hollywood billionaire

Chapter 400 Slowly becoming king

Taylor Swift's appearance was beyond everyone's expectations.

In particular, Han Yi, who had been planning for a long time and repeatedly pondering the guest list, trying to turn the Mad City Music Festival into an industry summit and achieve his goal in one fell swoop.

From beginning to end, Han Yi never thought of inviting Taylor.

It's not because he despises the latter, on the contrary, Han Yi's emphasis on Taylor Swift is not only known to Xu Yiru and Zhao Youzhen, Madison Beer and Barbara Pavin, but also to his subordinates Karen Guo and Celine Joshua. Every time he mentions this record-breaking pop singer, Han Yi never hesitates to praise her.

The reason why he did not choose to use various connections to encourage Taylor Swift to go to Las Vegas, or simply send an offer to 13 Management and invite her to be the finale guest on stage, was ultimately because Han Yi felt that the time was not yet ripe.

This immaturity is two-way and multiple factors are superimposed. On the one hand, Han Yi's layout can only be regarded as a preliminary form. Even the CEO has not yet officially taken office, and the management structure has not yet been completed. Han Music Group is still far from the top three. As for Taylor's girlfriends, Han Yi has only recruited Hayley Williams so far, and Ellie Goulding can barely be counted as half. Lana Del Rey, who lives in seclusion, was just an acquaintance with Taylor Swift in 2016, which is not the same as the deep friendship they established in 2023 due to Jack Antonoff's matchmaking.

Lacking strength and connections, Han Yi didn't believe that she could persuade Taylor Swift to change her career under such circumstances, nor did she want Taylor to be exposed to Han Music too early in such a nascent situation. In terms of career development, Taylor has extremely strict and high requirements for herself, and similarly, she applies the same criteria to her partners. Apart from anything else, just look at her personal lawyer - Donald S. Passman, a leading figure in music law and its practical application, and the author of "Everything You Need to Know About the Music Industry". His book is not only the most important textbook for the music industry major at the USC School of Music where Han Yi studied, but also an indispensable reading material for all universities around the world that offer this major.

This book was published in 1991.

In other words, if we relax the time a little bit, at least after the 21st century, all the students who entered the record industry or other music fields are students of Donald Passman. Even if your major has nothing to do with the music industry, as long as you want to gain a foothold in this industry and want to understand the operating rules of this industry, you must respectfully call Donald Passman "Teacher".

Only a man like this can meet Taylor Swift's requirements for team members in 2016.

Han Yi and his Han Music are far from reaching this level.

On the other hand, Taylor herself is not ready to do something shocking right now. She still has one album and two years left in her agreement with Big Machine Records. Before that, even if Han Yi takes the case to the Supreme Court, he will not be able to sign a new contract with Taylor. Not to mention the field of copyright distribution, the music copyrights of Taylor's first seven albums are firmly controlled by Universal Music Distribution Group. Han Yi needs to wait until February 2020, before the eighth album "Folklore" is completed, to obtain the copyright of Taylor's future lyrics and music through legal means - and if he really wants to offer preferential conditions to compete with Universal Music for talent, he will most likely only get time-limited management rights.

In addition, in the field of performance management, WME's influence in the country music industry is unquestionable and unshakable. Since her debut, Taylor Swift has been working with WME's celebrity agent Greg Oswald. With UTA's current size, it is a bit difficult to eat up the tail gas of CAA, let alone to catch up with WME. Han Yi has not yet fully controlled this management giant, and his huge amount of funds has not yet equipped UTA with a rocket propeller for development like WME's acquisition of IMG or UFC. Therefore, in this case, Taylor has no reason to change his job. As his position in the industry is further consolidated, Taylor's ambition will only grow, and eventually reach a point where the traditional business structure cannot bear.

If she doesn't work with WME, Taylor Swift won't sign with other talent agencies. She will simply ignore the legal requirements of New York and California, break away from the so-called practice of the Western music industry for a hundred years, and hire a staff member with a talent agent certificate on her own, becoming one of the few superstars in the history of the music industry who booked performances for herself.

So, if getting the agent rights doesn't work, is it okay to just invest and go on tour with Taylor?
The answer is: theoretically feasible, but in practice, there is little hope. It’s not because Han Yi doesn’t have enough money. The Eras Tour, which will start in 2023, is the most expensive tour to date—no, until Han Yi’s rebirth. Even if Taylor’s guaranteed performance fee is not taken into account, the actual expenditure on stage, equipment, and implementation alone exceeds $ million, and is approaching the $ million mark as the number of performances gradually increases.

Among these, the transportation and logistics costs of the equipment alone are estimated to exceed 3000 million US dollars. Even the multinational entertainment giant AEG Live has to make great efforts to allocate such a large amount of cash. It even has to find local companies for financing for each site, and it will not miss any government subsidies it can get.

After all, although AEG is strong and asked for $2013 billion when it was publicly listed for sale in 80, Philip Anschutz didn't even look at the $70 billion cash acquisition proposal jointly proposed by Qatar Sports Investment and Colony Capital. There are even rumors that Blackstone Group has raised $100 billion to prepare for a strong entry, but this is just a valuation after all. Anschutz Entertainment Group's battle line is too long, from sports teams, venues, ticketing platforms to sports investment, film and television investment and live performances. Every day when you open your eyes, there are hundreds of projects waiting for money.

Han Yi is different. For him, the production cost of $100 million is just a matter of buying another yacht. If he already has one, the reward for the second one will not be that much. He can also buy an office building in West Hollywood or Manhattan. The cash back is not only enough to cover the production cost, but also the performance fee of Taylor Swift during The Era, which was more than 10 million US dollars per show.

The most important thing is that Han Yi has an advantage that AEG cannot match: he can really make money without relying on the project itself. AEG wants 5% of the net profit, and he wants 4%. AEG gritted its teeth and lowered it to 4%, and he could directly quote 2.5% - anyway, as long as the money is spent and he feels satisfied and accomplished, then getting a reward at a ratio of one to one or even double is a sure thing.

It can be said that live performances are the business segment where Han Yi is closest to the industry leader. The talent turnover rate in this field is high, and most professionals work alone in teams and cooperate with performance organizers on a project basis. There is no technical barrier. If you can buy the equipment, I can also buy it. The only way for large performance groups to crush small organizers is the economies of scale brought by large amounts of cash.

As for Han Yi, he is currently in a stage where he is slightly worse than others, but has enough cash.

However, even with the support of unreasonable external plug-ins, Han Yi would not use such a tyrannical method to achieve his goal, because business is not only about money, but also about favors. Using mindless money to reach a cooperation with Taylor Swift on the tour is likely, but poaching AEG's trump card will greatly anger Philip Anschutz, making the "second AEG merger" that could have been carried out peacefully aborted.

That’s right. Although Taylor Swift is the jewel in the crown of music that Han Yi wants to create, AEG itself is an indispensable synthetic material for the crown. Han Yi needs AEG’s Staples Center in Los Angeles, the O2 Arena in London, the Caesars Palace Amphitheater in Las Vegas, and the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin. He needs the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer and the Los Angeles Kings of Major League Hockey. He needs to acquire AXS, the second largest ticketing platform in the United States, and he needs AEG’s hundreds of world tour projects every year. He needs Concert West, which has been working with the Rolling Stones and Justin Bieber for many years, and he needs GoldenVoice, which owns the two top music IPs of Coachella and Desert Trip.

In order to build an entertainment giant within seven years, in addition to using advanced information to plan ahead and bring all future superstars and potential projects under one's command, the more acquisitions of leading companies in a certain field, such as UTA, the better. Anschutz Entertainment Group is an indispensable investment target for Han Yi to dominate the field of live performances and even live entertainment. It is also one of the few high-quality assets that the parent company has publicly expressed its intention to sell.

With AEG, Han Yi has the bargaining chips to compete for the main seat at the table.

So, Taylor Swift must also give way to AEG.

Build high walls, accumulate food, and slowly become king. If Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Madison Beer, Holch, and the copyright management fund to be established are the food that Han Yi has accumulated, and Han Music, Han Distribution, Han Live, UTA, Renyu Management, and the internal circulation ecosystem with AEG joining in the future are the walls he has built, then Taylor Swift is the coronation ceremony for Han Yi to officially become king.

Collaborating with the world's number one music superstar is not a clarion call to attack, but a trophy after a great victory.

It is for this reason that Han Yi did not rush to contact Taylor Swift. In the past ten months, he has been concentrating on cultivating his inner strength. In the next two years, he will continue to strengthen himself. When the artist lineup and copyright library under his company are large enough, and the cooperating capital groups are numerous enough, so many that even Universal Music Group will be wary and unable to easily defeat it based on its strength and status, then he will join the battle for Taylor Swift - snatch the record agreement in 2018, snatch the copyright distribution agreement in 2020, and then use one to two years at most, before the afterglow of the black swan event dissipates, to buy the bottom of Anschutz Entertainment Group, turn AEG into HEG, and completely integrate Taylor Swift's career into the Han Music system.

Therefore, Taylor Swift's name was not included in the star-studded guest list of the Mad City Music Festival. In addition, the finale guest of the third day of the festival was Kanye West, who had a big fight with Taylor. Han Yi never thought that he would be able to meet this Pennsylvania girl who basically lived in seclusion after the storm in Las Vegas. This afternoon, when he saw Taylor Swift surrounded by a group of supermodels in the booth area, his subconscious reaction was undoubtedly surprise.

However, after calming down and thinking for a while, Han Yi grasped the inevitability behind this seemingly impossible event.

Barbara Pavin is this inevitability.

Han Yi met Karlie Kloss through Barbara Palvin, and Karlie Kloss introduced her boyfriend Joshua Kushner to Han Yi. Han Yi and Joshua Kushner reached an agreement on the acquisition of Musical.ly. As a topic of casual conversation after the serious business was over, and as an initial foreshadowing of Swift's plan, Han Yi implicitly expressed his interest in Taylor to Karlie and Joshua - not interest in love, but interest in cooperation.

So, last night, Karlie Kloss called Taylor Swift and urged her to come to Las Vegas. This was the signal that the future Kushners sent to Han Yi, and it was also the efficiency and ability they deliberately wanted to show.

I am very familiar with the people you want to contact.

I can get whatever you want done for you within 24 hours.

Being able to climb up the Kushner family ladder and transform herself into a female entrepreneur through her modeling career, Karlie Kloss is truly extraordinary. She has the best vision, emotional intelligence, social skills, and executive ability.

With a gentle and humble smile, Han Yi thought to himself as he watched Carly intimately hugging Taylor's waist.

Since the opportunity has been delivered to me by Carly and Joshua, I should seize it. It doesn't matter if you approach them early or late, the methods are different, but as long as the end result is the same, it's fine.

"Hello, Mr. Han, nice to meet you."

The voice was crisp and delicate, a little deeper than her singing style, and more nasal. After two lives, Han Yi finally heard the recognizable voice of the greatest music creator of this era.

“You put on a really great festival.”

"Ms. Swift, you are so kind."

The curve of Han Yi's mouth suddenly widened and his smile became more intense. In this way, he tried to conceal his accelerated heartbeat and increasingly excited emotions.

It’s not because he has a fan filter for Taylor Swift, but because he finally saw the missing 793-carat Mountain-of-Noor diamond on the crown, and then saw the beautiful future he is working hard to build.

"I should thank you for taking the time to come. I hope the journey did not make you too tired."

"Why are you two so reserved?" Carly tightened her grip on Taylor's waist, her eyes moving back and forth between the two of them as she smiled warmly, "Yi is Joshua's good friend, and I'm your ride-or-die, so I think it's appropriate for you two to call each other by name."

After that, Carly tilted her head and continued to introduce Taylor in an energetic tone.

"And these are the cutest girls you can meet. Grace, we just met yesterday, her fashion taste is impeccable. Yuzhen, Madison Beer's manager, is also in charge of Ally and Lana's affairs in the United States. Madison, yes, I think you are already very familiar with her... Yes, I forgot to tell you, Maddie, we listened to your songs in the car a few days ago, and it was really, really exciting. Of course, there is also Barbara, you are already very familiar with her."

Karlie Kloss's social skills are comparable to Xu Yiru's, but their styles are quite different. The latter is the kind of dignified and elegant that moistens things silently, while the former is the kind of host who can instantly draw everyone together and warm up the atmosphere. Everyone should have such a friend around them. There is nothing surprising about the choice of words and sentences, but it can make people feel more intimate and let go of the barriers of first meeting.

"Barbie, our schedules in New York never match up, we really should meet more often. Maddie, yes, that's right, oh my god, I love your singles, especially the latest ones, they are simply masterpieces. Hi, Yujin, nice to meet you! If Carly hadn't told me, I would have thought you were some... K-Pop star. Sorry, but you are really perfect, not just in appearance, the artists you manage are all the best in the industry. Grace, you are just GORGEOUS! Look at you!"

A series of exaggerated compliments came out of Taylor Swift's mouth without stopping. She is a super typical ESFJ personality, and the influence of Sagittarius has given her a warm, optimistic, and passionate idealism. In other words, she is also a fearless social gangster in public places like Karlie Kloss. The reason why she was a little restrained when talking to Han Yi just now was because her attention was not completely focused on the other party.

This was not because Taylor was disrespectful to Han Yi, but because not far away from her, just two seats away, members of the Kardashian family were intentionally or unintentionally casting surprised, scrutinizing, and even playful glances at her.

These reality TV stars had never imagined that this defeated internet villain, whose reputation had been ruined, would have the guts to come up to them.

"Who am I kidding? I've never been the type to call someone by their last name."

After exchanging greetings and pleasantries with the four girls in turn, Taylor turned his attention back to Han Yi who was waiting patiently on the side.

"Let's get acquainted again. Yi, it's nice to see you here. This is probably one of the biggest music festivals I've ever attended... How many people are in our venue now?"

"Seventy thousand."

Han Yi turned his head and glanced at the dance floor where the heat was rolling and even the air above the crowd was distorted by the evaporating sweat.

"To be exact, it should be 60,000... around 5,000 to 6,000 people. At this time, many visitors have not arrived yet. When it gets cooler at night, it should be around 75,000 people, including the number of people in the dining area."

"Wow," Taylor exclaimed enthusiastically, "I can only dream of having this many people at my concerts."

"It has happened before, hasn't it?" Han Yi smiled. "November 2015, 11, at the Australian Stadium in Sydney, 28 people."

"How could you..."

Han Yi responded without any pause, which made Taylor Swift open her eyes slightly. She looked at him, then looked at her best friend Karlie Kloss who had been hugging her, and found that the latter was winking at her.

"I told you." Carly paused and expressed what she wanted to say in a more relaxed and humorous way, "He's a swiftie."

"That's true." Han Yi nodded and admitted, "In fact, everyone here is... everyone in Han Music is."

"Aw, you are such a nice person, Yi."

"This is not just flattery." Han Yi added, "You are the name most often mentioned at our conference table, no matter what the meeting is about. My dream is that one day, the artists under Han Music can be close to half of your achievements, or can collaborate with you on a song, that would be enough."

"I think there will definitely be a chance... No, I think when the time comes, I should be the one to take the initiative to find your artists to work with." Taylor Swift's answer was flawless and she threw the ball back directly, "In another... at most two years, Madison will definitely be the most shining performer in this industry. You are simply a flawless triple threat, your looks, your works, your singing skills... I can't say any more, or I'll fall in love with you."

"You are the real triple threat, no, it should be said that you are a quadruple threat." In comparison, although Madison received detailed media training after and even before she became famous, her eloquence is far from being as eloquent as Taylor, who has experienced many ups and downs and has been working in the industry for nearly a decade. It is difficult for the other party to receive the compliments she throws out. "Many of my friends and I are your loyal fans. Your creative ability and the works you have incubated... can be called the true voice of the times. I really envy your artistic talent and musical intuition."

"Like what those people on the Internet said, I'm just writing a sarcastic diary. I believe that as long as you calm down and write down your feelings and experiences, it should be more touching than what I randomly compiled..."

Taylor still picked up the difficult words. The topic naturally progressed to this point, and she suddenly paused and stared at Madison thoughtfully.

"I don't want to sound offensive, or... like I'm prying into your past. But..."

"If I remember correctly, a few years ago you should have gone through the same stage I'm going through now, right?"

(End of this chapter)