NOVEL WEB Chapter 45: Chapter 45: The Mystery Guest
[Chapter 45: The Mystery Guest]
♫She hit the flo' (She hit the flo'), next thing you know
Shawty got low-low-low-low-low-low-low-low♫
As the mystery guest took the stage, the anniversary celebration reached its peak, with glittering confetti raining down from above.
Standing among a group of stunning backup dancers was a burly black man wearing a tight black tank top, a buzz cut, and oversized diamond earrings, a necklace, and rings that sparkled under the lights.
No one had expected that the mystery guest for this celebration would be the red-hot Flo Rida.
His collaboration with T-Pain, Low, had topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 30, 2007, and had remained at the top for ten consecutive weeks. It was still in the top ten of the Hot 100, with over 400,000 digital copies sold in its first week. This song marked the beginning of pop music's increasing reliance on digital sales.
In the latest Hot 100 chart, the top spot was held by Mariah Carey's Touch My Body, followed by British super newcomer Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love in second place. Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland's collaboration 4 Minutes took third, with Lil Wayne and Usher rounding out the top five.
The new generation was also making its mark, with Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music and Miley Cyrus's See You Again sitting at 11th and 12th, respectively.
As for Taylor Swift, her previous chart-topper was only on the Country Music chart. Her highest-ranking song on the Hot 100, Teardrops on My Guitar, peaked at 16th and only stayed there for a week. Currently, her two singles were at 26th and 28th, with Teardrops on My Guitar having been on the chart for over 40 weeks, a testament to the widespread popularity of her music.
...
Backstage, Ryan listened as Joel filled him in on the current state of the charts. It seemed that, thanks to the influence of online distribution, although the record industry was slowly shrinking from the perspective of production value, the internal development of the industry showed that the industry itself was thriving, full of vitality and competition.
"Ryan, when will you top the Billboard chart?" Joel couldn't help but ask the burning question.
For Ryan, this question was currently unanswerable. Without a record label, there would be no promotion. Without promotion, he could never make it onto the Billboard charts. Without charting, he could never gain popularity, and without popularity, he would never get the promotion he needed. It was a vicious cycle.
Before Ryan could respond, Joel's phone rang, and he stepped away to take the call in a quieter spot.
At that moment, Ryan noticed Marvin chatting with a woman, and they occasionally glanced in his direction.
Marvin then waved Ryan over.
"Let me introduce you. This is a representative from Atlantic Records' A&R department," Marvin said.
Ryan knew about Atlantic Records — it was a flagship label under Warner Music Group.
"The creator of Harlem Shake and Tremor! It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, shaking Ryan's hand.
"Atlantic Records has been investing in electronic music for several years now. You've seen David Guetta, right? He performed at Ultra Music Festival too. The only electronic music track to hit the Billboard charts recently was David Guetta's Love Is Gone, released last year. Of course, that success was thanks to Atlantic's behind-the-scenes promotion. Kid, if you want to make it as a DJ in the U.S., Atlantic is your best bet, no question," Marvin said with certainty, though Ryan wondered what kind of backroom deal Marvin had with Atlantic.
The Atlantic A&R representative then offered Ryan the same contract terms as David Guetta, clearly recognizing Ryan's potential based on the rapid spread of his two tracks.
But when Ryan brought up key terms like contract length, she simply smiled and said those were non-negotiable.
In a way, Ryan found himself in a situation similar to the one at the Winter Music Festival.
The difference was that, after some time had passed, it was now a top-tier major label approaching him.
Still, they weren't completely inflexible. They mentioned that details like MV royalties could still be negotiated.
Ryan took down her contact information, planning to discuss it with Trey later, and then excused himself.
...
Less than a minute later, a club attendant approached Ryan, saying someone had invited him to a private room for a chat. Ryan wasn't about to step into such a room without knowing more, but after some questioning, he learned that the invitation was from DJ Khaled.
Ryan immediately thought of the man named Scooter he'd met the day before. Just then, Joel returned from his phone call.
"Ryan, everything okay?" Joel asked with an awkward smile, clearly trying to cozy up to Ryan on someone's orders.
"Not really. You'll have to go in my place," Ryan said, coming up with a plan on the spot.
Ryan suggested that Joel, as his partner, could represent him at the meeting. Joel, thrilled at the chance to meet with a big shot from Def Jam, eagerly agreed and followed the attendant.
Ryan wasn't worried about Joel coming to any harm. These guys were surrounded by beautiful women all the time — there was no way they'd be interested in a short, chubby guy like Joel.
...
Late that night, Joel returned to the room, buzzing with excitement.
"Ryan, Khaled said he wants you to join Def Jam's Southern division! He also mentioned that he's going to be the president of Def Jam South next year and plans to get into electronic music. You're about to blow up!" Joel grabbed Ryan's shoulders.
"Blow up? You mean like my ass catching fire?" Ryan laughed.
"What do you mean? Def Jam is an industry giant! Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Ludacris, Fall Out Boy, Bon Jovi — they're all platinum-selling artists!" Joel was clearly baffled, having been thoroughly convinced during the meeting.
Ryan went straight to his computer. He'd returned earlier and done some research online.
"A few years ago, Universal merged Island and Def Jam into a new group. Do you know who the current chairman of that group is? It's L.A. Reid — the same guy Marvin mentioned yesterday, the investor in this nightclub and Puff Daddy's 'daddy.'
Jay-Z oversees Def Jam's operations. He's the one who built Rihanna's career. Earlier this year, Jay-Z officially announced he was leaving Def Jam to start his own entertainment company, Roc Nation, in partnership with Live Nation. Rihanna will obviously follow him."
"L.A. Reid?" Joel was stunned, slowly sitting down on the bed.
"Forget it then. You're too young and tender. You might end up with a red backside before you even make it big," Joel shook his head.
"But I have another idea... you could join Big Machine!" Joel suddenly suggested.
"Is that your idea or Taylor's?" Ryan smiled, already seeing through Joel's little scheme.
Joel chuckled awkwardly. "She called me earlier and said she could introduce a new recording studio. I just thought..."
He'd been bought off, and in the process, spilled all the details about Ryan's current situation.
"Let's not talk about her. Marvin introduced me to an A&R rep from Atlantic Records earlier," Ryan mentioned.
Joel was confused. Since the nightclub's investor was L.A. Reid, and most of the artists here were connected to him, why was Atlantic Records present?
"Because of Flo Rida. He's signed to a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, and he was mentored by Khaled. His first big break was thanks to Khaled," Ryan explained, having found this information online. It was all public knowledge.
Collaborations between artists in the music industry were very common, like releasing singles together. In principle, as long as there weren't major conflicts of interest, artists from different labels could collaborate — provided the artists themselves were willing.
"So, your only option right now is Atlantic Records?" Joel ventured.
"Not necessarily," Ryan said, thinking of Tiësto, who had featured his music on the Club Life show.
...
At the same time, a flight from Amsterdam to Nashville had just landed. A man with simple luggage pulled out his phone and began updating his family and colleagues in Dutch...
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