After closing the door and getting dressed with Ellie, Alex cleaned up the sofa and some other things left behind before going out to find Eric.
"Where's Old Joe?" he asked.
Bringing the girl over last night was just part of his plan. He needed an excuse to come to Old joe Music and then 'bump into' Old joe after he finished his promotional tour.
"He's not coming back this week; he went to Los Angeles."
Unexpectedly, I received bad news.
Alex could only ask Eric to drive him and Ellie home, and to try and find out what happened on the way. Eric wasn't very wary of him and told him everything that happened during the publicity campaign.
In Atlanta, Joe, on someone's advice, decided to hire a Hollywood PR firm to handle the album's promotion. Pablo, who preferred to work with Warner Music, vehemently opposed this, and the two had another big argument. Afterwards, Pablo abruptly left with Lori Jr., AK, Tony, and Silencer,' without even telling Joe where they were going. Joe, not wanting to bother with them, boarded a flight to Los Angeles alone.
"A Hollywood PR firm?"
Alex heart sank. He didn't know what a public relations company did, but since they could also handle album promotion, Old Joe clearly wanted to completely sever any possibility of cooperating with major record labels. What about his agreement with Daniel? Wouldn't the $10,000 referral fee and the $150,000 commission all go to waste?
First, we took Ellie home, and soon we heard women arguing inside.
Well, the family circumstances in the slums are all pretty much the same. Even the words Ellie's mother used to scold Ellie were exactly the same as the words Aunt Susie used to scold Connie.
Song Ya quickly told Eric to start the car and drive away. Once home, he immediately called Daniel.
"Public relations firms are like mercenaries, usually used for short-term cooperation. They prefer to take unconventional approaches and are good at creating big news for their clients to gain media attention and exposure."
Daniel, being an experienced man, quickly made his judgment: "Good PR firms in Hollywood are expensive. Based on current album sales, Joe isn't even making enough to pay their bills! I feel like Joe is losing his mind. We need to get to Los Angeles right away and intervene before he reaches an agreement with the PR firm!"
Helpless, Alex dialed Old Joe's number again. The 'chance encounter' plot had failed, so he had no choice but to lay his cards on the table. He was determined to earn Daniel's $10,000 referral fee.
"Hey, APLUS, what's up?" Old Joe's voice sounded tired.
Alex cut to the chase and stated his purpose directly, "Daniel Glass, the vice president of SBK Records, contacted me and said he wanted to meet with you. What do you think..."
"F*** you! You son of a bitch!"
As expected, Old Joe immediately started cursing, "You've all betrayed me!" After cursing, he planned to hang up the phone.
"Hey! Hey! Wait! Don't hang up! Boss, please, for the sake of the song I wrote for you! Okay?" Alex quickly tried to appeal to his emotions.
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. "Maybe we'd be happier without that song..." Old Joe slowly began, "Seven thousand cassette tapes sold out, I took a loss and left, Pablo was still my friend, Lowry was still that good kid... Money, it's all about money, money is everything..."
"Wasn't it pretty ruthless of you to kick El out of the game?" Alex thought to himself.
However, I still have to offer some advice. "Then you really need to have a good talk with Daniel. He's someone who has a lot of ideas about record releases. He convinced me, and I believe he can convince you too. Money is an issue, that song is an issue, so we need to find professionals to solve these problems. Just one meeting, okay?"
Old Joe took a deep breath, his attitude finally softening, "One meeting?"
"one!"
"Alright, I'll only give you this favor." Old Joe gave the name of a hotel.
"Thank you, boss!"
Alex invited Daniel, and the two took the next available flight straight to Angel City on the West Coast.
It was Alex first time on a plane after time travel, and his first time in Los Angeles. He had no interest in appreciating the scenery along the way. He led Daniel to the hotel where Old Joe was staying by taxi and knocked on the door.
The moment Daniel met Old Joe, he seemed to hear the jingling of a supermarket cash register in his mind. Ten thousand dollars in hand, wonderful!
There were two other guests, a short Black man and a chubby white man, who were saying goodbye to Old Joe.
After a brief self-introduction, Daniel asked, "Was that EAZY-E from NWA just now?"
"Hey, have a seat. Big E is here to discuss a collaboration with me too," Old Joe replied. He opened a bottle of wine, took out glasses from the wine cabinet, and poured wine for the two of them.
"Thank you for Big E's reputation…" Daniel hesitated, then stopped himself.
"I know what you're trying to say. Big E is dangerous and greedy, but he's undeniably good at music. NWA was built on the money he made from drug trafficking." Old Joe lay back on the sofa, raised his glass to Daniel, and gave him a toast. "And he has a wealth of experience in dealing with big record labels."
Sensing the barb in Old Joe's words, Daniel laughed. "I've heard APLUS mention Pablo's theories about major record labels. Unfortunately, he's just an outsider. The simple truth is, major record labels can't control everything. For example..." He gestured towards Old Joe, "You can listen to music from any company or individual almost anytime, anywhere. Major record labels can't control you. How can they monopolize? Distribution? Aren't you distributing records? Nobody can stop you. Of course, I won't deny the advantages of major record labels; they can control some channels, some awards, some media, but that's all. Many major record labels have hundreds of labels under their umbrella, and their own people fight tooth and nail. How can they monopolize? We at SBK weren't part of EMI before, and we're doing just fine. The real giants who can control an industry aren't in the record industry, but right here, in Los Angeles, Hollywood..."
Daniel is a marketing guru... "Go on." Old Joe was indeed interested in what he was saying.
"Unlike the record industry, the number of cinemas and screens nationwide is capped. If you want to see a new movie, you have to go to the cinema; you can't see it anywhere else. That's the real breeding ground for monopolies. So the seven major film studios here—Universal, Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Disney, and Columbia—oh wait, it should be called Sony Columbia now—they are the ones who can truly monopolize an industry," Daniel said. "Old Joe, partner with us. We're not Warner; we're better suited for releasing rap music. Ever heard of ICE ICE BABY?"
Old Joe chuckled dismissively. "A white man."
"Yes! Vanilla Ice is a white man! A white man who sings hardcore rap! And his singles sold like hotcakes!"
Daniel's words were incredibly impactful, and Old Joe fell into deep thought.
Alex , who was standing to the side, could definitely empathize. Last time, she was so fooled by Daniel that she lost all sense of direction.
"Guess what?" Daniel wouldn't give his con artist a chance to breathe. "We're planning to heavily promote APLUS's single and elevate you to the same level as Lowry. Everyone in the industry knows your chorus is way better than his rap! He's the lead singer on that song, and so are you! If you're willing, SBK can even sign you to a singer contract. From now on, for every concert, every commercial performance, every award ceremony, as long as you're willing, Lowry will never be able to leave you behind to go solo! Never…"