The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 941 His face was full of stories

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The breakfast he was eating was overturned on the table as he excitedly got up. The middle-aged man, wearing gold-rimmed round glasses, slammed his fist on the table and shouted angrily: "This number could have appeared in 1986 or 1996, or even a little further back to 1976, but this is 2006!"

"Howard, I regret to inform you that it is true. The entire industry is going crazy right now. No matter how capable Warner and Edgar are, they can't possibly keep it a secret from the entire industry chain verifying it together."

The hands-free phone was placed on the table, and the sound coming from it gradually brought the middle-aged white man back to his senses, which had been clouded by data.

Howard Stringer, former CEO of CBS and current Chairman of Sony BMG Music Entertainment (USA), officially passed the vote at Sony's shareholders' meeting on June 22 last year, becoming the first foreign leader in the history of the Sony Group.

His primary task upon assuming the presidency was to save Sony's stock price—and then Warner Bros. poached Shakira's English album contract from him this year.

He was subjected to a barrage of criticism and attacks from the opposition on the board of directors because of this.

"Even if it's true, what about the inflated figures? How much of that is inflated? Did Edgar's Bloomman investment consortium participate in manipulating the accounts?"

Having regained his composure, Howard Stringer tried his best to eliminate all X factors.

It's simply because this number is so frightening.

Since 2006, in the US record market, if you sell more than 30 physical records a week, you can throw a celebration party and pop champagne. The size of the CD market has visibly shrunk precipitously.

As the head of Sony, he was well aware that the Book of Changes was popular and sold well.

But you can't be this nice, can you?

What does it mean for an album to sell 187 million copies in one day in the United States?
Even at the peak of the physical record industry, no artist could sell that many records. Including the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and the Backstreet Boys at their peak, no single individual or group could achieve this.

Howard Stringer, born in 1942, has lived through the entire development, prosperity and peak of the American record industry. It is no exaggeration to say that he has never seen anything like this in his entire life.

Suddenly, a fortune teller popped up and said: "Hey, now you've seen it."

It would be a miracle if he didn't question the meaning of life.

"Although it's hard to admit, based on the real information we have right now, this number is absolutely accurate, because even Edgar himself, who was on a business trip, urgently changed his itinerary and flew back to Los Angeles to see Spike..."

Howard Stringer: "..."

Sony's top executives were incredulous, and Universal's side was equally astounded.

As one of the three giants in the international music industry alongside Warner and Sony, Lucien Granger, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music International, racked his brains over the data report in his hand, but couldn't find a single trace of fraud.

“24小时内总共卖出去了1874880张实体专辑，等于平均一秒钟卖出21.4张实体专辑、一分钟卖出1302张专辑、一小时卖出78120张专辑。

Warner's standard edition CD is priced at $35.9, the deluxe edition at $55.9, and the premium edition at $99.9.

Even if we only consider the standard editions priced at the lowest base of $35.90 each, Warner Music raked in over $67 million in the US domestic market in just one day yesterday.

"Considering the fact that the deluxe edition includes all the music videos and the existence of the premium edition, if the average price is raised to $45, then Warner's revenue in the US domestic market yesterday would have been more than $84 million."

"Furthermore, if the average price is $50, Warner's daily revenue would exceed $93 million..."

And that's not even the most important thing—the boost that the I Ching gave to Warner Music in the stock market.

The more global seminars are held, the more disheartening they become.

Upon seeing this, Lucien Granger, chairman of Universal Music's international division, felt a deep sense of despair.

This is no longer a feeling that can be described as powerless; it is utter despair!
Because Warner Music's deluxe edition is so expensive this time, if a certain percentage of people buy the deluxe edition and the average price per unit rises to $54, then Warner Music's single-day market revenue yesterday will exceed a staggering $100 million!
What the hell do these other companies sell?
All they need to do is kneel down before Warner and shout that God has descended, and that will be the end of it.

Don't forget, this is just the revenue for one day in just one market in the United States.

争？
What's the point of arguing?
Faced with such unprecedented and terrifying sales, nothing can change that.

"Learn! Everyone, learn Warner's marketing methods! Spike's album has definitely attracted a lot of pirate users this time, and these are all new growth opportunities. Marketing and PR departments, get to work on this! I need a detailed analysis plan within three days!"

At similar times and in different locations, all the marketing and public relations departments of record companies, including the two international giants Sony and Universal, received urgent orders from the top-level board of directors.

Only Warner Music, from top to bottom, was immersed in a blissful pink bubble. Whether it was frontline employees or board members, the only thing they did after the sales figures were released was pop champagne.

Pop the champagne!

After CEO Edgar Jr. urgently changed his itinerary to come to California, he immediately announced that he had booked a luxury estate hotel for a three-day, three-night party a month later, inviting all Warner employees to have fun.

As long as you have a Warner Bros. sign around your neck, you can play for free, even if you're just a receptionist!

money?
This stuff costs less than Warner makes money!

Edgar Jr., whose spendthrift nature was fully displayed, effectively rallied the middle and lower-level employees of Warner Bros.

Zhou Yi, the absolute protagonist, had completely lost himself in the endless congratulations, indulging in wine, women, and food, losing all sense of propriety.

He himself never expected that his album would sell so well, not only breaking his own personal record but also breaking historical records in the American and world music scenes.

"That bullet wasn't for nothing."

Waking up in the middle of the night, she slipped on a pair of loose beach shorts and emerged from the scene of sprawling, debauched bodies—

After going downstairs to the empty swimming pool to clear his head, he saw Qian Jiang coming down to find him. He smiled and sat on the shore, smoothing his wet bangs with his right hand, and joked to himself, "Americans really do pay off their debts."

"It's not just a matter of returning the favor; the entire industry—no, the entire American commercial market—is going crazy because of you. Breaking first-day sales records in 2006, when the physical market was collapsing, surpassing those of the 80s and 90s, do you know how incredible that is?"

Compared to Zhou Yi, Qian Jiang was much more excited. Even though more than 30 hours had passed, he still felt like he was dreaming: "What's even crazier is that, judging from today's news, your sales on the second day don't seem to be declining at all."

In this day and age, even for someone as strong as Eminem, the peak performance of a new album release is only a surge on the first day, followed by a sharp drop starting on the second day, then gradually stabilizing on the third day, until the end of the first or second week, at which point 60%-70% of the album's sales have been sold.

It is truly unprecedented and unparalleled.

"With your grades, no one will be able to even come close to you, let alone surpass you!"

Having worked in this industry for so many years, Qian Jiang had never believed in the feng shui theories of the Hong Kong entertainment circle; marketing Ziwei Star was just a side effect of his work.

But now, he was truly convinced, and even began to doubt whether Zhou Yi was truly the reincarnation of the Purple Star. The reason why the White Dragon King fled back to Thailand overnight with his plane was because he was backfired on by his fortune-telling of Zhou Yi.

Qianjiang really needs to find a convincing reason for Zhouyi's outrageous performance...

"That's hard to say; new talents emerge in every generation."

"Impossible. No matter how talented someone is, the decline of the physical market is unavoidable."

Qian Jiang waved his hand and made a solemn vow.

Zhou Yi smiled but remained silent.

In fact, nine years later in 2015, another terrifying figure emerged who could come close to his achievement—

British singer Adele.

In 2015, she released a legendary album titled "25," which, in an era when the internet had become mainstream, powerfully redefined the perceptions of the American and even the world music scene by shattering everyone's expectations.

The fastest-selling album in world history: referring to the album that sold 1740 million physical copies worldwide in just 42 days, breaking the world record;
The highest-selling album in its first week/single week in global history: nearly 800 million physical copies were sold worldwide in seven days;
The album with the highest first-week/single-week sales in a single country in global history;

The highest-selling album in the first week/single week in US history: 338 million physical copies sold in its first week, making it the only album in US history to sell over 300 million physical copies in its first week.

It is also the fastest-selling album in US history: over 150 million copies were sold on its first day of release, averaging 17.4 albums sold per second...

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this album. Listing everything would fill a whole page; it's all so detailed it doesn't need any qualifiers. Therefore, Adele's "25" became an anomaly in the internet age, reminding everyone in the music industry of the golden age of physical albums, thus earning it the title of an epic masterpiece.

To be honest, Zhou Yi never thought that his "25" could surpass Adele's first day and first week performance. After all, this result was really a bug. In addition, the US and global market environment in 2006 was terrible, and it was not as good as 2015, which had already been rectified.

He had only wanted to try his best to increase sales and see if he could break his past limits. After all, he had been shot, and he couldn't let his blood be shed in vain.

In retrospect, the marketing combination of "being shot" and "being in debt" has propelled the first-day record to a level that even he hadn't anticipated.

Thanks to Stephen Chow's team for open-sourcing this!
"Now we'll see how long this album's quality can withstand this crazy trend. We'll start promoting it the day after tomorrow. If it's a great success, this album will definitely be the best-selling album of your career."

Envisioning the future of Qianjiang, I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself, and I rarely lost my composure like this in front of the Book of Changes.

If he weren't afraid of being overheard, he would have even directly told Zhou Yi the goal of reaching 4000 million global sales within a year, even though Zhou Yi had only entered the 4000 million club with his second English major, and it was a long and slow climb up the ladder.

Don't ask, the market is just incredibly crazy right now.

Generally speaking, such a crazy market performance often creates a very serious bandwagon effect. Although hitting 4000 million copies in a year sounds like a wild and crazy idea, it is not impossible.

"Ah Yi, tell me the truth. You know I don't know much about music. What do you think of the quality of your album '25'? I don't trust the evaluations of the professionals in the company. I only trust you." Qian Jiang's expression was very serious.

Zhou Yi looked at him and grinned: "In terms of quality alone, it's slightly inferior to the pure rock album of the second album. But the richness and diversity of the songs in '25' surpasses that of the second album."

No song on the second rock album was just filler. However, "25" does have some songs that had to be lowered in quality to fit the theme, so it's fair to say that they are slightly inferior in quality.

However, in terms of musical diversity and richness, "25" is far ahead.

Qian Jiang slapped his thigh: "It's a sure thing! I'll take care of it!"

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

"Is it really going to be arranged?"

London, England.

Fifteen-year-old British boy Edward Christopher Sheeran's eyes lit up as he eagerly asked the lavish bar owner, "Can I really sing here?"

"No problem, I've listened to your singing, it's enough. But you need to learn Spike's songs first, his songs are the most popular, do you know them?"

“No problem, no problem, I can sing Spike’s songs too. He’s my idol, I grew up listening to his songs.” Although she didn’t have much of a feeling for Spike, Sheeran, who released an EP last year, still quickly recognized him as her idol in order to get a chance to perform in a resident venue.

It's just for food, not shabby.

He was too young and applied to many companies but was not accepted. Last year, he finally managed to release an EP, and the results were only so-so. At least he had no shortage of opportunities to perform and make money.

But what he most wants to attend are places like bars and small concerts where music producers from big companies often hang out.

“Okay, this is Spike’s new album, 25. You can learn from it first and come over next Wednesday night.”

"Thank you, boss. I'm very grateful."

The boss had seen many dreamers in the music industry, and he didn't care at all about the big-faced young man in front of him who didn't look like a star at all. He waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need to.

An excited Sheeran returned to his rented room with "25". He first made a series of phone calls to share the good news, and only after calming down did he look down at Spike's new album, "25", which he had thrown on the mattress.

Because it's so popular in the UK, he went to several of his usual record stores yesterday and today, but couldn't find a single copy.

One word to describe it: Fire, it's absolutely wildly popular.

Spike's "25" not only broke various records in the American music scene, but also shattered the first-day record in the British music scene, giving the British music scene a small but dominant shock.

Of course, this is probably related to Spike's performance at the World Cup closing ceremony, after all, the football atmosphere in the UK is arguably the most intense in the world.

However, Sheeran wasn't too impressed with the song Spike sang at the closing ceremony—not because he disliked it, but because "Believer" was too high for him.

Given Spike's past rock history, he instinctively assumed that "25" was another rock album, until he put the disc into the player and watched the complete set of music videos that came with the deluxe edition—

The first song: "Perfect".

Sheeran was looking at the lyric booklet that came with the album when the intro started and he froze on the spot.

This... is a folk song?!

Spike can sing this too?

In his memory, Spike had never demonstrated this ability before, and his curiosity was immediately piqued—

A love song in 3/4 time, a classic combination, with the arrangement highlighting the vocals to a great extent.

I found love for me.

"Darling, just dive right in and follow my lead."

Well, I found a girl who is beautiful and sweet.
I never knew you were the one waiting for me.
"Because we were just kids when we fell in love."

Spike's voice showed an unprecedented tenderness. In the music video, the female lead is the older of the Olsen twins, American child star sisters—the two met, got to know each other, and fell in love when they were young.

Everything seemed so beautiful and wonderful; just watching the plot unfold in the music video was enough to make one involuntarily smile with a happy, maternal smile.

If I had to use one word to describe Spike's voice right now, Sheeran would unhesitatingly vote for "romantic".

Yes, romantic.

The song's romance reminded Sheeran of Spike's song "Galway Girl".

This is his favorite Spike song.

After many years, Spike seems to have once again shown his extremely romantic side to the audience, depicting this love fairy tale in a warm, touching, and heartwarming way.

It lacked Spike's usual high notes, offering only a plain and straightforward melody, yet it made Sheeran lose track of time, sitting there in a daze, her entire being seemingly emptied by the song...

Sheeran was absolutely certain that this was a love story rooted in their youth. He even seriously suspected that Spike drew inspiration from his own real-life experiences, since only genuine emotions could be written so vividly.

He was even moved by the lyrics and music video as he listened, and the idea of ​​finding a girlfriend and living a happy life immediately came to mind.

Then, this romantic mood was interrupted by "Teeth" and "Attention"...

Spike, who initially thought he had found the love of his life, revealed his complete descent into darkness in the next two songs.

He seems to have been let down...

Hiran was completely dumbfounded.

This is absolutely genuine!

This is absolutely genuine!

Given the album title "25," it's highly likely that Spike is summarizing his life over the past 25 years. Looking at Spike's face in the music video, which has topped the list of the 100 most handsome men in the world for two consecutive years, Sheeran felt that his face was full of stories.

After pausing and turning on her computer, Shilan, preparing to jot down any thoughts that popped into her head, immediately saw the latest trending news on Google—

A self-deprecating revelation about life: Who was Spike's first love who betrayed young Spike?!

Yahoo! is another topic: "Spike's Untold Past, Heartbreaking Romantic Relationships"

Sun Yanzi, still playing on the field: ?
(End of this chapter)