New York 2006

Chapter 274: The Super Talent in the Music Circle
Time flies so fast, April 2009, 4, April Fool's Day is here in a blink of an eye.

This holiday is very famous, but today is Wednesday, and major companies across the country are still operating normally as usual.

At noon, Luo Ji, Max, Fiona and Jeff Busker came to the music company's cafeteria and lined up for food.The company didn't have this canteen before, but now that the company is making a lot of money, the benefits naturally have to keep up.

The canteen is beautifully decorated, and the chef is a chef from a four-star restaurant.The welfare of the employees is ensured, and everyone also likes to come here to eat. As soon as noon arrives, the employees are more active than the other.

"Logic, you can fight in front of me." A clever employee said.

"No need." Luo Ji waved his hand and refused.

The four of them packed their meals and found a place near the TV. They ate their work meals while watching the programs on TV and chatting.On TV, the host of CNN spoke.

"Today, Albania and Croatia officially became members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with the agreement of NATO."

Max complained: "Why did you choose April Fool's Day to announce such serious news? What did they think?"

Fiona and Jeff Busker were also a little confused.

Luo Ji occasionally chatted with American politicians. He still knew a little bit about the inside story, so he said, "NATO chose to announce this news today, maybe because they don't want to overly stimulate Russia."

The three suddenly realized.

Jeff Basker thought for a while and said: "Do you think Russia will take action? These two countries were originally his sphere of influence. Last year, Georgia wanted to join NATO, but it was beaten by Russia."

"Probably not."

Luo Ji took a bite of macaroni and cheese and continued: "If Russia wants to take action, it should take action before these two countries join NATO. Now that these two countries have joined NATO, the declining woolly bears have no courage to confront them head-on. Europe and the United States, the most powerful military alliance in the world."

"That's true." Jeff Busker nodded.

Neither of the girls cared much about politics, but the two men had a great time blowing their pussy.

Suddenly, Michael Jackson appeared on the TV, and the two stopped their discussion and started watching it seriously.

"Last month, Michael Jackson suddenly announced in the media that he would hold another concert after 12 years, which caused a huge sensation."

"Yesterday, tickets for Jackson's This Is It concert officially went on sale. With 150 million fans, two websites offering pre-sale tickets crashed within minutes of going online. After emergency repairs, all tickets were sold out within four hours, reaching a An astonishing 75 tickets, with a total box office of over 4 million US dollars."

"Now, tickets on eBay have been sold for as much as $12200. In the past 24 hours, more than 250 million people have tried to buy tickets."

Fiona exclaimed with a look on her face: "Is this the global superstar who once dominated an era? The sales speed of this concert should break the record."

"Probably, anyway, I haven't heard of other musicians selling at this speed." Jeff Busker then said: "Logic, you might be able to take advantage of the popularity of your second album and hold a global tour. It will definitely be better than the previous one." The results were much better this time.”

"I'm too busy and don't have time."

"Ok."

Luo Ji watched Jackson on TV being surrounded by a large group of reporters. Even though he had not produced any good works for almost 20 years and had experienced many scandals, his popularity was still the same.

Luo Ji was slightly envious: "Jeff, do you think it's possible for me to reach Jackson's level?"

"It's difficult." Jeff continued: "The reason why Michael Jackson has such a high reputation around the world is due to political factors. It was against the backdrop of the Cold War, and the world needed someone to stand up and call for world peace and global unity. Heart to heart, we understand each other. So many countries like him very much."

Luo Ji asked, "How can I do it?"

"Now the United States is launching wars everywhere. If you call for peace, you will first be boycotted by the United States. It will not work politically." Jeff thought for a while and continued: "And now there are more ways of entertainment for the public, including movies, games, and The rise of cultures around the world has distracted a lot of public attention.”

"So, it's impossible." Luo Ji said with some disappointment.

Jeff Busker continued: "It's not impossible, unless you reach the peak of a musician. Make sure that your future albums will reach the current height. This is difficult!"

Fiona immediately said: "Feili is a genius, he can definitely do it."

"Yeah." Jeff Basker nodded perfunctorily.

Luo Ji frowned: "What do you mean, are you doubting me?"

Jeff Busker immediately waved his hand: "No, no."

Luo Ji looked at him and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it. There is no need to hide our relationship."

Jeff Basker hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Logic, haven't you noticed that your creative ability is declining? You used to be able to create a good song every one or two months, but now it's been five months. , you only created one piece of pure music, and it was a theme song for the American TV series "Game of Thrones" that you had no investment in. You didn't prepare a single song for your next album."

Fiona looked at Luo Ji: "Indeed, what's wrong with you?"

Jeff Busker hurriedly explained to his boss: "You can't blame Logic for this. This is something that every musician will experience. A person's peak creative ability is only in the first few years. As he grows older, his creative ability declines. It will slowly go down.”

Luo Ji thought of what Taylor once said. Music actually reflects a creator's inner emotions. Only by pouring emotion into it can one create music that can infect others.

If you think about it carefully, those good songs of his Tianqi are very consistent with his mood at that time.The period of time when apocalypse is most frequent is also the time when emotional fluctuations are most intense.

As he became more and more successful, there were not many things that he could pay attention to, and such emotional fluctuations became less and less. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Seeing the change in his boss, Jeff Busker comforted him: "You don't have to pay too much attention. Your main focus is still on business now. It's understandable that you ignore music."

Fiona also said: "Yes, you have been very successful. You can slowly create songs in the future."

"Yeah." Luo Ji nodded, but still frowned.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit solemn, Max changed the subject: "Logic, you don't know yet. Some time ago, Michael Jackson invited Lady Gaga's producer Redone to sing."

Luo Ji was attracted: "What's going on? Is Jackson preparing a new album?"

"Uh-huh."

Jackson's invitation to Redone to sing was not unexpected. Apart from Logic, Lady Gaga can be said to have the most impressive debut in the 21st century. This is not a boast.

Even though Taylor's business performance is better than hers, her global popularity may not be as good as Gaga's.

Gaga's first album "Super Popular" has three No. [-] singles on the Billboard singles list, and its sales are very high around the world.

Among these three songs, Luo Ji contributed one song, "Bad Romance", and producer Redone contributed two songs. He is now one of the most famous producers in the United States.

Luo Ji then asked, "What is Gaga doing recently?"

"She is preparing for her second album." Jeff Basker, as the music director, knew this all too well. He went on to say: "Logic, Gaga also wanted me to ask you if it is possible to compose a song for her second album. ?”

"Tell her not to count on me." Luo Ji waved his hand: "Quan Mi will find songs for her, and I will also ask electronic music producers from electronic music records to help her compose songs. I can always find a suitable song."

"Ok."

Jeff Basker continued: "Actually, we already have a hit song "Telephone," which was a song originally written by Gaga for singer Britney Spears. She wanted to collaborate with Britney a few days ago. But I got rejected and now I’m looking for Beyoncé.”

"Yeah." Luo Ji nodded as expected.

Now that Britney has been given full custody by her father, all business matters must be approved by him. Only if Britney can collaborate with Luo Ji's singers does it matter.

Jeff Busker suddenly said: "Do you know about Gaga's global tour?"

Luo Ji nodded: "I heard Braun mention it. It seems that it will start after the release of her second album. Bruno Mars and Tracy will also make guest appearances." "Yes, her second album will be released in July this year. It will be released. So the global tour will start in August."

"Yeah." Luo Ji chatted casually.

"Do you know the size of Gaga's concert?"

Luo Ji took it for granted and said, "It's about the same as I did back then, more than 50 games?"

"Hehehe, you were wrong." Jeff Busker smirked: "Braun directly designed more than 200 games for her."

Luo Ji opened his mouth in surprise: "More than 200 performances?! How long will it take for the performance to end?"

“从2009年8月开始，直到2011年3月。时间跨度1年零7个月。”

Luo Ji was very surprised: "Did Gaga agree?"

Jeff Busker said: "I agreed, Gaga also wants to make money. But she is a little moody and complains about too many performances."

Fiona said: "Is Braun a little too cruel?"

A big smile appeared on Luo Ji's face: "It's a bit cruel, but I like it!"

…………

The record industry is in decline, and this is the consensus of industry insiders around the world.Luo Ji's extremely high sales volume alone cannot affect this general trend.

Future Records underwent adjustments last time, and now there are only more than 30 employees left in the entire company to serve four artists, Logic, Lady Gaga, Tracy and Bruno Mars.

In the afternoon, Luo Ji came to Electronic Music Records.In fact, he values ​​this company more than Future Records.

Although the profit of this company is not as good as that of Future Records, that is because Future Records has the Luo Ji bug.Moreover, Lady Gaga was signed because of "Apocalypse".

But electronic music labels are different. This company was developed independently by Luo Ji who "betted right" on the future music style of electronic music and invested some money.

If Future Records doesn't count him, the profit of electronic music records is almost the same as that of Future Records.You know, even if Luo Ji is not counted, there will be a Lady Gaga in future records.

It is enough to see the success of electronic music records.

Moreover, this successful routine can be copied, and mixing electronic music with other types of music can arouse public interest.

Luo Ji visited the electronic music record company, accompanied by CEO and music president David Guetta.

He pointed to the poster on the wall: "This is the poster for Caitlin Rose's album, which is the company's most successful album now. The fusion of electronic music + country music has been unexpectedly popular and has now sold 300 million copies." ."

"Yeah." Luo Ji nodded. This style of music is indeed very new.

David Guetta continued: "Next is Justin Bieber, electronic music + Teen pop + rhythm and blues. This style is also very popular. While teen pop has been on the decline in recent years, he has bucked the trend and is on the rise. , the album has now sold 293 million copies."

Luo Ji had a YouTube background like him, and was discovered by his manager Braun. Luo Ji was quite concerned about this little boy, so he asked, "What is he doing recently?"

"Managing social media, promoting his album on it, and occasionally being arranged by Braun to attend concerts as a guest to meet fan groups. Life is very comfortable."

"Hmm, not bad."

David Guetta then said: "Logic, I don't know if you have noticed that Justin Bieber and your entertainment industry niche are quite similar. Without you, he might be more popular."

"Can it be different?" Luo Ji explained: "Braun discovered him based on my template, but Braun wanted to train him into a teen idol type, paying attention to the media image. And I went the other way. It’s a strong line, so you don’t have to worry so much about the media image.”

David Guetta suddenly realized: "That's it."

"Continue to introduce."

David Guetta continued to introduce: "Next are Janelle Monáe, Chen Yitong, and James Byrne. These are the three people you said you should focus on training. Based on their respective timbres, I made them suitable for their styles. Electronic music, the trio’s current album sales are basically close to 150 million copies, making a small profit for the company.”

Luo Ji's expression did not change after hearing this, but he felt helpless inside.For these three "Apocalypse People", he spent the most resources and asked the company to give them the best songs.However, they have not yet succeeded in signing Caitlin Rose, who was casually signed to give Taylor face.

It seems that whether it can become a big hit or not cannot be achieved by piling up resources.

David Guetta continued to introduce: "Next are the other singers in the company. Their albums basically exceed 50..."

Luo Ji visited the company, and the more he visited, the prouder he felt. Although the overall recording industry was shrinking, electronic music recording had developed very rapidly in the past two years.

At this time, the number of employees has reached more than 60, serving more than ten music artists and more than 30 electronic music producers, and it is still expanding recently.

David Guetta smiled and said: "Logic, I find more and more that your acquisition of DJ magazine was a very wise decision. Due to the magazine's publicity in the past two years, our company has now become the focus of major DJs. It’s a holy place, just like Google is to Internet practitioners. This makes it very easy for us to recruit excellent electronic music producers.”

"Yeah." Luo Ji nodded calmly.

The benefits of controlling public opinion go beyond that. The list of the world's top 100 music festivals published by "DJ" magazine has also greatly promoted the music festivals organized by SB Live Company.

The two of them chatted while visiting. The people working today were basically ordinary employees, such as artists and producers. They only signed contracts and did not have to work normally.

David Guetta, a former musician, has actually turned into a professional manager.He has been running the company diligently in the past two years and has not released any music.

Although he is no longer a musician, this CEO position, both in terms of income and fame, exceeds that of the little DJ he once had.

David Guetta can now make a name for himself in the music industry. He is a big shot!
Walking all the way to the door of the company's recording studio, Luo Ji found a young white man playing notes on the piano, as if composing a song.He was so focused and serious that he didn't notice the two people coming.

Just as David Guetta was about to remind him, Luo Ji stretched out his hand to stop him and quietly stepped back: "Don't disturb his creation because of me."

"Ok."

Luo Ji asked curiously: "I think he is quite young. How old is he?"

"He is only 19 years old. He is a genius. He is an electronic music producer that we discovered on the Swedish music forum."

Luo Ji said casually: "Sweden is indeed a powerful country in music."

David Guetta, a Frenchman, nodded seriously: "Swedish music is indeed very strong. Teen pop was a trend led by Swedish producers in the last century."

Luo Ji then spoke: "You just said he was a genius. What happened?"

David Guetta explained: "Don't you know? He is the main producer and the biggest contributor to the electric country album of Caitlin Rose, the first sister of our company."

Luo Ji thought of what Jeff Busker said today, and said seriously, "I actually quite like this style of music. Maybe you can ask him to take the time to compose a few songs for my next album."

"I believe he won't refuse, your album is selling so well." David Guetta then asked: "When, are you anxious?"

"There's no rush, it will take at least two years."

"Then you can slowly let him create."

Luo Ji then asked, "By the way, you haven't asked his name yet?"

"Avicii, Avicii!"

(End of this chapter)