My beautiful CEO wife
Chapter 617: Artist Clause

Chapter 617: Chapter 617: Artist Clause

Chu Xiaoran, fuming, exclaimed, "This is outrageous! How can the company do this!"

Yet her complaint was merely a passing vent, as the situation was beyond her control, and she had no choice but to yield.

Afterward, the trio took a ride back to the villa. In the evening, Ah Bai’s phone rang—it was a gentle male voice on the other end.

It turned out to be a notification from Glory Entertainment Company, informing them that they could come to sign the contract tomorrow, and it would be Li Yunan himself who would meet them.

Despite the many tumults they had endured, they were very happy with the outcome and looked forward to the meeting the next day.

Early the next morning, the three arrived at Glory Entertainment Company and were led by the security into a spacious room.

Xiao Zheng looked inside and saw that in this huge office, there was only one person, who was not young but well-maintained, appearing to be in his thirties.

Presumably, he must be the director named Li Yunan.

"Haha, welcome, welcome," Li Yunan said, bursting into laughter as he saw Xiao Zheng and the others walk in. He enthusiastically approached them and shook hands with each person before saying, "Please, have a seat."

All three sat down.

With a warm smile on his face, Li Yunan went behind his desk, opened a drawer, took out several packages of tea leaves, brewed three cups of tea, and then placed the cups on the table next to Xiao Zheng and his companions.

He chuckled, "Please enjoy the tea. Haha, I went through a lot of effort to get this tea from a merchant. I usually can’t bear to use it for just anyone who comes here."

Ah Bai and Chu Xiaoran both hastened to express their thanks.

They observed Li Yunan and both silently agreed that unlike the haughty demeanor of Glory Entertainment Company, Li Yunan was quite warm and cordial towards them.

"Hehe, you might not know this," Li Yunan said as he sat next to them after making tea, "but I’m a huge fan of Lady Chu! When I heard her songs online, I was convinced that she is bound to be a future diva."

Receiving such praise, Chu Xiaoran was a bit pleased but still modestly said, "Director, you flatter me."

"No, no, no, I’m speaking the truth," Li Yunan replied. "Xiao Ran’s singing possesses a ’Spiritual Energy’. This energy that most singers lack, it has the power to penetrate the soul, and that’s a requisite quality for becoming a diva."

Action done now, Xiao Zheng took a closer look at Li Yunan, appreciating that the man had a discerning eye. While Xiao Zheng was not a master in music, his intelligence and talent were not inconsiderable, and he knew that Li Yunan’s comments about Chu Xiaoran were both accurate and profound!

"Hehe, let’s not talk about this right now," Li Yunan then said with a slight smile, "Today I invited you here to sign a contract with Lady Chu. I sincerely hope that she can become an artist at our company."

Ah Bai smiled and said, "We’d be delighted. To be honest, we were worried before that your company might not be satisfied and would reject us."

"Hahaha."

Li Yunan burst into laughter and exclaimed, "How could that be possible? Anyone who would reject a talent like Lady Chu would have to be blind."

"Alright, just a moment. The contract has already been prepared; I’ll give it to you to take a look at."

Li Yunan stood up and took three copies of the contract from the desk, handing one to each of the three. Then he sat down with a slight smile and said, "Take your time to read it."

Ah Bai said, "Then we’ll take a look, thank you."

After saying this, all three began to read the contracts.

Xiao Zheng valued Chu Xiaoran highly and was thus very meticulous in reviewing the contract. Yet as he read deeper, his brow gradually furrowed.

This was an utterly tyrannical set of terms!

For instance, it stipulated that once an artist signs, it would be for a period of ten years! They must remain under contract with Glory Group for the entire duration and during this time, the company had the right to demand the artist engage in any and all commercial activities unconditionally.

A ten-year term was virtually the same as binding an artist’s prime years exclusively to the machine that was Glory Entertainment Company. This was akin to selling oneself! The artist would become a mere extension of the company.

What’s more, the company could require the artists to participate in certain commercial activities, and they were obligated to do so without condition!

If you’re lucky to get a good boss, it’s fine, but if you encounter someone who only wants to squeeze every last drop of value from an artist, that artist might end up spending all their time in commercial performances, with no chance to pursue other opportunities. As for development, that’s even less likely.

Moreover, once the contract term ended, if the artist had any movie or music performances, etc., the first movie or first song release rights had to be represented by them.

And the rights to these would also be theirs to manage, with the company taking a sixty percent cut of all related earnings.

Furthermore, even the artist’s stage name belonged to the company.

Such terms were almost more outrageous than the previous ones.

The contract had already expired, yet they continued to exploit the artist’s value—this was no longer just a set of harsh terms; it was akin to serfdom.

Xiao Zheng’s brow was deeply furrowed, and he was about to speak when Ah Bai gave him a meaningful glance. Xiao Zheng frowned slightly but said nothing further.

Then Ah Bai smiled at Li Yunan and said, "Director, could we have a moment to discuss this privately, please?"

"No problem," Li Yunan responded. "Take your time to discuss. After all, this is a significant decision that requires careful deliberation. However..."

Li Yunan paused, his smile taking on a cold edge, "This contract is already finalized. You only have two choices: accept or reject. If you feel the contract isn’t suitable, then I’m afraid I’ll have to regretfully end our potential collaboration."

After finishing his statement, Li Yunan smiled lightly, stood up, and walked out, leaving Xiao Zheng and the others in the room.

"We can’t sign the contract," Xiao Zheng declared decisively. "This is nothing short of a pact of indenture. If we really sign this, what freedom would Xiao Ran have left?"

Ah Bai, however, shook his head and said, "It’s not like that. I think we should sign the contract. Glory Entertainment Company is one of the most renowned talent agencies in the industry. Their operative skill in promoting artists is unmatched, and with Xiao Ran’s talent, achieving stardom with their help is almost guaranteed!"