From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

136: Chapter 136 Weaving a NetThe name ”phantom singer” ignited a brainstorming session within Alex’s core team that was as exciting as it was exceptionally pragmatic.

The special task force led by Marcus operated efficiently, but the atmosphere at the conference table grew increasingly serious as the issues deepened.

The creative concept was fascinating, but a business model capable of long-term profitability was the foundation for survival.

”First question: the shelf life of suspense...” The question posed by veteran producer Catherine was quickly resolved by Alex using a ”Three-Layer Clue Release System,” extending the puzzle-solving fun of a single episode into continuous, cross-platform interaction.

Everyone nodded frequently.

Immediately following, the hidden dangers regarding the power dynamic between judges and contestants raised by Lauren were also firewalled through the design of an ”Absolute Isolation Mechanism” and strict contractual terms.

However, when the topic entered the most practical aspect of music copyright and long-term profitability, the discussion finally touched upon the true core.

”Copyright costs are indeed a bottomless pit,” a colleague from business development said with furrowed brows. ”Cover song licensing is a fixed expense, but what can truly generate long-term value for us are the original hits that might emerge from the show.

If we follow conventional practices, where the production team only owns broadcasting rights and a short-term priority right, then once a singer becomes an overnight sensation with an original track from the show, all subsequent revenue from music downloads, commercial performances, and film/television soundtrack licensing... will have nothing to do with us.

The platform and traffic we invested huge resources to build would just be doing all the work for someone else’s gain.”

The conference room fell silent. This was the classic dilemma faced by all content producers: making the person famous, but failing to make money from the songs.

Alex’s fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop, a habit of his when thinking deeply.

A moment later, he looked up, his eyes clear and sharp, as if he had already calculated the accounts.

”Therefore, we cannot just stop at soft terms like ’priority rights’.” His voice was steady and powerful. ”For all original songs that are first released on the ”phantom singer” stage and have an impact, we must strive for a new cooperation paradigm.”

He pulled up the whiteboard and began to write the core terms:

”First, the priority rights for performance and distribution remain unchanged; this is the foundation.

Second, and this is key—the joint producers of the show (that is, us, ’Echo Vision,’ and the partner platform) will obtain the right to a share of exclusive commercial revenue from that original song for a period of five to seven years from the date of its first release.

The sharing ratio can be negotiated, for example, higher in the first two years and decreasing year by year thereafter, but it must cover core revenue channels such as music downloads, streaming playback, and commercial performance licensing.

Third, the complete copyright of the song still belongs to the creator; we will not buy it out. This is a respect for creation and also an incentive.

But during this five-to-seven-year cooperation period, we must have the right to know and the right to joint bargaining for any major commercial licensing decisions.

Fourth, establish a ’phantom singer Original Incentive Fund.’ Allocate a portion from the show’s advertising and sponsorship revenue to pay in advance to those creators who are willing to sign the aforementioned revenue-sharing terms, reducing their upfront risks and also demonstrating our sincerity.”

After writing, he turned to face the team: ”Use a few years of revenue sharing to bind the most potential content assets.

For creators, they use our top-tier platform to become famous overnight, gaining exposure and startup capital that would be difficult to achieve in other ways, while retaining long-term ownership of their songs.

For us, we are not just a broadcast channel, but have become an early investor and long-term partner for potential hit songs.

Even if only one out of ten originals becomes a hit, its long-term revenue could far exceed the advertising revenue of a single season of the show. This is a sustainable ecosystem.”

Marcus quickly did the mental math, his eyes brightening: ”This means the show itself is not just a traffic entrance and a star-making machine, but also an incubation and investment platform for high-quality music content! Our profit model has expanded from simple advertising/copyright procurement to ’content investment and revenue sharing’!”

”Exactly,” Alex affirmed. ”Furthermore, this model will make us more attractive when competing for top potential contestants.

For those singers who have creative ability but lack resources, what we provide is not just exposure, but also tangible financial support and long-term professional revenue management expectations.

This carries more weight than any empty ’dream stage’ promise.”

Lauren had already started recording legal points: ”Term setting, sharing tiers, scope of authorization, decision-making mechanisms... these all require an extremely rigorous contract framework.

In particular, the boundaries of ’joint bargaining rights’ must be clear; we must protect our interests without constituting improper restrictions on the creators, to avoid triggering legal disputes and public backlash.”

”This will require you and your team to design a ’Standard Cooperation Framework’ for us that is both fair and solid,” Alex said to Lauren. ”This will be the basis for our future negotiations with all original singers in the competition.

At the same time, this is also a very heavy bargaining chip when we negotiate joint ventures and distribution with giants like Universal—we can bring a brand-new, more commercially potential content cooperation model.”

The meeting continued, and more details were filled in.

Alex assumed the role of final decision-maker and business model The Architect.

He could feel [Cultural Trend Anchoring] giving slight, continuous prompts, allowing him to intuitively judge that this ”revenue sharing” model was more in line with the future relationship trend between content creators and platforms than traditional buyouts or simple priority rights, and it was also easier to gain support in public opinion.

The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed with more challenging and promising tasks.

Alex rubbed his brow. The concept was grand, but the devil was in the details.

At this moment, [Information Reception Filtering] allowed him to catch the deliberately light footsteps outside the door, followed by two clear knocks.

Rex entered, holding an encrypted folder in his hand.

”The preliminary information you wanted.” Rex set the folder down. ”Analysis of similar show formats globally; the common problems are about what we expected: the format is prone to fatigue, and suspense is hard to maintain. This is where the value of our system’s complexity lies.”

”Hmm. What about the amateur database?” Alex took the tablet.

”Thirty-seven people have been screened, with a few highlighted.” Rex swiped the screen.

Alex’s gaze lingered on a file with the codename ”Terracotta”; the voice sample was desolate and unique, but the online traces were deliberately hidden.

”Mark as a high-potential observation target, do not contact for now,” Alex decided.

”Understood. Also,” Rex lowered his voice, ”monitoring of the ’Summit Creative’ art fund shows that their contact with Theo was not an isolated case.

Over the past month, under the guise of something like ’funding high-end art,’ they have contacted at least four creators who have potential but are not mainstream, as if they are conducting a round of low-key ’potential stock sweeping,’ building a talent barrier or interfering.”

”Commercial competition ultimately comes down to people.” Alex’s eyes grew slightly cold. ”Continue observing, especially their contract details.

We must use a more solid model and clearer long-term revenue prospects to counter the temptation of this ’gilded cage’.”

After Rex left, Alex looked at the setting sun outside the window.

What he was weaving was not just a web of entertainment, but a business ecosystem network of shared interests and long-term binding.

The design of every clause was reinforcing the resilience and attractiveness of this web.

His phone vibrated; Taylor sent a voice message mentioning that director Zack was very interested in ”phantom singer” and asking about the film trailer tie-in.

Alex replied to finalize the tie-in plan, everything warming up for the ”Grand Guessing Game.”

He put down his phone and returned his gaze to the clear clauses about ”copyright revenue sharing” on the whiteboard.

This was not just about competing for the revenue of a single song, but attempting to define a new set of industry rules.

From the revenue sharing of a song, to the ecosystem construction of a variety show, and then to the commercial future of the entire content platform, everything was tightly connected under his calm calculations and the assistance of his extraordinary intuition.

Keeping his feet on the ground, weaving a web to catch the wind, and even more so, to capture the golden fleece that will continue to be produced in the future.

The wind was already approaching, and his web was already prepared to share the abundance, and also prepared to retain value for a long time.