Because fiscal year 1997 ended in September, the beginning of October was the busiest period for Daenerys Entertainment. Not only was the full-year financial report to be released at the end of mid-term, but various business departments of the group were also working on various projects. Various financial year summaries, accompanied by various meetings on a tight schedule.
Today's recording department meeting was chaired by Simon himself, and Amy Pascal was also present. In addition, Richard Palmes, CEO of Daenerys Records Group, and Barry, the president of Unlimited Records who focuses on cultivating Teen-Pop singers · Weiss and other executives.
As Daenerys Entertainment is gradually approaching a bottleneck in its film and television business, Simon has attached great importance to the group's music, games and other businesses in recent years. However, even though Daenerys Records has top names in various genres such as Guns N’ Roses, Backstreet Boys, Cher, etc., the film and television soundtrack business is also thriving because of Daenerys Entertainment’s strength in related aspects, and has been developed in the past two years. The phenomenal "American Idol" quickly brought fresh blood to the record sector. However, under the impact of the Internet, the decline and downturn of the traditional record industry was unstoppable.
Even though Daenerys Records has been the most enthusiastic company to embrace the Internet, its growth has slowed significantly in recent years compared to industry stalwarts like Sony Records.
Fortunately, compared with some old record giants such as Sony, EMI, and Polygram, which have experienced negative growth or even suffered losses, Daenerys Records, which is still able to maintain positive growth, has performed well in the industry.
The relatively outstanding performance of Daenerys Records after actively embracing the Internet has also caused many old record giants who hate the Internet to gradually begin to compromise. Even Sony, while promoting its own digital music players, has to gradually pay homage to Tinco Its Broadcast music mall delivers content resources.
After all, not doing so will only allow pirated resources with corresponding content to completely occupy the market.
Speaking of which, this was also the reason why Simon forced Daenerys' record to embrace the Internet without allowing any doubts within the group.
Make a template for everyone to follow.
The content of today's meeting has nothing to do with the Internet. The main topic of discussion is, in addition to the revenue and profit status of the record department in the past year, there is also the change in the overall strategy of the record department.
In one word: fast food.
With the advent of the Internet era and the explosion of information, it will become increasingly difficult for people to pay attention to certain people and certain things for a long time.
The same goes for the music industry.
Therefore, what Daenerys Records Group has to do is to speed up the creation and iteration of its singers.
In fact, Daenerys Records has already had this trend in recent years. Typical examples are the singers created by "American Idol". The third edition this year has just started, and many of the singers who ranked at the top of the first edition have already been Forget.
Just like the Internet, since trends are inevitable, take the initiative to adapt.
In addition, the traditional record industry has undergone drastic changes due to the impact of the Internet, which has also begun to affect the public's consumption habits. Even though the audience of the Western music industry can be said to be of all ages, just like movies, in the future, just like movies, the core consumer groups will also become more and more More and more concentrated towards young people.
These need to be adjusted.
Then, the last topic of this meeting: expansion.
This does not mean geographical expansion. Daenerys Records has successfully extended its tentacles to major mainstream music markets in the world such as Europe, Asia and even Latin America in recent years. Therefore, this expansion is mainly through mergers and acquisitions.
The goal is not only the singer, but also the content.
Under the strict copyright protection system, the millions of music contents accumulated by major Western record giants over decades or even hundreds of years will be equally valuable even many years later.
Daenerys's record has its biggest shortcoming in this regard.
Compared with Sony, EMI and other established giants with millions of music contents, even after annexing Universal Music Group, they have developed rapidly in recent years, but their foundation is ultimately shallow. Because the original Universal Music Group was ranked last among the major record giants. Universal, which once stood alongside established record giants such as Sony and Warner, was actually the result of massive expansion and mergers during the Seagram era in the late 1990s.
This time, Seagram is in control of Paramount instead of Universal. Due to the changes in the Hollywood landscape, it is still difficult to digest the current Paramount. It is difficult to conquer the record industry as it once was. Daenerys Entertainment just makes up for this.
The top target is the same as Seagram's: PolyGram.
The old record giant Polygram Group headquartered in London is also a large record giant that has been merged and integrated for a long time. Speaking of which, if it were not for Simon, the big butterfly, PolyGram would have successfully tapped into the production of "Four" in the 1990s. The film team tentatively named for blockbuster films such as "Wedding and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill" is also flourishing in the film and television industry.
Unfortunately, everything has changed now.
Simon secured the core of the tentatively named Pictures team ahead of schedule. Coupled with the early arrival of the Internet era and its rapid impact on the record industry, PolyGram’s current life is becoming increasingly difficult.
Next, the Asian financial crisis will spread around the world, and the global economy will experience a short-term trough. The already rapidly declining record industry will inevitably worsen. This is the best time for Daenerys Entertainment to take action.
The meeting lasted all morning.
After the meeting, everyone left the conference room together. Because the record department's office is usually located at Universal Studios in Burbank, it was not easy to meet. This time, a simple dinner was arranged.
In a management restaurant in the administrative area.
The buffet-style lunch made it easier for everyone to move around and communicate. Simon chatted with Richard Palmes, CEO of Daenerys Records Group, about some details of the planned acquisition of PolyGram, and then found Barry Weiss.
Barrie Weiss, the godfather of teen pop who single-handedly created top Teen-Pop stars such as Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys in the 1990s, also made extraordinary achievements after Simon dug him into Daenerys Records. A great success, not only once again discovering the Backstreet Boys under Simon's guidance, but also launching some other very popular teen pop stars in recent years.
Weiss' next focus will be on promoting Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears and Christina Aguile, whom Simon acquired from Disney's disbanded Mickey Mouse Club a few years ago. Waiting for a group of boys and girls.
This time we were not talking about Britney and others.
The original acquisition of these little guys was mostly due to memories of past lives.
With the continuous changes in wealth, status and mentality, Simon became increasingly indifferent to many celebrities in his memory.
The topic discussed by Simon and Barry Weiss was still fast food: "Barry, we didn't have time to discuss in too much detail in the meeting just now. It's a very critical issue. What do you think is the most difficult thing about fast food?"
Barry Weiss thought about it for a moment and said: "Attracting attention, I mean, attracting the most public attention in the shortest time."
"That's right," Simon nodded with a smile and said, "Then what do you think we should do?"
Barry Weiss said honestly: "Simon, within a reasonable cost range, frankly, I don't have an answer yet. However, with the media resources owned by Daenerys Entertainment, I have to say that we are now the easiest to package the singer A company promoted.”
"But this problem has not been fundamentally solved."
"Yes," Barry Weiss nodded and looked at his boss: "Simon, you must have the answer, right?"
"I started a singing group in Ukraine, you should know that, right?"
"Well, the Saints, they also performed some performances in Atlantic City in the first half of the year. We assisted in the planning and the response was pretty good. However, because they have no English songs for the time being, their influence is limited. Oh, Simon, if If you are willing, I can help them make an English album."
Simon smiled and said: "That's not necessary, their style is too formal. What I mean is, think of the Saints' Heavenly Group, are you inspired?"
Barry Weiss thought for a while, feeling a little unsure but also somewhat enlightened: "Simon, you mean, group mode?"
This doesn't seem new.
"To be precise, it is a uniform group pattern," Simon said, and continued to add: "Imagine a row of girls with beautiful faces, slender waists, and slender thighs standing together uniformly on the stage. What can happen? What effect does it have?"
Barry Weiss suddenly realized after thinking about it for a moment, but he couldn't help but said: "Simon, in this case, it will be more difficult for a single singer to be remembered. Isn't it too fast food?"
"Let's give it a try first," Simon said: "I happened to have an idea some time ago, called the Spice Girl Group. Find five girls with similar appearance and temperament. The most important thing is that they are the same height. This way they look more uniform, but also There can be no difference, every girl has her own style code, for example, fashionable hot girl, sporty hot girl, crazy hot girl, etc. You choose someone first, and then I will give you a single to test the waters."
Seriously, the 'some time ago' in Simon's words was already several months ago.
When I went to the UK in the first half of the year, I found that the Spice Girls were as popular as the Harry Potter series, so I remembered them for a while, but then forgot about them.
Mainly because I don't feel it.
Although the Spice Girls were popular all over the world in the 1990s and triggered a global craze of follow-up girl groups, based on the aesthetics of Simon's later generations, those girls are simply indescribable.
In comparison, Simon feels that the model of Korean girl groups is more mature.
The reason why they are mature is not only the systematic trainee system in Korea, but also that, yes, they are uniform.
Even if they are launched one after another, it is indeed easy to attract more public attention in the shortest time with all kinds of pleasing products. Later, the singing group model in both Europe, America and Japan and Taiwan gradually declined. Only South Korea has continued to thrive and exported to the outside world. Although there are many reasons for this, the uniformity that can attract the audience's attention in the shortest time is definitely a key .
Therefore, since she was not interested in the colorful style of the Spice Girls, Simon simply changed to a girl group model that was more in line with her own aesthetics.
As for whether it can be successful
In many aspects, the ideas Simon gave the team below have been proven before, and the success rate is much higher than the original ones. Moreover, even if it doesn't succeed, it actually doesn't matter. Daenerys Entertainment's current strength has enough room for trial and error.
Barry Weiss felt that this was basically appropriate after hearing his boss say that he would personally release a single.
Over the years, my boss has released a lot of singles, but certainly a lot. Each one is enough to support a record.
After making up his mind, Barry Weiss said: "Simon, if I choose a group, it will take me about three months. Plus training and making the MV, all in all, I can test the waters next Easter. It's very good. A point in time.”
Simon didn't want Barry Weiss to rush the work, so he nodded and said, "No problem."
When the matter was settled, Barry Weiss immediately changed his smile: "Simon, can you come up with the single you mentioned first? Oh, the two singles you recently gave to Bree and Tina are great. I I look forward to every piece of music produced by my boss."
Simon also laughed and said, "I'll give you some time."
Barry Weiss nodded again and said, "By the way, boss, do you have anything special to say to Bree and Tina?"
Today is already Thursday, October 9th.
Simon returned from Mexico on Monday, and then took out two famous songs by Britney and Christina for Barry Weiss to operate. Barry Weiss is not stupid, and after a little inquiry, he roughly understood it. What, pay more attention to the two girls.
Simon shrugged: "No, just let them follow the rules."
Barry Weiss said no more.
However, of course, it is impossible to really follow the rules. It is one thing what your boss says. Some words must be implemented as they are. Others, if you really follow them, it means you have no emotional intelligence.
While chatting like this, after lunch, the music department executives returned to Burbank one after another.
Barry Weiss returned to Universal Studios in Burbank, sorted out the contents of the morning meeting again, and vigorously arranged the Spice Girls affairs. He was so busy until he was about to get off work, and then he took the time to rush to the music department to practice. house.
In the past, the boys and girls from the Mickey Mouse Club were trained here and were about to make their official debut. Recently, the boys and girls have been working even harder on training.
Barry Weiss stood at the door of a girls' exclusive practice room and looked at Christina and Britney who were practicing dancing for a while. Christina was fine, but Britney seemed a little sick, which made Barry Weiss a little confused. She was so nervous that she called the dance teacher with a good figure and asked: "Lisa, what's going on with Bree?"
The dance teacher named Lisa also shook her head: "I'm not sure, Mr. Weiss, Britney has been like this for the past two days, as if she was sick. I asked, and she said she was fine, and she also had it checked by a doctor. , I don’t have a cold or a fever, I think it’s probably because I didn’t get any rest at night.”