"Indeed, there are. As you know, her popularity from before has continued up to now, and the offers for collaboration have been increasing. Several companies have tried to poach her, but with you here, why would we go to other companies? We've turned them all down."

"Poaching? What were their conditions?"

"Ah?"

Sister Hua hadn't expected Chu Tian to ask this; she thought he would ask about work-related matters.

"As for the conditions, they ranged from good to bad. Some wanted to collaborate with the studio, while others wanted to merge directly."

"Those who want to collaborate merely want to use the studio as a stepping stone to connect with you."

The "you" in her statement naturally referred to Chu Tian's 'Youmeng' identity. To put it plainly, they wanted to request songs from Youmeng but had no direct connections, so they resorted to this indirect approach.

"As for merging, Haiyin offered three hundred million for a forty percent stake in the studio, including some managerial rights, and they also need to persuade Youmeng to collaborate with their company."

This was the highest bid offered. The rest either wanted cross-shareholdings or, more often, were trying to achieve a lot with very little, offering low prices while harboring grand illusions.

Chu Tian was admittedly taken aback when he heard Haiyin's price. However, on second thought, he realized this price wasn't actually high.

Leaving aside other factors, the publishing rights for the songs Xu Qingqiu had released so far were worth nearly two hundred million alone.

For example, in his past life, the earnings from just "Song of the wind" exceeded one hundred million in less than a year, with the original Singer earning over ten million from that single track. Not to mention even more classic songs, each ofwhich was a wildly profitable hit.

Besides these works, what about Xu Qingqiu's own commercial value? The commercial value of a Queen at the height of her popularity is significant. Whether it's an appearance fee of over a million for commercial performances or her endorsements, each rakes in substantial amounts of cash.

The three hundred million for a forty percent stake showed that Haiyin was indeed sincere. And importantly, Haiyin's conditions didn't involve contractually binding Youmeng, but merely proposed pursuing a collaboration. This point alone demonstrated Haiyin's genuine desire to collaborate.

Didn't they want to bind Youmeng? Of course, they did. No one is a fool; compared to Xu Qingqiu, Youmeng was actually the most valuable. Even now, no one knew Youmeng's true identity. The only known access point was Xu Qingqiu's studio.

The so-called collaboration plans Sister Hua mentioned often included strict conditions stipulating that Youmeng must join as well. But was that even possible? How much would one have to offer to have the audacity to make such a demand?

After Sister Hua finished speaking, Chu Tian nodded.

"Okay, forget the rest. We can try to contact Haiyin. Merging is out of the question, but collaboration is possible."

In this era, it wasn't a world of solo efforts; examples of entertainment companies cooperating were numerous. Your company has a big project, and you ask one of our artists to help out. We have new talent to promote, and we send them over to your projects to gain some prestige. This sort of thing happened all the time. Even many projects were joint productions by multiple companies.

Business competition was one thing, but everyone was smart. It was far better to make money than to fight until both sides suffered heavy losses. Companies competed when necessary and cooperated when beneficial. This way, they could both make money and legitimately vie for dominance. Everyone relied on their own merits, which maintained a respectable appearance, and it was best if the market could sustain a relatively harmonious environment. Of course, sworn enemies were an exception; that was unavoidable.

Besides, Haiyin had already extended considerable goodwill, even helping out with the concert. At least Haiyin's management seemed reasonable, and collaborating with them could be beneficial. If the collaboration went well, with so many works at his disposal, Chu Tian wouldn't mind licensing out one or two songs.

After they had discussed things thoroughly, Chu Tian asked about Xu Qingqiu's upcoming schedule.

"She'll probably be away from the company for about a week. I've received several variety show invitations for her, which will take about three to four days to record. Additionally, there are a few commercial performances she needs to attend."

"Also, I've received several endorsement inquiries that I'll be reviewing in the next few days. One for a women's clothing brand is very likely to be finalized."

"So, for the next few days, Qingqiu will mostly be traveling for work."

Chu Tian had anticipated this outcome. Few celebrities weren't frequent flyers. The fact that Xu Qingqiu had been able to spend so much time at the company since the concert ended was entirely due to Sister Hua's efforts.

It was true that Sister Hua received a commission from these external engagements. But she wasn't solely motivated by money. After all, with Xu Qingqiu's resurgence in popularity, Sister Hua now had around a million herself; she wasn't short on cash.

Being part of this industry, some things were simply unavoidable. Take commercial appearances, for example. When you became more popular, didn't your rates naturally increase?

Before Chu Tian arrived, Xu Qingqiu would take commercial performances that paid hundreds of thousands, and sometimes even just tens of thousands. But with her status, the starting fee was usually over a million per show. The title of 'Queen' alone was valued at one million two hundred thousand. But what could she do when her situation was so dire and she didn't own the copyrights to any of her songs?

A Singer without the copyrights to her own songs was like a soldier going into battle without weapons. Even if she landed a commercial gig, she couldn't sing her hit songs or signature pieces; every time she performed, she had to pay to license other people's work for cover versions. If one was an idol who relied on looks, it was less of a problem. As long as they showed up, their actual songs didn't matter as much. The key issue, however, was that Xu Qingqiu was a vocalist known for her skill. Without her own songs, who would willingly pay top dollar just to see her perform covers and feel like a sucker?

Later, Chu Tian provided her with a few songs, which bumped her appearance fee to around a million. After releasing her first album, her rate soared to one million six hundred thousand. By the time of the concert, it had reached one million eight hundred thousand.

But there was a problem. Sure, an artist's rates might have gone up, but how could those prices be confirmed if they weren't actively taking commercial engagements? One couldn't just make empty claims. What if someone said their artist was worth thirty million? Would that just be accepted? Therefore, for a price to be set, someone actually had to pay it. And once someone was willing to pay that price, it became established. This meant the artist then needed to perform at that rate. Otherwise, how could anyone be sure the claimed value was legitimate?

Now that Xu Qingqiu's rates had increased considerably, she would inevitably need to take on numerous commercial performances to solidify this new price point. This was standard procedure.

It was the same in his previous world. Which star didn't become incredibly busy after a major hit? On one hand, it was to stabilize their market value. On the other, it was to capitalize on their current popularity to make as much money as possible. The company needed to recoup its investment and turn a profit, after all.

Besides the fee, another important factor was star power. A high appearance fee didn't necessarily equate to high star power. So, what demonstrated star power? One factor was seniority. If you were from an older generation, had extensive connections in the industry, or had backing from authoritative institutions, official or otherwise, your star power would be considerable. Another factor was endorsements. If others were endorsing top global brands while you had none or only minor ones, people wouldn't take you as seriously.

Chu Tian was all too familiar with the intricate nuances involved.

"Can I come along too? After all, I'm her personal assistant, and I can help out a bit," he asked.

It wasn't that Chu Tian couldn't bear to be apart from Xu Qingqiu; he was genuinely concerned for her safety. Qingqiu's popularity had been consistently high lately. They had already encountered irrational fans once, and he worried that another unforeseen incident might lead to her being harmed.

"Ah? But what about the new artists if you go? This trip could take at least a week, possibly even half a month. Should they just keep waiting? Maybe you should stay," Sister Hua suggested, noticing the hesitation on his face and guessing his concerns.

"Are you worried about Qingqiu? Don't worry, I've hired the best security company. There will be three bodyguards taking shifts to guard her twenty-four hours a day. Nothing will happen," she reassured.

Sister Hua's words made sense. Although he was skilled in martial arts, he wasn't omnipotent. When it came to protection, bodyguards were the professionals. Moreover, to be honest, the studio really couldn't do without him right now. If they wanted the new artists to make a successful debut and gain traction, he had to come up with some ideas. Otherwise, there was truly no one else at the studio who could anchor things for the time being.

"Alright then, I won't go," Chu Tian conceded. "This is a good opportunity to launch the group Phoenix Legend in the next few days and see how they do."

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