Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 673 - 487: The Artist and the Capitalist

Compared to them, Link felt quite innocent.

"Alright, we'll let you off for now, Link. You're just in time. We have some serious matters to discuss with you,"

Lady Gaga and the others called him over to sit down and talk about their serious matters.

What they asked about was related to Spotify.

Spotify had now entered North America, and many musicians uploaded their songs to the platform for distribution.

Link and a few other singers included, Spotify also acquired rights through purchasing copyrights, securing playback rights to tens of millions of songs. Currently, Spotify's platform boasts over 30 million tracks, not any less than Amazon's music store and iTunes' music library.

Unlike the other two, Spotify was currently offering free music. Many songs that cost money on other platforms were free to listen to on Spotify, including the new songs of popular artists, advocating thin profit margins and high turnover.

Spotify provided both free and paid services. Free users would encounter ads while using Spotify's service, while paid users had no ads and enjoyed higher sound quality, at 9.99 US dollars a month.

Free users could not freely switch songs on mobile and could not play offline, whereas paid users could.

Spotify primarily profited through traffic, advertisements, and some paid subscriptions.

After uploading songs to the Spotify platform, artists would receive a portion of the royalties.

Each time a song was played, the copyright holder of the song could approximately earn 0.008 US dollars.

If all the song's rights were with the artist, they would receive the full 0.008 dollars; however, apart from independent artists, most songs' rights were owned by record labels.

In this respect, the artists' earnings would be less.

This was also why Katy Perry and the others were reluctant to have their songs played on Spotify.

The record labels, however, were positive about this, as apart from Link Music, the other major record labels also held a considerable share in Spotify.

With this model, record labels would not only receive a portion of the song royalties but also a share of Spotify's profits.

This situation thus caused conflict between record labels and their signed artists.

For assertive artists like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, the company would consult them before uploading their songs to Spotify and proceed with their consent.

For musicians with little to no rights to their music, having their songs go through streaming media channels was inevitable. For example, Kesha, who held no rights to her songs with the company.

Lady Gaga and the others consulted him, asking whether it was worthwhile for new songs to go through free channels.

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Link didn't comment on whether it was worthwhile, only explaining that it's the internet age, and distributing songs through streaming media was a trend.

In 2009, the music market's total revenue was 14 billion, with streaming media at only 600 million, whereas this year, the music market's total revenue reached 16.4 billion dollars, with global digital music sales at 4.8 billion dollars, accounting for 30% of the total sales, an increase of nearly eight times compared to 2009.

Many musicians were initially resistant to online streaming, believing digital music was killing music. However, the current situation shows that streaming media is also saving the music market, with iTunes, Spotify, online streaming, radio, and other platforms playing significant roles.

"Will putting our songs on a free platform cheapen our music?"

Katy Perry asked.

The others nodded; musicians are artists and their songs are works of art—no one wants their creations to become cheap.

Link replied with a light smile, acknowledging that doing so would make songs cheaper, but that it was inevitable.

In the age of the internet information explosion, there were myriad entertainment options that could replace music: movies, music, online games, novels, news, and so on. Watching movies and listening to music used to be a luxury many couldn't afford. Now, they can be consumed anytime, anywhere via phone or computer.

Moreover, rarity confers value. In the past, communication was poor, and it might take months to hear a new song. Now, there are millions of songs on the internet. The sheer quantity inevitably leads to a devaluation of music, and not just songs—movies, games, novels, and more are also becoming cheaper.

If you still treat music as a work of art and are unwilling to lower your stance, you risk being eliminated.

"Link, the more I listen to you, the more you sound like a capitalist, thinking from a capital standpoint rather than that of a singer,"

Kerry Underwood teased, nudging Taylor Swift who was sitting next to her.

Link shook his head and glanced at Taylor, saying, "The main purpose of music is to entertain the masses. The more people hear it, the more valuable it becomes. Before the internet, it was hard for local artists to have their songs heard around the world, and our fans were limited to Europe and America. The same goes for movies – previously, only the wealthier were willing to spend money on albums and movies. With free platforms, even those who are less well-off can enjoy beautiful, popular music. Doesn't that count as a form of equality of human rights?"

"..."

Hearing him say that, everyone was at a loss for a rebuttal. He spoke of free music as something noble, making those who wanted to profit from music seem rather vulgar.

Only Taylor wrinkled her nose in disdain for his argument, "If everyone listens to free songs, musicians won't be able to realize their value or receive the respect they deserve, losing passion and motivation for creation, which will lead to a serious decline in the quality of musical works. This trend is already emerging on the internet with more and more bad songs. Do you think that's better?"

"Taylor is absolutely right!"

The crowd nodded in agreement, taking Taylor's side.

Link smiled lightly, "Not necessarily. Let me give you a figure: Currently, Spotify has 32 million registered users worldwide. My new album was listened to by about 22 million users on Spotify within just one month of its release, including 4 million paying subscribers. The royalties from the free platform have already reached 25% of the physical album revenues, and this percentage will only grow larger in the future, with profits not falling short."

"That's because you are a shareholder of Spotify and others can't enjoy such perks," Katy Perry said.

"No, the distribution of promotional resources on the Spotify platform is mainly based on the quality of the song, allocated according to big data. The higher the quality of the song, the more promotional resources the artist gets.

I think for competitive singers like you guys, it wouldn't be a bad idea to treat Spotify as a promotional channel. If you can secure most of the promotional resources, your earnings won't be less than from selling physical albums. If you're interested, you could try it out with a few songs," Link suggested.

Katy Perry and the others nodded in acknowledgment.

In fact, Link very much wanted to persuade them to join Link Music, which was a major shareholder of Spotify. Joining Link Music would grant them corresponding shares.

For example, Mars and Lana Del Rey own more than 1% of Link Music shares, worth over ten million dollars, and Wiz Khalifa owns less than 1%, with his shares expected to increase gradually. Even if they stop singing in the future, they would still receive a hefty amount of royalty distributions and company profit shares every year.

Having shares in Link Music means artists not only get royalty distributions from Spotify but also a share of Spotify's profits, killing two birds with one stone.

However, recruiting publicly might tag him as a capitalist, seeming to exploit them. Link decided to hold off and leave these matters to his agents to handle.

——

After a brief conversation, the Grammy Awards ceremony began.

Several new artists who debuted last year were invited to perform, including Ariana Grande and Charlie Puth. Ariana Grande sang her original new song "Put Your Hearts Up", while Charlie Puth performed "We Don't Talk Anymore" in collaboration with Selena.

Seeing Selena in a sexy dress, wearing mature makeup, twisting and turning on stage, Link felt the urge to laugh. She seemed to have grown up, yet not quite, still having the air of dressing up in adult clothes.

Turning back, he noticed Taylor glanced at the stage, and he put away his smile, asking, "When is your new album dropping?"

"Why do you ask?"

Taylor, watching the performance in front, asked lightly with a small curl at her lips.

"You'll be busy with the album release, not having time to watch the kids at home. I can look after Alexander and Cynthia for that period," Link said.

"No need. Based on your past behavior, I don't think you can take good care of them," Taylor said dismissively.

"In the past? I've never involved them in anything dangerous. Alright, even if I have, I'll correct that. I promise they'll eat happily, play happily, like little angels. How does that sound?" Link asked softly.

Taylor didn't respond and continued to watch the performance on stage.

After the opening performances, Neil Burton, the chairman of the awards, came on stage to reminisce about Whitney Houston, mentioning how at the age of 19 when she debuted, she had "an afro, a beautiful face, and a angelic voice."

This stirred a wave of sighs among the audience.

After the tribute, the ceremony started handing out the awards.

This year, the Grammys saw significant changes, reducing the number of categories from 109 to 78.

Previously separate categories like Best Pop, Best R&B, and Best Country performances were consolidated into the Best Pop Vocal Album of the Year. Additionally, distinctions between male and female performers were eliminated, leaving only a single Best Pop Singer award.

The reduction in categories made the competition much fiercer.

That night, Adele became the biggest winner of the ceremony, winning 5 out of 6 nominations and taking home some of the most prestigious awards, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video.

The Fighter Jet Band won 4 out of 6 nominations with their new album "Walk", claiming the most important rock categories, including Best Metal Performance, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album.

Kanye West won 2 out of 7 nominations, securing Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song.

Taylor smoothly won Best Children's Album.

Bruno Mars, with 6 nominations, took home Best Pop Vocal Album.

Renowned American folk singer Justin Vernon became the biggest dark horse of the Grammys, capturing the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album awards.

Link had previously announced that he would not be accepting awards, so he only attended as a presenter.

Overall, this year's Grammys were somewhat surprising but generally met expectations.

Without Link's participation, Taylor and "Fruit Sister" not releasing official albums last year, and Lady Gaga and Beyonce's new albums receiving a lukewarm response, Adele had a chance to shine this year, and her new album indeed had the strength to back it up.

After the Grammy Awards, Taylor and the two kids moved from Nashville to Los Angeles. Link arranged a private jet to personally pick them up and squatted at Taylor's new mansion to play with the kids for two days.

By mid-February, "Buried" was set to premiere in North America, not long before his boxing match, so he had to get busy again.