Zhang Guan thought of a very suitable song, which he also liked very much. The key was that it was not difficult to sing.
"Professor Zhou, I have a song that may be suitable." Zhang Guan said.
"What song? Who sang it?" Professor Zhou asked.
"When I was rehearsing with Teacher Wang Feng two days ago, he talked to me about some techniques on how to compose songs. I tried it when I got back and made up a saliva song myself. How about I sing it for you first?"
What is the most important thing about songwriting? It’s not about musical skills, it’s about inspiration! Many famous musicians in China are actually not from professional backgrounds, especially those born in the 1950s and 1960s. Due to the special era, even if they want to learn music, they don’t have the opportunity. Many people can’t even read music scores. With a good voice, he joined some art troupes and then started his own music career; or he just learned to play the guitar twice and then learned to write his own songs and form a rock band. Such people can eventually become singers not by their musical skills, but by their unparalleled passion for music and persistence in their ideals.
Writing songs without studying music? If we put it in modern times, everyone would definitely think this is impossible, but in that passionate era, it was a very common phenomenon. Just like today's Internet writers, how many of them are majoring in literature
Professor Zhou also experienced that era. Of course he knew about this situation, but he didn't think Zhang Guan was that kind of person. He darkened his face and said, "Are you kidding me? The Hong Kong Show is such an important event! How can you mess around?"
Zhang Guan ignored Professor Zhou's attitude. He felt that it was more straightforward to speak with facts, so he sang directly:
"When I am different from the world, then let me be different. Perseverance for me means to overcome strength with strength."
"If I compromise myself, if I lie to myself, I won't be able to forgive even if others forgive me."
"The most beautiful wish must be the craziest. I am my own god wherever I live."
"My last stubbornness and I will hold my hands tightly and never let go. Is the next stop going to be heaven? Even if I am disappointed, I cannot despair."
"Me and my proud stubbornness, I sang loudly in the wind, this time I am crazy about myself, just this time I and my stubbornness."
Zhang Guan only sang one section of the song "Stubborn" and then stopped. Looking at Coach Zhou opposite him, his eyes were wide open, his mouth was also opened wide, and he looked at Zhang Guan with an expression that was difficult to describe in words.
The song "Stubborn" is relatively easy to sing, and can even be said to be catchy. Of course, if you want to sing well, you still need a certain amount of skills, but if the requirements are not too high, you can still sing the charm without having to have too superb singing skills.
The first few lines of this song were not very exciting, and Zhang Guan’s completely unprofessional singing made Professor Zhou look even more angry. But when Zhang Guan sang the line “I and my last stubbornness”, Zhou The coach's expression completely changed. With his professionalism, he could certainly hear the excitement of this song.
"This song sounds very fresh and does not require too fancy singing. I am sure I have never heard this song before. It feels a bit Hong Kong and Taiwan style. Is it really what Zhang Guan said and he made it up himself? Is he really an athlete? Many music majors can't make up that melodious tune!" Professor Zhou suddenly felt that he had no sense of accomplishment.
"Whether the next stop is paradise, even if you are disappointed, don't despair." Professor Zhou silently recited these lyrics in his heart. He felt a little moved, but more sympathetic.
People of Professor Zhou's age have experienced a special era and have experienced too many special things. He remembered that when he was young, in that era of sports, he had put in so much hardship and endured so much pain in the pursuit of music. He wanted to give up many times, but in the end he persisted. To Professor Zhou's ears, the lyrics of this song seemed to be telling his own experience, and they touched Professor Zhou's heart in an instant.
"Is this kid really an athlete? Is it really a so-called explosion of inspiration? It would be impossible to write this kind of lyrics without experiencing some setbacks and failures..." Professor Zhou thought silently.
"Is there any music score?" Professor Zhou asked. But then he felt that he was stupid for asking, how could a song made up by a sports player have a music score
Although Zhang Guan could hum the tune, he still shook his head and said, "Where are the music scores? Besides, I have never studied music, and I can't learn music scores."
Professor Zhou nodded and then said: "Just wait, I will compose a piece of music for you now."
Professor Zhou closed his eyes, and scenes of memories emerged in his mind. When he was young, he devoted himself to music, his lonely persistence when he was not understood by the world, and he stood up countless times after countless blows and failures... As Memories kept recirculating in his mind, and charming notes began to appear in his mind.
Professor Zhou waved his pen quickly and quickly wrote a piece of music score on the paper. Then he read it again, modified a few places, handed it to Zhang Guan, and asked, "How do you like it?"
"Uh, Professor Zhou, I don't understand this..." Zhang Guan said with a slightly red face.
"Oh, that's right." Professor Zhou smiled awkwardly, and then said, "Let me play it again for you."
Professor Zhou walked to the piano and started playing the music he had just written.
Professor Zhou composed the music based on Zhang Guan's singing voice, so the final song is very different from the original "Stubborn" song. In comparison, Professor Zhou's music sounds more vicissitudes of life and more... of maturity. This, of course, has a lot to do with the author's life experience. People in their twenties naturally do not have as much experience as those in their fifties, and Professor Zhou grew up in a special age.
"How was it?" Professor Zhou asked after playing a song, but then he smiled naturally and said to himself: "It's useless to ask you, because you don't understand anyway. Let's keep it like this, I'm playing, you Come and give it a try, and we’ll correct it if there’s anything inappropriate.”
Professor Zhou accompanied Zhang Guan and asked Zhang Guan to sing it once, and then Professor Zhou made modifications. I continued this process five times before creating a piece that Professor Zhou was quite satisfied with.
"Okay, that's it for today. The composition has been decided. I will bring a few students over later to come up with the arrangement. You can go back first and come here tomorrow to listen to the finished music," Professor Zhou said.
Professor Zhou’s students are at least at the master’s level, and some are even PhD students. Their arrangement skills are at least not inferior to those of many professional musicians.
…
Several senior management of Nike are having a video conference with the branch. On the other end of the video connection are Mark Parker, president of Nike's Asia-Pacific region, and Brandt James, president of China.
"We had contact with Zhang Guan last year, and the field management center also agreed to sign the contract, but in the end it was unsuccessful. This caused a lot of passivity for our company. I want to know why? I need A reasonable explanation, I want to explain to the board of directors!" A senior executive at Naike headquarters asked.
James, the president of China, immediately said: "Our business manager once contacted the Tian Management Center and Zhang Guan. The Tian Management Center was very satisfied with the signing. However, Zhang Guan rejected our signing because he was underage. Invitation. I think it was probably because Zhang Guan himself thought the price we offered was too low at that time, so I once asked Mr. Parker for more signing bonus, but Mr. Parker did not approve it.”
Although Parker, the president of the Asia-Pacific region, is nominally James's boss, James was directly appointed by the headquarters and has always been eyeing Parker's position, so he simply put all the blame on Parker.
Parker also knew that James wanted to replace him, so he often secretly gave James a stumbling block. James did propose to increase the price to sign Zhang Guan, but in order to suppress James and out of distrust of Asian sprint projects, Parker rejected James' offer. Require.
Seeing James shifting the responsibility to himself, Parker did not look panicked. Obviously, he had already prepared his words. Parker said: "It was already the end of the year, and we were facing settlement with the OEM, so Funds are very tight. At present, our company's production chain is mainly in Asia. If factories in Asia are shut down, it will affect our global industrial chain, so I have to seriously consider every penny of funds."
Parker's statement is obviously untenable if considered carefully. The huge supply chain of Nike Company is obviously calculated in units of "hundred million". Parker, the president of Asia, cannot even connect a mere few hundred or hundreds of millions. Can't even take it out. However, several people at the headquarters discussed it and finally accepted Parker's statement.
The headquarters continued: "Since Zhang Guan won the record-breaking 100 meters in the Olympic Games, our competitors have noticed him, and many of them have already started to take action. This has made us very passive, so we are going to The strategy is to sign Zhang Guan within a reasonable price range. James, you are the person in charge of China, what are your plans next?"
James cleared his throat and continued: "Through many previous cooperations, we have a very harmonious relationship with the Tianma Management Center. I think that under the same conditions, the Tianma Management Center will give priority to signing a contract with us. But currently we have We are facing not only our old rivals, but also China’s domestic sports brands. The development speed of China’s local sports brands has exceeded our expectations. A few years ago, they were just our OEMs, but now Several brands have been formed. So I need funds, more funds, otherwise, I cannot guarantee to sign Zhang Guan."
"Then how many do you need?" asked the headquarters.
"If advertising is included, I need a budget of 2 million US dollars per year." James said.
Although James asked for 2 million US dollars, he actually didn't have high hopes for this number. Asking for money is almost like bargaining. If he asked for 2 million US dollars, he might have to cut it in half if he got it, so James just made a big move. He opened his mouth and called a relatively high number.
The headquarters fell into silence. Obviously, everyone didn't like the topic of James asking for money.
"Parker, the headquarters would like to hear your suggestions." The executive from the headquarters then asked.
"A budget of 2 million US dollars is impossible." Parker immediately rejected James' statement. From Parker's perspective, he did not want James to obtain more of his own quota in terms of funds, let alone James in the Chinese market. The business is booming, and the better James' performance is, the greater the threat to him.
Parker continued: "Although China's market is gradually expanding, for the vast majority of Chinese people, they are absolutely reluctant to spend 60 to 80 US dollars to buy a pair of shoes. For now, Japan is still our country. Asia is the largest market, so our promotion focus is still Japan. I think the budget of 2 million US dollars is too much, and I have always been doubtful about the sprint competition level of Asian athletes. One success is probably just a coincidence. Maybe Zhang Guan won’t be able to achieve such good results in the next competition. So I think a budget of US$600,000 to US$800,000 is relatively normal.”
At that time, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar was over 1:8. Two million U.S. dollars was equivalent to close to 17 million domestically, and eight hundred thousand U.S. dollars was equivalent to close to 7 million domestically. 7 million a year is definitely a sky-high endorsement fee for domestic athletes. For example, Liu Feiren’s endorsement fee after the Olympics was only 5 million per year, and the future tennis star’s net worth after winning the French Open in 2011 Probably around 7 million.
The headquarters hesitated for a while, and finally compromised the two opinions and gave James an annual budget of US$1 million.
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The second chapter has been sent, please vote for recommendation, there will be a third chapter soon. I'm in a bad mood today. I've written one chapter since 2pm. Although I have some saved manuscripts, this pattern of writing one chapter and publishing three chapters will soon run out of manuscripts. Thanks to Crow Eye, Fashionable Brother, Yu Feizi568, Yeyu Fengxi, freehire, scholar-YES, the lamp of destruction, 9922392, Zhu Luoyan, Yue Zhihate, Hua Gezjh, nbly780322, Quan18, gigiliu5277, Xingxue Rou, Xiao Li Feidao No. 1000, Da 10%, C938516 reward. Thanks.
(End of chapter)