Chapter 114 - 102: Big Winner_1
It wasn’t until a full ten minutes after Carrie Thomas finished her performance that Harrison Clark snapped out of his trance.
His strong reaction was due to two main factors.
First was the quality of “Self-Combustion” itself, which was so excellent that
he could not remain calm.
With Harrison’s current ability to appreciate music, he believed that “Self-Combustion” was not inferior to “The Fire”.
He believed that others would also share this opinion; it was a classic that could withstand the test of time and be passed down for thousands of years.
This was both within reason and beyond his expectation.
In his eyes, Carrie Thomas seemed like an inexhaustible gold mine.
Even if he exhausted it with a single stroke, the gold in the mine would still re-emerge like the bubbling spring water by the riverbank.
Second, he understood the story depicted in the song.
Just the guitar accompaniment in the introduction was enough to immerse
Harrison in the artistic conception of the song.
He felt as if he could see a towering figure walking out of the flames.
This figure was slightly hazy, not clearly visible, but resolute in stride.
Upon the first listen, one would be curious as to why this person would brave the flames and then walk out of them.
So, at first, Harrison worried that this song might overlap with the theme of
“The Fire”, and be merely a mediocre continuation of the story.
But as the scenery changed and Carrie Thomas began to tell the story through her lyrics and new melody, Harrison understood the difference between “Self-Combustion” and “The Fire”.
Compared to “The Fire”, the character depicted in “Self-Combustion” had more motivation, a clearer purpose, and an underlying sense of self-sacrifice.
It had a taste of someone who was willing to set themselves alight, or break the rules to save something, regardless of the cost.
The essence of “The Fire” was rebirth for oneself, while the essence of
“Self-Combustion” was sacrifice for others.
This spirit of sacrifice was clearly intended for Harrison Clark himself.
As Harrison listened to the song and pondered its meaning, Carrie Thomas told him that she had been brewing the idea for this song since the first time she watched the video of his car chase.
She was moved by Harrison’s bravery, while also being deeply aware of the danger of what he had done.
Carrie Thomas believed that even a slight mistake at that time could have caused Harrison to fall from the car going over 150 km/h, resulting in certain death.
So, this song was written for Harrison Clark.
Although Harrison felt undeserving of such honor, he could only accept it.
He regretted that he couldn’t plagiarize this song.
“How about it? Give me your evaluation,” Carrie prompted eagerly.
Harrison counter-questioned, “Don’t you already have an answer in your
mind?”
Her confidence was rising and unstoppable.
Like in the first timeline that Harrison experienced, after Carrie created her first masterpiece and gained market recognition, she never doubted herself again.
This time it was even more intense, and she reached the peak of confidence without the need for others’ approval.
“No, I want your assessment more.”
“It’s great, no less than any song I’ve ever written for you.”
“Thank you, that’s the evaluation I wanted most.” Carrie put down her guitar, her voice trembling with excitement, “Thank you, Harrison. Although I’ve always believed in myself, I’ve never dared to say it out loud. I’m not afraid of being laughed at, but I’m afraid of failing after saying it and being disappointed.”
Harrison shook his head, “You’re overthinking it; I’ve always known you’re capable.”
“Indeed, I am, and I haven’t disappointed my pride. But without you, I definitely wouldn’t be able to do it now, at least it would take a few more years of accumulation, right?”
Harrison thought for a moment, “In some sense, yes.”
“Thank you for your guidance and for being a better you, leading the way. Over the past period, I’ve been trying to absorb your creative concepts and learn from you. You’ve given me inspiration, so I could write this song. I really, really appreciate it.”
After finishing her speech, Carrie Thomas hurriedly ran upstairs.Harrison Clark cried on the spot, feeling too many complex emotions to describe.
He was not only amazed by Carrie Thomas’s terrifying growth rate, completing in just a few months what would have taken years, but also by her honest confession.
She actually admitted that she was absorbing his ideas.
Carrie Thomas was an extremely proud person.
The reason she evolved so quickly was because she didn’t want to give up, and didn’t want to always sing Harrison Clark’s songs.
But now she admitted that she was absorbing someone else’s creative ideas, which had never happened in any of Harrison Clark’s past timelines.
Harrison Clark panicked.
It seemed like he had a problem with trying to fleece the same sheep too many times.
What a silly girl.
You didn’t absorb my ideas, they were all yours to begin with!
This incident served as a wake-up call.
Harrison Clark decisively decided to let Carrie Thomas enter Summit Ventures as well. On one hand, he could influence her schedule and protect her safety, preventing accidents like the car accident from happening again. On the other hand, he could supervise her artistic career and prevent things from getting out of control, so she wouldn’t be disturbed by other external factors.
Although Harrison Clark could review Carrie Thomas’s life every time he crossed time and space, there would always be a one-month gap.
If something happened during this gap, he couldn’t do anything about it.
The next day.
This day was destined to be a feast for ordinary listeners.
Leah Clark and Ward Owen’s new album, Avril Green’s new single “Favored by Jesus”, and Carrie Thomas’s single “The Fire” were all released simultaneously. Something shocking happened in the music world.
After just one day, “Favored by Jesus” successfully topped the charts, followed by “The Fire”, then “A Dull Life”, “Deep in the Night”, and interchangeably with Leah Clark and Ward Owen’s album tracks.
The next day, “The Fire” successfully turned the tables and took the top spot. Afterward, Avril Green’s many die-hard fans began their counterattack and reclaimed the top spot.
Regardless of private relationships between the artists, the fans were fighting desperately.
As a result, the top spot on that day’s chart changed hands constantly as the two songs competed fiercely in various data sectors.
Each had their moment in the sun, fighting happily against each other.
Of course, no matter how these songs competed with each other, from the perspective of outsiders, it was all an internal competition among Harrison Clark’s works.
He was the biggest winner.
The top sixteen spots on both the No. 1 Fly and Spotify Top platforms were occupied by him.
Apart from one-time copyright fees, a huge amount of revenue sharing was constantly being generated.
After deducting all costs and channel fees, as well as the proportions to be allocated to the artists and the company’s equity shares, Harrison Clark could make a net income of about 100,000 to 200,000 dollars a day on average.
At the same time, a massive amount of business collaborations flew in like snowflakes from all over the country and around the globe.
These collaboration requests included using excerpts of melodies for movie soundtracks, commercial performances, adaptations, covers, and so on.
These business collaborations would also bring Harrison Clark a steady stream of income.
For example, if Summit Ventures authorized a movie to use Carrie Thomas’s “The Fire” as the theme song, after the movie was released, Summit Ventures could take a certain percentage of the box office revenue share.
Once the movie was off the big screen and moved to on-demand streaming on the internet, sold licenses to TV stations for reruns, or sold DVDs, Summit Ventures could still get a share of the revenue.
The same applied to TV series soundtracks, opening and ending themes.
For instance, if songs were authorized to an advertising resource company, which then extracted melodies to become commercial or promotional song background music, Summit Ventures would get a share every time an advertisement was produced.
There were also fees for KTV song selections and internet karaoke software accompaniment rights.
in a regulated copyright management environment, as long as you have good original works, there’s money to be made everywhere.
Talented original creators who take their work seriously and don’t deceive consumers deserve to make money and should not be poor..