New York 2006

Chapter 90 The Savior of the Recording Industry
On the morning of March 2007, 3, two weeks had passed since the last Panda Express commercial shooting.Four RVs, two cars and two large trucks were on their way to California to continue Luo Ji's album promotion tour.

The reason there are so many cars is because the current publicity team and venue team are very large.

The two large trucks mainly contain lighting equipment, performance instruments, electronic equipment, venue props, and performance costumes.

Among the four RVs, one RV houses the female members of the team, and the remaining three RVs house the male members of the team.

Members include accompaniment team, drivers and bodyguards, venue scenery, and lighting equipment personnel.There are also other miscellaneous small positions, such as makeup artists, assistants, managers, publicity managers and docking staff sent by Universal Music.

Luo Ji was sitting in the small living room of the RV, holding the Wall Street Journal in his hand and reading it carefully.Sitting around were the company's publicity chiefs, managers Braun, Black, and Universal Music's docking staff.

The person in charge of publicity walked up to Luo Ji and said, "Logic, this week your single "Viva La Vida" lost the No. [-] spot on the Billboard singles list, falling to No. [-], and Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" dropped to the No. [-] spot. [-]. The number one single was won by Nelly Furtado’s song “Say It Right.”

"'Say It Right', it seems that the fresh sound of electronic music is very popular with everyone!" Luo Ji said casually while looking at the newspaper in his hand.

"Aren't you anxious? It will be difficult to climb up the singles chart once it's down." The person in charge of publicity said anxiously.

Luo Ji said casually without even raising his head: "I've been at the top of the Billboard singles chart for seven weeks, and I'm very satisfied. That's it. For now, I'm still focusing on album sales."

The person in charge of publicity suggested: "Your single has been released for three months and has almost sold out. Why don't you release "Marvin Gaye", a collaboration between you and Britney? She is very popular now and has a good media image. Very bad, I urgently need to achieve something in my career to cover up these negative news."

Speaking of Britney, her popularity in the world is simply sky-high.During this time, her fame around the world has increased dramatically. According to Yao Ming, even China is talking about her hotly.

But to talk about her, we must first talk about her. Before the 16th of last month, the death of Anna Nicole Smith, a popular figure in the United States, was very controversial. The United States entered the national melon-eating mode, and the media became agitated.

After Anna's death, people initially suspected members of the wealthy Marshall family.Because the Supreme Court is about to pronounce a decision on who will own the inheritance of more than one billion dollars.Members of the Marshall family had strong incentives to do this.

But as the case progressed, Anna's Jewish lawyer and boyfriend Howard Stern surfaced.

Because two months before Anna died, her son also died.

Anna and his son both died of drug overdose.These drugs were bought by Howard Stern, the lawyer and boyfriend who was fighting for her inheritance.

Anna's previous will was left to her son, and now both are dead, leaving only a five-month-old daughter.

This daughter has become the sweet potato, and his father must be the biggest beneficiary.The father of this five-month-old girl on her birth certificate is Anna’s Jewish lawyer and boyfriend.

Whoever benefits the most will be the most suspect.Therefore, Anna's Jewish lawyer became the biggest suspect, but without direct evidence, it was impossible to convict him. This Jewish lawyer had a perfect alibi.

But the drama is that during this time in the media, Anna's ex-boyfriend, a bodyguard, and even a prince who claimed to have a royal family.It was said that they had an affair with Anna Nicole Smith, and that the time of the child's birth coincided very well with the time of their relationship, and they were all vying to be the father of the child.

The whole country is immersed in this melon-eating craze, and the reality is more absurd than the movie.

Until Britney's appearance, the most bloody event of the year was scheduled in one fell swoop.The whole people continues to eat melon seamlessly, and the popularity is even higher.

"What did Britney say?" Luo Ji looked at the person in charge of publicity.

"She said she would think about it again."

"Then why bother asking me?" Luo Ji said unhappily.

On February 2007, 2, Britney put on a hooded sweatshirt and drove to a barber shop. She cried wildly in the car for 17 minutes before entering.

Britney proposed to shave her head, but the barber shop employees naturally refused and persuaded Britney not to do that. After all, she was the white moonlight of the past.

But Britney then picked up a shaver and shaved her head with her own hands.

The American media immediately went into a carnival. Luo Ji learned from the media revelations that Britney had been drinking and abusing drugs since she filed for divorce.A week before shaving my head, I entered a rehabilitation center on the Caribbean island of Antigua, but within less than 24 hours, I returned to the United States.

The media was attacking her, she didn't have a mother's role model, her new image was ugly, she was mentally disturbed, she was abusing drugs...

On February 2, when Britney went to visit her children again, she was still rejected by her ex-husband.In anger, she picked up an umbrella and directly attacked the car of the paparazzi who was following her, despite her bald head.

It once again made headlines across the country, and with the government adding fuel to the flames and covering up the ongoing war, it completely detonated public opinion.Let the whole people immerse themselves in the joy of feeding bottles.

The photo taken at that time was sold for 100 million dollars, which further stimulated the paparazzi to attack Britney.She was crumbling under the media storm, and her whole body collapsed. Many black photos of her appeared in the media, and people from all walks of life began to consume her, which was at least ten times worse than before.In an instant, her life reached its darkest moment.

"This is good for you, Logic. Britney's popularity is so high now, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it." Universal Music's contact person said.

Luo Ji pointed at the person in charge of Universal Music and said rudely: "I have said many times that it is up to Britney to decide when to release this single. How many times do I have to say this, you'd better not. Let me find out that you are secretly putting pressure on Britney. Otherwise, don’t expect me to cooperate with your promotions in the future.”

The people from Universal Music were stunned and quickly replied: "Absolutely not! Don't worry."

You can't give them a good look and slap your face on them.

The people from Universal Music didn't take it to heart. Instead, they playfully took out a document and handed it to Luo Ji: "Logic, this is February, the physical sales of your albums and singles. The sales are very good."

Luo Ji took the file and looked at it. The physical album had only been sold for three weeks.Sales volume of physical albums, premium CDs, vinyl records plus CDs.There are only 80 copies.

Manager Braun said: "If you hadn't encountered Norah Jones's album release, maybe your album sales would have been higher."

Norah Jones sings jazz and folk songs. She is very famous in the United States. In 2002, her first album sold more than 1800 million copies that year, making her famous in one fell swoop. The album released in 2004 sold more than 100 million copies in the first week.This year, her album "Not Too Late" sold more than 50 copies in its first week.

"I heard that many singers have moved their albums and are planning to re-select a release date?" Luo Ji asked.

The people from Universal Music flattered them: "Yes, your and Norah Jones' albums now account for more than 50.00% of sales in the market, and many singers have moved their schedules. But Norah Jones's albums are not yours either. It sold well, but her new album wasn't well received, and people were tired of her jazz-folk-style songs."

"Haha."

Luo Ji smiled happily, and everyone laughed too.

Someone from Universal Music said, "Your album "16" is invincible. What are the online sales figures?"

"163 million." Luo Ji handed over the online sales data to the people at Universal Music.

The people at Universal Music opened their eyes wide: "Isn't that your debut album, which sold 243 million copies in one month?"

Luo Ji waved his hand and said calmly: "It's not as good as before. In the past, others sold more than 100 million copies in a week and 500 to [-] million copies in a month."

Someone from Universal Music said, "Oh, those are the golden years that we can't go back to. Your album has already achieved the best results among all the albums in the past three years."

Manager Braun said: "Haven't you noticed? In the record industry now, everyone is saying good things about you. Even Norah Jones's Sony BMG and other record companies that are hostile to Universal. Everyone is also praising you. The album hopes to bring the lost people back into the record store."

Luo Ji said, "So, everyone wants to see my album succeed?"

Someone from Universal Music said: "Yes, the record industry has declined too much. Three years ago, the best album sold tens of millions of copies a year, but in the past two years, the best album in 2005 sold 830 million copies, the best in 2006 only sold 700 million copies, a drop of nearly 40%. Everyone wants to use your album to increase customers' desire to enter the record store, which can also drive the consumption of other records."

Luo Ji said proudly: "Haha, then I play the role of the savior of the recording industry to a certain extent?"

Someone from Universal Music licked: "In a way, you are the savior of the record industry."

The agent, the head of publicity, Blake agreed with a smile and complimented him.

Luo Ji looked at the sales data again, and after a little conversion, he discovered something was wrong: "Are there more people buying physical albums than buying physical singles?"

"Yes, more people buy digital singles than singles, but albums are slightly better."

"No wonder." Luo Ji said.

单曲这个月，网络销售：实体专辑是1：2.35，上个月这个比例还是1：2.2。专辑网络销售：实体是1:1.54。

Physical albums can still sell, but physical sales of singles are declining too fast.No wonder after the reconciliation, Universal Music began to accommodate him infinitely and treated him so well.

It seems that online distribution is in the hands of its own record company. This is a great move. Universal Music is now scared to death of Luo Ji.

(End of this chapter)