Bob was caught in a dilemma. Agreeing to sell Z100 at the current offer meant completely abandoning the New York market. Consequently, iHeartMedia's other stronghold, Pennsylvania, with its dozens of radio stations, might also fall. But refusing to sell the station made it hard to escape the current financial quagmire, especially with streaming giants circling like wolves.
Even Apple intended to stick a foot in, waiting for iHeartMedia to be at its weakest to make a massive acquisition and merge it into its media sector.
After pondering for a full five minutes, Bob's stiff expression finally relaxed. "Your cunning disgusts me, but seeing a young person like you interested in the radio business suggests maybe this industry isn't completely dead yet."
"So this means you're willing to work with me?"
"What else?" Bob dropped his previous standoffish attitude and stood up to offer a hug.
His mouth spoke pretty words wishing Leon success, but in his heart, he thought: A young man with no industry experience aggressively entering the radio business... within three years, he'll lose his shirt...
The answer to how radio transforms in the internet age is public knowledge—enter streaming.
Although the exit light is always on, every guy trying to break the game ends up battered and bleeding—building a self-owned streaming platform is a dead end.
For the next hour, Leon and Bob exchanged views on the details of the acquisition. They ensured every clause in the contract complied with procedures to avoid trouble from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the IRS.
"Within two days, I will hand the contract to your company's legal department for review. If you have any details you want to add, Mr. Bob, feel free to contact me anytime."
Luca put the notebook full of key points into his briefcase and drove back to Apocalypse Music behind Leon.
Once the deal was officially closed, Lion's Den Media would own four top radio stations: Z100, Aviator, Lion's Den, and Chester Street Bad Boys. The daily listenership would exceed 300,000.
In addition, Lion's Den Media also owned the rights to a talent show that was popular across the US, as well as the most authoritative hip-hop music magazine, Vibe.
Compared to media giants like Comcast, Time Warner, and News Corp, it was still as tiny as an ant, but it could be considered a media company with some scale.
When he learned that Bob had agreed to sell, Phil seemed shocked, mumbling, "Crazy... even though I knew you wanted to do this, I still think it's too crazy..."
"50 million dollars? If converted to 20-dollar bills, that money could fill every corner of this room..."
The old geezer always liked to pour cold water when everyone was celebrating, and this time was no exception. He had expressed concern about the radio business more than once before.
"In the era I was born, radio was a media channel that could rival cable TV. I was born to the background sound of radio music..." Phil said, "But now, let alone radio, even cable TV is facing huge challenges..."
Although these words were dampening, they weren't unreasonable.
Netflix founder Hastings recently made a bold statement: TV services will be brutally slaughtered by streaming video. When Gen Z grows up, TVs might not even appear on their home appliance list.
"We'll figure something out. Vibe's transition to an online magazine was very successful, wasn't it?"
Vibe currently had 30,000 annual subscribers, stably generating $1.5 million in revenue for the company annually. Counting advertising revenue, physical magazine sales, and non-annual subscribers, the magazine business, which was not favored, had already achieved profitability.
Among all sectors under Lion's Den Media, the best performer was the Chester Street Bad Boys radio station hosted by T-Ray.
The number of plays per episode of "Underground Rap" stabilized at over 500,000, fulfilling the bold words at the beginning of the program—the best rap music show on earth.
Riding the heat of the recent Jay-Z and Beyoncé divorce lawsuit, the program's play count ushered in another epic growth.
The vengeful T-Ray could never forget the scene where Jay-Z mocked him as a "Loser" with a contemptuous tone after taking Leon away.
In the program, while smoking weed and drinking heavily, he let loose with explicit language:
"I know the real reason for Jay-Z and Beyoncé's divorce! I've slept with Beyoncé, do you believe it?"
"What? You don't believe me?! Listen to me tell this story properly. Leon and I conquered Beyoncé together. She praised us as the best partners! Just like Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker!"
"You say I should be careful? Jay-Z will retaliate against me?"
"Fk that damn ngga, I'm waiting for him on Chester Street. Don't forget I'm a tough guy who has taken four bullets!"
Aside from these stabilized businesses, Leon hadn't ruled out sticking a foot in the internet field.
Smartphones set off the second wave of internet frenzy. Wall Street investment banking elites were no longer discussing traditional projects like automobiles and finance; their mouths were full of "Silicon Valley" and "NASDAQ index."
He got some investment advice from Elon Musk. Reid Hoffman always knew which companies could make money, but he wouldn't tell others. This confirmed Leon's previous view—the long list of potential projects given by Reid was just a big pocket for gathering money.
The real gold mine was in his head.
Perhaps to thank Leon for facilitating his date with Heard, Musk bluntly revealed the correct answer in his heart—Instagram.
Reid's real target was a photo social software called Instagram.
Compared to Twitter (Bluebird), which focused on current affairs news and had cumbersome functions, Instagram was more life-oriented, and its user group was mainly skewed towards women.
Every time a carefully photoshopped picture was posted, likes could be obtained. At this time, users could sandwich the phone between their legs and feel the wonderful frequency of likes satisfying their vanity.
The development of this app was extremely rapid. In the few months after its launch in October 2010, there were only hundreds of thousands of registered users. Now, the number of registered users has exceeded 10 million, though how many of them are active users is a question mark.
The two founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, had long revealed the idea of cashing out.
Since he was so bullish on Instagram, why didn't Musk invest himself? It would be a good lesson for his nemesis Reid.
The answer given by the other party was also straightforward—"No money, my money has to be saved for going to Mars."
Even the founder of a listed company cried poor, so Leon, as a musician, naturally had even less money.
Acquiring radio station Z100 and investing in Ready Player One almost tied up all his liquid funds. If he wanted to do something big in the short term, he could only do so through loans or financing.
While Leon and Phil were discussing the prospects of the radio business, Luca, who always had endless quips, remained silent, playing with his phone and revealing a playful smile.
Suddenly, he interrupted and threw out a heavy topic in the entertainment circle recently: "Diddy's hearing will start next Wednesday."
The approaching hearing date made celebrities who had attended Diddy's parties tremble. No one knew if Diddy would expose scandals involving them.
Luca played with the pen in his hand and continued, "I have a friend on his legal team. He just met Diddy at the Metropolitan Detention Center a few days ago. His condition is not good; half his hair has turned white, and his weight has dropped by about 30 pounds."
"Is this news true?" Phil snorted twice. "That ngga has a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars. Even if he enters a cell, he can enjoy treatment that ordinary prisoners can't touch."
"This is America, the center of the capitalist world! I don't believe a rich man will suffer in a cell..."
Luca tilted his head and retorted, "You have to trust the lawyer. Diddy doesn't even have a radio there. He gets a Bible and a strictly screened book every week, that's all."
Leon didn't interrupt the dispute between the two, but a smile always hung on the corner of his mouth.
Diddy poked the butt of a senator's son; it would be news if he could live a good life in a cell.
The Metropolitan Detention Center had been exposed by multiple media outlets as an overcrowded, understaffed, and unattended federal prison, simply a hell on earth. Historically, there have been multiple incidents of prisoner suicide and violent conflicts leading to death.
For such a public figure who caused a sensation across the US, it wasn't hard to imagine that he had long been arranged into a single VIP cell.
Detention centers are not like high-level federal prisons; usually, prisoners are not kept in solitary confinement.
But under Charlie's operation, who knows? More terrible than imprisonment itself is living in a solitary cell. Even someone with extreme social anxiety can't endure such days; it won't take long for the prisoner to fall into extreme depression.
The notorious ADX Florence prison holds less than 300 prisoners, all of whom committed sensational major cases.
All prisoners in this prison are kept in solitary confinement, and they won't even see another prisoner for the first five years of imprisonment. Therefore, this is also the prison with the highest suicide rate.
Judging from Charlie's ruthless and decisive methods, if Diddy can walk out of the Metropolitan Detention Center alive, ADX prison might be his final destination.
"I'm worried this guy won't live to the day of the trial. He is very likely to commit suicide in the Metropolitan Detention Center..." Leon said.
Diddy's case involved too many public figures. If the details of the case were all exposed, it would be a devastating blow to the entertainment industry.
This involves the cultural and entertainment industry with an annual output value of over 4 trillion dollars.
Almost overnight, many companies and artists also drew a clear line with Diddy, and even the law firm GSM&S, which had cooperated with him for more than 20 years, abandoned him.
GSM&S is the top entertainment law firm in New York, and partner Allen Grubman was Diddy's personal lawyer and good friend. Allen could almost be said to be the richest, most powerful, and capable entertainment lawyer in the US. His clients are all world top-tier stars, such as Madonna, Mariah Carey, U2, Elton John, etc.
But after the incident happened, one of the big clients, Lady Gaga, issued an ultimatum to the law firm: If the law firm continued to represent Diddy, she would no longer cooperate with GSM&S.
In order to save bigger clients, GSM&S fired an old client for the first time.
Kesha even changed the lyrics at the beginning of the hit single TiK ToK. "Wake up in the morning feelin' like P Diddy" was changed to "Wake up in the morning Fk P Diddy".
"Currently, it seems very possible. The Metropolitan Detention Center decided to cancel the suicide watch on Diddy." Luca said with a smile, "They said Diddy's mentality is very positive and he has accepted the current reality."
"That's ridiculous..." Leon understood clearly that "canceling suicide watch" meant Diddy's life had entered a countdown.
As for when he would go to see God, it depended entirely on when the Democratic Party completely squeezed his value dry. Controlling the political resources of the entertainment circle without causing too much impact on the entertainment industry.
"Suicide? That guy is used to living like an emperor; he wouldn't be willing to leave this wonderful world easily." Phil hummed twice. "If he just died like this, it would be too cheap for him. That guy should be thrown into a heavy felony prison to experience the taste of his butt suffering. That ngga made so many people's butts suffer, think about poor Bieber."
Everyone took turns mocking Diddy, who was in deep trouble. Near the end of work, Bonnie pushed the door open and walked in.
Her face looked different from usual. Even with a thick layer of foundation, traces of dark circles could be seen, looking like she had overindulged.
Phil couldn't help mocking, "You really need to find a boyfriend. A woman's hormones in her twenties are as turbulent as a flood."
Bonnie glared at the old geezer fiercely and didn't reply. Even Leon couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with you recently?"
"I was followed by a freak. That guy is a fanatical fan of mine and locked my location through the IP address." Bonnie complained, "I often feel a figure near the apartment. For this reason, I bought a pistol for self-defense."
"Do you want to call the police? Or let Jorge help you teach that guy a lesson? Sexual crimes in New York are increasing."
"I don't think so. That guy stole a pair of high heels and disappeared, leaving a hard drive and a note at the door."
"What was written on the note?"
Under everyone's questioning, Bonnie blushed and said the content of the note:
[Beautiful Ms. Bonnie, your shoes are the most wonderful gift I received for my 30th birthday! I am a poor man, still living in my mother's basement. Please forgive me for only being able to fulfill my dream in this way. There are 100 Bitcoins in this hard drive, which is the only property I own.]
"I'm going to vomit. What kind of freak treats women's shoes as treasure?" Phil held his stomach, unable to straighten up from laughing. "Bitcoins? This is simply too stupid. Bonnie, if you need it, I have hundreds of millions of Phil Coins here, willing to dedicate them to you anytime."
Bonnie was almost driven to violence by the old geezer's continuous mockery. Leon came out in time to smooth things over.
"Keep this hard drive safe. Maybe it will be very valuable in the future."
"No way? You actually believe in the value of this pile of digital garbage?" Phil's eyes widened, unable to believe these words came from his mouth.
"Shut your damn mouth."
Leon used to be dismissive of this invisible and intangible "digital asset," but after communicating with Musk, he changed his view.
Musk told him: When a pile of dog sht cannot be tracked or located, and can be carried around without even needing to be put in a bank or vault, then this pile of dog sht has value.
After a brief dispute, Bonnie remembered the serious business. She placed a stack of documents on the desk. "The Grammy Awards will start on the 2nd of next month. NARAS (The Recording Academy) hopes you can replicate the Shallow performance from New Year's Eve at the awards ceremony."
Leon rested his head on his hands and looked up at the ceiling. Since he didn't release a new album in 2011, he didn't have much hope for this year's Grammy Awards.
The Academy announced the nomination list at the end of last year. Kanye West led with 7 nominations, and Adele, Foo Fighters, and Bruno Mars each received 6 nominations.
Compared to them, the high-profile couple Leon and Taylor paled in comparison, receiving only 4 nominations combined.
Phil comforted, "Don't be discouraged, kid. After this Grammy Awards, it will be your era. Everyone can only watch helplessly as you recreate the dominance of the MJ era!"