Chapter 150: Do Not Cursingly Scold My Fans Casually

"Exclusive streaming copyright? I am afraid that won't do. My songs are meant to be heard by everyone once they are released. If I restrict them to just a single music website, what about the listeners on all the other platforms?"

"Is it a matter of money? If Mr. Yang feels our offer isn't sufficient, we are entirely open to increasing it."

"Money? I am not lacking in money. The main thing is that everyone should be able to enjoy the music."

The CEO of Kuwo Music was left laughing and crying on the other end of the line.

Only Yang Xiaofan would dare to speak in such a manner.

Among ordinary singers, how many could ever even touch one billion in their entire lives?

If a regular singer were told there was one billion to be made, they would likely be trembling with excitement, practically drooling at the thought.

Yet Yang Xiaofan treated the sum with complete indifference.

"Then... how about this? I will offer two hundred million. Regardless of which website plays your tracks, our platform will stream them as well. Furthermore, I can set them as VIP tracks or paid content. Later on, if they fall under the VIP or paid category, we will provide you with a specific revenue share. How does that sound?"

"That works, but you cannot set them as paid-per-track songs. At most, you may restrict them to VIP members only."

"Very well, I agree. I will send over the contract and the guaranteed signing fee right away."

"Good!"

The other party wasn't worried that Yang Xiaofan would renege on the deal. Someone who didn't even care about a billion wouldn't care about a mere two hundred million.

Besides, given Yang Xiaofan's immense fame, and with a proper digital paper trail of the transfer, he had no fear of Yang Xiaofan defaulting.

Unless Yang Xiaofan wanted to court another wave of extreme controversy and go down in history with a notorious reputation.

As for limiting it to VIP access, based on his market experience, Yang Xiaofan's songs were entirely worth the price.

The subscriptions generated by platform members later on would easily recoup the two hundred million, and by a wide margin.

Most importantly, if he failed to secure the streaming rights for Yang Xiaofan's work, and someone else managed to buy out the complete rights with a hefty sum, he would be utterly finished.

Everyone knew just how popular Yang Xiaofan's songs were at the moment.

If a particular website genuinely managed to acquire the entirety of Yang Xiaofan's catalog, that platform would undoubtedly capture massive traffic and development momentum.

By then, losing that traffic would mean a devastating loss that far outweighed the cost.

Of course, even though Yang Xiaofan had stated he wouldn't exclusively tie his songs to any single website, who could guarantee he wouldn't?

Spending two hundred million to ensure foolproof security was a risk well worth taking.

Sure enough, shortly after he hung up the phone, the CEOs of several other platforms contacted Yang Xiaofan one after another.

Although none of them ultimately secured exclusive streaming rights, all of them successfully obtained authorization to offer the songs via VIP subscription.

It was exceedingly rare for someone to drop a batch of new songs, completely dominate the charts on the very first day, and then implement a VIP requirement.

Across the entire Mandopop industry, such instances could be counted on one's fingers.

Yet Yang Xiaofan had swept the board entirely.

However, locking the music behind a VIP wall plunged his public reputation back into a storm of online vitriol.

"Damn it! And here I thought he genuinely wanted to create good music, but it turns out it was all about charging fees."

"Trash. I'm never listening to his songs again from this day forward. Unfollowed. We are strangers from now on."

"These actors and performers are truly none of them any good. When he was arguing with the haters on Weibo earlier, he must have paid people to do it, right? He deliberately manufactured hype, made his songs blow up, and then immediately slapped a paywall on them. Do they take us for fools?"

Naturally, there were also those who spoke up in defense:

"Don't be like that. Bro-in-law's songs are genuinely fantastic. When music is this good, charging a little money for it is only reasonable, isn't it?"

"Exactly, Bro-in-law's songs are so amazing, and yet people expect him to give them away for free while garbage songs charge money. Wouldn't that be unfair to Bro-in-law?"

Even so, this failed to hold back the trolls.

"Bah! Sold out and still acting like bootlickers. A bootlicker ends up with nothing in the end."

"Precisely! Aren't those bootlickers still going to have to spend money to buy VIP memberships just to listen?"

Yang Xiaofan soon caught wind of the matter. True to his character, he dove right onto the internet without a shred of hesitation to tear into the trolls.

"You stinky idiots, my own songs are mine to charge for or give away as I please! Do I need to ask for your permission to charge for the music I sing? Absolute morons! If you've got the capability, go sing your own songs! Sitting around with too much time on your hands just to smear me, what is wrong with you people?"

"So what if we smear you? If it weren't for our support, would you be where you are today?"

"Exactly, don't forget the well-digger when you drink the water. But you? You let us boost you to the skies, only to turn around and demand money from us."

Yang Xiaofan was genuinely laughing with fury.

Had he known these people were like this from the start, he really should have just let those website CEOs implement the paywalls right from day one!

If he had done that, he would have made even more money!

A bunch of idiots!

At present, nine out of ten songs across major websites required a VIP membership to be streamed.

Particularly for tracks generating massive traffic, listeners sometimes even had to pay a separate fee per play.

One could say that free songs were fundamentally limited to terrible, unlistenable tracks.

Of course, platforms did keep a couple of exceptional songs free to attract traffic, but that amounted to maybe one or two tracks at most.

The overarching environment was entirely pay-to-listen.

Yet these haters had seized upon him to launch yet another round of indiscriminate attacks.

It was enough to make Yang Xiaofan dying of anger!

Still, seeing the fans cheering him on brought genuine warmth to his heart.

"Bro-in-law, don't pay them any mind. Those trolls are total morons who haven't the slightest clue about the struggles of everyday life; who doesn't need to make a living? Besides, Bro-in-law is about to have a child, earning money to support the family is completely normal, isn't it?"

"Exactly, Bro-in-law, we support you. A real man earns money to support his family. If you have no money, don't listen to music. This is someone else's labor and creation, yet people act so entitled wanting a free ride!"

These words warmed Yang Xiaofan's heart, prompting him to post on Weibo:

"Enabling VIP access was an initiative proposed by the major platforms. Initially, they all wanted to buy the exclusive rights. I was the one who worried that would create a monopoly, so I declined and only permitted them to open VIP access. I didn't expect this to cause everyone so much trouble. For the sake of the fans who support me, I will release ten more songs. Furthermore, regarding those trolls, I want to make a solemn statement here: you can curse me all you want, but leave the fans who support me out of it! They are no bootlickers, and they certainly won't end up with nothing!"

The moment this Weibo post went live, it instantly sent internet traffic into a frenzy once again. Poor Weibo was plunged into massive tremors, nearly being paralyzed a second time.

Fortunately, this time it wasn't midnight, and the Weibo headquarters had made thorough preparations beforehand, retaining a highly reliable technical team to keep the platform from crashing.