Tokyo Reborn: Dark Superstar

Chapter 49 Pandora’s Box in the Entertainment Industry

Large flat-floor apartment on the 32nd floor of Shibaura Building in Minato City.

Bunta Takakura drank beer and scratched his head until he misunderstood and quietly stuffed the small umbrella box under the seat cushion.

Kanda Keiko, wearing a black turtleneck top and beige trousers, the combination of black and beige is just right. The overall tone is soft and comfortable, outlining the curves that are about to come out, showing a low-key fashion sense.

Her short hair style looks clean and neat, exuding a capable temperament. She is holding a pile of information and chattering about the next stage of the plan.

The small umbrella was useless. Takakura Bunta was a little disappointed and felt sleepy.

If I had known this situation earlier, I would have pretended to be asleep and not let the apartment property manager open the door...

…………

Keiko Kanda brought good news: Sony record shipments exceeded 67.

According to data calculation, Takakura Bunta has locked in the Oricon top spot for the second consecutive week in advance.

If this momentum continues, the sales volume of "Killing That Tokyo Man" is expected to exceed 100 million.

…………

The winner of this proxy war orchestrated by Sony Records has been decided.

Kondo Masahiko's "Song of Night Fire" even dropped to No. 3 on the Oricon list.

It was surpassed by Mr. Children (Mr. Children), a RB rock band, with the single "Sweet Love Song" (Adventure Game Brave Love Song).

Kondo Masahiko's "Song of the Evening Fire" is considered to have been killed.

The sales of RB's single albums usually vary from one week to one month after they are released.

Sales during this period can account for 60-70% or even higher of annual sales, and subsequent sales have shown a downward trend...

After "Yukiyaki no Uta" briefly stayed at the top of the Oricon charts, it encountered a surprise attack from "Kill That Tokyo Man" and entered a downward trend.

…………

Seeing the latest data in the report, the sales peak period of "Yaki no Uta" has been held down, and the popularity has begun to subside.

Keiko Kanda was in a good mood. She sat cross-legged on the cushion, leaned over and wrote down in her notebook:

"'Kill That Tokyo Man' is now extremely popular, so the company's marketing department suggested striking while the iron is hot and releasing a new album."

"Mahiko Kondo's new album is also being prepared..."

"Your exclusive recording studio at Sony Records Headquarters has been renovated, and I've booked the camera crew..."

Bunta Takakura put down his beer and ate a Pocky chocolate bar. Listening to Kanda Keiko's arrangement, he thought:

"We are planning to hunt down that guy Kondo Masahiko to the end..."

…………

The main purpose of a single is to test market response and to hit the charts. If the response to the single is poor, the album will not be released.

However, a veteran king like Kondo Masahiko will not be so serious that he will not release an album. Moreover, "Yuyaki no Song" did well and won the first place on the Oricon Chart.

Therefore, the single function is more to warm up, reduce cost control risks, and predict sales.

In this dark star world, there are too many things in the entertainment industry.

If you hold back on releasing an album for two or three years, if you haven't had any work for a long time, it may be forgotten by the minute.

The strategy adopted by major record companies is generally to release a single first, an album every two or three months, and then a single with a new song half a year later...

In this way, the rhythm of one single and one album per year is generally maintained.

This can maintain exposure in a highly competitive market environment.

If singles and albums within a year suffer heavy losses, the artist's promotion rhythm in two or three years will be disrupted. At least, the status of the artist will decline, and at worst, he will disappear from the public...

What Keiko Kanda has to do is to pursue, kill them all, and completely destroy the momentum of Kondo Masahiko, the veteran king, to become popular again.

Either don’t do it or never do it.

Bunta Takakura admires this working style.     …………………………………………

The next morning, sitting in the passenger seat of Kanda Keiko's Lincoln Continental sedan, Takakura Bunta ate grilled rice balls bought from the Lawson convenience store downstairs.

Kanda Keiko was driving while talking about Takakura Bunta's announcement arrangements.

"Tomorrow I'm going to Kadokawa Shoten's Akihabara store for a record signing. Ms. Kadokawa Ryoko, Kadokawa Shoten's board director, will also attend the event."

"The day after tomorrow, I will go back to the company to select songs. The production department's music library will select four new songs, plus your three original songs and three original accompaniments, which will make an album."

"By the way, TV Asahi's signature variety show "Picket Squad" today also invited Ikuko Iijima and her new partner."

Bunta Takakura, who was looking at the scenery outside the window, perked up when he heard about Ikuko Iijima and asked, "Ikuko Iijima and her new partner?"

Keiko Kanda said: "Yes, Ikuko Iijima is now the most popular video actress, and her reward for the variety show channel is 50 yen."

Takakura Bunta said: "Then how much is my notification fee?"

Kanda Keiko: "You and her partner, Tony Futaki, have an advertising fee of 30 yen."

Takakura Bunta was stunned and muttered: "This kid Tony Futaki..."

Keiko Kanda turned on the left turn signal, turned the steering wheel, and added: "Ikuko Iijima is the first RB artist to complete a dark gambling agreement."

"Although she was a video artist before, now she has the blessing of T0-level entertainment industry resources, and she is destined to become a legendary superstar like Hibari Misora ​​and Momoe Yamaguchi in the future."

Takakura Bunta: "..."

Seeing that Takakura Bunta was silent, Kanda Keiko thought for a moment and asked in disbelief: "Takakura-kun, don't you know about the dark gambling agreement?"

Bunta Takakura: "I have heard of film and television project investors signing betting agreements with directors and artists on box office and ratings."

"But what is this dark gambling agreement?"

Keiko Kanda drove the car into the underground garage on the third floor of TV Asahi headquarters, and at the same time gave Bunta Takakura a tour of this dark star world, Pandora's Box of the entertainment industry.

Dark gambling agreement.

....................................

In the 20s, the young "Elvis Presley" and "Chicago Godfather" Al Capone signed the first dark gambling agreement in human history.

If the agreement is successful, you can obtain the country’s T0-level entertainment industry resources;

If the agreement fails, the country's creditors will have the right to dispose of it at will;

"Elvis Presley" became the first artist in human history to complete the "Dark Gambling Association" and received support from the top entertainment resources in the United States.

As a result, a young country boy quickly grew into the greatest iconic figure in 20th century pop culture. He and his music shocked Americans and music fans around the world for more than 20 years.

…………

On August 1977, 8, before his death, Elvis Presley made a live broadcast on global television and said:
  "Wealth, fame, power, everything in this world, if you want it, I will give it to you, then go sign a dark gambling agreement!!!"

Dark betting protocols are becoming popular around the world.

Soon, dark works prospered unprecedentedly, accounting for 94.2% of the global entertainment market, becoming a mighty torrent of the times...

In 1981, the "Universal Convention for the Protection of Copyright" incorporated the dark gambling agreement into the legal protection of 233 countries and regions as a super-incentivizing agreement for creation.

The dark age of the global entertainment industry has begun.

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Of course, just like the investment and gambling agreements of later generations, there will be successes and failures, and risks and opportunities coexist.

The "Dark Gambling Agreement" has created superstars such as Michael Jackson and Aaron Hong, and has also caused the deaths and disappearances of stars such as Marilyn Monroe, River Phoenix, and Li Guohao.

The overall atmosphere in the Japanese entertainment industry is relatively conservative. Artists are more inclined to cooperate with agencies, rank based on seniority, and work steadily, rather than signing dark gambling agreements and obtaining a large amount of entertainment industry resources.

However, as Ikuko Iijima completed the dark gambling agreement and obtained RB's domestic T0-level entertainment industry resources, she became the first video star to successfully complete the transformation in the history of Japanese entertainment.

The overall conservative atmosphere in the Japanese entertainment industry is beginning to show signs of loosening and cracks...

(End of this chapter)