On July 25th, an exciting notification was received: Universal Records would settle the first song royalty share tomorrow.
The next morning, Linton, Mira, and Zhou Haisheng walked into Daniel's office, laughing. They saw Lisa also smiling, accompanied by her accountant. Daniel's secretary placed several thick files in front of them.
Linton briefly flipped through them. These were Universal's settlement files for the North American sales of the three singles up to the end of June. Due to different sales prices from discounts, events, and promotional giveaways, the entire accounting was very complex. To completely prevent Universal from 'stealing sales,' more in-depth auditing would be required, as it couldn't be handled without professionals.
Of course, Linton was a direct artist under Universal, a 'biological son,' so Universal wouldn't go too far.
They primarily targeted collaborating music production companies, especially new ones, with their 'black operations' often exceeding all limits. This is why these music production companies often hired the Big Four accounting firms to conduct audits.
As of the end of June, the sales for the three singles were: "Baby" with cumulative North American sales of 5.3 million copies, "Numb" with cumulative North American sales of 4.4 million copies, and "Believer" with cumulative North American sales of 3.8 million copies, totaling 13.5 million copies.
According to the agreement, Linton would receive 22% of the single sales revenue (6% for composition, 6% for lyrics, and 10% as the singer). With 13.5 million copies sold at an average price of $6.2 per copy, Linton's personal share would be 13.5 million * 6.2 * 0.22 = $18.414 million.
"Boss, don't worry, everything is fine," Zhou Haisheng whispered to Linton after carefully checking and confirming that the results matched the previous audit.
After listening, Linton signed the various files.
Lisa, next to him, also began signing after confirming with her accountant. Lisa's earnings this time were also significant; her share was 3%, resulting in an income of $2.511 million, which was also a huge sum.
"Above are the song sales shares. Here are also the licensing fee shares for 'Baby' and 'Numb' up to the end of June."
Daniel, smiling, took out several more files.
Linton took them and first looked at the total. The licensing fees for "Baby" across various venues (TV stations, stadiums, universities, nightclubs, various competitions, shopping malls, product advertisements, etc.) totaled $2.21 million, and for "Numb," $3.45 million, making a total of $5.66 million. According to the 22% royalty share, he would receive $1.2452 million.
Daniel introduced, "As the two songs gained popularity, copyright licensing also boomed. 'Numb' did a bit better relatively. Of course, 'Believer' had even hotter copyright licensing. There wasn't enough time to settle it this time, but I can tell you in advance that as of now, 'Believer's copyright licensing fees have reached $4 million. Of course, the copyright licensing fees for 'Baby' and 'Numb' are also still growing."
Everyone was naturally overjoyed. After the economist verified and confirmed everything was in order, Linton and Lisa also signed the various files.
Daniel had already poured several glasses of champagne and personally handed them to everyone, saying, "Cheers to our successful cooperation."
"Cheers to our successful cooperation!"
Linton took a small sip, "I hope the next share comes soon."
"Don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on it."
"Does the company have an estimate for the cumulative sales of these three singles?"
"The marketing department has already evaluated it. In North America, 'Baby's sales should exceed 7 million, 'Numb's sales should be around 6 million, and 'Believer's sales should be just over 7 million."
"In the Overseas Market, sales for all three songs should exceed 5 million copies. Haha, everyone still has a large amount of income coming! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" Everyone raised their glasses and cheered loudly.
"Moreover, 'Believer' has been at the top of the Billboard charts for 5 consecutive weeks and is very likely to become the Billboard Song of the Year. Congratulations, Linton!"
"Congratulations!" Everyone raised their glasses to congratulate him.
Universal earned massive revenue from Linton's three songs. As Linton's manager, Daniel was also incredibly excited, and although his specific commission percentage was unknown, it was estimated to be more than Lisa's.
"Next, we will redouble our efforts and go all out to produce Linton's album well. The company will also match the highest standard of distribution resources to strive for new sales highs. Everyone's income is still to come, haha, cheers!" He drained his glass.
"Cheers!" Everyone drank together.
"Also, Linton, your creative ability is too strong. The company has evaluated the 7 songs you provided, and their quality is basically on par with the previous three songs. Each song could easily be the lead single for an album. All concentrated in one album, this album is going to explode."
"Honestly, I'm a bit reluctant to put them all on one album. Before, many music Seniors came asking to give you songs to sing, but now it seems their quality simply can't compare. Linton, you are amazing, truly a Genius, hahahaha."
"Isn't it just that I'm in a creative peak right now? I still need to learn from the Seniors," Linton said modestly.
"You're really modest. This isn't like an enthusiastic American youth. We American youths should be full of Qi, individualistic, and radiate power when we have the ability."
"Oh, Lisa, are the arrangements for the 7 songs complete? And are the recording preparations all done?" Daniel turned to ask Lisa.
"The arrangements are complete, and Linton is doing the final confirmation. Recording preparations are ready and can start at any time, just waiting for Linton's schedule."
Linton stated that the arrangements were fine, and his other 3 songs were also mostly written, with final revisions being made over the next few days. He would complete copyright registration and submit them to the company by July 30th at the latest, with official recording beginning on August 1st.
"Good, this time we will shoot music videos for all 10 songs. MV shooting preparations have already begun with the original team. After the arrangements for the last 3 songs are complete, please submit them to them as soon as possible to prepare for filming."
Everyone enthusiastically discussed the album's production, all confident in Linton's new album.
Finally, Daniel also gave Linton a piece of information: Universal had already submitted an certification application to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
"Baby" with cumulative North American sales of 5.3 million copies, applying for 5x Platinum Single certification; "Numb" with cumulative North American sales of 4.4 million copies, applying for 4x Platinum Single certification.
"Believer" with cumulative North American sales of 3.8 million copies, applying for 3x Platinum certification.
However, RIAA certification confirmation would still take some time to complete, after which the Platinum certification plaques would be issued.
"This is great. I'll have Molly prepare an honor corner in my office for displaying honor trophies."
"Not just Platinum certification, the next goal is for your album to aim for Diamond certification."
"Okay, striving for a Diamond album."
Universal moved quickly. In the morning, everyone signed the share files, and in the afternoon, the share payments were deposited. Linton received a total of $19.6592 million this time, paying $1.96592 million to WMA Company and $196,592 to Zhou Haisheng. Suddenly, he had an additional $17.5 million, making him a bona fide multimillionaire.
