hollywood billionaire

Chapter 237 Closer

"I came here today just to see this."

After Fifth Harmony awarded the Best New Artist Award to DNCE, Nick Jonas's brother and Joe Jonas as the lead vocalist, Alessia Cara and Troy Sivan took the stage together and gave a brief and concise introduction to the American audience. A group of performers.

Horsch and The Chainsmokers, "Closer".

Although The Chainsmokers are the creative brains of this single, and the alphabetical order is ahead of Horsch, who starts with H, but in the United States, which pays special attention to gender equality, if a man and a woman appear at the same time, the woman must be introduced first to show respect.This made Kara and Sivan's spoken word sound more like a work that Horsch invited The Chainsmokers to create, which was a small advantage.

"Is it such an exaggeration?"

Zhao Youzhen, who stood up and applauded with the Han Music team, turned his face sideways, raised his voice, and spoke in Han Yi's ear.Artists such as Madison Beer, Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa have all been assigned exclusive seats by MTV at the front of the venue. Each person has a headshot and a stage name, and they are seated accordingly.

As for other staff members of Han Music, Han Distribution and Renyu Management, they sit in the back row according to the alphabetized areas that have been divided in advance.Three companies belonging to the same lineage were all listed in Area E by the on-site execution team.Who sits in which seat is determined on a first-come, first-served basis.

"I quite like Rihanna's performances...Troy Sivan's pre-show was also great."

When he said this, Zhao Youzhen's eyes shone with joy.Although she is already the manager of a champion singer, she is still a 21-year-old girl who has not graduated from college.

Being able to participate in one of the annual events of the industry she loves at such a beautiful age with the person she loves, Yuzhen felt that she might really be living in a romantic musical written for her.

"It's okay, but not meaningful enough."

Looking up at the searchlight that suddenly dimmed to make room for the next performance, Han Yi smiled and replied.

There are three major music industry-related award shows in the United States, the Billboard Music Awards held in May, the American Music Awards held in the fall, and the Grammy Awards, which are generally held a week after the Super Bowl.Coupled with the Music Video Awards, hosted by the MTV television network and broadcast at the end of August or early September every year to specifically commend outstanding music video works, the four award ceremonies are evenly distributed from the beginning to the end of the year, making it an unbeatable quarter for pop music. Industry gathering.

But apart from having a little interest in the ownership of some important Grammy awards, Han Yi, like many professionals active inside and outside the circle, doesn’t care much about who wins the so-called VMAs, BMAs and AMAs. .

It was not that he was so indifferent from the beginning. Before he fully understood the industry, Han Yi still had romantic fantasies about these celebrations.

He talks about the "fierce competition" every year and the new records that come with it.

Beyoncé, the record holder of VMA awards in history, Michael Jackson, who won sixteen Grammy Awards and American Music Awards in 1984, and achieved the Grammy Grand Slam of Album of the Year, Production of the Year and Single of the Year in 2012 Adele…

These stories are like the Epic of Gilgamesh unearthed in the library of Ashurbanipal, or the Odyssey engraved on Olympian clay tablets.At first glance, the lines are full of omnipotent heroes from heaven to earth, until the sands of history reveal the poetic painting.

Any award ceremony, including rankings, as long as it is compiled by people, can only be relatively fair at best, but not absolutely fair.

What does relative fairness mean here?
When the amount of money invested, the impact produced, and the relationship network established are basically equal, try to distribute them evenly.

After studying music industry at the University of Southern California, especially after starting a music company in this life, Han Yi became more aware of these awards and lost his expectations.

Without social media, the AMA and VMA trophies might still have some actual value. They could accumulate externally visible honors for artists through the "best" title, thereby increasing their bargaining power in the performance market.

However, with the rapid rise of Twitter and Instagram, organizers have been able to more accurately estimate their ticket-generating capabilities through the number of followers on each artist's homepage.

No matter how many trophies you win, they are not as convincing as 1000 million followers on Instagram.

In addition, Han Music was officially put into operation in the second quarter, and the first batch of singles began to be released in July and August, which will definitely not be able to keep up with the selection cycle of this VMA awards ceremony.Even if I wanted to run it and get some nominations for its artists, I still missed the final deadline.

Therefore, this time, through the relationship between the company itself and Apple Music, Han Yi brought signed artists to the white carpet of VMA to appear collectively. The purpose is only one, and that is to let people in the industry and pay attention to the music industry through intensive high-frequency exposure. The dynamic mass media has gradually become accustomed to the existence of Han Music, paving the way for the next larger-scale development strategy.

Therefore, when Han Yi said that he didn't care about other aspects of the award ceremony, he really didn't mean the slightest bit of jealousy.In seven or eight years' time, today's celebrities will be welcomed and sent off on stage, and the awards they win will no longer have any meaning or play any role.

Beyoncé’s “Formation” wins six awards including Music Video of the Year?Pretty good, but the actual revenue generated by this song is not even a fraction of Adele's "Hello".

In Han Yi's view, the 2016 MTV Music Video Awards Ceremony can be written into the music history books only for one moment.

Before "Closer" topped the charts, it was the first moment to cry out in front of 650 million viewers.

At the beginning of the 2010s, electronic music producers continued to expand the boundaries of popular electronic and pop dance music, making more and more people fall in love with this dancing art.

Avicii, Calvin Harris, Zedd, one after another talented names, continue to increase the commercial value and popularity of electronic music.

Until "Closer" came out and exploded the brightest fireworks in the popularity of electronic music.

It is the undisputed highest point of a genre of music, an era.

An era that belongs to EDM.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen!"

“Let’s welcome—Halsey, and the Chainsmokers!”

The beam of a spotlight hangs from the dome and shines on the shoulder of Alexander Parr, one of the members of The Chainsmokers.In front of him were two overlapping tablets, one containing a synthesizer keyboard and the other a drum machine.

Although the accompaniment played was the same as the original version, and the two machines in front of Alex would not make any sound at all, their existence was still necessary.After all, for producers, if there are no buttons in front of them to press twice to relieve the embarrassment, they really can only stand there like a wooden stake in a daze.

Behind Alexander Parr, another member, Andrew Taggart, gripped the microphone tightly, his figure lowered in thought looming. The vocal part of "Closer" was completed by Drew and Horsch. This is an attempt by electronic music producers to break the conventional situation in recent years.

Many electronic music producers signed by major labels can complete the entire production process from composing and arranging to mixing and mastering, but generally speaking, they do not have the ability to sing vocals.

Therefore, although they can get a double share of royalties from recording artists and producers, and can save a large advance by solving most of the production problems themselves, after all, an electronic music that wants to hit the pop charts , in most cases the existence of the vocal melody line is still needed.

This means that they must spend their own money to find vocalists like Horsi to help sing, and sometimes they even have to transfer the recording artist's share of the royalties, and the transfer amount is usually much higher than the singer's invitation to guest collaborators.

After all, they need someone to sing the entire song from beginning to end, not just a small part.

In order to solve this problem and to diversify the commercial expression methods of electronic musicians, some famous producers began to try singing by themselves.

For example, Calvin Harris' single "Summer" released in 2014 was sung by himself.

Does it sound good?If we could get the project files, remove the melodyne, and turn off the effects, Calvin Harris's original voice could basically be described as miserable.

But the melody line of "Summer" is quite simple, and the vocals have been lingering in a very comfortable mid-bass range. In addition, Calvin Harris knows very well what the fans want to hear: a similar festival-style Progressive House, people The sound is originally just used to decorate the main part.As long as the melody line is repetitive and brainwashing enough, it can make people persist until the build-up is over, the drop sounds, and the whole audience jumps upward together.

It debuted at No. 100 on the UK Singles Chart and No. [-] on the Billboard Singles Chart in its first week. Less than four months after its release, it achieved equivalent sales of [-] million copies in the United States and was certified as a platinum record. The success of "Summer" has opened another door for electronic music producers.

The Chainsmokers are one group of artists who want to pass through this door and reach the halls of glory."Closer" is their first attempt to publicly contribute their voices.As for why the two chose Andrew Taggart to be the lead singer, the reason is simple.It has nothing to do with his singing skills. It's purely because he is more handsome. If he sings, his commercial profitability will be better than Alexander's.

This 95bpm Future Bass in A flat major is a single that was born for commercial radio through and through.Therefore, its intro part is simple and sweet. On the radio, a song usually only has a few seconds to attract the listener's attention, so this kind of "I won't bore you, jump to the verse" It feels necessary.

The Chainsmokers removed all the complicated embellishments in the intro, retaining only the piano chords of Db9–Eb6–Fm7–Eb, and a little reverb to add color.In this relatively quiet opening atmosphere, the main hook melody buried in the background by the two producers becomes more noticeable.

This is a trick The Chainsmokers deliberately performed based on the way modern pop music is spread and the listening habits of American radio audiences in the 2010s.Only by letting the audience become subconsciously familiar with the main melody from the first second can the brainwashing effect be better achieved.

"Hey, I was fine before I met you.

Although I can't help but drink a few more drinks, my life is fine. "

From beginning to end, this 4 minute and 05 second single has only one chord progression, Db9–Eb6–Fm7–Eb.Therefore, there is almost no difference between the arrangement of the first verse and the intro, except that the piano is replaced by a synthesizer sound with a tighter filter and amplitude envelope.

Andrew Taggart was the first to sing. The contrast between his vocals and the reverberation of the intro was very strong, because all the sounds in this part were deliberately adjusted to be quite "dry" during the mixing process.This is a way for The Chainsmokers to highlight the vocals and amplify the appeal of the song.

"Closer" tells a passionate story that everyone can relate to, about loss and recovery, and a night of secret love.Just like a movie, since the plot is based on reality, the scenery, lens language and screen filters created around the plot must also have reality as the top priority.

If "Oppenheimer" were to use the pink filter of "Barbie", the overall atmosphere would be ruined. The same is true for "Closer". The processing method of "Ophelia" where the reverb is turned up to the KTV level is obviously not suitable for this fresh little love song.

But such a mixing method will inevitably lead to a problem - if the same sound effect is pursued during awards ceremony performances, then the singer's voice will basically be transported into the eardrums of the live audience in a "totally naked" state.With the processing of TV signals and the further compression of sound quality by most TV built-in speakers, this dryness will only become more obvious.

At this time, the performer has to rely on his or her powerful singing skills to resonate with the head and chest cavity, making the originally dry river bed trickle again.

But unfortunately, Andrew Taggart does not have this ability.His voice sounded more like a Maine snowstorm than warm spring water.

The kind of ice and snow storm composed of rough and solid ice that will never melt.

"Hey, tell your friends you're glad you met them.

But I don't want to see them again. "

Andrew Taggart has not received any professional vocal training, and to be honest, his broken voice, which will be eliminated from the children's choir even if he auditions for church, should not appear on a professional stage at all.

I don’t know what was wrong with him, but MTV actually allowed him to sing live without the wrong lip sync.The moment Andrew raised the microphone and sang the first verse, Zhao Youzhen's eyes widened in a very rare and uncharacteristic manner.

"This is the show you have been thinking about."

After confirming that no one was paying attention to them, Zhao Youzhen approached Han Yi and whispered in his ear, which was obviously teasing.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Han Yi, whose ears were numb, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, glanced at You Zhen with a narrow smile on his face, and asked knowingly.

"He sounds like...shit."

Zhao Youzhen originally didn't want to say bad words, but after thinking about it for a long time with her hands behind her back, she felt that no other words could express the strong and tangled emotions in her heart.

A cat falling into a blender, a GPS entering a tunnel, a vuvuzela in human form, you name it, Andrew Taggart's voice deserves all the praise it deserves.

Like a rebel in the music world, Andrew manages to avoid almost all the right notes and takes vocal singing to a whole new low.Especially the bass in the last sentence, Andrew made the last cry for help before he was tied with rocks all over his body, thrown into the lake, and almost sank to the bottom.

How could such an amateurish performance come about in an event like the MTV Networks and the Video Music Awards?

Madison Beal, who was sitting in the front row, was chewing his nails unconsciously and staring blankly at Andrew Taggart, who was walking around helplessly on the stage, with a look of astonishment on his face.

This can be on TV, so can I have a solo performance at the Grammys?
"If his voice were a meal, it would be one of those microwaved TV dinners that's burnt on the outside and half-cooked on the inside."

Compared with Zhao Youzhen's remarks, Han Yi's sharp comments are obviously much more pungent.This is not the first time he has watched this performance. In the previous life, the performance of "Closer" at the 2016 VMA Awards Ceremony could be said to have received rave reviews.The major media's evaluation of Andrew Taggart's performance can be summed up in one sentence: Democrats didn't even criticize Trump that badly.

Anyone with hearing could tell that Andrew had been out of tune and never came back.As vox.com puts it, he sounds like someone singing in the shower—if the shower were a torture device for other humans.

"Driving a broken car and moving to the city.

I know this behavior breaks your heart.

Four years of no news,

But in the hotel bar, I met your beauty again. "

Doesn't Andrew Taggart know this?of course not.As soon as the sound came out from the replay, he knew that his performance today would be a tragic scene like a train derailment.The wrong lip-sync was indeed his own choice, but during the rehearsal, Andrew repeatedly emphasized to the on-site mixer that the reverberation must be increased and the volume should be kept at the same level as the accompaniment.

But maybe the mixer misremembered The Chainsmokers' request, or maybe it was because Rihanna and Beyoncé were both on stage tonight, and the sound team put all their energy into them. Whatever the reason, , the sound effect after Andrew Taggart came on the stage was completely opposite to his requirements.

Not only is there no reverb at all, the vocal track heard during the broadcast is also much louder than the accompaniment track.

"Cue shot 4, close-up... Ugh."

In the live studio at Madison Square Garden, Hamish Hamilton, the live director hired by MTV, frowned deeper than the Hudson River.

“Put on some more canned cheer.”

"But sir...we just let him go twice."

"You have to play it twenty times! Do you hear the effect? ​​Is this something that can be played in public?"

There was a broadcast team on TV that used artificial excitement to save the situation, but the scene was different.Andrew Taggart's voice enveloped the scene like a silencing spell, leaving guests from all walks of life looking at each other, not knowing how to react.

In such a situation where the big screen did not dare to cut the reaction of the audience and only dared to expose the heads of the atmosphere team on the dance floor, Andrew Taggart on the stage could no longer hold on and was on the verge of collapse.

"Now it seems that the effect is a little worse, but... the significance of this performance is not in the performance itself. You will know after a while, it represents the prelude to a very meaningful... initiative. "

Han Yi touched his chest with his arms and comforted Zhao Youzhen, who was sincerely worried about Andrew Taggart on the stage and Horsi who was about to play.

"Moreover, the worse Drew's performance is, the greater the contrast between Horshey's next rescue will be."

"Don't worry, the next two minutes are the time for our Han music girl to kill."

(End of this chapter)