Suppression

"I've met Scooter a few times in Los Angeles. He's Jewish, but somehow manages to get along well with those low-life black guys. It's precisely because of this that he's highly valued by some of the higher-ups," said Scott Borchetta, the boss of Big Machine, over the phone.

Ryan tried to ask for the specific names of the executives, but Borchetta was tight-lipped and revealed nothing.

However, his words did confirm Ryan's suspicions. Ryan finally made his decision...

"This is Mr. Jesse Schaudies from Wisconsin. He's my special legal counsel for this signing," Ryan introduced.

The white-haired old man in casual wear handed his business card to Scooter. Compared to the lawyers in suits sitting formally beside Scooter, this old man appeared very relaxed.

Scooter, his secretary, and his lawyer were sitting across the table. When he saw the title "Former Global Vice President of Talent and Strategic Relations at ManpowerGroup" on the exquisite business card, his eyebrows shot up, and he almost dropped the card in his hand.

ManpowerGroup is a multinational corporation listed on Nasdaq and one of the top three global human resource companies.

Seeing Scooter's reaction, Ryan couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. The first time he met this friend of Taylor's father yesterday, he was also startled. He knew Taylor's father was a big shot, but he didn't expect him to be this big of a shot. It was fortunate that he was lucky; this "Global Vice President" was visiting Taylor's father during his annual leave and happened to help him with his matter.

This single business card caused the three people on Scooter's side to exchange more than twenty glances.

"Can we begin?" Taylor's father, who had accompanied Ryan, looked at his watch.

Besides the two old white men, Trey was also present. Taylor could not make it due to work commitments.

"This is a draft copy, with some revisions made to the template based on the details previously negotiated by Braun and Mr. Rivers," said the lawyer beside Scooter, opening a folder and pushing it towards the old white man in the polo shirt beside Ryan.

Ryan could see clearly that this draft was at least several hundred pages long.

Taylor's father's friend put on his glasses and, after flipping through just a few pages, suddenly stopped.

"Clause Four, regarding production and recording costs. The third point, 'including but not limited to expenses incurred during recording, production, and mixing,' is too broad. If the record company assigns another person to do the mixing, will all the expenses incurred by this third party during that period be borne by the second party?"

His question stumped the opposing lawyer, who looked directly at Braun.

"This point indeed needs clarification. The relevant budget will be communicated to Ryan in advance and will proceed with his consent," Braun said at this moment.

"What do you mean 'his consent'? This is an exclusive agreement. Should the production expenses of a third party be counted as the second party's production costs? This doesn't align with the exclusivity stipulated in Clause One," Jesse countered.

"Uh, perhaps this point still needs modification," Braun said with a stiff smile.

"May I have a pen, please?" Jesse picked up a pen and wrote his suggested revisions in the corresponding section of the draft.

"Clause Five, advances and royalties. The sixth point, royalties generated from streaming, should not, in principle, be confused with physical royalties, nor should costs generated from physical sales be prioritized for payment. I suggest modifying part of the fifteenth item to separately calculate royalties from physical sales, digital sales, and streaming. Do you have any questions?"

"Not... for now," Braun shook his head, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Clause Six, promotion and marketing. According to the ninth point, supplementary explanations should be added. When the second party has objective limitations, including force majeure, weather, personal illness, accidents, etc., they can refuse the first party's promotional requests. If there is no explicit subjective refusal, the contract termination clause will not apply, meaning it would be a breach of contract..."

"Clause Seven, tours and live performances. I understand that Ryan already has existing performance schedules in various places, which occurred before the contract signing and may still occur after the signing. Why is this not mentioned in the contract?"

"Clause Eight, contract termination and breach of contract. I suggest rewriting this section."

"Clause Nine, creative control..."

"Clause Ten, other income distribution..."

Jesse was quite seasoned in this regard, raising objections point by point and writing down his suggested revisions.

It was also Braun's fault for not having much experience in signing artists, and the legal counsel he hired was not well-known in the industry, resulting in many loopholes in the contract, which Jesse completely exploited.

"First, complete the revisions for the issues I previously raised, and then we'll proceed with the second round of review. Which law firm are you from?" Jesse asked the lawyer opposite him.

The other party stated their firm's name.

"No wonder," Jesse chuckled. "When I next see a partner from your firm, I'll have a good chat with him."

The negotiation continued until evening. Judging by the pace, it would take at least another full day, but the core issues were largely resolved. The "landmines" in the contract that could potentially harm Ryan had been thoroughly cleared by Jesse.

Ryan's anxious heart had already settled by more than half, feeling that Taylor's father's friend's visit had greatly helped him.

"I'm on vacation, just helping Scott out a bit," Jesse said with a kind smile as he walked out of the office, facing Trey's thanks, a stark contrast to his stern and sharp demeanor moments before.

Meanwhile, Ryan noticed Scooter was on the phone.

A while later, Scooter returned and said to Jesse, "I'm afraid I have to go home for dinner tonight. Andrea asked me to pick up our daughter from the studio; she has to go to school."

Jesse looked troubled and mentioned a local restaurant he had visited with Taylor's father a few years ago.

Ryan understood immediately and offered to pick up Taylor himself, allowing the two old white men to go catch up at their usual spot.

"That should be fine," Scooter scratched his head, not noticing anything amiss.

"Let's go, I don't get to Nashville often," Jesse urged.

The four parted ways at the entrance. Jesse and Taylor's father went to dinner, Trey went home, and Ryan drove his own car to Blackbird Studio.

"Did the signing go smoothly?"

As Ryan entered Studio C, Taylor, who was talking to a woman, looked up immediately and asked Ryan.

Hearing Ryan recount the situation, Taylor couldn't help but laugh, "I told you, Uncle Jesse is a professional."

"Let me introduce you. This is Kacey Musgraves, a country singer. Her song Bubbly inspired me, and I've decided to collaborate with her on a new song," Taylor introduced to Ryan.

Then Taylor turned to her, "This is..."

For a moment, Taylor didn't know how to introduce Ryan to the other person.

"A friend," Ryan nodded.

"That's right, a friend," Taylor chuckled twice.

The other party naturally didn't ask any more questions.

Unlike last time, Taylor wasn't recording a song this time. She seemed to have encountered some difficulty and was discussing lyrics with the female singer.

Ryan was able to sit in the back of the recording studio. He saw the producer, Nathan Chapman, a sound engineer, and two assistant sound engineers. Joel had already gone to another recording studio that Taylor collaborated with.

"I drove away, but your voice and smile linger, because we never expected it to end like this..." Taylor ran a hand through her hair. Even she found the creation of some songs troublesome.

The wait was longer than expected. Just as Ryan was starting to feel bored, his phone suddenly rang.

It was Abigail, who hadn't contacted him in days. Ryan took his phone and walked out of the recording studio, answering the call in the hallway.

"I have good news for you!"

The call connected, and they both spoke at the same time.