Back To The Viper by Antara Mann Read Free Book Online Page A

what they say.” Mark sighed and took a gulp of whiskey.
    The four of them looked at one another cheerfully.
    “All right, so what’s the deal? Are you calling us or do I…” Wayne didn’t finish because Mark interrupted him.
    “Buddy, don’t worry, I’ll take care of this. Once I like a band or an artist, it’s in my interest to promote them. But I have one condition.” He looked at all four of them searchingly. “If I strike a deal with a label, I’d like you to sign a contract stating I’ll be your producer. Is that okay?”
    Wayne held his breath – that was beyond the sphere of his competence and he had to consult an entertainment attorney.
    “Okay, let’s see if a label will like us first, and then we can negotiate!”
    After a while, Mark Harris left and they could no longer contain their joyful exclamations.
    “Yes!” cried Craig, who had been silent during the conversation, having let Wayne do the talking. His corporate work had taught him how important it was to listen closely to the people he would make business with. “This feels good. I have the very good feeling we’re going to sign a contract!”
    “Don’t make conclusions too quickly,” Chad warned him. “Although I have such a feeling, too…”
    “Cut off that thinking; it’s party time!” Wayne ordered four shots of tequila with a complacent smile on his face and then gave one to each of his friends. “To success!”
    They laughed and each of them downed their shot. While Ashley was swallowing the sharp taste of tequila, a girl approached them timidly.
    “Excuse me, can I have an autograph?” She held out her cap shyly. Wayne winked at her.
    “Don’t you have anything sexier I could sign?”
    The girl blushed and Ashley jabbed Wayne.
    “Don’t be a jerk! We are here for a purpose, not for you to go hunting.”
    Craig and Chad burst into laughter, mimicking him, “Lord, thank you! I promise not to hurt the fairer sex ever again.”
    “Oh, shut up,” Wayne downed another shot of tequila. He was starting to enjoy being twenty again – he was young and ambitious and the women in the club were exactly the type he liked.
     

Chapter 11
     
     
     
    The following two days seemed to go by like paper in the wind to Ashley, Wayne, Craig, and Chad. On the following day, Mark Harris called them to announce the good news: Sony had shown interest in them. However, the company wanted a whole album to be recorded in a studio. He had them sign a contract with him and then offered to record the album in his recording studio in Los Angeles. Harris proposed for the royalties to be split fifty-fifty. Wayne didn’t know what to do – he’d never had to deal with the legal side of music business before. Craig was more knowledgeable in that matter.
    “That’s a very responsible and important thing to do. We need to read the whole contract very carefully, down to the smallest details. I’ve signed many contracts at Cisco Systems, and I know that each violation of the contract or each failure to adhere to its terms will cost us a fortune.”
    “All right, then, Mr. White Collar, are you ready to read it and explain it to us so that we can decide whether to sign it or not?”
    Craig nodded. On the following day, Harris sent them a copy of the contract. They read it carefully several times. The producer was offering to financially cover the recording of their studio albums for the following five years in exchange for half of the royalties negotiated with the label.
    “This means that if the label offers us, let’s say, twelve percent of the royalties, we’ll be left with just six. And then, when we split that six percent among us, each of us will be left with one and a half percent,” Craig explained.
    “What?” Wayne cried.
    Craig smiled at him in empathy.
    “Yes, things are not as rose colored as movies and TV shows make us believe they are. Bands, as a whole, don’t earn much. I’m talking about the middle ranks.”
    “But