Harrison Clark intermittently took three or four half-days off from work, repeatedly traveling to the Cultural and Creative Industry Park and stubbornly visiting one company after another to talk.
Regrettably, he always ran into walls.
People didn't even give him a chance to play the guitar; they merely asked him if he was a professional musician or if he had any representative works in the past.
Harrison didn't want to lie; he honestly admitted that he had never studied music and had no representative works, and then that was it.
There was nothing Harrison could do about this; the fake could not become real, and the real could not become fake.
He genuinely did not have any relevant artistic education or work experience. Lying would be of no use, and he believed that whatever he had done before had nothing to do with the songs he wanted to sell.
I'm trying to sell you songs, not myself; what does it matter what I did before?
Does it matter if I haven't produced any works before?
Does everyone have representative works before they write their first song?
Do you not care about creators who haven't released any works yet?
So where do I go to release my first work?
But he knew that complaining about others wouldn't help; perhaps this was just reality.
Facing reality, accepting reality, and then overcoming reality; everyone has to go through this once.
...
Five minutes later.
"Mr. Clark, I'm really sorry. I know you have songs to sell, but our director is really busy, and he's on a business trip. The rest of us don't know how to appreciate music, so please leave."
The receptionist at this music production studio had a sweet smile and spoke very politely, but she just wouldn't let him in.
"No, even if your director is not here, there must be someone who collects songs, right? My request isn't high: just let me play once. Is that so difficult?"
At this point, a middle-aged woman came over from the side, looking like she was in charge. "Sir, our company has an email address for external submissions. If you are confident about your work, you can record a sample and send it to us. We have someone regularly reviewing submissions."
Harrison was at a loss.
He had never sold songs before and didn't know the market.
First of all, with his level of singing, the quality of the recording would definitely not be great.
Secondly, his songs had an unorthodox origin, and there were only two of them. If he foolishly handed them over only for someone to plagiarize or adapt them, who would he turn to for justice?
"Alright, I'll leave for now."
Seeing that there was no point in discussing, Harrison didn't press further and turned to take the elevator down the building.
Harrison reluctantly looked back at the building.
Then he shook his head, took out his notebook, and drew a line through the name of a company on it.
He had originally written down more than ten company names in the notebook, and now there was only one left.
The last company was called Coastline Studio, which was not very large but covered various fields, including artist management, music production, and album distribution.
As a small company, Coastline Studio managed to be small but complete in every aspect, relying solely on its only artist, the popular domestic female singer Avril Green.
Initially, Harrison didn't want to come to this company.
Avril Green debuted early, and although she was only twenty years old, she was already very popular.
In fact, Harrison might know more about her than Avril herself. In Carrie Thomas's biography from the future, Avril was mentioned multiple times.
For a long time, Avril and Carrie were rivals, but eventually, perhaps due to Avril's early fame or her too-good family background, she lost her edge and fell behind. She was only popular for twenty or thirty years and couldn't create her own niche but became a foil for Carrie instead.
However, Avril was now not only younger than Carrie but also more popular. She could single-handedly support a company.
Harrison knew from the biographies of people from the future that her background was extraordinary and intimidating; any elder relative from her family could be considered a sensitive issue.
Because of his unpleasant experience dealing with Carrie, Harrison subconsciously believed that Avril would be even more difficult.
So he didn't expect anything from this company at all.
But now he had no other choice. Harrison turned and went to another building, heading straight for Coastline Studio.Coastline Studio's office location didn't look impressive, and there wasn't even a reception desk at the entrance.
As Harrison Clark poked his head in, a young woman carrying a folder walked right towards him.
She glanced at Harrison, then at the guitar case on his back.
"Hello, sir. What can I do for you?"
The woman was polite, which Harrison had expected. After all, although he wasn't terribly handsome, he had an honest face that seemed dependable, maybe even pleasant with a longer look.
Harrison smiled, "I want to talk to the person in charge here. I have a song I'd like to sell to your company."
The woman hesitated, seemingly at a loss for words.
"You're here to sell a song?" A curvy, long-haired woman in a tight suit came over.
Her outfit accentuated her figure perfectly.
The young woman who spoke to Harrison earlier bent over quickly and said, "Hello, Bella."
Bella waved her hand, "You go do your work. I'll take it from here."
The woman quickly lowered her head and left in haste.
Bella crossed her arms, turned to Harrison with a slightly mocking smile, "Hello, sir. I am Avril Green's agent and the general manager of this company, Bella Ross. Can you please repeat, you are here to sell a song?"
As she spoke, her eyes glanced at the guitar case behind Harrison. Seeing the words "Yangtze River," she couldn't help but let out a meaningful grin.
By now, Harrison knew the answer.
He really wanted to turn around and leave, but since Bella hadn't driven him away yet, he might as well say a few more words.
Maybe... it could work?
Harrison nodded, "Yes, this is my masterpiece that I put my heart and soul into. I have great confidence in this song."
Bella suddenly laughed, "Didn't you know? Our Coastline Studio never accepts songs from outsiders. Avril Green never sings other people's songs. She writes all her own lyrics, thank you."
Harrison was taken aback, "Oh? Is that so?"
This was indeed beyond his expectations.
In the music library of his later life, Avril Green had sung many songs written by others.
However, Harrison did not pay much attention to Avril Green and was not familiar with her artistic development, so he assumed she had always been like this.
Now he knew that early on, Avril Green only sang her own compositions.
He came ten years too early.
Harrison felt quite emotional. Avril Green's approach seemed to be responsible for her works, but she was actually exhausting her creative talent.
There should be limits to a person's talent.
Avril Green was indeed extremely talented, but she could only be considered a once-in-a-decade genius, unlike Carrie Thomas, who possessed a once-in-a-century talent that eventually became unmatched in generations. There was a clear gap between them.
So, in the middle and later stages of Avril Green's artistic career, as her inspiration dried up, she could only sing others' works.
That was probably the reason why she ultimately fell behind in her competition with Carrie Thomas.
But now, at the peak of her creative inspiration, Avril Green had a few more years at the top. Naturally, her agent Bella Ross had every reason to be proud.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'll be on my way."
Seeing that nothing could be done, Harrison decided to make a quick exit.
The more setbacks he encountered, the stronger his resilience grew, and his emotional endurance improved daily.
At first, rejection had left Harrison feeling dejected and embarrassed, but after numerous attempts, he had become numb.
Now, he had no expectations from the very beginning, so there was no room for disappointment.
"Wait a second."
Just as Harrison turned to leave, a crisp voice came from behind.
Harrison turned back around.