hollywood billionaire

Chapter 407 The End of the World
"Everyone's talking about me?"

The news brought by Taylor Swift made Han Yi feel a little unbelievable.

"I didn't use the word 'talk about.'

Taylor smiled and shook his head.

"The exact word I used was, 'expel.'

"This is ridiculous." Han Yi curled his lips, "What on earth have I done to deserve so much attention? I mean, I don't think anything I've done is important enough for them to... I don't know how to say it, unanimously expel me?"

"What is your definition of importance?" Taylor laughed dumbly. "You bought the world's third largest performing arts agency, established a fully closed-loop music group from copyright distribution to artist management, won multiple Billboard titles, and the online playback volume reached tens of millions of times. You are pressing forward step by step, squeezing their living space that they originally had no challenge. Even this cannot satisfy your ambition. You are also hosting the world's largest performances, and by the way, cooperating with national sovereign funds to pocket all the valuable music copyrights... Honestly, if these are not important, what else is important?"

"But isn't that matter still unsettled?"

"What's the matter?"

"Sovereign fund, music copyright." Han Yi raised his arms. "You saw what happened just now. This is a secret project that is still ongoing. That's all."

"What I saw was the head of the Saudi Entertainment Authority right next to you, talking to a music legend who was very interested in the deal," Taylor Swift shrugged and laughed. "At least in my opinion, this should have been a no-brainer."

“Nothing is certain to happen until it’s actually done.”

Han Yi did not comment. He took a sip of the Coke that was almost at room temperature and spoke casually.

"I'm sorry, it's not my intention to discuss business in front of you... Today this should just be a place for leisure and entertainment, not a space for business negotiations."

"No need to apologize, I don't mind." Taylor said in a light tone, "I think a lot of musicians are happy to see these negotiations happen in front of them... In many areas, we are often placed in a vacuum. Performances, sponsorship agreements, TV contracts... We are so well protected by our own team that we lose our grasp of the real world and ignore the basic operating rules of business transactions. What I mean is that the reason why many artists fail miserably is not because they can't continue to create good music, but because of their ignorance and arrogance, so that they can't make the right career plans. So, yes, I don't mind. I like to see business negotiations related to music, and I am also trying to participate in as many business negotiations as possible... Every time I can learn a lot."

“It sounds like you’re giving yourself more responsibility… more roles.”

"This is the only right way to move forward in this new situation, isn't it?" Taylor Swift tucked her hair around her ears. "Just look at Frank Ocean."

"You want to be Frank Ocean, too?"

“Every musician’s dream is to be Frank Ocean… in a way.”

To outsiders, the conversation between Han Yi and Taylor Swift seems like a coded book, but real practitioners can instantly capture the core elements of the conversation between the two.

Frank Ocean and his new studio album "Blond" are the two most talked-about keywords in the second half of this year and even in the whole of 2016. The reason why it has attracted so much attention is not only because of the amazing quality of "Blond", but also because of the open and covert struggle between Frank Ocean, Universal Music and Apple Music before its official release.

Like the music he created, Frank Ocean is a creator with a strong sense of independence. Although other artists signed to the three major groups have complaints about the arrogant contract terms of Universal, Sony and Warner, in order to climb higher in the world of fame and fortune, they have to swallow their anger and accept the reality that the record company takes the majority, they take the minority and have to repay the advance payment first. But Frank Ocean is different. Since the mixtape "Nostalgia, Ultra" released in 2011 was widely praised and initially gained the trust and expectations of Universal Music, he has been quietly planning a victorious escape.

Frank first released his first studio album Channel Orange in 2012, which debuted at No. on the Billboard Album Chart, achieving great sales and critical acclaim, becoming a leader in alternative R&B of this era and giving him more bargaining chips. Next, he negotiated with Island Def Jam and secured a full $ million in production funding for his second album, the last album in the record agreement.

For the next four years, Frank Ocean almost completely disappeared from the public eye. After the tour ended, Frank only took six performances in 2014 and then entered the creative mode. With sufficient funds at hand, he traveled back and forth between New York and London and completed a stunning work with excellent production, advanced artistic concepts and song quality.

then……

He took the album to Apple Music, and with the help of a "mysterious sponsor", he reached an exclusive streaming channel distribution agreement with Apple and received an advance payment. With this money, he paid off the $2 million advance paid to him by Island Def Jam in one lump sum.

Bypassing the record company and negotiating exclusive distribution with streaming platforms directly is one of the cool moves Frank Ocean made to redeem himself as a free agent, but it is definitely not the coolest one. In order to complete the record agreement for two albums with Island Def Jam and Universal Music, Frank Ocean recorded a 45-minute so-called visual album "Endless" and delivered it to Universal Music as a finished product. To be fair, the quality of this visual album is really good. The minimalist visual aesthetics are matched with a loose and freehand music structure. Atmospheric pop, avant-garde soul, alternative R&B and even Trap music are all Frank Ocean's forte. The 7.5-point rating from Pitchfork magazine can also prove from the side why Island Def Jam's A&R department still approved this album despite its very strange type and genre.

In the eyes of Universal Music, perhaps Frank Ocean's second album is intended to follow this route, that is, to reshape the distribution and promotion model of studio albums in an unprecedented and unique way.

But they soon found themselves being tricked by Frank Ocean. Endless was released exclusively on Apple Music on August 2016, 8, and on August 19, Frank Ocean released his first album as an independent artist on the same platform, which was the result of a $8 million production budget and was directly hailed by Pitchfork as the greatest album of the 20s, Blond.

The time between the two is no more than 24 hours.

"Endless", with Universal Music being completely in the dark, became Frank Ocean's way of escaping the three major systems, and also became the best pre-heating advertisement for the album "Blond".

Frank Ocean's secret move shocked the entire music world and made countless famous musicians who were in the same situation as him eager to make a move. A$AP Rocky, who performed at Mad City yesterday, bluntly called Frank Ocean a genius.

"To take money from Lucien Grange, put the production money on another album, and then deliver a piece of shit and get out of the record deal, all in the middle of a round of confrontation... Do you know how embarrassing this is for the entire record industry? Do you know how strict they were on artists after Frank did this? Can you understand? This system is real slavery, and this man found a way around it."

Although A$AP Rocky's words are rough, they can truly reflect the voices of most musicians who are confined to the three major groups. Everyone wants to get back the copyright of their own works, and everyone wants to increase the share ratio from 14% to 70%. And this is the true meaning of "becoming Frank Ocean" in Taylor Swift's words.

"But they won't let you do that, will they?"

Han Yi carefully observed the changes in Taylor's expression.

"I heard that after the Frank incident, the Big Three changed the way they deal with streaming platforms... There are no more exclusives."

"Yes. Universal Music is very angry about what Apple Music has done. Lucien believes that the platform should not bypass the record companies and directly negotiate exclusive streaming channel agreements with artists. This is not in line with procedures because the master copyright belongs to the record companies, not the artists. The agreement reached between Apple Music and Frank Ocean is actually illegal."

“There are both intentional and unintentional violations of the law. In our industry, it is very common for a musician’s manager to negotiate the agreement first, and then the record company, performing arts agency or copyright distribution company takes over the formal process. It is not so much a violation of the law as an improper procedure.”

“You think so?” Taylor raised his eyebrows and asked with interest, “But Apple Music did bypass Universal and gave Frank an advance.”

"It is highly likely that the payment was not made from Apple's own account." Han Yi smiled, "Otherwise there would not be the so-called 'mysterious sponsor' reported in the media."

“Who do you think this sponsor will be?”

"This is also the question I want to explore." Han Yi curled his lips without commenting, "No matter who he is, he can at least be considered a genius with foresight."

"If you knew who he was, would you want to work with him?"

"It depends on who he is." Han Yi looked at Taylor Swift meaningfully, "Do you know who he is?"

"It depends on who is asking the question." Taylor blinked mysteriously, his eyes smiling. "Only a very few people can know the answer."

"I have to assume that I'm not one of these 'certain few', right?"

"Yes."

"So who are they?"

"Only those who already know the answer can know the answer." Taylor's answer sounded a bit mysterious. "Ah." But it was this answer that made Han Yi suddenly realize, and nodded slightly thoughtfully, "This is a secret society movement... You are uniting to try to defeat this system. Frank Ocean is your test product, an experiment to detect and monitor the response mechanism of the three major groups."

"You make this all sound like a conspiracy theory."

"A lot of conspiracy theories aren't groundless...are they?"

"But almost all conspiracy theories exaggerate the facts."

"What, then, are the facts?"

"The fact is... I mean, you're in this circle, you know how small it is, and you know that there are only a few dozen really influential musicians in Hollywood. A few are reduced and added every year, and except for a few people with old grudges, there are basically channels for exchange and communication. Even if the artists themselves don't have them, their behind-the-scenes teams will share what they have." Taylor Swift breathed a sigh of relief, "What I can tell you is that Frank Ocean's behavior is a manifestation of his free will. But free will also needs the help of external factors, and I happen to know the true composition of this external factor."

"Because this external factor has also contacted you." Han Yi persevered in pursuing the truth, "He wants to help more than just Frank Ocean."

“A lot of people want to see me walk out the door at Universal Music.”

"So what are your hopes?"

"If everything depended on my preferences, my career would be much easier, wouldn't it?" Taylor's answer was ambiguous. "Unfortunately, it's not that simple. There are many interests that need to be weighed, and many crises that require... compromise. Of course, the agreement I carry is heavier than Frank's, so I can't get away with an advance payment like him."

"Why?" Han Yi asked knowingly, "In the business world, there is nothing that money can't solve."

"That may be true, but there are still some problems that I cannot solve because they are so large that it is almost impossible to raise the amount of money that can properly solve them."

"What if you can get it together?" Han Yi shrugged. "You know, although music is expensive, there are other more expensive things in this world... and there is never a shortage of investors for these things."

"We are walking on a dangerous road in this conversation." Taylor's eyes were slightly curved, revealing her signature sweet smile, but what she said was not quite consistent with her expression at the moment. "If anyone from Universal Music heard our little conversation here, they would definitely be more determined in their ideas."

"Which is?"

"You are here to bring about the end of the world."

"Whose doomsday?" Han Yi sneered, "Is it theirs, or the entire industry's?"

"For them, their end is the end of the entire industry."

"You know how ridiculous that sounds, right?"

“A lot of things are so ridiculous.”

"Yes, for example, large industry trusts like Universal, Sony and Warner, which blatantly exploit artists as their main source of profit, have been able to survive for decades. This is a most ridiculous farce in itself."

"So you want to be the white knight, the one who shows up late to the party but saves the night?"

"The term 'white knight' is a bit exaggerated. Everyone enters this industry for money, or a reputation that can be passed on, or both. I came here... of course for both, but the means by which I achieve this goal is good intentions and fair procedures." At this point, Han Yi turned sideways to show Taylor Swift a visual corridor so that she could directly see Lionel Richie sitting in the booth and talking on the phone with someone unknown. "You saw what happened to him, and you also heard our proposals and ideas. What do you think?"

"I have to say that for some artists, this is definitely an effective way to solve the problem." Taylor Swift thought for a few seconds and answered seriously, "By removing the artist from the profit equation, you basically choose to take the risk for them by prepaying the income in advance."

"I'm surprised you take this matter this way."

"why?"

"I thought you would think I wanted to buy out the musicians and use short-term profits in exchange for long-term stable income from music copyrights."

"We've all read the stories of Powerball winners. Who wants to receive money every month when they can get a lump sum? It just turns out that musicians can't find that way to monetize."

The more he interacted with Taylor, the clearer Han Yi's picture of her became - on the surface, she seemed harmless, a pure singer-songwriter who devoted herself to music and creation, but in fact, under the influence of many masters in her team, her grasp of the pulse of the industry far exceeded that of many so-called senior behind-the-scenes people who have been working in Hollywood for decades.

“As individuals, musicians are very vulnerable to the corporate machine. Even with the help of experts, we are still vulnerable because a lot of times your team members will still become the maintainers of this system. Maybe it’s intentional, maybe it’s unintentional, but they will continue to benefit from the existence of this system, there is no doubt about that.”

"Yes." Han Yi nodded in agreement and cast his eyes on Lionel Richie behind him. "I don't need to hear his conversation to know who he is talking to and what he is talking about. He must have told his manager about the conditions I just offered, and then the manager tried his best to dissuade him from reaching a cooperation with me."

"It should be like this." Taylor took a deep breath, searching for the right words. "Legendary artists like Leo... need to provide more certainty for themselves and their families. Let's be honest, musicians can't live off music forever. One day your music is hot, and the next day it's not. That's why we often go on tour, travel around the world, and take every opportunity to make a living. The source of everything comes from our insecurity.

“It’s clear to me that you know this, and it’s also clear to me that your goal is not to simply make money from royalties from Spotify, but to package them together to create a stronger voice and a more powerful force to influence the industry.

“Whether you do it for us or not, I know this will change the power dynamic between artists and labels, they can no longer manipulate us because we can now just take the money and walk away and enjoy our lives without worrying about the number of plays on the report every quarter.

“An organization is always more powerful than an individual, so if you can help artists form an organization that truly serves their interests, then no matter how the interests are achieved, I think it’s a fair deal.”

"But if I understand you correctly... you won't choose the same path. You acknowledge the validity of this mechanism, but it doesn't suit you, right?"

"I believe this mechanism will definitely suit me...if all I want is money." At this point, Taylor's eyes flickered with an inexplicable light, "but this is not the entire meaning of this game to me."

"Other people want to get affiliated with an institution, but I...I wanna be an institution."

"Is this different from what I'm doing?" Han Yi asked with a smile, "It sounds like you also want to destroy this system."

"I was acting quietly from the inside, in the dark, taking every step carefully, trying to find the perfect balance of interests so that my gradual exit would satisfy everyone. And you were in broad daylight, trying to take everything away from them in public."

"That's too exaggerated."

“That’s what I heard.”

"Really? From whom?"

"From... Hey, you really did everything you could to make me a snitch." Taylor joked casually, "But it doesn't matter, because he didn't try to hide this from anyone after all..."

"It was Monte Lipman, the founder of Republic Records. He was in a semi-public meeting with... I can't reveal their identities, all you need to know is that he said that your company, Han Music, and the people you are in collusion with are the biggest threat to the healthy ecosystem of the music industry right now..."

“It should be eradicated as soon as possible.”

(End of this chapter)