America: Child stars start with The Shining

Chapter 112 Chaos! Warner Universal's Reaction!

"Fuck, what's going on here! What's with those rock radio stations?"

In the Warner Music conference room, Duncan, sitting in the head seat, had a large stack of documents on the table and looked very angry.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the entire conference room seemed somewhat eerie.

Several managers in charge of radio station promotion looked extremely grim as they held several newly compiled feedback reports.

Duncan stared at the manager in front of him, gritting his teeth as he said, "Say it again, what exactly is going on?"

The marketing manager took a deep breath and said with a forced smile, "Several rock radio stations have replied that they are temporarily unable to increase the number of plays for 'The Game' as originally planned."

Their reason is... there aren't enough suitable broadcast times.

The conference room fell silent immediately.

This statement is so absurd it's almost laughable!

There aren't enough suitable time slots?

If these words came from a small radio station, it wouldn't be so bad, but the feedback included several mainstream rock radio stations that they had long-term partnerships with.

How do these radio stations maintain their listenership?

It relies on these established bands' new songs, new albums, and exclusive interviews.

Now that Queen's new album is in front of them, they're saying there's no suitable time slot?

A senior executive sneered and asked, "Where did all their time slots go? Don't tell me they used them to feed the dogs."

The marketing manager paused for two seconds before saying, "They said it was completely filled up by listeners who requested the videos."

"On-demand?"

"Yes, it's AC/DC's new album."

After the name was mentioned, the expressions of the people in the conference room changed slightly.

If this name had been mentioned at a Warner Music executive meeting a week ago, probably few people would have taken it seriously.

They're just a small band from Australia, practically unknown in the American record market. What kind of waves could they possibly make?

This kind of band might be a competitor to some smaller record labels, but it's definitely not something a big record label like Warner should consider.

It shouldn't affect Queen's new album, nor should it disrupt Warner Music's planned promotional schedule.

But now, AC/DC's new album has become Queen's biggest rival during this period!

Even though the Rolling Stones' new album release coincided with theirs, it didn't put them under this much pressure!

Duncan's face darkened as he asked, "You mean, several mainstream rock radio stations reduced their airplay of Queen's new album in order to air AC/DC's album?"

"To be precise, they didn't reduce the number of plays that were already scheduled; they just refused to give us any more time slots."

The marketing manager paused, then added, "And, uh, two radio stations had promised to feature our new song prominently on their evening rock shows."

"But now they say that there are too many listeners on the hotline requesting to play 'Hells Bells,' and the hosts are under a lot of pressure, so they have to postpone the featured episodes..."

Duncan's face grew increasingly grim. He stared at the manager with eyes that seemed to want to kill, and said, "Move back? WTF, who do they think they're talking to? Aren't they afraid Warner Bros. will never work with them again?!"

The moment those words were spoken, the air in the conference room became tense.

Warner Music is not a small, newly established company like Wah Mei Records; they have a wealth of artist resources, promotional budgets, and media partnerships.

Radio stations may disregard new bands, but they can't disregard Warner Music!

But that's precisely where the problem lies.

Of course, those radio stations didn't directly reject Warner's request; instead, they gave them a uniform, perfunctory response!

This reason is infuriating, yet it makes it difficult for them to retaliate!

After all, what radio stations care about most is listener feedback. If the hotline is really overwhelmed with calls for a particular song, the radio host can't just pretend not to hear it.

Finally, someone couldn't help but ask, "What's going on? AC/DC's new album was only officially released today, so why are their streaming numbers suddenly skyrocketing like this?"

Upon hearing this, the marketing manager flipped through the documents, his expression growing increasingly complicated. He said, "Judging from the feedback we've received so far, Huamei Records' promotional strategy this time is quite different."

"They started with some Black radio stations and independent radio stations, and then combined that mysterious black bell poster with the promotion from bar DJs to let the first wave of word-of-mouth spread."

"After the album was officially released today, the first batch of stock in many record stores sold out quickly. Now, many listeners can't buy the album and can only continue to call the radio station to request songs."

"So... cough cough, that's how it turned out."

At this point, even the marketing director himself felt it was a bit absurd; it was hardly the kind of promotional strategy a new record company could come up with.

That's incredibly bold.

But the problem is, they actually succeeded!

By the time Warner Music noticed this phenomenon, it was too late to take any countermeasures!

After listening, Duncan remained silent for a moment before saying coldly, "So, we have no way to deal with them now, is that right?"

"What have you PR people been doing all this time?! How come you can't even notice a band like this?!"

No one dared to answer the question; they sat in their seats, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, in the offices of Universal Music, the situation was equally unfavorable.

Compared to Warner's anger, Universal Music's reaction was much more irritable.

The Rolling Stones' new album, "Emotional Rescue," was one of their most important projects this summer.

Normally, as long as Rolling Stones' new songs are sent to radio stations, they don't need to say much; the stations will naturally make a respectable arrangement.

But now, the feedback from several radio stations has made them almost doubt that they heard correctly.

The problems they encountered were almost identical to those at Warner Music, and perhaps even more severe.

Because... Universal Music didn't gain any advantage in its previous competition with Warner Music.

In other words, the Rolling Stones had far fewer promotional resources than Queen.

A senior executive at Global Pharma slammed the documents on the table, his face grim.

He burst out angrily, "Fuck, what are they saying? What do you mean the schedule is already full?"

The marketing manager stood at the table, a few beads of sweat on his forehead. He said, "The radio station says they can't keep up with Queen's new album, and, uh, AC/DC's new album, so... the Rolling Stones can't really get in line."

Upon hearing this, the executive laughed in exasperation: "I can understand Queen, but what the hell is AC/DC?!"

"Huh? Can someone tell me what's going on here!"