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Aside from Panda, Leon's own new song Blinding Lights was also set to be released this week.
Tim placed a massive order of 1.5 million copies with the printing factory in one go, including 100,000 vinyl records.
In the environment of rapid streaming development, this was an unmistakably grand gesture, but everyone at Columbia Records was full of confidence in the sales prospects.
Car CDs would be a huge market, and demand might exceed supply.
No young person could refuse to nod along to the drumbeats of Blinding Lights while stepping on the gas pedal.
Phil stood up to leave, but suddenly turned his head at the door and said, "By the way, the Knicks are willing to give you a set of season tickets, front row, most conspicuous seats, intimate contact with the players. Maybe you should take some time to show your face at Madison Square Garden. It's a win-win for everyone."
Because he wore the Knicks championship ring all year round, Leon was naturally considered a die-hard fan of the team.
Counting from when trust-fund baby owner James Dolan took over, the New York Knicks had been tanking for nearly ten years.
The team's winning percentage hadn't exceeded 50%, and they only made the playoffs once in the 2003-04 season.
Backed by New York's huge basketball market, it's hard to manage a team so poorly without having something wrong in the head.
The Knicks have repeatedly been named the worst-managed team in the NBA, and even local New York fans agree with both hands raised.
"Watching Knicks games is torture." Leon held his forehead. "If James Dolan didn't have a dad named Charles Dolan, he'd be despised even for breeding alpacas in Texas."
"Hahaha, I agree with you." Phil grinned and laughed loudly. "But don't say these things in public... You know Dolan's power in the TV entertainment industry."
As the owner of the New York Knicks and the president of Cablevision, James Dolan has long been rated as "the most hated trust fund baby by New Yorkers."
Alcohol abuse, drug use, explosive temper...
After two years in rehab, the 40-year-old Dolan finally returned home, reformed, and took over the family business from his father.
There was a particularly dramatic detail during the transfer of power. When James Dolan took office, the media asked his father why he gave the CEO position to James Dolan.
The usual official answer would definitely be to praise him, trust him, and support his son when he takes office.
As a result, old Dolan spoke bluntly: mainly because the other children didn't want this position.
But no matter how much a trust fund baby acts out, the public wouldn't scold him for no reason.
It just so happened that when a trust fund baby became a team owner and ruined the games people loved to watch most, it was different.
In 1997, Cablevision acquired Madison Square Garden Company, which owned the NBA basketball team New York Knicks and the NHL hockey team New York Rangers.
The gears of fate turned, marking the beginning of bad luck for both him and New York fans.
Just when everyone thought the Knicks couldn't achieve a worse record next year, this team always lived up to expectations and refreshed the lower limit.
Chased and scolded by New York citizens for more than ten years, the stubborn Dolan was also breaking down a bit, and was even seriously considering selling part of the Knicks shares, then fading into the background.
"You have achieved dazzling results in the TV entertainment industry, and Dolan appreciates you very much." Phil said, "If you go to the Knicks game, you'd better talk to him and beg him not to torture the poor New York fans anymore."
Leon turned the ring on his hand. he had once really fantasized about buying part of the Knicks shares, but unfortunately, the thickness of his wallet didn't allow it.
The sports culture industry was in a trough after the impact of the financial crisis. Last year, Michael Jordan spent $275 million to buy the vast majority of the Charlotte Bobcats' shares, becoming the team owner.
Just one year later, the original $275 million had inflated to $310 million.
Many giants in the fintech industry also had their eyes on sports clubs, treating this as a good asset allocation plan.
But imagination can only be imagination. The New York Knicks currently have a total market value of $680 million, beating the Los Angeles Lakers to top the league as the most expensive team.
After shelling out $40 million for the Ready Player One crew, Leon only had $80 million in liquid funds left, which would hardly move the wealthy Dolan to transfer shares at a suitable price.
At present, acquiring radio station Z100 seemed more reliable than investing in an NBA team.
At 3 PM, Sean, who had said hello in advance, arrived at Apocalypse Music at the agreed time.
Holding a file bag and looking left and right, he looked like a guilty thief.
"Boss, everything you arranged for me is done!" He put the file bag on the desk.
"Calm down, freak... You look like a drug dealer."
Leon opened the file bag, and more than a hundred photos were spread on the table.
In the photos, Jay-Z was wearing sunglasses, holding hands with Rachel Roy, who was wearing a pink low-cut tight dress, strolling on Fifth Avenue like a couple.
In addition, there were photos of his intimate dates with numerous black models.
"Just this?"
Leon curled his lips. None of these sneak shots met his expectations.
He wanted explicit content, passionate scenes of Jay-Z and Rachel rolling in the sheets like stars in an adult film.
Only that would have enough lethality.
"I've tried my best." Sean spread his hands. "Jay-Z is very cautious. He never books a hotel room; he goes directly to Rachel's apartment."
"Didn't you promise me before that you would get the most professional paparazzi to do this job?"
Sean couldn't lift his head under the boss's questioning and hemmed and hawed, "That was just an exaggeration. No one can really get into a celebrity's pants, or hide under the bed to take sneak shots..."
"Fck, how did you learn to talk back?" Leon knocked on the table, and the other party immediately buried his head lower.
The Rap of America achieved huge success, and Sean, as the director, was obviously getting a bit carried away.
He often posed as a "hero" in the company, with such a big pomp that he hired two male secretaries.
"A guy shameless enough to crawl into a celebrity's pants..."
While cursing, Leon suddenly thought of something, and a name flashed through his mind.
Gary Ferson!
The Maggot of Los Angeles!
As long as the pay was right, no matter how ridiculous the job, he always had a solution!
"Call Gary; I want to see him immediately!" Leon lit a Chunghwa cigarette and ordered.
"That's right... How did I forget this shameless bastard?"
Sean quickly took out his phone, found Gary's name in the address book, and called. "Mr. Leon wants to see you!"
Hearing this name, Gary's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly found an excuse to decline. "Sorry, I'm not in New York right now..."
Leon snatched the phone and said in a deep voice, "Listen, bastard, I don't care where you are. Even if you are in L.A. hugging a Slavic woman discussing spy business, get your ass over here to see me immediately!"
After speaking, he hung up without waiting for the other party to respond.
An hour later, Gary appeared on time as expected.
He was wearing a black trench coat, a mask, and sunglasses, wrapped up tightly from head to toe.
"Are you cosplaying Rorschach from Watchmen?" Leon mocked.
"I just want to keep as low a profile as possible..."
In Gary's line of business, if he were recognized on the street, a beating was inevitable.
Leon took out a cigarette from the pack and threw it to him.
With his feet on the table, he asked, "I want to talk to you. Did Braun give you any new tasks recently?"
"No..."
"Really?"
Looking at Leon's eyes, Gary soon couldn't stand the pressure and told the truth. "Braun only called me once, asking if you had talked to me."
"How did you answer?"
"Of course I said no! I'm not a fool!"
"Very good. Listen, Gary, I have a task for you now. We'll negotiate the pay until you are satisfied."
Gary hemmed and hawed, daring not to agree.
The scene of the conflict between Leon and Jay-Z at the AMAs yesterday left a deep impression on him.
Entertainment reporters treated it as fun.
But as a professional cleaner, he knew better than anyone that both of them were ruthless characters who really had the power to make the other party physically disappear.
"It depends on the specific content of the commission."
"Don't be nervous; you are very good at this." Leon showed the photos on the table. "Help me follow the people in the photos and take some artistic pictures."
Hearing this, Gary breathed a sigh of relief. Except for murder, he took almost any job, and sneak shots were his specialty.
As long as the dollars were right, he even dared to photograph the seventy-year-old witch Patricia on Capitol Hill. This wasn't just talk.
"You want me to sneak shots of Jay-Z?"
When he looked closely and saw the dark figure in the photo clearly, Gary couldn't help frowning.
"That's right. What you have to do is follow this actress named Rachel closely. The more explicit, the better!"
"Boss, this isn't that simple..." Gary hesitated.
He couldn't afford to offend Street Jesus, and Jay-Z was also a ruthless character with a drug-dealing background.
Judging from the information exposed by the police so far, Diddy was involved in at least three murder cases, including Tupac, and there were probably more victims who had not been exposed.
The blood on Jay-Z's hands wouldn't be less than Diddy's. In an interview, he was once asked by the host if he had ever killed anyone.
Facing the nonsensical question, Jay-Z looked serious and answered personally: "Yes."
"Can't this be done? You dared to take the commission to smear me for $300,000, but you don't even dare to sneak shots of Jay-Z?"
Leon stood up and paced back and forth in front of him to exert psychological pressure. "This is very simple. Just take a few photos and you can get $200,000!"
Gary's left brain and right brain fought fiercely. After nearly a minute of silence, he gritted his teeth and agreed, "Fck!! I'll take this job! But you have to add more money!"
Snap—Leon snapped his fingers. "No problem! As long as you can capture what I want!"
"Photos? How about video? The quality that can be posted directly to PornHub!"
"Awesome! That's what I want!"
Leon could no longer hold back the smile on his face. It seemed he found the right person for this!
But the next second, hearing the price quoted by the other party, he was immediately splashed with cold water—$500,000.
"Are you crazy, you greedy bastard?" Sean exclaimed, pinching his throat.
"You know the market. This is already a rock-bottom price..." Gary said.