Chapter 110 108 I'll Take Care of Him
Chapter 110 I'll deal with him
On the surface, the song "Rolling in the deep" is about the relationship between men and women, but that's because the singer is Adele, so everyone automatically brings in this emotion.
If the singer is replaced by MJ, combined with his current situation, the meaning of this song becomes struggling to move forward in the abyss, which has an inspirational flavor.
That's why Eric chose this song specifically for Michael.
This situation is similar to Tengger's "Heaven", many people say it is a song about his dead daughter, and some people say it is a song about his hometown.
Although Eric doesn't know many English songs, he can still sing songs 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 let Michael suddenly release a pornographic song, are you crazy? That would be equivalent to confirming the rumors of pedophilia.
After accepting this gift, Michael couldn't sleep, and the fatigue of playing all day disappeared, and he directly pulled Eric into the workshop.
Eric hummed again and again, and Michael reversed the song based on the melody he sang.
In fact, this process is not long. With Michael's strength, it took more than an hour to complete it. The rest is just to consider the tune of the details.
The real difficulty lies in the arrangement. If a song wants to take shape, it mainly consists of three parts: lyrics, composition and arrangement.
Lyrics are to write lyrics and fill in lyrics. Composition is simply to write the five-line score in the music textbook. Arrangement is to match the song with accompaniment, the coordination of various instruments heard by the audience, human harmony and other parts.
All three are indispensable, and the song is incomplete without any part.
So every time Eric sings a sentence, Michael will keep trying back and forth among instruments such as piano, guitar, drums, bass, etc. until he finds the most suitable arrangement and combination.
Gadot and Elizabeth were watching the two people trying with interest, but this process is very boring for outsiders. After watching for a while, they felt bored and left.
And it seems that they deliberately don't want time to disturb themselves, so there is not a clock here.
The lights in the workshop were on all the time, and no one knew how long it had been.
"Ah"
As MJ finished the last part, the two of them collapsed to the ground with a roar, as if they had completed a difficult and rewarding job.
Through the gap in the curtains, it seemed that the sun could already be seen.
Michael squinted his eyes: "Is it dawn? I haven't worked so excitedly for a long time, finishing a song in one night."
"Eric, if I tell this to others, my friends will definitely not believe it. They know that I am a very slow person."
"So, is it done like this?" Eric asked.
"Most of it, I need to continue to improve the rest with the team, but it won't take long. I am still surprised that you hummed it. It is already very complete. It is incredible, it is incredible."
Eric was embarrassed to brag too shamelessly, and said: "That's great, send this song out, I can't wait to listen to it."
Michael smiled with some satisfaction: "Yes, and I will put your name in the lyrics, composition and arrangement, this is all your credit."
"Wait until this song is completely perfected and the MV is shot, then it can be released as a single."
It is not the era of streaming media yet. Songs cannot be uploaded to the Internet for people to download. CDs are still the main carrier.
Release of singles is different from that of albums. An album generally contains at least ten songs, but only one of the main songs may be accompanied by an MV.
So the release of a single can be understood as the release of a main song, and a good MV must be shot.
Otherwise, if you only have one song on a CD, few listeners will buy it, no matter how stupid they are.
Eric said: "It's not difficult to shoot a music video. You can use your current situation as the background. If you need it, MGM can find a lot of directors and screenwriters."
"And I'm a quick shooter. I finished a big project like Transformers in two months, breaking the industry record."
MJ grinned: "Thank you, this is good news for me, but I just realized that there is still a key problem. With this problem, I'm afraid I can't sell this song soon."
"What's the problem?"
"Eric, do you know which company is releasing my songs?"
"It seems to be Sony. I don't know much about the music market."
"Yes, it's Sony Music, but my relationship with Sony is very bad now. To be precise, it should have been bad since several years ago."
Eric didn't say anything and listened quietly.
"This is a long story, probably starting from 1986, when I spent a lot of money to buy ATV, a music company that owned the copyrights of songs by many singers including the Beatles and Elvis."
"Then in 1991, Sony Music found me and they wanted me to join Sony Music with these copyrights, and the condition was that I got half of Sony Music's shares."
"That is to say, from that time on, I not only worked for Sony, but was also the boss of Sony, but I didn't understand it and didn't participate in management."
"Later on, Sony Music became bigger and bigger, and countless singers began to sign, including Madonna, Oasis, Bob Dylan, Celine Dion, Norah Jones, etc."
"This means that Sony will eventually give half of the money everyone earns to me, but the copyright of my own songs does not actually belong to Sony. It only has the recording copyright, and the copyright is about to expire.
"In the beginning, I was very happy with Sony Music, but things changed."
"Sony was able to give me a year's worth of dividends, but it couldn't bear to share it with me forever, especially as the company got bigger and made more money."
"I remember that around 1993, Sony began to want to acquire half of the copyrights in my hands, and wanted me to hand over all the copyrights of my songs to them, but I refused."
"From that point on, my relationship with Sony started to become less harmonious."
"As you know, my last album was released in 2001. Its production cycle was as long as five years. In fact, it could have been completed faster, but during the production process, Sony was unwilling to cooperate and always found various parties. Reasons to put it off again and again.”
"After the album was finally released, Sony invested very little in publicity and distribution. Generally speaking, the company would organize various promotion activities for the new songs, as well as subsequent MV recordings, etc. But the treatment they gave me was very poor. , as if I was just a newly minted singer.”
"Eric, if you paid attention to the news last year, you would know that Sony and I had a public fight in the newspapers over this matter, and the album "Invincible" didn't even sell 10 million copies. "
"Perhaps, but at least it doesn't show up on the books. Since about three years ago, all my album sales have stagnated."
"I suspect that Sony froze it, so I hope to audit the accounts, but although I own half of the company's equity, I am not involved in the management. Even if they finally allowed me to send an accountant to investigate, no problem was found in the end. I think you can Understand this."
Eric nodded: "When it comes to accounting, Hollywood has always been the most professional. It can make a loss on a box office of 1 billion US dollars. This is an essential skill for every company."
"If you want to find the problem on your own, I can tell you that it is almost impossible. Mykko, let alone you, even if you call in the elites on Wall Street, they will not be able to analyze the problem."
"Unless the tax bureau is involved and spends at least a few years investigating, it may be possible to discover the hidden tricks."
Maikou smiled bitterly: "Yes, so I can't do anything with Sony, and I'm still carrying debt."
"You refused to sell the copyright, so Sony intends to drag you down financially and force you to sell the copyright to pay off the debt, is that right?"
"Yeah, I guess that's what those people think."
Eric sighed. If it was true, then what Sony did was indeed very despicable.
To put it bluntly, the root cause is profit. Sony Music in 1991 and Sony Music in 2003 are no longer on the same level. The cake has been made bigger.
In the past, Jackson might only need to be given millions or tens of millions of dollars every year, but now this number is probably in the hundreds of millions, and Sony will certainly not be reconciled.
Let alone Sony, if anyone is put in this position, they will probably not be willing to do so. The only difference lies in whether the means are glorious.
This is because MJ's status is too high and his influence is too great. Sony also has concerns about dealing with him and only dares to do it secretly.
If it were an ordinary singer, all the bones and dregs would have been swallowed long ago.
"Mykko, what about the 1993 case and this time?"
Maikou nodded: "I suspect it has something to do with Sony, maybe they are instigating it behind the scenes."
"Especially in 1993, I originally planned to pursue the lawsuit to the end. Evan Chandler couldn't produce any valid evidence at all. As long as I followed the legal process, I would definitely win."
"But at that time, I was on the Dangerous World Tour, and Sony kept urging me to put my career first. Of course, many people in my team also advised me."
"But after I accepted the proposal to settle out of court, the concert still could not be held. It only lasted less than three months before it was forced to be terminated."
"I don't know if Sony was involved in this, but at that time there were definitely cracks in our relationship."
"This is even more true now. Sony will never produce new songs for me again, and I will never ask them to produce songs!"
"If Sony can't do it, what about other record companies? For example, EMI and Universal, can't we cooperate with them?" Eric asked.
Maikou sighed: "It is a choice, and since the complete fallout with Sony last year, Universal and EMI have taken the initiative to contact me, hoping that I can cooperate with them with 50% of the copyright, but the specific contract has not been negotiated yet. Then things broke out again in February this year.”
"Now the public opinion is not friendly to me, so the negotiations have been suspended. I don't think any record company will take the risk to release me a record at this moment."
"Sorry Eric, you may not be able to hear this song for a while."
Looking at the disappointed MJ, Eric didn't expect that the things behind it were so complicated and there were so many games.
Sony may be the mastermind behind this, or there may be other organizations or individuals involved besides Sony.
After all, MJ's piece of fat is really valuable, and he is still a black man. Even though he has done a lot of good things, there are some things that are original sins from the moment they appear.
Eric tapped his fingers slowly on the floor, thinking about countermeasures.
In addition to being his idol and someone he respects, MJ is also an important part of Eric's career plan.
However, talking about business for the first time would seem a bit impure. Wait until the right time.
In short, no matter what angle he comes from, he does not want a generation of superstars to fall into the abyss.
dong dong dong
At this time, there was a knock on the door, and then Gadot walked in and looked at the two people lying on the ground in surprise.
"OMG! You guys didn't sleep all night, did you?"
Seeing Eric nod, she suddenly became angry: "This is not the attitude you should have at work. You are running towards sudden death."
"I'm going to get some food. After eating, you guys can go back to bed and sleep."
After saying that, Gadot slammed the door and left.
"Eric, you've got a great girlfriend."
Michael said with some envy, his frivolous marriage to Catwoman was disappointing.
"Yes, I think so too."
A moment later, Gadot returned with milk and food, and handed Eric the phone: "Your phone belongs to Spielberg. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't give it to you!"
Eric smiled, kissed Gadot, and then answered the phone.
"Okay Steven, I'll call the people below. You can just ask the people from DreamWorks to come directly on Monday."
"Hahaha now we are partners, that's okay."
"If you have time, how about making an appointment with Jeffrey and David, and I'll call my dad to play a round of golf together?"
"Hahahaha, then it's settled, see you then."
After hanging up the phone, Mike asked curiously: "Spielber? Do you have a cooperative relationship with him?"
Eric nodded: "Yes, MGM and DreamWorks are strategic partners. Steven and I are acquaintances. Are you also a fan of his movies?"
Mike smiled and said, "I'm afraid Steven and I have known each other longer than you. We were good friends when he was filming "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "ET."
"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 is the leader of the American music industry."
"If he helps, it will not be difficult to publish films. It may be difficult worldwide, but if it is limited to North America, he still has the ability to make all the difference."
Unexpectedly, when it came to David Geffen, McQueen waved his hand hurriedly: "No, David Geffen and I, it's best not to meet,"
"Why? Are you two having a holiday?"
MJ looked embarrassed: "Actually, the relationship between the two of us was very good. I mean in the early 1990s, Madonna and I went to celebrate his birthday, but then something unpleasant happened between us, and we became estranged. ”
"What is it? Is it serious?"
Maikou shook his head and remained silent.
"Let's do this. I can talk to David first. If he is willing to give me face, I will get Steven to make peace with you. You don't have to come forward yet."
"Never mind, this is going to be a little embarrassing."
"Maikou, that's how the world works. You need help now. Anyway, leave it to me. You can't go wrong if you give it a try."