Suppression

"I met Scooter a few times in Los Angeles. He's Jewish, but somehow he gets along well with those lowlifes in the Black community. That's precisely why he's highly valued by some of the higher-ups," Big Machine's owner, Scott Borchetta, said over the phone.

Ryan tried asking for the executive's specific name, but Borchetta kept his mouth shut and revealed nothing.

Still, his words confirmed Ryan's guess. In the end, Ryan made his decision...

·

"This is Mr. Jesse Schaudies from Wisconsin. He's the special legal adviser I invited for this signing," Ryan introduced him.

The white-haired old white man in casual clothes handed his business card to Scooter. Compared with the formally dressed legal staff sitting ramrod straight beside Scooter, the old white man seemed extremely relaxed.

Scooter, his secretary, and his lawyer were sitting across the table. When Scooter saw the title "Global Vice President of Front Office and Strategic Relations at ManpowerGroup" on the elegant business card, his brows shot up, and he nearly dropped the card in his hand.

ManpowerGroup was a multinational corporation listed on the NASDAQ and one of the world's three largest human-resource companies.

Seeing Scooter's reaction, Ryan couldn't help chuckling inwardly. He had also been startled when he first met this friend of Taylor's father yesterday. He had known Taylor's father was a big shot, but he hadn't expected him to be such a huge one. Fortunately, this "global vice president" had visited Taylor's father during his annual leave to catch up, and had taken care of Ryan's matter along the way.

That single business card had the three people on Scooter's side constantly exchanging more than twenty glances.

"Can we begin?" Taylor's father, who had come with Ryan, glanced at his watch.

Besides the two old white men, Trey was also present. Taylor had been unable to come because she was busy with work.

"This is a copy of the draft. Based on the details Braun and Mr. Rivers negotiated earlier, we made several revisions to the template." The lawyer beside Scooter opened a folder and pushed it toward the old white man in a polo shirt sitting beside Ryan.

Ryan saw clearly that the draft was at least several hundred pages long.

Taylor's father's friend put on his glasses and flipped through only a few pages before suddenly stopping.

"Clause Four, production and recording costs. Item Three states, 'Including but not limited to all relevant expenses incurred during recording, production, and mixing shall be classified as production costs.' This is too vague. Suppose the record company assigns another person to handle the mixing. Does that mean all expenses incurred by this third party during the process must be paid by Party B?"

That single question left the other lawyer speechless. He looked directly at Braun.

"That point does indeed need clarification. The relevant budget will be disclosed to Ryan beforehand and carried out only with his consent," Braun said.

"What do you mean, his consent? This is an exclusive agreement. Should the third party's production expenses be recorded as Party B's production costs? That doesn't comply with the exclusivity stipulated in Clause One," Jesse countered.

"Uh... Then perhaps that point does need to be revised." Braun gave a stiff smile.

"Give me a pen, please." Jesse picked up a pen and wrote his proposed revision in the appropriate place on the draft.

"Clause Five, advances and royalties. Item Six: Royalties generated by streaming should not, in principle, be confused with physical royalties, much less be used to prioritize payment of costs generated by physical sales. I suggest revising part of Item Fifteen and calculating physical-sale royalties, digital-sale royalties, and streaming royalties separately. Do you have any questions?"

"Not for now..." Braun shook his head, sweat pouring from his forehead.

"Clause Six, promotion and marketing. According to Item Nine, an additional explanation should be added. When Party B faces objective limitations, including force majeure, weather, personal illness, accidents, and similar circumstances, he may refuse Party A's promotional requests. If there is no clear subjective refusal, the contract-termination clause, that is, breach of contract, should not apply..."

"Clause Seven, touring and live performances. I understand that Ryan was already performing in different places before signing the contract, and may continue to do so afterward. Why isn't this mentioned in the contract?"

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

"Clause Nine, creative control..."

"Clause Ten, distribution of other income..."

Jesse was extremely seasoned in this area. He raised questions one clause at a time and wrote down his proposed revisions.

It was also because Braun lacked much experience in signing artists, while the legal staff he had hired were not well known in the industry. As a result, the contract contained quite a few loopholes, and Jesse completely suppressed them.

"First make the revisions to the issues I mentioned, then we'll conduct a second review. Which law firm are you with?" Jesse asked the lawyer across from him.

The other man introduced himself and his firm.

"No wonder." Jesse chuckled. "The next time I see a partner from your firm, I'll have to have a good talk with him."

The negotiations continued until evening. Judging by the situation, they would need at least another full day, but the core issues had mostly been resolved. Jesse had already screened out nearly all the potential pitfalls in the clauses that could harm Ryan.

Ryan's nervous heart had also relaxed considerably. He felt that Taylor's father's friend had been a tremendous help.

"I happened to be on vacation, so consider it a small favor for Scott." Outside the office, Jesse smiled warmly in response to Trey's thanks, completely different from the stern and incisive man he had been moments earlier.

On the other side, Ryan noticed that Scott was on the phone.

After a while, Scooter returned and said to Jesse, "Looks like I'll have to eat at home tonight. Andrea asked me to pick up my daughter from the studio. She has to go to the school."

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

Ryan immediately understood. He promptly offered to pick up Taylor himself, allowing the two old white men to catch up at their old haunt.

"That works, I suppose." Scott scratched his head, not noticing anything amiss.

"Come on, let's go. I don't get to visit Nashville often," Jesse urged.

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

·

"Did the signing go smoothly?"

Ryan had just entered Studio C. Taylor, who was talking with a woman, immediately raised her head and asked him.

After hearing Ryan describe what had happened, Taylor couldn't help laughing. "I told you before, Uncle Jesse is a professional."

"Let me introduce you. This is Kobie Kaylee, a country singer. Her song Bubbly inspired me. I've decided to work with her and produce a new song together." Taylor introduced her to Ryan.

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

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

"A friend." Ryan nodded.

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

Naturally, the other woman didn't ask any further questions.

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

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

"I drove away, but your face and voice wouldn't fade. Because neither of us ever expected the ending to be like this..." Taylor scratched her hair. Even she could feel frustrated while working on certain songs.

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

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

"I have good news for you!"

As soon as the call connected, the two of them spoke in unison.