hollywood billionaire

Chapter 402 Talk of the Town
“There was once a bright future, but I lost myself along the way.

I once had a good heart, but it could not resist the erosion of evil.

Now I have sleepless nights, the darkness is so overwhelming.

Now I have nothing to go on, and I need a force to push me forward..."

On the second day of Mad City Music Festival, Nicky Romero, a national treasure-level electronic music producer from the Netherlands and a flagship figure of progressive house, bowed out with a classic single "Toulouse" that evoked fond memories for countless people. Then, one of the two most commendable pillars of Renyu Management, the pop electronic singer Ellie Goulding from England, stepped onto the stage in a gorgeous cobalt blue snake-print sequined long-sleeved evening gown by Tom Ford.

The real-life matrix consisting of the Hollywood Hills, downtown Manhattan, Brooklyn streets and Compton community landscapes was smudged by Mad City's world-class stage design team in the sunset light with a color palette that was very cyberpunk-like. The skyscrapers in the distance were shrouded in a rich dark night violet, and the neon lights on the hard structures appeared in a misty gray and light blue texture, while the searchlights hovering over Ellie Goulding and the accompanying band were bright and fresh with the ocean green.

The hexadecimal codes used to define colors in computer programs now became a mirage that slowly unfolded before the eyes of the 2016 spectators. Leaping from 2046 to , the dystopia of the future was the most appropriate visual backdrop for Ellie Goulding to sing her original work.

Ellie Goulding, who just finished a round of Australian tour in Perth on October 10, still maintains a keen sense of live performance. The two-week break has also restored her vocal cords to the best condition. For a light lyric mezzo-soprano like Ellie, whose voice is naturally high and thin, and whose breath and vibrato are more difficult to control than ordinary singers, her body's preparation for high-intensity performances will directly affect the experience of the entire performance for the audience.

"You showed me a ray of hope that made me feel less numb.

You extended a helping hand to me when I was isolated and desperate.

I secretly told myself that I must be strong.

Dreaming of the day when the darkness is completely dispelled.

Because those lights have been calling me,
Calling me back home..."

Recorded in 2009 and released by Polydor Records on February 2010, 2, Lights was the first intimate contact between the world and Ellie Goulding. The synthesizer pop electronic music mixed with strong folk elements appeared at the end of the 26s and the beginning of the 36854s, like a refreshing wind blowing through the eardrums of music fans. It topped the UK album chart with sales of copies in the first week, quickly establishing Ellie Goulding's position in the British pop music scene as a synthesizer electronic revivalist and a pioneer of new era pop electronic music.

In comparison, the fate of the single of the same name in the album is much more difficult - it was not included in the track list of the standard version, and was officially released as a bonus track after the album sold well and Polaroid sold the deluxe version of "Bright Lights" in various markets. Not only that, the single "Lights" is an absolute "sleeper hit", that is, it performed mediocrely in the early stage of its release, but eventually ran out of a strong long tail and achieved unexpected success as a dark horse.

In the United States, "Lights" first appeared on the Billboard Hot 2011 singles chart on August 8, 20, ranking at the unnoticeable 100th place. It then took a full 85 weeks to climb to the 40th place, making it the third slowest single by a female singer to enter the top 29 of the chart, following Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why" and KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See". In its 33th week on the chart, the song made history on the Billboard singles chart, becoming the slowest song to rise in the top five of the chart ever. In its rd week, "Lights" rushed to the runner-up position in one go, far exceeding the data performance of Flo Rida's "Whistle" in third place, and only slightly behind Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", the hit song that swept the social network.

The fairy tale of the ugly duckling turning into a black swan is the best footnote to Ellie Goulding's hard work in the vast world of Hollywood. From a British girl with a weird singing voice who was ignored by everyone, she transformed into the headliner of the Coachella Music Festival in 2016. This inspirational theme of running from the dark valley to the peak of light is the touching part of the song "Lights".

The single "I Need Your Love" with Calvin Harris may have been a big hit in Europe and swept the electronic music festivals around the world in 2013. The theme song "Love Me Like You Do" sung for the movie "Fifty Shades of Grey" was more popular and discussed, and the arrangement was more mainstream. It was the favorite of all commercial radio stations last year... These two hits represent Ellie Goulding's best commercial achievements in different music fields and styles. However, although people can easily sort out the development trajectory of Ellie's career by following them, they cannot outline the most impressive image of Ellie Goulding in the minds of American listeners.

Only Lights can do this.

So, unlike other regions where "Lights" is placed in the encore part, or simply not included in the playlist, this time at Mad City Music Festival, Ellie Goulding directly put this song in the opening segment.

"'Cause they're calling, calling, calling me home,

Calling, calling, calling home...

You show the lights that stop me, turn to stone,

You shine it when I'm alone..."

Under the seductive light of the cyber city, Ellie Goulding abandoned the form of presenting this work with acoustic instruments at the Coachella Music Festival in April this year. She most faithfully restored the clean, fresh, energetic, and almost distortion-free synth pop texture of the song "Lights". The choir-like ethereal and holy voice rolled in the 4/4 house drum beat.

As the familiar GmFECm7 chord progression played, the more than spectators at the Las Vegas festival venue recalled the moment four years ago when they first heard Ellie Goulding on the radio and were first fascinated by her pop electronic folk songs.

"You did an excellent job on this matter of Ellie and Lana, Mr. Han."

Generally speaking, Taylor Swift will not whisper to others when her friends are performing. As a professional singer, she knows how to give the most sincere respect to the performers on the stage - that is to dance to their tunes and use the naturally secreted dopamine to pay tribute to these music creators who have gone through countless hardships and fought their way into the music industry. Whether it is the Staples Center at the Grammys or the Radio City Music Hall at the VMAs, Taylor is the one who listens most attentively, the most devotedly, and the one who enjoys the most exaggerated and unreserved performance.

But today is different.

The Kardashian family members who were in the same booth with her and kept whispering to each other after Ellie Goulding came on stage, and tried to test and even protested against her in various ways, made it impossible for Taylor to enjoy herself with her besties as usual. The curious eyes and even drunken screams on the dance floor made Taylor, who was always calm and graceful, feel a little uncomfortable. Although she was surrounded by security personnel - her own and the security team of Mad City took the initiative to provide important guests - the annoying covetousness and whispers like thorns could still penetrate the solid physical defense line and rush towards her.

It is Halloween now, and it has only been about three months since the snake hunting event that was so popular in the summer of this year. The dust has not yet settled, and in the minds of most people, Taylor Swift is still the femme fatale who says one thing in front of you and another behind your back, goes back on her words, and is cunning and deep-minded.

And that realization, can kill a girl like her.

But Taylor didn't want to appear too negative. After all, as Karlie Kloss said, the reason she chose to come to Las Vegas to attend the music festival today was actually to deliberately let the public and the media see her appearing in the same occasion with the Kardashians, implicitly telling everyone that she was not defeated by the previous negative public opinion, but embarked on the path of self-healing, and even has achieved initial results, so she can appear in front of the abuser without fear.

Formal occasions seem too deliberate. The red carpets at various award ceremonies are crowded with all the important Hollywood stars present, which fails to serve the purpose of sending out a specific signal. Moreover, she has no new works to be nominated at the American Music Awards in November this year and the Grammy Awards in February next year. In this case, making a press release would only seem deliberate, confirming her bad image of being exaggerated, false, and fond of using all public relations means to whitewash herself.

As a result, the Mad City Music Festival, which is popular with celebrities and has fully booked rooms in Las Vegas, has become the most suitable choice for Taylor to make an appearance. She came to the music festival with her girlfriends and happened to run into the Kardashian family who accompanied Kanye West to perform. It was not deliberate, nor was it humble or overbearing.

For her, who was currently on the defensive, being able to turn the tables in a subtle way was already a victory worth celebrating. Therefore, after receiving Carly's call, Taylor thought about it for a while, and after carefully discussing the pros and cons with her team members, she finally decided to go to the meeting alone.

She did not bring a team and kept the number of accompanying security personnel to a minimum. With the narrative theme of "an ordinary girl goes to Las Vegas to meet good friends and enjoy the vacation life", she conveyed the message "Taylor is okay, she will stay strong and get better" to the world through social media.

Therefore, although she did not continue her usual performance of singing and dancing and stealing the show at musical gatherings, Taylor Swift, who appeared in front of the 70,000 people and the camera, still looked delicately made up and in high spirits. She deliberately stood at the edge of the railing, where the audience and guests in the booth area could vaguely see her through the security wall, and made the whole scene look as noisy and lively as possible, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe it as grand.

On her right stood her best friend Karlie Kloss, and on her left stood the recently popular superstar Madison Beer. Extending to both sides, Cara Delevingne, Lana Del Rey, Margot Robbie, Miley Cyrus, and even Lionel Richie... a group of Hollywood celebrities who attracted attention lined up like the twelve apostles, making Taylor Swift, who was in the center of the picture, feel like the moon surrounded by stars, as if she was the Messiah who was also criticized and misunderstood by the world and persecuted 2,000 years ago.

Interestingly, the composition is similar to that of "The Last Supper". At this time, Taylor Swift is also tilting her head, talking to Madison Beer on the left with an elegant and peaceful smile.

More precisely, this is the view from the dance floor to the booth area by ordinary fans. For Mackenzie Jones, who was standing in booth No. 1 and looking over here with undisguised curiosity and excitement, she could clearly see that behind Taylor Swift and Madison Beer, there was a young Asian man who deliberately stayed away from the public eye.

Han Yi, the founder of Mad City Music Festival, who was gentle and kind and helped her talk to her idol Holsch yesterday, was the person Taylor Swift was really talking to at the moment.

"I don't quite understand what you mean, Taylor. What exactly is this matter?"

"I mean the move of directly acquiring the artist management companies of the artists, bypassing the record companies and copyright distribution companies that cannot be shaken for the time being." Taylor Swift smiled and responded, "You know the cornerstone of a musician's career and what are the truly valuable assets that the music industry should control. This is better than most so-called industry experts. Some people claim to have been in this circle for decades, but they don't even understand the most basic common sense."

"Like you said, I thought these things were just common sense."

Han Yi sipped the Coke in his cup, seemingly nonchalantly, but in fact he was extremely alert and answered Taylor Swift's questions carefully.

He knew very well that the four major contracts, namely a management contract, an agency contract, a record contract and a distribution contract, all had stable partners, and they were basically all top stars in the industry. It was impossible for him to suddenly start a conversation about this with someone he had never met.

This is inconsistent with what Carly, Barbara, and other professionals who have dealt with Taylor say about her top-notch social skills, which are flawless and can make anyone feel at ease and friendly, and there is nothing wrong with them.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

“Many people think that the most solid foundation of the record industry is copyright, and the most basic business logic is the use and monetization of ownership, but they ignore that the source of any work is the musicians themselves. The establishment of this industry relies on living people, not pre-composed music.”

"Yes."

"The essence of the music industry is not manufacturing, but service industry, and this service is two-way. Anyone who wants to gain a foothold in this industry should understand that we serve not only consumers, but also upstream suppliers, that is, our lovely musicians." Han Yi spread his hands and smiled, "So, I think the most valuable but most underestimated business area in this industry is actually artist management. That's why I chose to work with Ben Mossen..."

"Acquisition." Taylor gently corrected Han Yi's statement.

"Cooperation." Han Yi insisted on his wording, "Because I feel that I don't need to completely own the copyright of a certain musician and let my descendants live by it for the next hundred years or so. The vitality of art lies in creating new art, and the life of music comes from writing new chapters. As long as I can help Ally, Lana, and many other new generation musicians who are as good as them in the client list to continuously create excellent works, then I have fulfilled my original intention of entering this industry."

So far, Han Yi is still unsure of Taylor Swift's attitude and stance, so he can only use common sense to guess the other party as much as possible and figure out which words can resonate with the female singer and bring them closer.

Taylor Swift was born in 1989 and will not be 27 until December this year, which is the age when a musician's desire for expression and creative ability have just reached their peak. There is a term in the European and American music scene called the "27 Club", which refers to a group of great rock, blues and pop musicians, artists and actors who died at the age of . Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse are all members of this club.

The reason why people feel more regretful and miss these musicians who died young is that their best and most productive years as creators have just begun, and their future is limitless. Therefore, for Taylor Swift, who is at this stage of her life, Han Yi naturally wants to talk about the "vitality of music", his concern for the musicians themselves rather than the music copyrights, and how he has worked hard to build a platform and become the most tacit creative partner and business partner of the artist.

Of course, if the person being talked to is Lionel Richie, who is semi-retired and released his last original studio album seven years ago and is now a resident performer in Las Vegas, Han Yi's words will change again. From "the vitality of music" to "the continuity of classics". From "support for new music" to "maintaining and redeveloping the voice of the times".

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with both narratives. After all, they are both tracks that Han Yi's Han Music is focusing on simultaneously.

"Excellent musicians..." Hearing this, Taylor naturally and intimately put her hand on the shoulder of Madison, who was a whole head shorter than her, "For example, our Maddie, right?"

“She’s the best.”

In front of outsiders, Han Yi never hesitated to praise Madison. The latter was indeed his proudest work after coming to this new world.

If the success of other artists under Han Music is the inevitable result of following the laws of historical development, then Madison Beer is the reborn butterfly who gently flapped his wings and created a perfect storm.

"Maddie is the embodiment of all the ideas of Han Music. Everything we want to show our fans is presented through her without reservation."

"I can see that." At this point, Taylor's mouth corners raised a little more, "I can also see that what you want to do is not just to help her continue to produce excellent works."

"What else?"

"McGrady's management contract is in your hands, his agency contract is with UTA, which you control, his record contract is with Han Music, and his distribution contract is also with the copyright distribution company affiliated with Han Music." Taylor raised his eyebrows and said half jokingly and half seriously, "I think we all know that whether you are willing to admit it or not, your real intention is not only to create a platform for outstanding musicians, but to build a city for them, an independent city-state that can operate autonomously and does not need to rely on the outside world to survive."

"I think this is... pretty good." Before Han Yi could answer, Madison spoke up first to defend her lover, "Having someone you trust enough to entrust all aspects of your acting career to, and you only need to work hard on your musical skills, isn't that a good thing? At least in my opinion, it's a great thing."

"For some, yes." Taylor turned his head and glanced at McGrady meaningfully, then turned his gaze back to Han Yi. "However, from a traditional sense, there are only three companies in the world that can make musicians feel at ease and give all 360-degree rights to the other party and sign a full contract."

"You mean..." Han Yi took over the conversation, "Universal, Sony, and Warner."

Taylor said nothing, but just smiled at the other party.

"I understand." Han Yi nodded slightly, paused for a few seconds, and then said the second half of the sentence, "But no one has stipulated the number of companies that can accomplish this, right? Now there are three, but in the future it may be four."

"So this is your plan." Taylor said in a long tone, as if he had suddenly realized something. "Universal, Sony, Warner... and Han. 72% is divided into four parts, right?"

"I never thought about becoming one of them." Han Yi waved his hand and smiled modestly. "The only thing I want to do is to provide musicians with another option. An option that they can boldly pursue without having to worry about their career being terminated."

"You don't have to sugarcoat your plan, Yi. I wasn't sent by anyone. You know, if it weren't for Carly, I wouldn't be here at all. I'm just curious and want to know the truth behind the rumors that have been circulating in my ears and the smoke. After all, this truth is also related to the future survival and well-being of my friends...even those who are not friends."

"What rumor?" Han Yi frowned slightly.

"Are you pretending not to know, or do you really not know?"

Taylor said leisurely as she took a sip of her favorite French Blonde cocktail and smacked her lips.

"You are the talk of the town...for months now."

(End of this chapter)