hollywood billionaire

Chapter 475 Spark Inheritance
"Thank you, Yi... Wow, what should I say next to follow up on those wonderful speeches just now?"

After hugging Han Yi, Lionel Richie took the microphone from him, still wearing his most iconic outfit: black leather jacket, black T-shirt, and the necklace with two silver rings that always hung around his neck.

Lionel never changed this classic look, just as he never changed the soothing voice and relaxed pace of his speech.

"I'm not an entrepreneur who knows how to inspire thousands of people, and I'm definitely not an eloquent rapper. I sing 60 BPM ballads. It takes me about 10 seconds to say a simple sentence, like 'Hello, is that me you're looking for'... So, guys, please bear with me, my style is different."

Although he spoke very modestly, anyone could see that Lionel Richie, who could stir up the atmosphere of the whole audience with just a few words and get people into his preset rhythm, knew how to control the stage very well.

For him who made his debut in 1968, it was easy for him to conquer the hearts of the audience whether he was singing or speaking.

"My background isn't nearly as interesting as Andre's, so I won't bore you to yawns with a long story about my childhood in Tuskegee. After all, I was born four years after World War II... only four years! To give you an idea, when I was born, the biggest star in America was Bing Cosby, the song of the year was Ghost Riders in the Sky, and the most popular pop group wasn't One Direction, it was the Andre Sisters."

The audience, regardless of gender, age, race, or identity, all laughed happily, even the rappers who usually sneered at pop music and pop culture. Lionel Richie was like the cool uncle you see at Thanksgiving dinner every year, leaning against the fireplace and telling the children the most exciting anecdotes of his life.

"I won't tell you about my career because it's been so smooth... I'm not narcissistic or bragging, it's really been smooth, okay?" Lionel spread out his left hand, his big mouth grinning warmly and brilliantly, "I'm doing well, I'm doing very well. My group, The Commodore, was originally signed to Motown Records because they needed to find opening acts for the Jackson Five. But soon we became soul stars as popular as the protagonists, and we released "Brick House", which was a huge success. Then, I wrote "Easy", which became my first No. 1 single."

"Next, it's the theme song Endless Love sung with Diana Ross. I don't know if you've heard of this little song... Oh, have you? That's great." Lionel gave a thumbs up to the crowd that burst into laughter again. "My first solo album sold 400 million copies that year and had three hit singles. Two years later, my second album Can't Slow Down won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. That was the year people began to call me 'Lionel Richie, who has become one of the first tier of international superstars.'"

"What? 'Leo, you said you wouldn't tell me about your career, why are you bragging about it?' Well, maybe it's worth bragging about."

"Because for most of the '80s, I was the guy battling Michael Jackson for the top spot."

After saying this in a serious manner, facing the overwhelming applause in the courtyard, Lionel Richie finally scratched his head and laughed in a dry and hoarse voice.

"Okay, okay, I've said all this conceited nonsense just to have a proper opportunity to bring the topic to this person. This person was once my competitor, is also my forever good friend, and is also, in my personal opinion, the greatest performer ever to appear on Earth, Michael Jackson."

"I've known Michael since he was nine, so I was able to understand him in a different way than most people. At first, it was like a thorn in my side, this little boy could dance, sing, write, arrange, produce. I was much older than him, but I was like, I have to beat him. I don't know why I was competing with this kid, but that's how it was for me."

"As time went on, that kid became my friend. That's when I realized that Michael Jackson couldn't actually write music or read music. So every time you asked Michael the question, 'Michael, how did you write this song?' He would answer, 'It came through me into the world.' And I realized that he was right. He was a child of God, and he was passing on the revelations that he had received."

The details of this interaction with the King of Pop made many people in the venue listen attentively, and the most focused one was undoubtedly Han Yi himself.

After all, the reason why he chose the path of the music industry was ultimately because of this legendary idol and spiritual pillar that he would never have the chance to meet even if he lived his life again.

"It seems to me that because he created music in such an unconventional way, and because God gave him these gifts, Michael really treasured all of his songs and took care of them like his own children."

"I still remember clearly that it was the early morning of January 1985, 1, when I was sitting on the floor of Michael's bedroom, discussing with him the lyrics of the second verse of We Are the World. Suddenly, Michael asked a question that had nothing to do with the creation itself in his signature soft voice."

"He asked, 'Leonard, do you realize what a great year this has been for our industry?'"

"I said, of course I'm aware of it. Your Thriller just achieved the historic achievement of winning the championship for 37 weeks last year. From one album, there are two No. 1983 singles and seven top ten songs. It was the No. 1984 album in and in . Apart from you, whose album can be the No. album for two consecutive years?"

"Michael laughed. You know his laugh, hee-hee - I'm not exaggerating, it's really hee-hee. He looked down and smiled shyly for a moment, and then corrected me: 'No, Lionel.' In that gentle voice, he said: 'No, Lionel. I don't mean me, I mean, there were so many great works last year.'"

"I said yes without hesitation. Because... how could you not? Looking back now, 1984 was probably the greatest year for pop music. From Prince to Madonna, from Michael Jackson to Bruce Springsteen, to Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner, 1984 was the pinnacle of pop music."

"Of course, I didn't mention Prince in front of Michael, and you all know what he thought of Prince at the time. But we talked a lot about other artists, from the synth pop of "Take On Me" to the traditional rock of "Born in the USA". From the newly emerging British band U2 to Van Halen, who finally made a splash after ten years of struggle..."

"Suddenly, he stopped talking. The smile disappeared from his face, and Michael just stared at his pet snake - he had a big snake in his bedroom as a pet, and its head was as big as mine - he stared at the snake for a long time, and then he said to me: 'Leonor, there are so many great artists and great people in our industry.'"

"'But why are we controlled by the serpent?'"

“‘I’m not talking about the people who got us to where we are. Not our team, not them,’ Michael said. ‘I’m talking about the people who set up the system, the ones we’ve only met once or twice, the real top brass. They’re holed up in their sky mansions in Manhattan, controlling everything remotely. They’re telling us, telling our unborn baby versions of ourselves, that we’d never be able to succeed without their help.’”

"'We got scared, so we signed a seven-album contract and started working for them. We only got 15 or 20% of the master tapes we worked so hard to create, while the record company took 80 to 85%. I can understand this because the record company paid for the production and MV shooting, as well as the shipping costs of the tapes to all over the world. It's understandable that they want to make more money. But what about our music copyright? Just because they are the nominal managers of our music copyright, can they take 50% of the income? What did they do?'"

"'Why do we need them to do so-called copyright distribution, especially when these songs have become known to the whole world through tapes?' Michael held up the sheet music, 'For example, this song we are creating, Lionel. Its value comes from us. We gave it life. It is a song to raise funds for the victims of the disaster in Africa. People buy it because they like us, because they trust our work and intentions, and because they want to help those dying children. But even for such a song, CBS still takes the lion's share. We cannot raise funds through the sales of the song itself, but only through the official peripheral sales. Lionel, I am not a cynical person, but do you think this is fair?'"

Having said that, Lionel touched his broad nose and sighed heavily.

"I couldn't answer his questions. In fact, I was a little scared to answer them. Not because I was scared of the record company or the publisher. I wasn't scared of them. I was a superstar by then and had negotiating power that most artists didn't have. I was scared because I didn't want to admit that Michael was right, that the system wasn't fair. And even if it was, how could you fix it? Go up against the system by yourself?"

"I didn't know it at the time, but that's what Michael wanted to do. That same year, Michael bought ATV, which owned 4000 songs, and became the owner of the Lennon-McCartney copyright, as well as the copyrights to Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Elvis and the Rolling Stones. For this library of copyrights, Michael paid $4750 million, which was an unheard-of price for music copyrights at the time."

"He sat at the table with the other big names. He did it a full 20 years before the other Michael did it. But people are not happy about one artist ruling a music empire. I'm not talking about Paul McCartney, but those who feel threatened by his behavior."

"I won't tell you how those people planned to take revenge on Michael. Because I can't say I know the truth. I just experienced that era and observed some unusual things, such as... Never mind, I don't want to go into details. You just need to know that Michael's image was perfect until he decided to become the boss of ATV."

Most people, including the vast majority of people standing on the lawn of 864 Stradella Road, know very little about Michael Jackson's past. It seems that he was born to be an unforgivable pedophile - this is almost the worst label that can be attached to an individual in European and American society.

But Han Yi is different.

As a die-hard fan who regarded Michael Jackson as a beacon and belief, before his rebirth, he had carefully studied Michael Jackson's endless cases that dragged him into the abyss of debt. In the 1993 Jordan Chandler case, after summoning 450 witnesses, the grand jury finally stated that there was no evidence to prove that Michael Jackson sexually assaulted and abused the 13-year-old boy Jordan Chandler.

In the 2005 case of the United States v. Jackson, twelve jurors unanimously found Michael Jackson not guilty of child molestation, conspiracy, and providing alcohol to minors. This time, Jordan Chandler, the little boy twelve years ago, even refused to testify in court, and fled his native family, severing ties with both parents. As for his mother, June, she attended the trial in 2005, but provided testimony that contradicted that in 1993, and claimed that she could not remember most of the content of the 1993 case. As for his father, Evan, he committed suicide in November 2009, a few months after Michael Jackson's death.

In 2013, Wade Robson, who testified in the 2005 trial that Michael Jackson had never sexually harassed him, accused Jackson of sexually abusing him for seven years. In 2014, James Safechuck, who had worked with Michael Jackson in Pepsi ads and testified many times that Michael Jackson had never sexually assaulted him, also miraculously "suddenly realized" that he had been sexually abused for many years.

In all four cases, Michael Jackson was acquitted. But the results of the cases are not important. When you are called a pedophile by the media for 1993 consecutive years starting from 20, you will never get rid of this title.

Even death cannot free you.

"In the second half of 1993, Michael was forced to cancel the second round of the Dangerous World Tour because of his lawsuit, which cost him a lot of money. No one cared that Michael donated all the box office revenue to charities to help children and the environment. Even Pepsi, the sponsor of the tour, terminated their ten-year endorsement cooperation."

"As a result, in 1995, Michael Jackson sold 50% of ATV to Sony for $ million, forming what we now know as the Sony/ATV Copyright Distribution Group."

"In 2005, the United States v. Jackson case left Michael, whose career had been severely affected by pedophilia allegations, with a huge debt of $2.7 million. In this case, Jackson agreed to give Sony an option to buy half of its shares in Sony/ATV for about $2.5 million."

"Last year, after Robson and Safechuck sued Jackson, Sony initiated a sale process with Jackson's estate to buy out Jackson's remaining stake in the Sony/ATV group, which now owns the copyright to 75 songs."

"On March 3 this year, Sony announced that it would buy all of Jackson's estate's shares for $15 million. If I remember correctly, the deal will be officially completed next month."

"Coincidence? Maybe."

Lionel put one hand on his waist, sniffed, and was silent for a long time before continuing.

"All I know is that Michael fought and fought as hard as he could, but he never got away."

“He’s trapped.”

"For most of his career, he was stuck in the glitz and glamour of CBS Records. No matter how they renamed the company 'Legendary Records' or 'Sony Music,' he was fighting the same snakes."

"It really gives me the chills to watch the King of Pop fail so miserably. If the strongest among us can't pull this off, how can we ever dream of fighting back?"

"I've been thinking about this problem since I saw Michael's last bit of shares gobbled up by Sony, and just when I was about to give up thinking about it, Yi found me and proposed an alternative plan that completely subverted existing cognition."

"If we can't match them in their field, then why should we stay? What's the point of holding the copyright when you can cash out all your future revenues at once and walk out like a champion?"

“With this money, we no longer have to worry about royalty audits and collection processes. We can be free to plan our lives and the lives of our families to ensure that they truly benefit from the work we have produced, rather than having to spend the next few decades in fear, counting down the days until these works enter the public domain, with royalties being paid out like toothpaste.”

"On the other hand, as these rights continue to accumulate, we will finally have the opportunity to truly unite for the first time in history. Do you remember what I said before about the conflict between Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney? Paul was very unhappy that Michael bought his music copyright, but Paul himself was unwilling to spend $4750 million to acquire his own copyright. I mean... I respect Paul, but isn't his logic ridiculous? It's okay for ATV and the others to control your music copyright, but Michael buying your copyright is not okay? Will Michael settle less royalties for you, or do you expect someone to hand these assets back to you?"

"Why would you hate a colleague who bravely stood up to defend his own interests?"

At this point, Lionel Richie pointed to Dr. Dre.

"If there is anything I learned from Andre's speech, it is that if you don't have a fighting spirit, there is no way to win anything. You can't take everything for granted. Every bit of benefit is hard-earned."

“And if there’s anything I’ve learned from Yi, it’s that instead of fighting the system, we should build a better system.”

“This is the significance of the Wave Music Foundation’s existence.”

“We offer generous compensation to help the beacons of our society, our artists, escape their fate and become truly free.”

"At the same time, we are also forming a battle line. This battle line is not against any copyright distributors, but against the basic rules of our industry, which is to split the suppliers who should have been united into individuals called "musicians" one after another, let them fight each other, make them weak and tired, and finally have no choice but to surrender."

“Times have changed, and a new era has arrived.”

“It’s time for artists to take back what’s rightfully theirs.”

"As chairman of the foundation, I will ensure that we are a model that goes far beyond what others can expect, a model that the music industry should and must have."

“And the first stroke of this picture will start with me.”

"I, Lionel Richie, will sell all my music copyrights to the Wave Music Foundation."

“I may be the first person to do this, but I am sure that I will not be the only one. I will become one of the thousands of great artists who will also entrust their trust and efforts to the Wave Fund.”

“When my career as an artist ends, I will be a spark that lights up many more careers that are yet to begin.”

(End of this chapter)