China Entertainment 1997.

Chapter 382 The face with green light [Cao Franklin Xuan]

Los Angeles, USA
Cao Xuan met Mike and his executive manager of Princess Warner again.

Perhaps her temperament was somewhat similar to Zeng Li's, Avril looked at him several times vigilantly, and then waved goodbye to Cao Xuan with a little reluctance.

This trip to China, traveling + performing + playing, took almost half a month. For Avril Lavigne, who is still in the rising stage of her career, it is not a big time.

After returning to the United States, she had to make up the schedule for the past few days, so she had no time to pester Cao Xuan any longer.

After saying goodbye to the little girl, Cao Xuan and others headed to Warner headquarters. On the way, Mike, who had gained weight again, shouted excitedly.

"Chris, your Billboard singles chart is up again."

Cao Xuan was not surprised by this. After the release of the new album, within half a week, 3 songs appeared on the charts, and one of them even approached the top [-].

Of course, most of this is based on the popularity of the previous album and Cao Xuan himself. The follow-up ranking also depends on the quality of the songs.

But Cao Xuan is obviously very confident in his album, and he also believes that this album will have a more stable and better start based on the popularity of the previous album.

"How much has it increased?"

Although he knew it would definitely rise, Cao Xuan still didn't know the specific data. Mike glanced at Jonah Warner. The red-haired beauty opened the folder he carried with him.

"As of today, 'Release' has been on the Billboard singles chart for two weeks and album chart for one week.

At present, there are four songs in the album on the list. The best result is still "free loop", temporarily ranking No. 20 three, followed by "Sugar", ranking No. 20 nine.

"Believer" has the fastest growth rate. At the beginning, it ranked only 89th, and now it has jumped to 41st in a week, and the momentum is booming.

The album chart is currently ranked No.7, the album has been on the line for two weeks, and the sales volume has approached 50 copies. It is expected that the album chart will not be weak next week.

It is also worth mentioning that the MV of "Sugar" is very popular on the Internet, Google search has already ranked in the top two, and TV stations often rebroadcast it..."

Cao Xuan listened quietly, and when Qiao Na finished speaking, he was a little surprised and said: "It sounds pretty good, much better than the last one."

"It's not just good, it's good, man."

Mike was extremely dissatisfied with Cao Xuan's modest expression: "This is definitely a phenomenal performance, the board members are stupid... Qiao Na, your grandfather and father are not included."

Qiao Na rolled her eyes, took out her MP3, and put on her earphones: "I didn't hear it."

"Good girl, keep enjoying your music."

Mike wanted to pat Qiao Na with his big fat hand, but he didn't care if he was avoided. He continued to complain about the director of Warner Records to Cao Xuan with a fat face.

In his mouth, these people are hopelessly idiots, they are not optimistic about Cao Xuan in all kinds of ways, and he supported Cao Xuan with his own strength. Now that "Release" has exploded, he and Cao Xuan have the greatest credit.

This time, if he is not given a deputy director of the board of directors, he will quit, and find his old father-in-law to hug his thigh...

For these words of Mike, Cao Xuan believed 50% at most, and even put quotation marks on the 50%.

To say that this guy is supporting Cao Xuan, Cao Xuan believes it, because the two of them are a community of interests to some extent.

Cao Xuan relied on Mike to fight for resources in Warner, and Mike relied on Cao Xuan's achievements to expand his influence and voice on the board of directors.

So Cao Xuan believed that Mike would try his best to defend and support him, because once his interests were damaged, Mike would also suffer.

But if Warner doesn't value Cao Xuan, he definitely doesn't believe it.

In the last "Chris Tsao", Cao Xuan made a lot of money for Warner, except for a few trump cards such as Linkin Park, it was Cao Xuan who made the most money.

This is because Cao Xuan is not a signed artist, but belongs to a cooperative relationship, has a high degree of freedom and owns the copyright, otherwise, I am afraid that Linkin Park may not be able to compare with him.

As an Asian superstar, Cao Xuan has his own controversial traffic, and there is an Asian market behind him, because the World Cup is also well-known in Europe and South America, with unlimited potential. As long as Warner is not stupid, how can it be possible not to value him.

This can also be seen from the Grammys, Cao Xuan won two awards in a row, without Warner's contribution behind it, it would not have been so easy.

From Avril's experience, it can be seen that her achievements and statistics are not inferior to Cao Xuan's, but the strength of the company she works for is limited, and its public relations ability for important awards such as the Grammy is far weaker than that of Warner.

If the two change companies, the outcome of this award will be difficult to say...

So, what Mike said about Warner's board of directors abandoning Cao Xuan, just listen to it, don't believe it all.

The reason why it is [full] is not [true] is because Mike's statement is not groundless.

Cao Xuan is valued at Warner, but it depends on who he compares with. This year, Warner's top label, Linkin Park, also released a new album, and the statistics are quite impressive.

Even the opening sales were much better than Cao Xuan's, and the later stage was a little weak, but it was also because the opening burst was too violent, and the overall results were very impressive.

Linkin Park was excavated by Warner himself, and then became popular with one hand, the direct line of the direct line.

A half-outsider like Cao Xuan must be incomparable with this kind of son. Fortunately, the two albums are released more than half a year apart, so there is little influence on each other.

If it is released at the same time, there is no doubt that Cao Xuan's resources will be greatly affected.

Even at this stage, Warner still has two singers releasing songs, and Cao Xuan has also been affected to some extent. If it wasn't for the good data performance, he might be robbed of a wave of resources.

There is no way, Warner's internal disputes are also fierce, and Cao Xuan is a foreigner + non-contracted artist, so he is naturally discriminated against.

It's like a foreign actor who is affiliated with Fanxing to start cooperation, and competes with Fanxing artists for resources under the same conditions, Cao Xuan must inevitably prefer his own artists in his heart.

Cao Xuan understood Warner's thoughts, and he didn't think that the other party could treat him as his own.

All he has to do is to show stronger strength and potential, forcing Warner to make his own choice.

Under the same conditions, we must give priority to our own people, but under different conditions, we will give priority to creating the highest benefits.

Therefore, Cao Xuan knew Warner's attitude well, and he didn't listen to Mike's bullying at all. This fat man was just taking credit for himself.

He complained about Warner's board of directors in front of himself, and he might even talk about himself in front of Warner's board of directors, how wise he is, and finally helped himself to the right path.

The old two-faced man!
As for Mike's favorite deputy director, Cao Xuan also wanted him to be in the position, which would be good for him, but no one could say whether he would succeed or not.

As for what Mike said about hugging the old father-in-law's thigh, you can just listen to it. He is an executive of the media company at Warner Records.

It's true that Ruanfan is so delicious, not everyone has the ability to eat Cao Dahua's Ruanfan...

However, although some of Mike's words were unreliable, his ability to handle affairs was still very strong, especially when Cao Xuan was thriving, he used almost all the available resources to support Cao Xuan at all costs.

"Chris, guess what kind of acting opportunity I got for you."

Mike put on a smug face. Since last month, this guy has called Cao Xuan and told him that he had prepared a big surprise.

It wasn't until now that Cao Xuan came to the United States that he couldn't hide anymore, so he planned to reveal the mystery. Before revealing it, he didn't forget to tease him.

Cao Xuan wasn't used to him at all: "It's not time for the Super Bowl, could it be that you got me a guest performer at the White House to sing for Bush?"

"Cough cough."

Mike was almost choked to death: "Dude, although Warner is very strong in Hollywood, it has not been able to influence the White House to make a list of performances."

"It's not the White House, it's not the Super Bowl, so what's the point."

Cao Xuan pretended to be disappointed, but Mike didn't see it, and couldn't help but complain about his efforts.

"Let's not talk about the White House, no matter how great the Super Bowl is, I dare not say that the ratings will be able to beat the chance I gave you."

Cao Xuan raised his eyebrows: "You won't get me on Victoria's Secret, will you?"

"...How did you guess it?"

The feeling of being guessed without waiting for the answer to the mystery made Mike a little depressed, but Cao Xuan explained it calmly.

"The top performance resources that singers can win in the United States are only a few, such as Grammys, Oscars, and finals of major competitions, and the rest are fashion shows or music festivals that attract a lot of attention.

Coupled with the hint you gave, the ratings are comparable to the Super Bowl. I calculated the time, and only the nearby Victoria's Secret is the most suitable. "

Just as Cao Xuan guessed, he has also been to the closing ceremony of the World Cup finals and the big names of the Grammys. The ordinary performance opportunities are not enough for Mike to show off, otherwise he would be humiliating himself.

Although Victoria's Secret is not as good as the Super Bowl, with its high attention, it can barely be regarded as a top resource. The time interval is so close, so it is not difficult to guess.

Not to mention, Mike's mischievous eyebrows and wandering smile also gave him a lot of hints.

"It's the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show."

Mike didn't hide it anymore: "I have been eyeing this resource for a long time, and Victoria's Secret also hoped to use you to expand its influence in Asia, so this cooperation was finally reached.

Dude, thank me. Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen, and Fernanda are all famous supermodels in the world. If you win one, you will become the public enemy of countless men. "

As Mike talked, he was envious. Those Victoria's Secret angels had legs from the neck down.

Even though he has corrected himself now, but sometimes thinking about it makes him feel hot.

Cao Xuan is more serious than him, and supermodels are naturally interested, but he values ​​Victoria's Secret's support for his career more.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show began in the early 90s and soon became popular all over the world.

Men look at their figure and women look at their underwear. The influence and ratings are indeed not inferior to those of the US finals, or even worse.

Women can ignore the football, but they can't ignore the clothes, and men can ignore the football, but they can't ignore the beautiful women and long legs.

Even if many "gentlemen" don't care about it on the surface, who knows whether they will watch replays or find resources online behind their backs.

So if Cao Xuan can participate in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, it will be a good opportunity for him to show his face. It may not be as good as the World Cup finals, but from the perspective of performance influence, it is definitely stronger than the Grammys.

At the same time, since the Victoria's Secret show in 01, song performances have been added, and the number of artists invited is not low.

Especially in the later period, it became more and more fierce, and it seemed to be the existence of challenging the Super Bowl halftime show, and became a battleground for the top strategists in the major European and American music circles.

Of course, in 2003, the competition has not yet reached this level, which is why Cao Xuan can pick up the loopholes.

If it is really the level of intensity in later generations, with his current influence in the United States, he may not be able to overtake those top European and American elites.

But it doesn't mean that Victoria's Secret is bad. The previous ratings and influence have already explained everything, but the music stars have not paid special attention to this stage.

Moreover, the threshold for Victoria's Secret is relatively high. It doesn't mean that you can get on it. People depend on the degree of fit and the potential market and influence behind the singer.

In the end, people are selling underwear and the visibility of the Victoria's Secret show, not for singing singers, so not being popular for singers means everything.

On the contrary, due to the evolution of the traffic era in later generations, Victoria's Secret has become a stage for singers to compete for popularity and traffic. At that time, the organizers may have more consideration of whether the singer is popular or not.

That's why Victoria's Secret will become a place for music hegemony in later generations, and even prove its status in the music scene by whether it can log in to Victoria's Secret.

This is also good news for Cao Xuan.

In the future, when new singers want to tear up their positions for Victoria's Secret, Cao Xuan's fans said with a sense of superiority that their idols had finished in 03.

At that time, there were not so many people who were concerned about the gold content. The earlier the admission, the older the qualifications, the more powerful they appeared.

Of course, now, Victoria's Secret's bonus to singer status is not as high as later generations, but it is also a good resume. Coupled with Victoria's Secret's huge attention and ratings, it is indeed a top resource for Cao Xuan.

Patting Mike's fat belly, Cao Xuan gave him a rare compliment: "You did a great job, find a restaurant, and I'll treat you."

"A few more supermodel phone calls for me."

Mike proposed additional conditions, Cao Xuan was speechless: "Aren't you married?"

"I asked for it for a friend."

Ignoring this fat man who made friends out of nothing, Cao Xuan and others went to Warner Records.

When he arrived at the door, he saw a middle-aged man with gray hair. When the other party saw Cao Xuan, he immediately hugged him exaggeratedly.

"Cao, welcome."

"..."

Cao Xuan had never met the other party before, and he was a little confused. Mike hurriedly reminded: "Joshua Warner, the director of Warner Group and the first deputy director of Warner Records, is also Jona's father."

Oh, Second Prince Warner!
Cao Xuan knew it well, he had heard about this person, he was very low-key, he didn't like to take care of the company, he went all over the world to play and have fun, so basically he was rarely in the company.

Cao Xuan, the top management of Warner Records, basically knew everyone, but this was the first time I met him.

"Joshua, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

Joshua has a very interesting personality, he doesn't have the airs of a media prince or executive at all, and he pulls Cao Xuan to praise him again and again.

"I like listening to your song the most now. I can't listen to other singers at all. I also recommend it to many friends, and they are full of praise."

"Thanks a lot."

Cao Xuan smiled politely, but if you believe Joshua's words or not, it's up to the beholder to see the wisdom.

It's like some people plausibly say in the comment area [China Entertainment, I will read your book now, and I can't read other books], but then turn around and write the same comment on this chapter of another China Entertainment.

Bah, scumbag...

However, Joshua might still have some sincerity. He exchanged phone numbers abruptly before letting Cao Xuan go, and even asked Cao Xuan to go fishing when he had time.

The two exchanged pleasantries. During this period, Jona didn't say a word, but Joshua glanced at his daughter several times, but didn't speak.

After parting, Cao Xuan couldn't help being curious, and poked Mike quietly: "What's going on with the father and daughter?"

"Joshua has been divorced three times and Jonah lives with her mother."

Cao Xuan immediately understood that it was normal for single-parent children to have complaints about one parent, and he had no intention of meddling in other people's family affairs, but was just a little curious.

"Why did Joshua get divorced three times, faux pas?"

Mike's face was weird when he heard this, and before he could speak, Jona on the side spoke coldly.

"It's not flirtatious, it's fishing."

"Fishing can also get divorced?"

"If your wife goes fishing for 20 to 25 days a month, leaves early and returns late every day, and often travels abroad alone, and it is common to not see each other for dozens of days, would you divorce her?"

"…Leave!"

"Obviously my mother and his other two wives feel the same way as you do."

Obediently~

Cao Xuan looked at Joshua with admiration. There are many people who have caught family conflicts by fishing, but tossing himself several times to separate his wives and children is also a genius born in the world.

Just now when Joshua asked him to go fishing in the sea, he was still a little bit tempted, but now it’s better to forget it, he is not as open as the other party, fishing is more important than his wife.

Coming to Warner Corporation, as a rising star, Cao Xuan's treatment in the company is getting stronger and stronger.

At the beginning, it was just a temporary transfer of people to take charge. After the explosion of "Chris Tsao", the executive Mike approached him personally and formed his exclusive team for Cao Xuan.

Cao Xuan lived such a comfortable life in China, and his achievements and influence in the United States are still rising. These team members have contributed a lot.

After the release of the second album "Release", Cao Xuan's treatment was improved again, and Warner Company opened up a small office area for his team.

In the entire Warner Records, except for Madonna, who has become independent, there are only two people who have this treatment.

One is Cao Xuan, and the other is Linkin Park.

To a certain extent, in the hearts of Warner executives, even if Cao Xuan's status is not as good as Linkin Park's, it's not far behind.

Cao Xuan, as the core of the team, the first thing he does every time he comes to the United States is to cheer up the team, exchange feelings, and give some rewards out of his own pocket from time to time.

In this way, people will try their best to do things when he is not in the United States, and at the same time, they can buy a few eyeliners to provide him with information.

After motivating the team, Qiao Na also went to work, Mike took Cao Xuan to see his office on the pretext, and finally found a chance for the two of them to be alone in the room.

"Jonna was by the side just now, so it's inconvenient to say a lot of things, Chris, I treat you as a friend, don't reveal what I said later."

Seeing Mike's serious expression, Cao Xuan also realized that something was wrong, and corrected his attitude.

"Don't worry, my mouth is very strict."

"The head office intends to spin off the music business and sell it."

"What did you say?"

Even after seeing Mike's serious expression, Cao Xuan was already mentally prepared, but Wang De couldn't help posting the news once he heard the news.

No wonder he was shocked. The five major record companies in the world suddenly changed hands. No one would be confused. More importantly, this may be related to his future in the European and American music scene.

With such a big company suddenly changing hands, there will probably be a lot of high-level changes in the future, internal conflicts between old and new factions, and confusion about the direction of the company's development. With Cao Xuan's current status and size in Warner Bros., it is difficult to be alone.

Frankly speaking, at this moment, Cao Xuan has already started to think about switching to Universal or Sony...

Mike seemed to see what Cao Xuan was thinking, and hurriedly said, "The new boss wants to see you."

"New boss?"

Cao Xuan glanced at Mike, and he got on the line of the new boss so quickly. This fat man can't be said to be loyal to the Warner family, at least he has dedicated himself to it.

Even Cao Xuan strongly suspected that Mike might have played some disgraceful roles during the period, and he was already the new boss.

No wonder he keeps saying that he wants to be the vice chairman. His feelings have been planned for a long time, and he underestimated him.

"Tell me what's going on first, why there was no news before."

Cao Xuan probably understood Mike's purpose. The purpose of the new boss's entry was to make money. Naturally, the general had to be stabilized first. Cao Xuan and Linkin Park both promised to keep them with huge profits.

If the two pillars are lost, even if Warner Records is won, the loss will also be heavy.

Mike, who has a close relationship with Cao Xuan, is the best lobbyist. The other party revealed the news in advance to calm people's hearts and not scare them away.

Cao Xuan's heart became more stable in an instant. He and the Warner family didn't have any great interests at all. As long as his interests were not hurt, anyway, it was a cooperation, and it didn't matter who he was cooperating with.

And in his impression, Warner Records did have such a change, but it didn't affect the fundamentals of the company. After a short period of turmoil, it was still firmly among the top record companies in the world.

Mike also roughly explained the background of the matter to Cao Xuan.

In 2000, America Online, the largest telecommunications company in the United States, carried out a merger and acquisition of Warner, and even planned to take Universal together to create the largest media group in the United States.

In the end, although Universal failed to win, Warner's acquisition was completed, and the new company once ranked 500th in the world's top 37, which can be called a media giant.

As a result, U.S. officials launched a series of antitrust investigations into the merger, which eventually led to the disintegration of the new company, and Warner was hit hard.

Also because of this incident, Warner has not been slowed down in the past two years, and has been suppressed faintly, so it can only selectively divest some non-core businesses.

The music business was Warner's first major segment to be cut by hand, and as soon as Warner was about to let go, the next family would come over to take over.

Edgar Bronfman Jr.

The former president of Universal Group, who can be regarded as a media boss, learned that Warner wanted to sell Warner Records. He contacted a group of individual investors and related institutions, raised a large sum of money and established an investment group, intending to take over Warner record.

The contact between the two parties is now smooth. According to Mike, if there is no accident, the acquisition will be officially completed by the end of the year and announced to the public.

At that time, this little Edgar will become the new head of Warner Records.

Mike spoke a lot of compliments to the new boss, and also said that he admires Cao Xuan very much, and will increase resources in the future to make Cao Xuan one of the world's top superstars.

Cao Xuan was noncommittal about these empty promises, but instead raised a question that he was more interested in.

"Just now you said that the Warner family will keep 10% of the shares. Don't they plan to divest them all?"

"They intend to divest all of them, but the new bosses don't have enough money. I heard that this acquisition is more than 20 billion US dollars. In order to get as much shares as possible, the new boss has mortgaged many copyrights and businesses of the company to the bank in advance.

But considering that the company still needs to develop, a lot of money cannot be moved, and the bank can't mortgage anything, so the funds are still a little tight, and the last 10% is really out of money. "

"If you want to take this 10% stake, how much money do you need?"

"No matter what, it must be more than 2 million U.S. dollars."

Mike was suddenly taken aback, looked at Cao Xuan with difficulty, and asked in a shy voice, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's not interesting, please help me contact the new boss, I want to talk to him."

Cao Xuan's smile was flat, but there was a faint green light in Mike's eyes.

Don’t get me wrong, Americans don’t know what green hats are. In the United States, the most green is pegged to dollar bills. Cao Xuan’s two words made Mike see the shadow of Franklin on his face...

----

ps: Nibai Buddha's new book "I think it's too difficult to be single"

I read this book myself, it’s very interesting, it starts with nine ex-girlfriends Shura field, the male protagonist is the scumbag among the scumbags

The female characters are very vivid and interesting, female president, young lady teacher, child-faced giant X, female man, female star, funny girl, poisonous tongue, tsundere, mixed-race beauty... almost all the elements you like (no charge for this paragraph) )

(End of this chapter)