183: Chapter 183: Wanting exclusive rights right off the bat?

"Penguin Music?"

Hearing this, Lu Li's sleepiness instantly dissipated by more than half. He sat up from the bed and rubbed his eyes.

"What did you say you wanted to discuss?"

"Exclusive copyright, Teacher Lu."

The voice on the other end of the phone was very formal and professional.

"We deeply appreciate the works of you and Teacher Shen, and we hope to sign the exclusive music copyright of Rock Sugar Pear to us at Penguin Music."

"As long as you agree, subsequent promotion resources, homepage recommendation slots... and so on, we can arrange them all."

Lu Li leaned against the head of the bed, his brows furrowing slightly.

Exclusive copyright.

Exclusive copyright again.

Tianlai Music wanted non-exclusive authorization, and even then, they had already offered quite good conditions.

Look at Penguin Music, asking for exclusivity right off the bat. Although the promised promotional resources sounded very tempting, whether they could actually be delivered in practice remained a question.

"I'm sorry, we cannot give you exclusive copyright."

Lu Li's tone was polite yet firm.

"You can go back and discuss it with your leaders. If it's non-exclusive authorization, we can talk, and we can also make concessions."

The other end of the phone fell silent for two seconds.

"...Teacher Lu, if it's exclusive copyright, the promotion effort we provide will be huge, and this for your development..."

"I understand, but exclusivity really won't work. I am truly sorry."

Lu Li interrupted him.

To be honest, he was also quite helpless.

He and Shen Qingxue started out from Douyin and Qishui, and no matter what, it was impossible not to leave a copyright share with them.

As the saying goes, when drinking water, do not forget the people who dug the well.

Not to mention that they were currently following the route of online singers, and most of their promotion was still conducted on the Douyin platform.

Once the exclusive copyright was signed away, there would definitely be no way to release songs on Douyin. That would be equivalent to cutting off their own path forward, which was unrealistic.

The other end of the phone was silent for several seconds.

"Then... Teacher Lu, I will report to my leadership, and I will contact you after there is a result."

"Alright, sorry to trouble you."

Hanging up the phone, Lu Li threw his phone next to the pillow, leaned back against the head of the bed, and let out a long sigh.

Exclusive copyright?

In your dreams.

Tie one's life and livelihood to a single platform? How was that any different from when he originally signed with Moonlight Entertainment?

Whether there are promotional resources truly depends entirely on the platform's mood.

Lu Li shook his head, lifted the quilt, got out of bed, stepped into his slippers, and walked out of the bedroom.

In the living room, Shen Qingxue was already up and sitting on the sofa scrolling through her phone.

Hearing the footsteps, she raised her head and glanced at Lu Li, acutely sensing his mood.

"Awake? Why do you look so huffy?"

"Penguin Music called me."

Lu Li sat down heavily across from her.

"But... they asked for exclusive copyright right out of the gate, saying that as long as we give them exclusivity, promotional resources can be requested at will."

Shen Qingxue put down her water cup, her brows slightly furrowing.

"Exclusive copyright? They certainly have some nerve asking."

"I said no, non-exclusive can be discussed, and then they said they needed to consult their leadership."

Shen Qingxue nodded, leaning back against the sofa, her fingers gently rubbing along the rim of the cup.

"Penguin Music's move is quite clever, directly bringing up exclusive copyright to pressure us. They know our popularity is high right now and want to lock us down with resources."

"Lock us down?"

"Mm."

Shen Qingxue glanced at him.

"Once the exclusive copyright is signed, all our songs can only be released on their platform, and we won't be able to release them on Douyin and Qishui anymore."

"Although we can get a huge signing fee, in the long run, the losses far outweigh the gains."

Lu Li nodded; he thought so too.

Before their fame had completely risen, signing an exclusive deal would only be digging their own grave.

He wasn't one of those heavenly king singers. Before his fame rose, it was impossible for fans to switch their music platform to Penguin just for him.

"Then our thoughts are still consistent."

"Of course."

Shen Qingxue gave him a rare, playful blink, then picked up her water cup and took another sip.

"Right, last night's popularity of orchid pavilion preface... did you pay attention to it?"

"Haven't looked yet, just woke up and got woken up by a phone call." Lu Li took out his phone, unlocked it, and opened Douyin.

Then, he froze entirely.

The trending search topic for orchid pavilion preface hung steadily at the number one spot on the Douyin trending search chart, and its popularity had already broken through billions.

Meanwhile, the follower count of the Rock Sugar Pear account broke through the three-million mark in the span of a single night, and it was still continuously rising.

Along with that, both of their individual accounts gained quite a few followers.

The likes on the latest orchid pavilion preface video directly broke five million, and the comments also exceeded four hundred thousand.

"Holy crap..."

Lu Li blurted out reflexively.

"This is too insane, right?"

Shen Qingxue looked at his shocked expression, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly.

"Normal. Last night's popularity was naturally the highest among these few songs, and the heat from the previous few songs hadn't completely dissipated yet, so it looked a lot more terrifying."

"And there is another important reason: the fact that Penguin Music came looking for us precisely proves that our value has been recognized by mainstream platforms."

"Isn't this much more persuasive than any trending search?"

Lu Li thought about it, and it did make sense.

Starlight Entertainment wanted to step on them, but ended up working for them instead.

Penguin Music proactively coming over and wanting exclusive copyright was in itself recognition of their value.

"Then as for Penguin Music... how should we reply?"

Shen Qingxue thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"Let's leave them hanging for now, no rush. Tianlai Music has already shown sincerity, and if Penguin Music isn't willing to make concessions, then we'll just have to give up on them."

"Besides, we are still in the competition, and the finals haven't finished yet. After the competition results come out, that will be the best time to discuss authorization."

Lu Li leaned back against the sofa, resting his hands behind his head, and nodded.

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

Shen Qingxue put down her water cup and stood up from the sofa.

"I'm going to make breakfast. You... continue thinking of your confession ideas, I'm waiting for you."

Lu Li was stunned for a moment, and before he had time to respond, Shen Qingxue had already turned around and walked into the kitchen.

He turned his head to look at Shen Qingxue's back, which looked soft and peaceful in the morning light.

That plan in his heart should also be put on the agenda.