Abraham opened his mouth, but shook his head helplessly. It was a wayward choice, he knew, and he believed Teddy knew it.

For an album like "Don Quixote", don't expect to make money, losing less money can already be called a victory.

Now that the world's music market is sluggish, even though North America is still the most prosperous region, the glory of selling tens of millions of albums ten years ago is gone, and the current year-end best-selling album may not sell more than five million copies, and even more exaggeratedly, it only takes two million copies to make it to the top 20 or even the top 10 of the year-end sales list. You know, ten years ago, two million, even the top 50 may not be able to squeeze in.

From Abraham's professional point of view, the North American sales of "Don Quixote" should be between 150,000 and 200,000, at least, the hot name of "Lanli-Hall" is still somewhat influential, and with the drive of the two singles "Cleopatra" and "Ophelia", it is still possible to achieve this sales figure.

Abraham was not nonsense.

As a reference, Norah Jones's album "Flying Away" only sold for 600,000 before the Grammys, and that was 2002, when the market was still booming.

Recently, Bruno Mars' debut album "Doo-ops & Hoooligans" released last year has not sold more than 700,000 copies so far, which is the result of two nominations on the Grammys in February this year.

All things considered, Abraham believes that the sales of "Don Quixote" will never exceed 300,000, and even if a miracle happens, it will be extremely difficult.

$250,000 to produce an average album is the minimum standard in the industry now, and for an independent musician, the cost may be lower, but not much lower. Teddy also said just now that $100,000 is the upper limit, and it can be seen from this side that Teddy is clearly aware that this is a crazy gamble, and he is trying to minimize his losses as much as possible.

But the album is not completed after it is produced, the so-called "250,000" is just the cost of the recording and production stage, after that, it needs to be designed, packaged, burned, etc., and then it needs to be put on the shelves, released, promoted, etc., and every link needs to be paid. Although it is not said that the higher the publicity cost, the better the sales, but it is certain that if the publicity cost is too low, it will be difficult to create good sales results.

Record labels and distribution companies want to recoup costs and even make a profit: sales are the first factor, copyright is the second factor, but the revenue from copyright must also be based on the excellent performance of sales, creating more possibilities for the use of copyright. But if an album sells only 300,000, then making a profit is almost impossible.

That's why Abraham rejected George.

As a music lover, he loved Don Quixote and couldn't wait to see and listen to the full version, and he believed he would love it, but as the helmsman of Atlantic Records, he couldn't do anything he could—he couldn't nod his head knowing that Don Quixote was a loss-making deal.

What's more, at the end of the day, Atlantic Records is not his company, he is just a wage earner. Teddy could be willful and shed his blood for dreams and art, but he couldn't.

Come to think of it, maybe that's a good thing. At least one more company is willing to release Don Quixote, at least there are such independent record labels that tirelessly support artistic creation, at least there are producers who are willing to moth to a fire to create an album, and at least there are musicians who can remain calm and pursue artistic heights...... And most importantly, at least his wish can come true-

After the launch of Don Quixote, Abraham will definitely buy it, and more than one.

He hopes that this will be another album worth cherishing since the beginning of the 21st century. In the past ten years, such albums have become less and less, and they may not need to be counted on two hands, and the grand occasion of the seventies of the last century when there were a dozen or twenty classic collections a year will never go back. Therefore, he is more desperate than anyone else for the smooth launch of "Don Quixote", which is his simple hope as a music lover.

"Teddy, thank you. At the end of his heart, Abraham expressed his truest emotions at the moment to Teddy, "I really hope that this album can be successfully produced." "It's not politeness, it's not acting, it's sincere wishes and expectations. "I think there's a lot of work to be done in the future, so I'm not going to stay here anymore and I'm going to wait quietly for the album to come out when I get back. ”

Immediately, Abraham simply took his leave, leaving the space for them to work.

The joy came too quickly, and it was too unexpected, before he had time to say goodbye to Abraham, and then he was about to enter the formal cooperation negotiations, George's mind was full of thoughts, and he didn't know where to start for a while, looking at Teddy in front of him, George was a little unsure - because he really didn't know anything about the two Bell brothers, there were many rumors, but he never really dealt with each other.

"How many songs do you think are acceptable for this album?"

Just as George was thinking, someone next to him spoke, not Nathan, but the stranger who met for the first time today, he didn't even know the other party's name, let alone the identity of the other party, George looked at Nathan and cast an inquiring gaze, but Nathan didn't have time to speak, and the other party continued.

"I'm talking about the ceiling. For example, twenty songs, we only make an album on a double-sided disc, is that acceptable?"

Unhurried, not humble, unhurried, and most importantly, well-organized, steady, not too aggressive, but on topic. Just one conversation, Teddy was impressed by the person in front of him, and it could be seen that this was an old fritter with decisive and negotiation skills, "Why don't you introduce yourself before we get into the topic?"

Teddy was obviously not a soft persimmon either, and his humble and polite words directly ignored the other party's attack, and the subtext was to say, "In what capacity are you talking? Do you have the qualifications?" and instantly pulled the two sides back to the same starting line.

"Roy Lockley. Roy was not flustered, and introduced himself with a smile, "I'm talking on behalf of Lan Li now, and Nathan can testify." ”

Nathan, who was sitting next to him, looked at Roy in surprise with a question mark on his head, obviously not understanding what Roy was talking about, because Lan Li had never mentioned it to him, and Andy hadn't said it, so why did Roy say that? Also, why did Roy represent Lan Li? He thought that Roy was just Lan Li's friend.

Nathan could feel both Teddy and George's gaze projecting on, the pressure on his shoulders was a little breathless, what should he do? deny, or confirm?

Although Nathan was not involved in the conversation just now, he heard the whole thing. He doesn't understand the interests involved and detours, it doesn't mean that he is a fool, he knows that Roy is fighting for more rights and interests for Lan Li, and is also fighting for more opportunities for the album "Don Quixote", if it weren't for Roy, the current situation is probably still a fog.

I can't help but think of the last time I met Roy - at that time, surrounded by reporters, Roy successfully rescued Lan Li, and Lan Li and Roy had a good conversation. Isn't that a bit similar to today's situation?

Nathan secretly clenched his fists, made up his mind, even if he couldn't help, he couldn't hold Roy back, and then slightly bothered his words, "Yes, Roy is a very good partner of Lan Li. ”

Partner, this definition should be correct, right? A partner can be a friend, a collaborator, or a spokesperson. That shouldn't be helpful, right?

Deep down, Nathan was still a little unsure. Subconsciously raised his head to look at the recording booth, Lan Li was still engrossed in recording, his conversation with Herbert rang out from time to time, completely ignoring the rest of the studio, and then Nathan withdrew his gaze, highly focused, listening carefully to the discussion in front of him, before Lan Li finished his work, this was the only thing he could do now.

"Before signing the contract in black and white, I think Lan Li will read the contract carefully. Roy added, and the atmosphere was immediately relaxed, and George couldn't help but laugh.

Teddy could feel Roy's focused and concise gaze fall on him, polite but not backing down, he knew what the look meant: it was time to get down to business. Now Teddy is beginning to believe that this is indeed a master of negotiating on behalf of Lan Li, "about the tracks of the album ......"

Herbert took the huge earplugs, wrapped his whole ear in them, listened to it several times, and finally raised his head and made an "OK" gesture to Lan Li, his tense shoulders relaxed, and a happy mood appeared on his face.

The recording was finally coming to an end, and the original plan was to record sixteen songs, and then pick out ten of them, but in the process of recording, the number of works that could not be discarded increased, and now they have finished recording seventeen songs, and the last song, and then they will finish all the recordings.

Next, Herbert would move on to post-production and track selection, but picking out 10 of the 18 was a sweet and painful task, and just thinking about it made Herbert feel a pain in the cerebellum.

"Hey, what about them?" Lan Li opened the soundproof door and walked out, and then saw an empty recording studio, full of question marks.

"What?" Herbert didn't react, turned around and looked, and then also looked confused—

When did those people leave?