America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 108. I'll handle him.

On the surface, "Rolling in the Deep" is about romantic relationships, but that's because the singer is Adele, so people automatically project that emotion onto the song.

If the singer were replaced with Michael Jackson, and considering his current situation, the meaning of the song would become struggling upwards from the abyss, thus taking on an inspirational flavor.

That's why Eric specifically chose this song for Michael.

This situation is similar to Tengger's "Heaven," which many people say is about his deceased daughter, while others say it's about his hometown.

Although Eric doesn't know many English songs, he does know some that are popular all over the world, such as "Let It Go," "See You Again," and "Despacito," but these are obviously not suitable for the current MJ.

You can't expect Mike to suddenly release a lewd song, can you? He's crazy! That would be tantamount to confirming the child molestation rumors.

After accepting the gift, Mike couldn't sleep. The fatigue from playing all day disappeared, and he pulled Eric straight into the workshop.

Eric hummed the tune over and over again, while Michael worked backward from the melody he sang to deduce the song.

Actually, the process wasn't long. With Mike's skills, it only took a little over an hour to complete. All that was left was to refine the details.

The real challenge lies in the arrangement. For a song to truly take shape, it mainly consists of three parts: lyrics, composition, and arrangement.

Lyric writing is writing lyrics and filling in the blanks; composing music is simply writing out the musical notation from the music textbook; and arranging music is adding accompaniment to the song, including the combination of various instruments and human harmonies that the audience hears.

All three are indispensable; a song is incomplete without any one of them.

So for every line Eric sang, Michael would try out different instruments like the piano, guitar, drum kit, and bass until he found the most suitable combination.

Gal Gadot and Elizabeth initially watched the two try it with great interest, but the process was quite tedious for laymen, and they left feeling bored after watching for a while.

And it seems that they deliberately don't want time to bother them, so there isn't a single clock here.

The lights in the workspace remained on, and I don't know how much time passed.

"ah"

As MJ finished the last part, the two of them roared and collapsed to the ground, as if they had completed a difficult yet fulfilling task.

Through the gap in the curtains, it seemed as if the sunlight could already be seen.

Michael squinted: "Is it dawn yet? I haven't worked this excitedly in a long time, finishing a song in one night."

"Eric, if this gets out, my friends won't believe it. They know I'm a very slow person."

"So, is that all?" Eric asked.

"The vast majority, the rest I need to work with the team to refine, but it won't be long. I'm still amazed that you hummed this; it's already very well done. It's incredible, truly incredible."

Eric, feeling embarrassed to boast too shamelessly, said instead, "That's great! Release the song; I can't wait to hear it."

Michael smiled with some satisfaction: "Yes, and I'll put your name in the lyrics, composition, and arrangement credits. It's all thanks to you."

"Once the song is fully completed and the music video is filmed, it can be released as a single."

We are not in the streaming era yet. Songs cannot simply be uploaded to the Internet for people to download. Currently, CDs are still the primary medium.

Releasing a single is different from releasing an album. An album usually contains at least ten songs, but only one of them may have a music video.

Therefore, releasing a single can be understood as releasing a title track, and a good music video is a must.

Otherwise, if you only have one song on a CD, even the most naive listeners won't buy it.

Eric said, "Shooting a music video isn't actually that difficult. You can just use your current situation as the background. If you need it, MGM can find plenty of directors and screenwriters."

"Moreover, I'm a quick shooter. I finished a big project like Transformers in two months, breaking the industry record."

MJ grinned: "Thanks, that's good news for me. But I just realized there's a crucial problem, and if that's the case, I'm afraid we won't be able to release this song anytime soon."

"What's the problem?"

"Eric, do you know which record label releases my songs?"

"I think it's Sony. I don't know much about the music market."

"That's right, it's Sony Music, but my relationship with Sony is currently very bad, to be precise, it has been bad for several years now."

Eric didn't speak, but listened quietly.

"This is a long story, it probably started in 1986, when I spent a sum of money to buy ATV, a music company that owned the song copyrights of many artists, including The Beatles and Elvis Presley."

"Later in 1991, Sony Music approached me. They wanted me to join Sony Music with these copyrights, on the condition that I would receive half of Sony Music's shares."

"That means from that time on, I not only had to work for Sony, but I was also Sony's boss, although I didn't understand or participate in management."

"As Sony Music grew larger, countless artists began to sign with them, including Madonna, Oasis, Bob Dylan, Celine Dion, Norah Jones, and others."

"This means that Sony will eventually give me half of all the money that everyone earns, but the copyright to my own songs doesn't actually belong to Sony. They only have the recording rights, and those rights are about to expire."

"At first, my relationship with Sony Music was quite pleasant, but things changed later."

"Sony can give me a year's share of the profits, but it can't stand sharing with me forever, especially as the company grows bigger and makes more and more money."

"I remember starting around 1993, Sony began trying to acquire my half of the copyrights and wanted me to hand over the full copyrights of my songs to them, but I refused."

"From that time on, my relationship with Sony began to become less harmonious."

"As you know, my last album was released in 2001. It took five years to produce. It could have been done much faster, but Sony was unwilling to cooperate during the production process and kept making excuses to delay it."

"After the album was finally released, Sony invested very little in promotion. Generally speaking, the company would organize various promotional activities for the new song, as well as the recording of the music video, but they treated me very poorly, as if I were just a newly debuted singer."

"Eric, if you've been following the news from last year, you'll know that Sony and I had a huge public argument about this in the newspapers, and the album 'Invincible' didn't even sell 1000 million copies."

"Maybe it has, but at least it doesn't show up on paper. My album sales have been stagnant for about three years now."

"I suspect that Sony froze it, so I wanted to audit the accounts. Although I own half of the company's shares, I am not involved in management. Even though they finally allowed me to send an accountant to investigate, they ultimately found no problems. I think you understand what I mean."

Eric nodded: "When it comes to accounting, Hollywood is always the most professional. They can turn a billion-dollar box office into a loss. It's an essential skill for every company."

"I can tell you that it's almost impossible for an individual to find out the problem. Michael, don't even mention you, even if you brought in all the elites on Wall Street, they wouldn't be able to analyze the problem."

"Unless the tax authorities are involved and an investigation lasts at least a few years, it might be possible to uncover the hidden irregularities."

Michael gave a wry smile: "Yes, that's why I can't do anything about Sony, and I'm also burdened with debt."

"You refused to sell the copyrights, so Sony planned to financially cripple you and force you to sell the copyrights to pay off your debts, is that right?"

"Yes, I think that's what those people are thinking."

Eric sighed. If it was true, then Sony's actions were indeed extremely despicable.

To put it bluntly, the root cause is still profit. Sony Music in 1991 and Sony Music in 2003 are no longer on the same level. The pie has been made much bigger.

Previously, it might have only cost Jackson a few million or tens of millions of dollars a year, but now that number is likely to be hundreds of millions, so Sony is naturally unwilling to accept it.

Let alone Sony, anyone in this position would probably be unwilling to accept it; the only difference is whether the methods used are honorable.

This is because MJ's status was too high and his influence too great, so Sony was hesitant to deal with him and only dared to do it covertly.

If it were an ordinary singer, they would have been devoured to the bone.

"Michael, what about the case from 1993 and this one?"

Michael nodded: "I suspect it's also related to Sony; they might be the ones instigating things behind the scenes."

"Especially in 1993, I was determined to pursue the case to the end. Evan Chandler simply couldn't produce any valid evidence. As long as we went through the legal process, I was sure I would win."

"But at that time I was on the Dangerous Tour world tour, and Sony kept advising me to prioritize my career. Of course, many people on my team also advised me to do the same."

"But even after I accepted the offer of an out-of-court settlement, the concert still couldn't go on and was forced to end in less than three months."

"I don't know if Sony was involved in this, but our relationship had definitely started to crack at that time."

"This is even more true now. Sony will absolutely not produce any new songs for me anymore, and I will absolutely not hire them to produce songs!"

"If Sony doesn't work, what about other record companies? Like EMI or Universal, why not partner with them?" Eric asked.

Mike sighed: "It's an option, and since I completely fell out with Sony last year, Universal and EMI have been contacting me, hoping that I can cooperate with them with 50% of the copyright. However, we haven't reached an agreement on the specific contract yet, and then things broke out again in February this year."

"Public opinion is not favorable towards me right now, so negotiations have stalled. I don't think any record company would risk releasing an album for me at this time."

"Sorry Eric, you probably won't be able to hear this song for a while."

Seeing the dejected MJ, Eric had no idea that the events behind it were so complicated, involving so much maneuvering.

Sony may be the mastermind, or there may be other organizations or individuals involved besides Sony.

After all, MJ is a very valuable asset, and he was also a black man. Even though he had done a lot of good deeds, some things are inherently sinful from the moment they are created.

Eric tapped his fingers slowly on the floor as he pondered a solution.

MJ was not only his idol and a person he respected, but also an important part of Eric's career plan.

However, discussing business on the first meeting might seem a bit like having impure motives; let's wait for a more appropriate time.

In short, from any perspective, he did not want a superstar to fall into the abyss.

dong dong dong.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Gadot walked in, looking in surprise at the two people lying on the floor.

"OMG! You guys didn't sleep all night, did you?"

Seeing Eric nod, she immediately became angry: "This is not the attitude you should have at work. You're all heading towards sudden death."

"I'm going to get some food. After you finish eating, you all get back to bed and go to sleep right away."

After saying that, Gadot slammed the door and left.

"Eric, you've found a great girlfriend."

Mike said with some envy that his messy marriage with Catwoman was a sad story.

"Yes, I think so too."

A moment later, Gadot returned with milk and food, and shoved the phone into Eric's hand: "Your phone number belongs to Spielberg. I wouldn't have given it to you if it weren't for him!"

Eric smiled and kissed Gadot before answering the phone.

"Okay, Steven, I'll call my people down there. You can have the DreamWorks people come over on Monday."

"Haha, we're partners now, it's nothing."

"If we have time, how about we invite Jeffrey and David, and I'll call my dad, and we all go play a round of golf?"

"Hahaha. It's settled then, see you then."

After hanging up the phone, Michael asked curiously, "Spikel? You have a business relationship with him?"

Eric nodded: "Yes, MGM and DreamWorks are strategic partners. I know Steven, and you're a fan of his too?"

Michael smiled and said, "I've probably known Steven longer than you have. We were good friends when he was filming 'Indiana Jones' and 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'."

"Really? Then we can play a round of golf together. Wait, I suddenly remembered that DreamWorks also has a music department. Maybe we can ask David Geffen for help. He's a big shot in the American music industry."

"If he helps, releasing an album wouldn't be difficult. It might be challenging worldwide, but within North America, he still has the power to make things happen."

Unexpectedly, when David Geffen was mentioned, Michael quickly waved his hand: "No, it's best if David Geffen and I don't meet."

"Why? Do you two have a grudge?"

MJ looked troubled: "Actually, our relationship was originally very good. I mean, in the early 90s, Madonna and I even went to celebrate his birthday. But then something unpleasant happened between us, and we drifted apart."

"What's wrong? Is it serious?"

Michael shook his head and remained silent.

"How about this, I can talk to David first. If he's willing to give me face, I'll get Steven to mediate between you two. You don't need to get involved yet."

"Never mind, this would be a bit awkward."

"Michael, that's how things are in the world. You need help now, so just leave it to me. You can't go wrong with giving it a try."

(End of this chapter)