While the movie was blowing up, Leon restarted his recording work.
Since the release of Señorita, he hadn't released any new work in six months.
This was mainly due to the restrictions of his contract with Roc Nation. Whether it was songwriting copyright or master recording rights, he wasn't going to give JAY-Z another inch.
The recording work had long been completed; now, only the music video shoot remained.
Considering costs and capabilities, Leon decided to hand this job to Old Mike.
They were just waiting for Robbie to clear her schedule in three days to finish the shoot.
"Put the promotion for Straight Outta Compton first..." In the office, Leon summoned Sean and gave him instructions word for word.
Currently, Straight Outta Compton had a high chance of securing the North American weekend box office champion for two consecutive weeks.
If this goal could be achieved, it would be the fourth movie this year to win the box office for two consecutive weeks, following Hop, Rio, and Thor.
And the only biopic to do so.
Sean didn't dare slack off on the boss's orders, though he hemmed and hawed while expressing his own view: "Using music radio and magazines to promote a movie... isn't that a waste of resources?"
Leon had already thought of what Sean was worried about.
He tapped his temple with his finger. "Use your brain. Straight Outta Compton is a rap movie about N.W.A. This completely overlaps with our media business vertical... Just like airing Durex ads on an adult channel, it's perfectly logical."
"Alright..." What Sean was really worried about was that such a change would affect the media company's data, and he would be the one to take the fall later.
Since its establishment, Lion's Den Media had been under siege by veteran powerhouses in the market.
Especially XXL magazine. This hip-hop magazine, also based in New York, was the overlord of this track before Vibe resumed publication.
After being acquired by Townsquare Media last year, it received financial support and was suppressing Vibe across the board.
It is worth mentioning that after Leon successfully launched the business model of online magazines and self-media channels, the magazine industry attracted more investors.
JAY-Z was currently in contact with XXL's parent company.
"T-Ray's podcast gets a lot of hits. Get Davis on the show to talk about the movie; I think he'd be happy to do it," Leon instructed.
Since the movie was released, the ngga who had achieved a class leap had completely let himself go.
Although he didn't get much pay for the movie shoot—at least pitifully little compared to Kendrick, Boseman, and others.
But in terms of style and extravagance, he didn't lose to anyone.
Spending every night drifting through major nightclubs with his bad friends from Brownsville.
Sleeping with girls of different skin colors every day, and putting a big gold chain thicker than a dog leash back around his neck.
All of this couldn't happen without the support of loans.
Bank loan officers would never refuse to lend to Hollywood actors.
While everyone in the office was chatting enthusiastically, Phil arrived late.
Rarely for him, his hair wasn't gelled, and his face was visibly puffy.
Obviously, he was still hungover from last night.
As soon as he walked in, everyone noticed his left hand trembling uncontrollably until he downed a shot of hard liquor to return to normal.
Leon cleared the others from the office, leaving only Bonnie and Phil.
"It looks like your health will have a hard time surviving this winter. Experts predict New York's winter will be very cold this year," Leon mocked with a crooked mouth.
"Fxxk... why do I feel like you kid are wishing for me to lie in a coffin right now?" Phil cursed. "Those so-called experts will meet God before I do."
Taking back the management business wasn't just talk. Whether Phil was still around or not, Leon had made up his mind to do so.
A manager has a huge impact on a singer's career. Behind many artists falling out with their companies and causing trouble, it's often the manager instigating things.
"I didn't say that."
"Looks like your conscience isn't completely gone," Phil sneered. "I'm glad to see you restarting the recording of We Don't Talk Anymore. This song will definitely be a hit."
"Let's talk about what I entrusted to you." Leon knocked on the table.
The contract renewal was imminent; he urgently needed to find his next home.
Phil had good connections in the record industry, so the task of sounding people out naturally fell on him.
"Of course they are very interested in you. You are like the muse of the music industry right now; everyone wants you~" Phil said. "Sony Music's new CEO, Doug Morris, who just jumped ship from the position of Universal Music CEO, personally promised that you would get everything you want!"
"Wow..." Hearing that Doug personally made the promise, Bonnie couldn't help but take a deep breath.
This 72-year-old man was the most legendary professional manager in the entire record industry.
Jumping back and forth between major record giants, he could firmly control the highest power no matter which company he went to.
This was inseparable from his outstanding ability.
His glorious resume was almost equivalent to the history of Universal Music Group.
He joined Universal's predecessor, MCA Music Entertainment Group, back in 1996.
He accurately judged that in the future record market, the singer themselves was not the most important thing; copyright meant everything.
Therefore, he didn't hesitate to go heavily into debt to acquire second- and third-tier labels and buy out singers' songwriting copyrights.
These practices once made Universal Music's parent company, the French Vivendi, suspicious, and they almost sold Universal Music.
Now it seems Doug's judgment was completely correct.
Universal Music won in the cruel market competition, and the former five major record companies were left with only three.
EMI Records, which was incredibly glorious in the 80s and 90s, now only had the fate of being divided by Universal and Sony.
The two companies were plotting how to carve up EMI.
"Very good. If there is a chance, I want to talk to Mr. Doug face to face..." Although Doug spoke beautifully, as if everything could be satisfied.
But Leon scoffed at such words.
He wouldn't believe a single punctuation mark coming out of the mouth of such an old fox and "slave of three surnames."
"Do you want even more? The conditions Mr. Doug offered you are something no singer could refuse."
According to Phil, once the two parties signed, Sony Music would own the complete master recording rights of Leon's subsequent works.
This is the industry rule, the cornerstone on which record companies survive.
Unless he became an independent musician, this couldn't be changed.
But Sony promised not to demand songwriting copyrights from Leon through any bundled agreements, which was indeed very rare.
"This sounds no different from the Roc Nation contract. We can still fight for more," Leon said with a smile, playing with poker cards.
"You call this no difference? At least Doug is a gentleman; he won't put a gun to your head to threaten you!" Phil raised his volume. "Besides, even if they really want your music copyright, you greedy guy will get a large sum of money. That's an astronomical figure..."
Among the three major record companies, Warner was the most greedy for copyright, but that didn't mean the other two were saints.
To achieve giant status, they were essentially birds of a feather.
But Sony preferred to expand its copyright library by "buying, buying, buying."
The reason was just one word—"Rich."
Many singers would even actively sell their work copyrights to Sony to cash out a considerable income.
Because their bid was always the best.
"Go on~" Leon spread his hands, showing little interest in this proposal.
Although he loved money, he couldn't hand over his work copyright.
He had his own ideas about copyright.
So far, every songwriting copyright he held was a premium product.
Señorita, Faded, Billy, Bang Bang...
These were all golden songs that had caused a sensation.
Relying on the cheat of inspiration refresh, such a copyright treasury would never run dry.
Therefore, he had long had the idea of establishing his own copyright management company.
The world's three major music publishing companies—Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, and Warner Chappell Music—now owned more than 10 million songwriting copyrights.
Occupying more than 80% of the global music copyright market!
The three record giants were engaging in a monopoly in places untouchable by the public eye.
Monopolizing the spiritual entertainment world of humanity.
"You will get promotion resources on the same level as Adele~" Phil spread his hands. "What else can I say? You have to thank one person."
"Who?" Leon raised his chin in confusion.
"Beyoncé. These conditions were all fought for by her and Columbia Records Chairman Rob Stringer," Phil said.
In addition to top-tier global promotion resources, Leon also learned that Sony Columbia was willing to offer him "Priority Buyback Rights for Master Recordings."
This meant that if one day Sony wanted to sell these master recording rights, Leon, as the singer, had the qualification to bid!
This was treatment only available to superstars like Michael Jackson and Madonna.
"Whoa... I really have to thank Miss Beyoncé properly." An image of Beyoncé shaking her hips immediately popped into Leon's mind, and he determined to repay the Diva well.
Their houses weren't far apart now; they could bump into each other just walking the dog.
It was very convenient for in-depth communication.
"There must be some secret between you and Beyoncé." Phil had a wretched look on his face, grinning with his teeth showing.
"Even you believe those rumors?"
"Don't lie to me, kid. I communicate with the btches of Manhattan Beach every day. Many girls have communicated with me from age 20 to 40..." Phil said proudly. "No one understands women better than me!"
Leon spread his hands to express his stance: Think whatever you want.
Phil continued: "But I have to remind you not to just focus on the pleasure of your lower body... If JAY-Z finds out, the actions he takes against you won't be limited to the commercial scope."
The prerequisite for lower body enjoyment is that the big head on the upper body remains intact.
Leon waved his hand to stop this topic: "Besides Sony, have you contacted Universal Music? What are their thoughts?"
"Record companies all over the world are coveting your ability and traffic," Phil said. "Universal offered similar conditions, but there is no clause like [Priority Buyback Rights for Master Recordings]."
The resources of the two record companies were similar, and the conditions offered were similar.
Currently, it seemed Sony's priority was definitely higher.
But Leon decided to wait and see.
Just like playing Texas Hold'em, excellent players always understand that betting must be chosen at the most appropriate time.
To maximize all the value he could get.
With a series of events such as the Universal Music CEO jumping ship to Sony Columbia and the competition for EMI Records' legacy...
Everything signaled that the competition between the two companies had entered a white-hot stage at all levels.
Leon could totally benefit from the struggle between the two sides.
EMI, the record empire that was incredibly glorious in the last century, declined because it ignored the importance of copyright.
Records gradually became just "luxury business cards" for artists.
The corpse of this giant triggered a gluttonous feast in the music industry this year.
Sony Music was planning to acquire EMI's music publishing division from the financial giant Citi for $2 billion.
This was the biggest event in the capital circle of the record industry this year.
Once the deal was concluded, Sony would get all the music copyrights owned by EMI, further solidifying its position as the world's largest music copyright library.
EMI's other major legacy, the recording business, was also being eyed by Universal Music.
Universal and Sony refused to give in to each other, determined not to let either side completely swallow EMI's legacy.
---
Just after Phil left, Leon drove back to his new house in Tribeca.
After taking a bath and putting on a bathrobe, he sat on the sofa pinching a glass of wine.
Looking at the night view of Manhattan outside the floor-to-ceiling window, wondering what he was thinking.
Suddenly, the scene in front of him changed, and countless fragments of information flooded into his brain, forming sequences of images.
Lara Croft flying over eaves and walls in Tomb Raider, Chun-Li in the Street Fighter series, Terran Marines in StarCraft...
Pac-Man, Mario Kart, GoldenEye 007, The Shining...
Elements of various famous games and movies intertwined, virtual and reality woven together.
A emotionless electronic prompt sounded in Leon's ear: "Welcome to the OASIS."
The amount of information this time was much more than any previous inspiration refresh, covering thirty years of video game history.
After all the clips finished playing in his brain, the title emerged—Ready Player One, a Steven Spielberg work.
Leon's body shook immediately. Steven Spielberg is the most successful commercial film director in history; the inspiration refresh had drawn a god-tier card.
This was a great opportunity to make money.
After a brief excitement, he immediately realized a problem: how to handle the copyright?
The movie involved so many classic big IPs; actually dealing with it would be enough to make one doubt life from the headache.
"Damn it..." After noticing that the movie thanked the original novel author Ernest Cline at the end, Leon completely gave up.
After searching online, he found that the film adaptation rights of this novel had been sold to Warner Bros. Pictures as early as last year.
Judging from the current situation, this was an out-and-out trash inspiration.
Just as he was at his wits' end, a phone ringtone rang.
The caller was Davis.
"This ngga calling me at this hour?"
Nothing good ever happens.
Answering the phone with suspicion, his uneasy guess was indeed verified.
"Is this Boss Leon?! Boss, we're in trouble!" The voice on the other end wasn't Davis, but a strange voice.
"Shxt, who are you? Why is Davis's phone in your hands?"
"I'm Davis's cousin, you saw me at the subway station... Listen, we got shot at the nightclub. Davis's wiener seems to have been blown up..."
"WTF..." After a brief shock, Leon quickly calmed down.
He wasn't surprised that such a thing happened.
Nightclubs were places where violent conflicts occurred frequently.
Especially for a ngga who had just turned his life around and would spray people at the slightest disagreement.
As long as the alcohol intake was in place, Davis could battle God.
"Is that bastard dead?" Leon's tone was lukewarm.
"We are at the hospital. Those bastards in white coats said his life is not in danger for the time being."
"Then let that fool lie in the hospital properly."
Leon was just about to hang up when the voice on the other end suddenly became agitated, "Damn~ Davis took a bullet because of you!"
"Wait... what are you talking about?"
"After the shooter fired, he said to Davis, [This is a gift for Leon]! We all heard it!"
Hearing this, Leon frowned.
Originally, he just treated this as a street conflict caused by showing off, which was very common in black neighborhoods.
Now it seemed it wasn't that simple.
The shooter was very likely a professional hitman hired by someone.
There was a high probability this was also one of Diddy's revenge plans.
With the release of Billy, Lion's Den Media smearing him non-stop, plus Straight Outta Compton making him lose face in front of audiences across America...
Diddy might have been blacked into hallucination.
Someone with poor psychological quality being outputted like this non-stop might have had a mental breakdown long ago.
"Do something... do something quickly, Boss!" A crying tone came from the other end of the phone: "Fxxk~ These bastards in white coats want to remove one of my cousin's balls! I won't let them do this..."
Hearing this, Leon couldn't help but be stunned for a few seconds.
Even a heart made of titanium alloy shook a little.
Compared to T-Ray getting shot in the butt, Davis's sacrifice was obviously much greater.
"I know everything..."
"Listen, if Davis is still conscious, tell him there will definitely be a result for this matter."
"He won't lose that thing for nothing."