New York 2006

Chapter 115 A trainee who has been singing and dancing for 20 years

The sound check was still going on, and after a while, Bruno Mars, recommended by Jeff Basker, appeared on the stage. He didn't hold any musical instruments. He was wearing a pink suit and a round hat on his head. Look. It looks very coquettish.

Mars said, "I'm going to perform 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson."

Luo Ji leaned forward slightly and said into the microphone, "Okay, then you can start performing."

Bruno Mars on the stage lowered his head and made Michael Jackson's iconic gesture of covering his crotch, then twisted his waist and started singing.

"They told him, if you dare to come again! If I don't want to see you again, you'd better get out..."

Luo Ji's eyes suddenly lit up. Although Bruno Mars was only 1 meters tall and looked rather short and looked strange, he could sing really well and dance really well. , the scene is very contagious.He is a very good singer and dancer.

Five minutes passed and a song ended. Bruno Mars said with great enthusiasm: "I'm done."

Luo Ji listened to the audience and felt that his overall level of singing and dancing has reached the top level of American singing and dancing singers. It is 01:30 points better than Britney.

Luo Ji smiled and asked, "How long have you been practicing singing and dancing? Your level seems to be very high. After performing a song, you don't even take a breath."

Bruno Mars smiles coyly: “I grew up performing in Hawaii with my uncle’s troupe, imitating artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, the Isley Brothers and The Temptations, almost 20 years ago."

No wonder he is so strong. He has started his acting career since he was a child. In terms of the length of time he has been a trainee, he is one of the best in the United States.

But Luo Ji was puzzled. He had moved to Los Angeles from Hawaii in 2003 and was so powerful, so why hadn't he been signed by a record company yet?

"You are very capable. Has no company signed you before?"

Bruno Mars answered truthfully: "I signed with Motown Records in 2004, but they didn't pay attention to me. Coupled with the decline of the record industry, they didn't make plans for me to release an album at all. I later terminated the contract."

"So what kind of songs are you good at?"

“I’m more into reggae, rock, hip-hop and R&B.”

Reggaeton is Latin music, rock and roll is white music, and hip-hop and R&B are black music.Although it is not clear-cut, in a sense it is the preference of each race.

A person's music listening also has an orientation. Just like Luo Ji himself, he prefers classical music with beautiful melodies, folk songs, electronic music and rock. This type of music also inspired him.He doesn't like hip-hop and rhythm and blues very much.

Bruno is an all-around musical talent, but it is not a good idea to have no characteristics. This may be related to his experience of performance imitation since childhood.This can be corrected slowly in the future.

"Then can you perform another song? Do you need to take a rest? Singing and dancing consume more energy. And your dance moves are quite intense."

Bruno Mars smiled and showed his big white teeth: "No problem at all, then I will perform a dance and song by Elvis Presley."

"it is good."

Without saying a word, Bruno Mars immediately performed Elvis Presley's classic song "Jailhouse Rock".

His waist was twisted very coquettishly, and his legs were shaking gracefully. He really felt like Elvis Presley was alive. The most important thing is that under such intense dancing, his breath was very stable, with only a little flaw. , ordinary people can't hear it at all if they don't pay attention.

Bang bang bang bang

After Bruno finished singing and dancing, Luo Ji applauded.When Jeff Busker saw Luo Ji's appearance, he also applauded.

Luo Ji said in a good manner: "Mars, okay, you go out and invite the next person in."

"Okay." Bruno said goodbye with a smile.

After Bruno's audition ended, Jeff Busker smiled and said, "How was it? Isn't his ability very good?"

"Really good."

Jeff Basker continued to talk in Luo Ji's ears about the merits of his good brother Bruno Mars: "Bruno's singing and dancing skills are particularly high. More importantly, he also has creative ability and is active in the music industry. Over the years, he has been able to easily handle his albums on his own. This saves us a lot of unnecessary trouble."

"I understand. Stop bragging. I didn't say I wouldn't sign him."

"So he passed?"

"Yes."

Bruno was probably the most satisfactory singer Luo Ji had met among the audition singers today. Luo Ji knew that singing and dancing singers have a place in the United States and even the world.

For example, global superstars such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Britney are all singing and dancing singers.Luo Ji didn't expect him to achieve such fame. As long as he could achieve the fame of Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé, Luo Ji would be very satisfied.By five o'clock in the afternoon, all the singers' auditions were over. Luo Ji and Jeff Busker held several resumes in their hands and had a heated discussion.

Jeff Basker pointed to a resume and said: "Although this man has the best singing skills and a recognizable voice, he is too old. He is already 40 years old. Our company is in the field of pop music, and one generation has The idol of a generation, this group of young people in the United States will not like him."

Luo Ji retorted: "Canadian singer Daniel Parde, isn't he almost 40 years old? His "Bad Day" even topped the 2006 Billboard Singles Chart."

Jeff Busker argued: "How many Daniel Pads are there in the music industry?"

What Jeff said did make sense, and his probability of success was indeed relatively low, but Luo Ji was still impressed by his singing skills, so he compromised.

"I know the risk is high, so let's sign him first and let him try out an EP. Think of it as supporting a dream."

"Okay, then I have no objection."

After more than half an hour of discussion, the two finally reached an agreement, so they crossed their legs and chatted easily while drinking coffee brought by the staff.

Jeff Busker said: "That's Bruno Mars, Tracy McConnell, and the three of them?"

"Ah."

After Luo Ji finished speaking, he handed several resumes to Braun who was sitting in the back: "It's up to you, go sign their agency contract."

Braun smiled and took it: "Leave it to me, I promise to get it done today, no one will refuse."

After Braun finished speaking, he took his resume and left. Luo Ji continued to drink coffee leisurely, but Jeff Busker was a little sad and he spoke.

"So there are five people signed today, plus Janelle Monáe. In addition to you, our company will also launch six singers this year. Isn't that too much? According to the previous decision, wouldn't it be better to launch three singers? No? Other record companies won’t do this. Publishing records is still very risky, and your money doesn’t come from strong winds.”

Luo Ji looked at Jeff Busker. It seemed that at this time of major changes in the recording industry, he had not realized that the industry was quietly changing.

Luo Ji said: "Big Machine Records has launched seven or eight singers in the past two years, but only one singer, Taylor Swift, has succeeded. I thought they suffered serious losses before, but I heard from Taylor that they are still signing new singers. Singer. Do you know why?”

Jeff Busker was full of doubts: "Do they have sufficient funds?"

Luo Ji took a sip of coffee and began to explain unhurriedly: "After going on several tours recently and getting to know people at Live Nation in depth, I realized that although Big Machine Records has released many failed singers in recent years, The records didn't make any money either, but they're probably still profitable, and you know why?"

Jeff Busker was very smart: "You discovered it because of the concert tour, does it have to do with the live performance?"

"Yes, although record sales have declined in recent years, the total global market for concerts, music festivals, and live performances on various occasions is increasing rapidly. Industry giants such as Live Nation and Anschutz Entertainment are all expanding globally. I want a piece of the cake too.”

Jeff Basker thought for a while and said: "What you mean is that in the past, only the concerts of big singers were bought, but as the market share of live performances increases, small singers also have room to survive."

"You are very smart and you can understand everything."

Luo Ji smiled proudly and said unhurriedly: "Many people in the recording industry now focus on the big singers, completely unaware that even if the singer's album is not very successful, as long as the singer If they have experience in publishing, they can buy a few announcements and promote them a little bit. Someone will invite them to perform live.”

Jeff said: "You plan to earn a certain commission from the singer through live performances, right?"

"Yes, but it's all hard-earned money, not big money."

Luo Ji stretched out his hand and raised his index finger, and said to Jeff seriously: "Our ultimate goal is to cultivate popular singers. So your task is very important, and you must take it seriously. Don't think that even if a singer cannot become famous, he can still be a famous singer." You can earn back your money through live performances without any pressure. If there are so many singers and none of you can become popular, then you should seriously consider your future employment."

Jeff smiled bitterly: "I know."

At night, as soon as Luo Ji got home, Braun called: "Logic, things are going very well."

"Have all the management contracts of these singers been signed?"

Braun said: "Of course, they knew that I was your agent. After I took out the contract, they realized that they had passed the audition. So they agreed without any hesitation. Even if two people have Singers with managers also dumped their original managers without hesitation.”

"I know that many young singers don't have managers, but two of them have managers. Are we going too far? Their original managers won't make a fuss, right?"

Braun said nonchalantly: "Let's make a fuss, what are we afraid of? And these two agents are independent agents, not from those big agencies. What's more, the singer himself terminated the contract on his own initiative, what does it have to do with us?" relation."

Luo Ji still felt that it was not safe, so he thought for a while and said, "Now the SB agency has more business, not to mention some electronic musicians in Europe. Can you bring their previous managers into the company?" , so that it won’t be so ugly?”

Braun paused: "Well, you should think more comprehensively."

(End of this chapter)