuribayashi cannot publish works for two consecutive years, the contract will be terminated at the next year's annual settlement.

In this way, Seiichiro Kuribayashi doesn't have to worry about being tied to this tree whose future is uncertain, and Shinichi Iwahashi has nothing to lose, but Seiichiro Kuribayashi's heart is reassured in this way.

Of course, during these two years, Seiichiro Kuribayashi still has an indicator of how many songs to deliver every month, and after the songs are written, Shinichi Iwahashi's GENZO has the right of first refusal.

Because it is not a buyout, the remuneration for buying songs will not be too high during the rookie contract stage.However, after the music is put into storage and produced, Seiichiro Kuribayashi will get the royalties no matter who it is given to sing.

Japan's copyright system is destined to make it difficult to buy out the copyright of lyrics and music, even for unknown newcomers.

If there is a buyout situation, either it is the kind of ghostwriting for others-this is relatively easy to happen in the performance of songs, or there is a special situation in nursery rhymes. The audience of nursery rhymes is special, so in terms of royalties payment, there will be There is a one-time payment of a buyout royalty.

Nursery rhymes are rarely hits, but once there are, they will show a terrifying trend at the level of monsters.

There is a tragic chestnut, the highest-selling single in Japanese music history, a nursery rhyme called "およげたいやきくん" (Let's swim! Taiyaki-kun).

This song has sold more than 450 million copies in total, firmly sitting on the No.1 throne in the history of single sales. However, because the copyright is bought out, the huge royalties have nothing to do with Zimen Zhenren's penny.

The record company that published the single for him built a building with this song, and he only got 100 million yen from beginning to end.

It can be called the strongest and most unlucky house in history.

……

This method of signing the contract was proposed verbally by Iwahashi Shinichi, and this proposal obviously won Kuribayashi Seiichiro's heart, making even his last worry disappear in smoke.

Of course, in order to put it into the contract, a formal contract must be drawn up, and the words and sentences that may appear in disputes must be picked out before signing.

GENZO does not have its own legal counsel. Masato Nakamura, Miwa Yoshida, or ABNORMAL, although they follow Shinichi Iwahashi, have not signed such a contract.

Iwahashi Shinichi originally planned to go to the legal affairs of Watanabe Mayumi Firm as before, and ask them to help draw up a contract, but when he received a postcard, he changed his mind.

The postcard was sent to his new apartment.Yanqiao Shenyi came out to start a production company not long after he moved. The business period was a busy time, and he only went home two or three times a week.

Or if he had known that he would soon be living a zero-and-seven life during the startup period, he might as well have stayed in Kouenji instead of moving... so what would happen.

The improvement of the quality of life is the most clearly felt reward for himself. Even if he can only go back for half an hour a week, he still wants to stay quietly in a clean house with a bed for a while.

For Iwahashi Shinichi, the current apartment is his real first home.

A moment of peace is worth a thousand dollars.

Because he didn't go home often, and because he didn't have the habit of checking his mailbox, this postcard was only found by Yanqiao Shinichi almost a month after it was mailed.

It was sent by my sister Iwahashi Asako.

When moving before, Yanqiao Shinichi sent her a moving postcard. At that time, he just thought it was inappropriate not to inform her, but he forgot about it afterwards - anyway, he never contacted her.

Unexpectedly, I will receive a postcard from her.

Although nothing important was written on it, it was just a general statement that he already knew it, but for Iwahashi Shinichi, the sister who existed in his memory, because of this postcard, the outline that appeared in front of him became a little clearer a little.

After receiving the moving postcard, I will write a letter back to my younger brother—this is not something that must be written, at least it proves that the two brothers and sisters are not in that kind of hostile relationship.

However, even in Tokyo, Iwahashi Asako never contacted Iwahashi Shinichi.

It seemed that she would never take a step towards Iwahashi Shinichi, but when Iwahashi Shinichi waved to her, she would also wave to him like now.

Yanqiao Shinichi seemed to feel a little bit of this sister's wonderful way of getting along with people, and then became curious about her.

This time to draw up a contract, he thought, maybe he could take this opportunity to meet her.

Asako Iwabashi's office is two streets away from Ginza Avenue, on the sixth floor of a small office building.After knocking on the door, someone opened it for him immediately.

Yanqiao Shinichi said that he came to find Yanqiao lawyer, "I have already called before."

The young female staff who opened the door listened and nodded as if confirming, "Yes, this way please." She led him to the next empty seat and sat down.

Said to be a young female employee, she must be several years older than Iwahashi Shinichi.

The sudden visit was not a client with an appointment, and Asako Iwahashi could not come to see him right away, so he could only wait slowly. Shinichi Iwahashi already knew about it when he called just now, so he was not in a hurry.

Call Iwahashi Asako and tell her that she will visit her later.Yanqiao Asako didn't seem surprised at all when she received his call.

Yanqiao Shinichi said that he had a contract and wanted to ask her for help. After hearing this, Yanqiao Asako paused, and then told him that he had half an hour to meet up between 04:30 p.m. and [-]:[-] p.m., and hung up the phone .

From the moment I entered the door, I heard the phone ringing continuously. The busy ringing made people feel nervous, as if seeing fighters competing against time.

Iwahashi Shinichi imagined the situation of Iwahashi Asako answering the phone - in this busy atmosphere, she received a call from her brother who almost never contacted, saying that she wanted to meet, how did she feel?
"Your surname is also Yanqiao, are you related to Lawyer Yanqiao?"

The young female staff who opened the door for him just now looked at him after finishing the phone call, and asked a question curiously.

(End of this chapter)