I Became an All-round Artist

"Damn, this young man!"

When faced with Lin Yuan's eagerness to volunteer, Old Zhou's reaction was as perplexed as everyone else's. His mouth slightly agape, he momentarily forgot to respond. The only thing still functioning was his brain, working on autopilot—

Was he just calculating money?

Did he only plan to give the singer 0.5%?

A famous singer definitely wouldn’t settle for such a low cut. A 0.5% share of 20%—this is typical for a workhorse, the kind of rate only small-time singers or newcomers would accept…

No, no, no!

What the hell am I thinking?

Old Zhou struggled to control his wandering thoughts and the twitching corners of his mouth.

He cleared his throat softly, carefully choosing his words: “Well, it's good for young people to have enthusiasm, but this gig isn’t something just any newcomer can handle. Of course, Lin Yuan, you're not just any newcomer, but we still need to brainstorm. How about this: within a month, send me a demo. The same goes for everyone else on the 10th floor. Everyone must submit a demo.”

He couldn't dampen Lin Yuan's enthusiasm.

In a room full of people groaning in despair, Lin Yuan still volunteered to take on a challenging task for the composition department. This was something worth encouraging, so Old Zhou couldn’t bring himself to criticize him.

As for the conversation earlier between Lin Yuan and Zheng Jing in the group chat, Old Zhou was aware of it but didn’t hold it against Lin Yuan.

After all, Old Zhou was familiar with several of the company’s top-tier composers.

Every one of them has a peculiar personality.

Take Zheng Jing, for example—despite being a top-tier composer, she doesn’t compose much. Instead, she has an intense passion for painting and has even held her own art exhibition at her own expense—

It’s as if composing is just a side gig for her.

Although Lin Yuan isn’t a top-tier composer, his personality thus far isn’t much different from theirs.

So, Old Zhou wasn’t too surprised.

But this rookie, who doesn’t play by the rules and has a personality similar to many top-tier composers, is he being so proactive because of his passion for creation or because of the five million yuan reward?

It’s all rather suspicious.

Of course, while composing is an art, most people are ultimately working for money, which is understandable.

Still.

The sight of Lin Yuan pulling out a calculator to figure out the split during the meeting is probably a first in the history of the Starlight Composition Department.

And it wasn’t just Old Zhou.

Everyone in the meeting room was filled with things they wanted to say but couldn’t figure out how to start.

Especially Wu Yong and Zheng Han, who were sitting on either side of Lin Yuan—they looked utterly bewildered.

Thinking back to Lin Yuan’s chat with Zheng Jing earlier in the group, everyone finally reached a conclusion:

Genius youth Xian Yu?

He’s just a bit of a simpleton.

But when you think of it that way, Lin Yuan seems kind of endearing, doesn’t he?

At the very least, he’s genuine.

With that thought, the room began to fill with laughter, the atmosphere gradually lightening, and someone even teased Lin Yuan, “When you get the bonus, don’t forget to treat everyone to coffee!”

“Sure.”

It took Lin Yuan a long time to agree.

Everyone burst into even louder laughter.

There was no mockery intended; on the contrary, their laughter was filled with goodwill. Especially among the female members, whose faces softened with warmth.

After all, Lin Yuan is just a sophomore kid.

And such a handsome young man at that.

However, jokes aside, no one really believed that Lin Yuan could land this gig.

If none of the top composers on the 10th floor could secure the deal, could Lin Yuan, a rookie still taking basic courses in his second year, really pull it off?

Don’t be ridiculous.

No one in that meeting room would deny the excellence of "Life Like Summer Flowers."

But each of those top composers who got rejected has more than one hit song to their name.

And any one of their representative works could easily match the success of "Life Like Summer Flowers!"

Otherwise, how could they be called top composers?

…

Lin Yuan, of course, was unaware of everyone’s thoughts. His mind was completely focused on the five million, even though he could only get 1.5% of it.

After the meeting ended.

Instead of leaving right away, Lin Yuan asked Old Zhou, who was packing up, "Supervisor, where can I find a singer?"

“A singer?”

Old Zhou frowned, “Aren’t you aiming to take on Qi Zhou’s project? Your first priority should be writing the song. You need to write a good song before you think about finding a singer. If the song isn’t up to par, what’s the point of looking for a singer now?”

Old Zhou didn’t hold out much hope that Lin Yuan could write a great song.

But he did want Lin Yuan to understand the basic order of operations in creation.

After all, Old Zhou had high expectations for Lin Yuan because Lin Yuan was able to write "Life Like Summer Flowers." In terms of talent, Lin Yuan had a lot of room for growth; otherwise, why would Old Zhou have gone out of his way to request him from Zhao Jue ?

“Then after I write the song, how do I find a singer?”

Lin Yuan had no choice but to step back; he couldn’t very well say that the song was already written, could he?

That would be too suspicious.

Old Zhou pondered for a moment and then slapped his forehead, as if remembering something. “Almost forgot about your connection with Zhao Jue . Don’t worry if the project doesn’t go through. If you really want to release a song, just go to Zhao Jue  directly. She’s in charge of all the company’s singers. Of course, the prerequisite is that your song passes the company’s review and is worth releasing!”

“Oh.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

After leaving the meeting room, he returned to his desk and immediately called Zhao Jue  to inquire about finding a singer.

“Looking for a singer?”

Zhao Jue  chuckled, “Didn’t expect you to be so prolific. Already got new material? Alright, tell me, what kind of singer are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for…”

Zhao Jue  interrupted him, “Forget it. I’ll send you the profiles and audio samples of some of the company’s new singers who aren’t currently working. Given your ear for music, you should be able to find someone who fits. Once you’ve made your choice, leave the rest to me. As for first-tier singers…”

"What's the deal with top-tier singers?"

"They have very high standards for the songs they choose."

"How high are we talking?"

"Let's put it this way: unless you can produce something on the level of 'Life Like a Summer Flower,' they probably won't even consider it. Typically, top-tier singers only work with the company's star composers. And their royalty rates are far higher than those for singers below the top tier."

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed with caution. "Royalty rates?"

Zhao Jue  chuckled. "You didn't really think all singers only take 0.5 out of 20 percent, did you? That's the rate for up-and-coming artists. High-profile singers get a bigger cut, often splitting royalties equally with the composer. For the most elite singers, their share can even be as high as 1.5 out of 20 percent, leaving only 0.5 percent for the composer."

"I need a utility singer!"

Lin Yuan's thoughts suddenly became clear.

Zhao Jue  couldn't help but laugh. "You've really been influenced by the guys in the composition department. I wonder who first coined the term 'utility singer' for our artists below the second tier—it's actually quite fitting. But I have to remind you, some songs just can't be handled by lesser-known singers. As you advance in your career, you shouldn't let royalty rates stop you from working with top-tier talent."

"Got it."

Lin Yuan replied, "Thanks, Sister Zhao."

"You're welcome. Talk later."

A few minutes later, Lin Yuan's inbox was flooded with audio files—106 singers' profiles and sample tracks.

Time to get to work.

Lin Yuan put on his headphones and started listening to each of the 106 singers' voices.

Unlike 'Life Like a Summer Flower,' the song he was preparing to release this time, 'Big Fish,' wasn't something just anyone could sing well.

Sun Yaohuo definitely wouldn't cut it.

After all, not everyone is Zhou Shen.

Lin Yuan knew he might not find the perfect voice right away, so he had to start scouting early.

If he really couldn't find the right match, he had a backup plan: find a female singer with a similar vocal range to the original, and use some technical tricks to fill in the gaps—

Say hello to the million-dollar auto-tune expert.