Chapter 465: Zhou Yi's Bathwater

Linkin Park, the ace of Warner who leads the rock market, was also Warner's global sales champion from 2000 to 2001.

Unlike Zhou Yi, this lazy dog who doesn't much like touring, Linkin Park's enthusiasm for touring was absolutely maxed out.

Since their official debut in 2000, aside from routine rest periods, they were basically either on tour or on the way to one; sometimes, unable to sit still, they would even actively seek out music festivals to expand the band's influence.

Precisely because of this, although they had already entered the American market for nearly two years, the number of times Zhou Yi and Linkin Park had actually met could be counted on one hand — after all, whenever he came to America he basically just started promoting, and was busy to begin with.

Being able to bump into each other a few times in the company building and exchange nods was already considered decent.

After all, the two Asian members of Linkin Park, Mike Shinoda and Joseph Hahn, were respectively a Japanese-American half-blood and a Korean-American, so Zhou Yi naturally had no need to specially wait around to get to know them.

"I don't know why this kind of talk has appeared; in reality, our relationship with Spike is very good."

Mike Shinoda, one of the lead vocalists, sneered at this notion during an interview, and even took the trouble to release goodwill toward Zhou Yi through public channels and internal communications with his agency.

They weren't stupid.

At this critical juncture, no one would be foolish enough to challenge Zhou Yi's prestige, even if they truly harbored such thoughts in their hearts.

Yet even so, the wave of discussion about Linkin Park stirred up by the relevant media showed no signs of fading, and in the end even evolved into a battle for Warner's top male artist —

All because Warner, as per routine, also released Linkin Park's second album "Meteora" North American first-week sales: 830,000 copies.

Although the first-week sales didn't reach Zhou Yi's level, he had after all benefited from the Grammy effect from the start, whereas Linkin Park got nothing of the sort, relying entirely on their existing fanbase to pull off this terrifying first-week number.

The song "Numb" exploded across every major radio station the moment it dropped, its momentum charging straight at Zhou Yi.

As everyone knows, one mountain cannot house two tigers.

A record company, naturally, can only have one top dog with the greatest privileges.

Look at Warner's top female artist Madonna — the MV for a single song alone cost a full six million dollars to shoot, and that doesn't even count the arrangement, mixing, production, and other expenses; just the MV for one song.

This is what privilege looks like.

"Pretty good at swaying hearts and minds — diagnosed as a journalism major."

On April 5th, after wrapping up promotions at several radio stations and events, Zhou Yi, riding in a car heading to the Houston Rockets' home arena, the Compaq Center, took the recent news summary handed over by Qian Jiang and curled his lip dismissively.

Unfortunately, this was destined to be a wasted effort.

You have to understand that the so-called top male/female artist status at a record company is most importantly about priority in song selection — as long as you're the boss, you get first pick of the good songs.

The most typical example is the domestic Li Ming and Zhang Xueyou.

In the early nineties, Li Ming and Zhang Xueyou were both under PolyGram Records, but as the most popular of the Four Heavenly Kings, Li Ming was constantly suppressed within PolyGram and ranked below Zhang Xueyou, becoming PolyGram's number two, with no priority whatsoever in picking hit songs.

Only after number one Zhang Xueyou had picked could Li Ming choose in the next round. Even if Li Ming had his eye on certain songs, they were forcibly yanked away and handed to Zhang Xueyou to sing.

This situation persisted until '98, when Li Ming endured until his contract expired and switched to Sony, becoming Sony's top artist, after which things improved somewhat. But by then Li Ming was already old, no longer possessing his past drive.

That's why, after entering the 21st century, many young people of the new era feel that Li Ming seems to have been slacking off among the Four Heavenly Kings — how come he doesn't have a single Mandarin song that took the streets by storm, and even the Cantonese songs familiar to most listeners in non-Cantonese-speaking mainland regions are few.

But this pain point doesn't exist for Zhou Yi and Linkin Park — both are self-contained units who handle lyrics, composition, arrangement, and even instrument programming for their own albums.

Picking up songs? Pick my ass! Isn't writing them yourself better?

Theoretically speaking, Warner's third-place male artist is actually the happiest one —

Zhou Yi and Linkin Park both handle their own albums entirely on their own, so the third place actually receives the treatment afforded to top artists at other companies, freely selecting from the songs the company acquires.

"Well, you can't really put it that way either — after all, your base isn't in America, so if you really get successfully challenged, the prestige you've just built up is bound to take some hit."

Qian Jiang, who didn't understand creation but did understand hype, still wasn't letting his guard down here; under Zhou Yi's what-the-hell stare, he pulled out his notebook and, while thinking, ticked a few more event invitations.

When the vehicle arrived at the Compaq Center, Zhou Yi stepped out feeling completely numb all over.

In the years before the new home arena, the Toyota Center, was put into use, the Compaq Center had witnessed the Rockets' journey through all kinds of ups and downs.

Zhou Yi didn't know much about the NBA, but when Yao Ming's little giant-like height reflected in his eyes, he still recalled some of the NBA's golden years back home.

Of course, what left the deepest impression was the boomerang: first mocking fangirls — then getting mocked back by the fandom as "kneeling basketball brats" — and then CCTV's "absolutely no room for reversal" — what a brilliant boomerang combo.

"Hello, I'm Yao Ming."

The little giant who single-handedly opened up the basketball market back home did indeed have a wonderfully awkward charm when he smiled.

…………………………

"Hello, I'm Taylor Swift, here's the ticket."

On the evening of April 6th, the Houston Rockets hosted the visiting Orlando Magic at home.

Taylor Swift, who had gotten front-row tickets through company connections, was directly treated as an adult; thanks to her height of just over 1.7 meters, those long legs still drew plenty of ogling from the perverts as she walked into the arena.

Houston in April had already entered summer, and Taylor, in a short T and hot pants, always gave the illusion that everything below the waist was legs — especially once people noticed she was actually wearing flat shoes.

Even in America, a woman standing over 1.72 meters barefoot was a conspicuous enough presence.

Because of her age, Taylor, who always felt she could still shoot up a bit more, sometimes had her own private doubts about it.

The company's temporary manager got her the best viewing seats in the first row; since this wasn't exactly a nationally spotlighted game, Taylor, backed by Sony, could naturally snag that spot with ease.

Whether it was because Warner had published the schedule early, tonight's Compaq Center, apart from those burly basketball fans, actually had quite a few more young, pretty faces than usual — many of them even sporting the magenta stripes that Zhou Yi liked most on their faces.

Obviously, they were all music fans.

"Can't be helped, Spike doesn't hold concerts, and music festivals aren't every day — can only grab the chance to come see him."

"Yes, I'm a Spike fan."

"What? Basketball? No no no, I'm actually a football fan — Spike is the Arsenal promotional ambassador, right? I'm actually an Arsenal fan…"

"……"

Before the game, a reporter with clearly Asian features was doing random on-site interviews, sneakily picking a few girls who obviously looked like they were there to chase stars; the answers they got left quite a few thirty-to-forty-year-old men feeling disgruntled.

This is a stadium, not your mating ground!

Have some respect for the sport of bouncing a ball around!

Taylor, who had found her seat, was surprised to discover that sitting next to her was actually a rising art-film actress — Scarlett Johansson.

Because of growing up around the entertainment industry, Scarlett Johansson's face in America, while not exactly a household name, could at least be called somewhat well-known — certainly not a total unknown.

Especially that figure, which could only be described as a bombshell assault, inevitably made Taylor, who had felt since childhood that her fat had gone to the wrong places, twitch at the corner of her eye.

If she remembered correctly, Scarlett was only 18 this year — how the hell could her chest be that big?

Could it be that basketball fans get an extra buff?

"Perhaps. I used to watch some basketball and soccer games before, but this is my first time watching a game live."

The Rockets' pre-game interview clearly also caught this actress sitting courtside.

Taylor, who also had a head of golden wavy long hair and a pair of long legs, was completely ignored by the Rockets' sideline interview crew, while Scarlett instead received the camera's attention.

"Are you a Spike fan, Scarlett? I see you seem to have three pink stripes painted on your face too."

"Well, actually, this is magenta."

Scarlett, who spoke these words in Zhou Yi's tone, ran a hand through her hair, every smile and frown brimming with American-style sexiness: "Yes, that's right, I'm a die-hard Spike fan. I got hooked on his music when I was in Japan; I should even be able to count myself as one of the earliest batches of Spike fans in America."

Last year, when Zhou Yi released his English album, she happened to be in Tokyo, Japan filming the movie *Lost in Translation*. Judging by the timeline, her rambling really doesn't have any problem with it.

"Really, Scarlett? Are you a die-hard Spike fan? Or just a regular fan?"

"Of course a die-hard fan—why else would I be here?"

"How die-hard?"

"How should I put it—to the point of being willing to drink his bathwater." Scarlett Johansson, who knew the entertainment industry's rules for getting famous all too well, never stopped until her words shocked everyone.

Taylor Swift, sitting beside her, couldn't help but purse her lips: Dead cow, dying to get famous, huh?

Scarlett's sexiness, Taylor's slightly disdainful muttering—the frame of the two of them together happened to be caught dead-on by the camera. But since one was a nobody and the other a minor star, no one paid any attention; only the broadcast crew backed up the footage…

(End of chapter)