American Entertainment: Taylor Swift wrote a song for the beginning

Chapter 22 Seesaw
The deafeningly powerful bass poured energy into the park from dozens of matrix-arranged subwoofers on site, and the Bicentennial Park completely turned into a sea of carnival at sunset.

The dead mouse wearing a stuffed toy mask jumped directly onto the DJ booth and hopped on tiptoe to the rhythm.

Under the stage, the audience also moved together with the dead mouse, as if they were collectively participating in some kind of fitness program, dancing to the rhythm in unison.

Taylor and Abigail in the crowd were also affected by the atmosphere. Taylor raised her hands and jumped around randomly. Although she was very involved, her movements were not coordinated enough for her, who was stiff and not good at dancing. In comparison, Abigail looked much more pleasing to the eye. It was obvious that Taylor had no talent for disco.

On the stage, Ryan finally saw the "dancing chaos" scene in the Tremor MV. In the first few rows, there were many foreign girls wearing only underwear riding on their boyfriends' necks and dancing to their heart's content, and some were waving flags of various countries.

However, the lighting arrangement on the scene is still far inferior to that in the video, not to mention the smoke column machines, fire column machines, foam machines, and paper flowers in the MV that enhance the atmosphere of the scene.

It seems that just like electronic music itself, related live performances also have a lot of room for improvement... Ryan thought.

At this time, Tremor has entered the ending. Normally, the dead mouse should play another piece of music synchronously and "splice" it with a mixer. However, Ryan found that the dead mouse next to him did not move, but just stood there.

Just when Ryan was hesitating whether to push him as a reminder, he saw the dead rat wearing a hood suddenly turn around and walk towards the backstage.

Ryan's hair tingled, and after a moment's hesitation, he decisively started twisting the turntable himself. Since he had been a DJ in Nashville nightclubs many times before, this was not a difficult task for him.

On the other side, Dead Mouse just got to the backstage when he lost his support and fell down. The staff rushed over and someone took off his plush hood. They saw that Dead Mouse's face was completely red and his short hair was completely wet with sweat. He was already a little frail, and the temperature inside the plush hood was too high. He had just jumped continuously and got heatstroke.

Russell, the co-founder of the festival who was just in the backstage, has now left. The dead rat was rushed to the local hospital by the staff. The sturdy man who had previously communicated with the founder of the festival was now making final preparations before going on stage. While he was concerned about the dead rat, he apparently did not realize that the special timbre was created by the high school students currently performing on the stage.

Ryan successfully rescued the situation and left the stage amid the cheers and applause of the audience. As soon as he returned to the backstage, he saw a man who was about the same height and strong as him preparing to take over from him.

The other party was a little surprised to find that Ryan and Dead Rat were wearing the same red suit, and the two passed each other.

At this time, Ryan saw the VJ from the Dead Rat team and learned about the Dead Rat's heatstroke. He didn't expect that Marvin's prediction turned out to be correct.

"By the way, who was that person just now?" Ryan couldn't help but ask.

"Tisto, don't you know him?" the VJ asked in surprise.

"Should I know him?"

"Of course, he is a leading figure in the DJ world. Before you were born, he was already playing new beats and acid house music in nightclubs, and has won many European music awards. He won the Top 02 three times in a row from 03 to 04, and he even participated in the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics!" The VJ introduced him solemnly.

It goes without saying that the Olympic Games opening ceremony is of great value. The "Top 100" mentioned in the speech is the Top 100 DJ selection event launched by the British DJ magazine. It is held once a year and is voted by magazine readers. It is considered to be a very valuable honor in the DJ world.

Afterwards, Ryan and VJ went to Jackson Memorial Hospital near Shuangbai Park, where Dead Rat was receiving treatment. When Ryan arrived, Dead Rat had already woken up, and the first thing he asked when he saw Ryan was about the result of the performance.

"The crowd reaction was even stronger than when Justice was on the court," Ryan responded.

The dead mouse breathed a sigh of relief.

The performance arrangements were now complete, and the festival would continue all day tomorrow. Before Ryan mentioned the Winter Music Conference, the dead mouse lying on the hospital bed took the initiative to talk about the release of Tremor's single album in Canada.

The reason why Dead Mouse only talks about Canada instead of the whole of North America is actually because Dead Mouse’s current distribution channel is an independent record company located in Australia, which has no ability to distribute in the US market at all.

Admittedly, Dead Rat could have hidden this fact from Ryan, but he chose to be honest with Ryan.

"Ryan, this may be the beginning of our cooperation." Si Lao Shu said, because he valued the talent emerging in Ryan. Ryan certainly had no reason to refuse. Although Canada is not among the top ten music markets in the world and only accounts for a small part (2% to 3%), it can be regarded as the first step.

"Next, let's talk about the profit sharing. Considering that the original song of Tremor has been produced and the production cost is negligible, we will only talk about the sales profit sharing. According to industry practice, record companies will charge newcomers and unsigned artists a higher sales revenue share, usually 50%. The sales revenue I mentioned is the net income after deducting the channel profits and publicity and promotion costs." said Dead Mouse.

Let's do some simple calculations. Assuming the price of a single album is 3.99, first deduct the sales platform share, the publicity and distribution costs, and then deduct half of the net income share of the publisher. For each copy sold, Ryan's pre-tax income is likely to be no more than 1, which is still an ideal situation. If the dead mouse record company intends to make a fuss about the publicity and distribution costs, this number will not exceed 0.5.

Don't forget that the single album will also include remixes of Tremor by two DJs, otherwise it would not be sold for 3.99. If you include this part, your profit will be even smaller.

"This is not an ordinary situation. We just finished a performance together." Ryan said immediately. He felt that it would be better not to sign this condition.

"Young man, do you know what industry practice means? It means that no one is immune, not just me, but others as well, including you, of course. This is non-negotiable."

"You think the share is too little? Of course, this is just the beginning. We will have other opportunities for cooperation in the future. Business is not just a one-time deal. When it comes to the second and third releases, the record company can only take 30%. If you become popular, the share can be discussed further."

Dead Mouse reiterated that business is business, and while it is true that he values Ryan's talent, that does not mean he has to sacrifice his own interests.

"You may not understand my situation. I'm staying at someone else's house now and I need the income!" Ryan used Terry as a shield again.

"Then I'll take you with me on tour. After the Ultra Music Festival, Marvin arranged for me to perform in a dozen nightclubs in North America, and the first stop will be New York." Dead Rat thought of a compromise.

“How much will I get per game?”

"Five hundred to seven hundred dollars per show. If you meet a generous nightclub, the salary will be even higher." Dead Mouse thought for a moment before saying, "You will be responsible for the warm-up and opening performance, which will take about an hour and a half. Then it will be my turn. You will also be required to perform during the extra performances in the early morning."

"What about the round-trip travel expenses? I'm still in school in Nashville," Ryan said.

"You don't need to pay for this part." Dead Laoshu was straightforward for once. In fact, it was because the travel expenses were paid by the organizer and were not included in the performance remuneration.

At least it's better than hanging out in a nightclub in Nashville.

"40%. This is the limit I can accept. Otherwise, there is no room for negotiation." Ryan finally put forward his bottom line.

The dead mouse was obviously helpless. It was the first time he felt that this high school student was so difficult to deal with.

"You can only choose one between performance and profit sharing." Dead Rat took a deep breath.

"Don't be like this, these two things are not in conflict. I can perform harder. I really need this income to complete my studies. This is my living expenses." Ryan's tone was full of requests again, and his expression changed faster than turning pages of a book.

Without waiting for the dead mouse to speak, Ryan saw that he seemed a little hesitant and said hurriedly: "Okay, then it's decided."

The dead mouse let out a long sigh, giving people the feeling of mental exhaustion.

Although Ryan seemed to have obtained the conditions he wanted, he did not feel relieved. Dead Rat's record company was at best a small company, and negotiations with other record companies would only be more difficult.

When leaving the hospital, Ryan picked up his phone and saw the text message Abigail sent him.

"The performance just now was amazing. You have no idea how many people cheered for you. Taylor and I just arrived in Miami this afternoon..."

(End of this chapter)