George Strand was a little worried.

Not because the recording is bad, quite the opposite, but because the recording is too good. In George's view, "Don Quixote" has the potential to surpass Norah Jones' debut album "Flying Away" as the best album of the 21st century.

But such an album means that there is no market.

Back then, Norah Jones was full of expectations after recording "Flying Away", but few distribution companies were willing to take over the hot potato, and almost no one was optimistic about the album's market sales prospects. It took almost a year to go around and around before it was finally released by two independent record labels and was able to go public.

However, the market sales of "Flying Away" are terrible, and they are only circulating among senior professional music lovers, which also responds to the speculation of previous industry insiders.

Later, the Grammys not only awarded Nora eight trophies, tying Michael Jackson's single-term awarding record, but also rounding four major awards and sweeping thousands of troops.

Originally, "Flying Away" was the lowest-selling album among the four Grammy nominees, but after the ceremony, the Grammy effect doubled the album's cumulative sales in just one week — in other words, the albums sold in one week were equal to the sales of the past ten months.

Since then, over time, "Fly Away" has become one of the best albums in the United States since the beginning of the 21st century, with total sales exceeding 8 million copies, and it is also one of the highest-selling albums.

It was 2002, just a few years after the last boom in the music market in the 90s, and even that time it was already so difficult, let alone 2011. Not every album can replicate the miracle of "flying away", and not every good album can be recognized by the Grammys.

High and low is a big problem in any era, and even more so in the Internet age, where fast food culture is prevalent. The excellence of "Don Quixote" is precisely the fatal shackle.

It's cruel, ridiculous, and ridiculous, but that's what it is. What sells well is not necessarily the best, and the best does not necessarily sell well. The market is becoming more and more entertaining, more and more popular, more and more simple and crude.

Over the past few years, George has been actively contacting major record labels, including the Big Five, as well as independent record labels, and has contacted 17 record companies back and forth, expanding his network to the extreme, but achieving very little.

Even the small record labels in the UK that dare to produce avant-garde, experimental music need to think twice – after all, their distribution channels are effective, and cost recovery is naturally more difficult. They are more willing to support artists with local underground music backgrounds than albums made in the United States.

George was a box office hit of "Fast & Excitement 5", and George was originally dismissive, but his brain turned quickly, hoping to seize this opportunity to find a suitable partner for "Don Quixote". The result is still unsatisfactory, in the final analysis, the foundation of Lanli is still unstable, and now it is so prosperous, in fact, it is a layer of bubbles.

Abraham-Grey was George's first contact and his last hope.

Abraham worked for Atlantic Records, where he was an album producer and then production director, and now runs the recording department, where he is in charge of the overall style and tone of the album.

When it comes to Atlantic Records, everyone in the industry probably knows that it was the same company that drove the rise of Rhythm and Blues, the same company that signed Aretha-Franklin, not only the greatest soul queen in the American music market, but also brought soul music to its golden age, and the same company, which signed Led-Zeppelin, which is considered an important cornerstone of the rock era.

Although Atlantic Records was acquired by Warner Records, Warner still maintained their independent creativity, compared to other record companies, Atlantic Records, as a top record company, has always maintained a high degree of enthusiasm for independent music and artistic creation, which is really valuable. In the 21st century, Bruno-Mars is the artist who was created by Atlantic Records, and of course, Ed Sheeran, who George introduced to the past.

Before Ed, Abraham simply completed the signing, and next week, Ed's first single will be released in the UK, and Atlantic Records still wants to see the market's reaction before deciding on the release time of the album.

Ed's music style is a fusion of pop, folk, soul, hip-hop and other different styles, not the mainstream style of the current market, but the overall is more in line with the taste of contemporary young people, the market prospect is relatively brighter, but Lan Li's album is on the edge of the sword, unique, unique style can be said to be almost perfect to avoid all the key factors of market popularity, single-mindedly pursuing music and artistic breakthroughs.

This is even more capricious than "going away and flying high". Nora was only involved in the production of only three of the 14 songs on the album, and the artistic tone of the album was controlled by Jessie-Harris and several other producers. But "Don Quixote" almost did all the artistic creations by Lan Li alone.

For such an album, anyone will sweat in their palms, and in the current market environment, it is almost an ironclad project. Even a top-level superstar bonus like "Johnny Depp" doesn't necessarily work, let alone a small role like Lanley Hall?

Abraham, of course, was no exception. He can sign Ed Sheeran, but he can't sign Ranley Hall, even if it's just a Don Quixote.

When George approached him before, he mentioned the two songs "Cleopatra" and "Ophelia", and then took the opportunity to mention the album, Abraham did some market research and research, and listened to Lan Li's three current singles over and over again, but after all, he still lacked the courage to make a final decision.

After listening to it live in the studio today, on the one hand, I sighed even more, lamenting Lan Li's understanding and interpretation of music, which is a talent, a talent that others dream of, and on the other hand, it is even more suffocating, Abraham knows better than anyone that such an album is bound to struggle in the market, and over the years, the Grammys have gradually begun to compromise with the market, and it is difficult to find the courage to reward "go away and fly high" ten years ago, and this road has also been blocked.

While sighing and sighing, Abraham said that he was a willful young man, so he could only refuse bitterly. Deep down, he regrets more than anyone else, and he also understands George's ambitions and ideals, and the more this happens, the more regretful he becomes, but the more determined he refuses. Because this is a dream that is destined to be unattainable.

The reality, though brutal, cannot be denied.

"It's not difficult to make a commercial album, but it's not easy to make an art album. Anyone can make a commercial album, but an art album is not. A voice rang in his ears, and both Abraham and George looked up and followed the sound, and then the two exchanged glances, and Abraham noticed the confusion in George's eyes, and apparently did not understand what was happening.

Roy felt the gaze of the two people, stabilized himself a little, sorted out the thoughts in his mind, and continued, "Indeed, in the current market environment, making an art album is like making an art film, which is destined to lose money. For businessmen, no one wants to lose money, and no one will do it knowing that they will lose money, but for artists, they cannot give up the pursuit of art. ”

"The reason is very simple, if everyone doesn't make art, then no one will continue to do it in the future, and if there is no pursuit and persistence in art, then all movies may become 'Transformers' in the future, and all music will become electronic drumbeats." Roy's words are fast-paced, but his thoughts are very clear, like a machine gun, fast and accurate, and the amount of information is pouring out, "It's not that 'Transformers' is bad, it's not that electronic dance music is bad, in fact, I like 'Transformers' very much, and I'm looking forward to its release next week." But when the whole market is like this, it's a disaster. ”

"What we need to encourage is not the creation of art that is going more and more deviant, nor the artistic research that abandons commercial considerations, but the market where a hundred flowers are blooming. So, everyone is making commercial albums, but who is going to do art albums? Those record labels that really have a long-term vision and really have artistic value. ”

At this point, Roy didn't continue, his eyes fell on Abraham, and the subtext was: Yes, it's you, it's your record company.

Abraham was stunned, Roy crackled a lot of remarks, he really didn't answer for a while, and finally waited for the gap, and his smile couldn't help but rise.

Everyone understands the truth, but the reality does not work like this. Atlantic Records can take risks, but not gamble. Ed Sheeran is an adventure, while Ranley Hall is a gamble. The balance between art and commerce is pursued by everyone, but not everyone has such confidence, such capital, such courage, and such ability, even the Oscars and Grammys can't do it, let alone Atlantic Records?

Abraham opened his mouth, organized his language, and prepared himself to discuss it with Roy: it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.

But before he could speak, someone next to him interjected again, "I think this is a very interesting album, but I don't know, Lan Li is interested in giving it to our studio to release?"

Not Abraham, not George, but the man sitting at the very back of the couch, the one who didn't speak from beginning to end, almost ignored.