Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood
chapter-36

When Aiden first heard that he needed to make an original, he was a bit uncertain because it was hard to think of a song that would work for a wedding.

But after he heard the amount of money he was getting paid, his brain cells immediately started running.

'5000 Dollars if I sing an original song. They will only pay 2500 Dollars without an original, but even that is a great deal. Not to mention the average is just 300-400 Dollars... they are willing to pay more than ten times that.'

Aiden had only heard that weddings were very lucrative for any musician before. It was mainly fun to play in a wedding as the actual wedding would have already happened, and everyone would look happy.

But one part of it was also the money.

Couples who are well settled won't think twice before spending a lot on a good musician. Valerie's friend was also the same as both she and her soon-to-be husband were quite rich.

This just gave Aiden an additional amount of motivation to work hard to make a good song.

'Now, the problem is how to make a good wedding song?'

He thought, leaning back in his chair. His laptop reflected a faint image of his face as the gears in his head turned, trying to think up a passionate love song.

Until now, he hadn't made any good love songs. 'I can't seem to forget', which was more about lost love. 'Life is a story' was simply about life, and 'Lonely' was about dreams and realities.

In all this, there was no proper love song.

"Let's see, I am not really playing with a band, so I need to keep it simple. An acoustic guitar will be best for this, so the lyrics need to be good. Probably in the major key."

He decided to take inspiration from his first relationship. Although he was still a dumb teenager back then, Aiden had intense feelings for the girl.

Sadly, it ended when she moved to a different college. But their time together wasn't bad.

He had never thought of marrying her, but he felt like he would be able to get the required inspiration to write a good song by taking help from their memories together.

Making a good melody wouldn't be hard in this song, as all he needed was a subtle sound that could enhance the effects of the lyrics. In addition, the tempo required to be generally slow, with the chorus part being the highlight which was typical for most songs like this.

They all worked with an excellent acoustic guitar or a piano. The added effect of the poetic but relatable lyrics did the rest of the work. Though, he needed to be very careful not to make it corny.

"I need to get a basic idea of the song. Then, it should be something that the couple could dance to."

Muttering that, he wrote a line in his notebook.

'Hold on to me.'

That was going to be the title of the song.

'Wish me luck.'

***

It took Aiden four days to write the entire song. During these four days, he would work hours daily to make a good enough song while spending his nights in the bar, only sleeping for a couple of hours every day.

His schedule was tight, but he could work hard because his work was getting recognized.

He noticed that his songs on MeTube were getting a lot of popularity, with Lonely crossing 300k views, over 20k likes, and less than 1k dislikes. This meant that the majority of his audience liked his songs.

It was the same for his other songs, and Aiden felt pretty happy about this development. But in that busy schedule, there was one thing that he had forgotten.

That was his answer to Amy, the CEO of the Creative Media agency. She had already sent him a contract, and just a couple of days before the wedding, she called him to a cafe to get an answer from him.

"Hello, Aiden, it's been a while."

Amy smiled as he sat down in front of her. She was wearing a pantsuit, and it seemed like she had just gotten out of a meeting. At least that was the vibe that she gave him.

"Hello. Yeah, sorry, I was occupied with other things these days, so I wasn't able to give you a reply sooner."

"I know that. I have seen how your songs are doing on MeTube, and you are quite the buzz on social media. People are saying your elimination was unjustified."

He just smiled wearily at that. Not like he didn't know what was going on on social media, but he didn't care at this point. X-Star was already in the past for him, and no matter what people said, Rachel had defeated him fair and square.

"It doesn't matter. It will die down in a few days."

"That's true. So, let's get straight to the main topic. I don't like chit-chatting a lot." He nodded, hearing that. "What's your answer? Are you going to enter CMA?"

She asked with a tone that said she was sure that Aiden wouldn't say no to her. After all, no unknown artist should be stupid enough to give up on a record label deal.

But the answer she was expecting didn't come out of Aiden's mouth.

"I'm sorry. I would need to reject your contract." He said it apologetically, but Amy's smile broke down into a confused face. She also looked a bit troubled.

"Can I know why?"

"There are various reasons. But the main ones are just the contract terms. I don't want to be bound to a company for seven years. Moreover, I wouldn't say I liked that CMA would have the copyrights for my song even after leaving the company. That just means my songs won't be mine."

He tried to talk in a calm voice, but Amy frowned. He could clearly see anger on her face. But she still tried her best to persuade him.

"Aiden, if you don't know, this is just standard. Every company has its own contracts, but most clauses are just standard, so even if you reject it, you won't find a better one."

"Maybe what you say is true, but I'm not willing to sign such a contract."

Aiden would not be a slave to a record label for so many years. In his mind, it was way better for him to be on his own than with a record label that would just take ownership of his work.

"If you want to negotiate, the contract can be five years. We don't go lower than that. As for the copyright, we would own it for ten years from the day you signed the contract. That's the best I can give you. Think about–"

"No, my decision won't change."

He cut her off and said. No matter how many incentives Amy gave out, he would not give up 5-7 years of his life. That's too much time.

Maybe his career would be made in those years if he accepted the contract, but he also knew that he would become overworked, depressed, and tired of his life.

"You are quite conceited." Amy suddenly said with a sharp tone. Of course, she wasn't trying to hide anything now or maintain any politeness.

"You just got a bit famous because of a reality show, and your songs got a couple of thousand views. It's nothing much in this industry, and at best, you could earn a few thousand dollars on MeTube, but other than that, you would get nowhere with that attitude."

Amy said it like she was spitting venom from her mouth, but Aiden didn't show any anger. He did feel it, but he knew that showing it won't do anything.

"Maybe you are right." He said before adding. "But I think I have some worth and talent to go a long way. After all, there's no reason for a CEO of a record label to personally try to recruit me when you must have a lot of agents and managers working under you."

She didn't say anything about that, and smiling, he continued.

"That just means you value me, and it's more than a little for sure. But, you know, that gives me more confidence that I could prove you wrong."

Amy just dumbfoundedly blinked her eyes. She didn't know where he got this confidence from, but she felt frustrated from the inside right now. She wanted to make Aiden a superstar, but he didn't seem to know his place in the hierarchy.

Even if he knew his place, he didn't know how to behave like it.

Standing up, she gave him a fierce look before opening her mouth, "You know, I really liked you. If only you were a bit smarter, you would have taken this chance to stardom. But I guess you will be another addition to the long list of failures."

She left after that, and Aiden rubbed his forehead. Her words kept resounding inside of his mind, but he just decided to believe in himself for now.

'...And she left without paying.'

...

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