boxer to hollywood

At the Link Music Company, Eva stood by the panoramic floor-to-ceiling window in the president's office, quietly listening to Link's new song. With a light hum, she tapped the remote, and the next track, "Girls Like You," started playing.

The upbeat rhythm helped Eva relax, her shoulders easing as she began to snap her fingers and sway to the music, her curves subtly moving under her fitted dress.

Knock, knock, knock!

The sound of knocking came from outside the office. Eva paused the music, turned off the player with the remote, and sat back down at her desk, saying, "Come in."

George Kaplan, the executive director of Link Music, and Bob Harrison, the head of the distribution department, walked in and greeted her.

"Is there something you need?" Eva asked, looking at her two trusted assistants.

Both men were among the earliest members of Link Music's management team, each over forty with more than ten years of experience in the industry, which is why Eva had recruited them as elite members.

Their performance in recent years had indeed been exceptional. In the early days, Link Music had nothing but a few million dollars—no recording studio, no distribution channels, no record production facilities, and no stable promotional avenues.

With these executives in place, Link Music's distribution network was quickly established. The distribution department now independently handles distribution in the US and Canada, without relying on the major labels.

Link's ability to maintain popularity and exposure is also attributed to the continuous marketing and promotion efforts of the Link publicity department.

George Kaplan's excellent performance in the publicity department led Eva to promote him to the position of executive director at the end of last year, assisting with managing Link Music's operations.

These two were action-oriented, and upon meeting, they got straight to the point, informing Eva that in the half-day since the release of "The Woman I Love," distributors from twenty-eight states had called, requesting additional stock.

Some states wanted 10,000 copies, others 50,000 copies—totaling over 600,000 copies.

"Already requesting restocks today?" Eva asked in surprise. The first batch of "The Woman I Love" consisted of one million copies, which had been completely distributed to the states after the listening session last week, with an average of 20,000 copies per state.

The plan was to restock based on sales data after the first batch sold out. The second batch was also one million copies, with subsequent batches determined by the sales speed of the second batch.

But in just half a day since release, twenty-eight states were requesting additional stock.

"This rate far exceeds the company's and distributors' expectations."

Eva asked, "How many copies are left in the warehouse?"

"There are only 200,000 copies in reserve," George Kaplan replied.

"First, distribute to the areas with the most urgent restock requests, then contact the production plant to print an additional 500,000, no, one million copies, and urge them to speed up printing and packaging."

Eva instructed calmly.

"Got it, President!" Bob Harrison nodded.

George Kaplan then discussed promotional strategies with Eva.

Originally, they planned to continue with the second album's promotional model for the third album. However, they found that the promotion was underwhelming.

The reason was that during the promotion of the second album, Link had been embroiled in a public feud with an East Coast rap crew and was competing with Jay-Z for album chart positions, generating substantial media buzz. Moreover, the release of the hit song "See You Again," along with various high-profile events, had kept Link in the media spotlight, increasing exposure significantly.

For the third album's release, despite the boost from news about the Grammy Awards, Super Bowl, and Oscars, the promotional effect was not as strong. To bridge the gap, the publicity department needed to invest more funds and enhance promotional efforts.

Eva pondered and decided that the publicity department should draft a new marketing plan, aiming for something more innovative. If it looked promising, she would approve it.

George Kaplan and Bob Harrison nodded and left the office.

Eva, with her slender fingers crossed, thought quietly for a moment, then took out her phone and called Link. After a few rings, Anna answered, informing her that Link was practicing boxing and would be done around three in the afternoon. Anna asked if there was an urgent matter.

Eva said there was nothing urgent, ended the call, and reopened her music player, letting Link's voice fill her ears again.

"I need a girl like you

Yay yay

I need a girl like you

Yay yay"

— 

In Los Angeles, Link left the Muscle Beach boxing gym around four in the afternoon. He could have finished earlier, but De La Hoya had come by to discuss something.

De La Hoya had heard the new songs from Link's third album and had an idea. Since their fight was scheduled for late November, De La Hoya suggested holding a concert before the boxing match with himself as a guest performer.

Link thought it was a good idea and asked him to sing a song. De La Hoya hesitated, saying he wasn't ready yet but would practice if Link agreed. Link didn't object.

"Boss!" Anna got out of the car and handed his phone back to him.

"While you were training, President Eva, Mandy, Selena, Paul Walker, Emma Stone, and sixteen others called. Your phone also received over fifty congratulatory messages."

As Anna spoke, Link's phone buzzed again. It was Emma Watson from London, asking if he was done and mentioning that his album had caused a sensation in the UK.

"Someone You Loved" debuted at number one on the UK singles chart, and other tracks like "Everything You Need," "The Woman I Love," and "Here With You" had all made it into the top ten, with twelve songs in the top 40. Emma Watson said that everywhere in the UK was discussing the album and his songs had swept the British music scene.

Link was a bit skeptical. Although these songs had been top ten hits in various countries, they had been significantly altered in terms of lyrics and arrangement. Could they still achieve such success?

He texted back, "Really?" and Emma Watson quickly called to confirm that it was true. She explained that many people were playing his songs everywhere she went—be it in shops, bars, or dance halls.

Link thought her comments might be slightly exaggerated. It could just be that she heard his songs in a few places and felt it was widespread. Nevertheless, this was great news. Regardless of how things went in the US, the album's promotion in the UK was evidently very successful, highlighting the strong overseas distribution capability of Universal Music.

After chatting with Emma for a while, she asked when he would be touring the UK. Link estimated it would be around July or August, if everything went smoothly.

After ending the call with Emma, Link received another message from Adele. Adele also mentioned that his album was very popular in London and admitted that she hadn't been optimistic about this album before its release. She thought his voice was better suited for inspirational and rock music.

But after listening to the album, she changed her mind, praising Link's voice for its unexpected softness and emotional depth. She joked that if he sang love songs with this voice, very few people could resist.

Link was relieved to hear Adele's high praise. Before the album's release, he had been worried about his performance and had even re-recorded some tracks with Graham and others. Despite these efforts, he was still anxious about the possibility of the album flopping.

Adele's positive review eased his pressure by about 50%. He asked Adele which song she liked the most from the album. Adele replied that she enjoyed "Girls Like You" for its innovative style and upbeat mood, perfect for dancing.

Link smiled and guessed that Adele might not be in the best mood recently. He joked that he would take her dancing the next time he was in London. Adele agreed but quickly added that she didn't want to be rumored to be dating him.

After chatting with Adele, Link checked his messages and found over sixty unread texts and more than ninety-nine unread emails. 

Among the texts were congratulatory messages from Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kesha, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and others, all praising his album. Even top directors like Quentin Tarantino and Stallone, and actors like Jet Li, had sent their congratulations.

Link counted the messages and realized that even if each person bought one copy, it would add up to a significant number. He imagined there were many more people who bought the album without sending messages.

He sat in the car, replying to messages, and chatted with those who were online. For those who weren't, he simply expressed his thanks.

After finishing his replies, he checked his computer, responding to congratulatory emails and looking at Twitter. His Twitter followers had surged by over six million since the Super Bowl, bringing the total to 21.25 million, making him the most-followed celebrity on Twitter.

His latest tweet had over fifty thousand new comments, mostly positive feedback. Comments like "Amazing," "An album worth ten albums," "Every song is worth listening to a hundred times," and "The album of the year" filled his feed. 

The praise was so overwhelming that it seemed like paid reviews. Some skeptics even questioned where they could sign up for this "paid review" gig.

The most liked comment was asking why Link hadn't updated his status on Twitter on the album's release day. The tweet had 120,000 likes.

Link chuckled and tweeted that he was training for the upcoming boxing match and hadn't had time to update his status. He then retweeted the Link Music studio's announcement about the album release and mentioned ongoing giveaways.

The prizes included the 2009 MTV Best Male Artist trophy and the Grammy for Best New Artist.

 He explained that the American Music Awards trophies had already been given away, and the Grammy for Best Production was not included in the giveaway.

The giveaway would continue until May, with rules similar to the previous one. Fans were excited, as winning one of these prestigious trophies would be very cool.

After updating his Twitter, his tweet received over thirty thousand likes in less than ten minutes and was shared by thousands, including several famous celebrities.

Many fans also commented that the album was selling out too quickly in stores, urging him to contact distributors to restock more copies.

Link was surprised that even with an initial release of one million copies, some places had already sold out on the first day. How many copies would the album sell in its first week?

(End of Chapter)