"Ten million dollars." Stringer finally presented a rather aggressive promotional plan. "This is just the initial promotional cost. Our plan will cover the entire year."
This result already satisfied Leon quite a bit. For a newcomer attempting to break into the mainstream market for the first or second time, the total promotional cost is usually between $200,000 and $1,000,000.
For artists like Cardi B who had been tested by the market, the total promotional cost for a debut album wouldn't exceed $5 million.
In 2011, Lady Gaga's highly anticipated album Born This Way burned through a crazy $20 million in the promotional phase—treatment only top superstars could enjoy.
"Thank you for your trust." It didn't take long for Leon to agree to the proposal.
Dropping $10 million upfront meant the total cost for the year wouldn't be less than $20 million. The promotional resources were at least on the same level as Lady Gaga.
Finally, the meeting confirmed that the new album would be released on March 29th. The standard edition would include ten songs, with the CD priced at $15.99.
Half a month later, a deluxe commemorative edition would be released, featuring five more songs than the standard edition, mainly drawn from the Imagine Dragons catalog and live versions of released works like We Don't Talk Anymore.
With the mindset of fleecing fans whenever possible, Leon had some complaints about the pricing.
$15.99 wasn't low, but it depended on who you compared it to.
Taylor had personally mentioned that for her new album Red releasing this year, the standard edition would start at no less than $20.
Leon's fans included many street thugs, while Taylor's fans were mostly middle-class girls with money and time.
Considering the spending power of their fan bases, there was nothing to complain about.
"Sweetheart, go get the best champagne. Today is worth celebrating properly." Stringer adjourned the meeting and turned to instruct his secretary.
"I don't drink Ace of Spades," Leon quickly added.
"Don't worry. Don't you know I love old-school? I don't like artificially packaged products."
Stringer smirked awkwardly. In fact, to please Beyoncé, he had bought at least a thousand bottles of Ace of Spades.
Ten minutes later, only seven core executives, including Stringer and Tim, remained in the conference room.
Tim opened the champagne and respectfully poured for Leon. "If there was a time acceleration button right now, I would jump to March 29th without hesitation. We are witnessing the birth of a superstar."
"I'll take your word for it, buddy." Leon was in a good mood and downed half a glass of champagne in one go.
At this moment, the conference room door was pushed open a crack. Stringer frowned; he had just ordered his secretary not to let anyone disturb them.
When he saw a plump, dark-golden leg extending through the crack, his expression changed immediately.
He hurriedly got up from his solid wood chair. "Long time no see, Ms. Beyoncé~"
Leon looked in that direction. Beyoncé had been deeply troubled by her divorce lawsuit recently and looked somewhat haggard.
But her figure hadn't thinned down because of it. Perhaps adopting a strategy of "eating to fight anxiety," her figure was noticeably fuller—especially that vibrant posterior, which wouldn't lose out even compared to the artificial Kardashian.
"You look like you're celebrating something." Beyoncé casually put down her handbag, a strange glint flashing in her eyes. "Leon is here too?"
"Long time no see, babe." Leon didn't use honorifics, generously hugging her. "We were just talking about the new album release."
"New album? Whose?" Beyoncé looked confused at first, then covered her mouth in surprise. "Your new album is coming out?"
"That's right."
"I'm so happy for you, honey. This album will definitely amaze everyone."
The two acted too intimately, leaving Stringer and the others hanging like air.
The executives looked at each other. Judging from their behavior, the rumors spread by tabloids might not be baseless.
These actions naturally didn't escape Stringer's eyes. He coughed awkwardly. "Everyone, let's get back to our posts and review today's meeting content properly."
With that, he also grabbed his champagne glass and left quickly.
The huge conference room was instantly empty. Beyoncé could no longer suppress her inner emotions.
The window period after a failed relationship is often when a woman is most vulnerable.
On this point, even a Diva cannot break the curse of hormones.
She urgently wanted to stick closer to Leon, preferably without a single gap.
"Wait." Leon looked around, guarding against being recorded by cameras. "Want to go for a walk?"
"How about right here? I haven't for a month..."
"Shh." Leon quickly put his finger against Beyoncé's lips, not daring to let her say anything too wild.
"We'd better change places to talk."
On the way, Beyoncé remained in low spirits. She rejected all date suggestions including restaurants, bars, and hotels.
Leon suddenly thought of a good place and drove the car under the rarely visited Brooklyn Bridge.
He ordered his minions to buy a few dozen beers, chatting and drinking with Beyoncé against the sunset view of the Manhattan skyline.
Beyoncé didn't care about the filth on the ground and sat down on the concrete.
Her glossy black stockings rubbed against the concrete gravel, immediately showing signs of tearing.
"How have you been lately?" Leon considerately draped his trench coat over her.
"Terrible as always. Jay-Z also hired a top legal team and is unwilling to make any concessions on asset division." Beyoncé gulped down a mouthful of beer, looking at the flow of the Hudson River with complex eyes.
Jay-Z, who labeled himself a wife-doting husband, once boasted that all wealth was far less important than his wife.
Now it sounded full of irony.
Unless the court ruled, there was no myth of walking away with nothing in the capitalist world.
"You know, I don't care about that wealth, but that bastard must pay the price, a painful price!"
"If you make a mistake, you have to pay the price. Even children understand this truth," Leon responded with a serious face.
"You know what? He actually told me that you orchestrated all this behind the scenes. It's simply ridiculous." Beyoncé smiled helplessly, her messy dark golden curly hair particularly eye-catching in the sunset.
"Not only ridiculous but also shameless." Leon shrugged. "How could I hurt you?"
"Luckily I have you by my side..." Beyoncé couldn't suppress the hormones she had held back for over an hour any longer, hooking her arm around Leon's neck and kissing him deeply.
He had fantasized about countless erotic and exciting scenes, but never thought it could be this exciting.
Exciting enough to be witnessed by the traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.
"We can't do this here..." With just one kick away from the goal, Leon's last bit of reason gained the upper hand, urgently shifting the battlefield to a hotel.
As soon as he pushed open the hotel suite door, Beyoncé was like a sharp leopardess, skipping all steps except bathing, pressing herself against him regardless of everything.
More than ten minutes later, Leon felt as if his soul had been sucked out.
Blowing smoke rings while staring at the ceiling.
Beyoncé, having been released, finally regained her Diva demeanor, cupping his cheeks and kissing him forcefully. "I'm sorry about what happened on Grammy night..."
"That's all in the past. Those guys with blood on their hands will definitely be judged."
"Is Jay-Z really involved in this? I can't believe it..." Beyoncé muttered to herself. Although she knew very well about her ex-husband's drug dealing background, she still dared not believe this fact.
"When you speculate about something like this, the truth is already in your heart."
"Oh god..." Beyoncé shook her head, afraid to think further. "The divorce lawsuit has caused him a lot of trouble. The ROC Kingdom is already in a semi-suspended state. Live Nation is considering taking full control."
Leon quickly sat up straight. These words from Beyoncé were as precious as spy intelligence.
In 2010, Jay-Z sold half of the shares of the ROC Kingdom he founded to the ticketing giant Live Nation.
The latter is the largest concert ticketing company in the US, with an annual turnover of nearly $10 billion.
Because of the divorce lawsuit, Jay-Z faced breaches of multiple endorsement contracts. The brand value of Rocawear, Ace of Spades champagne, and D'Ussé cognac shrank significantly.
The direct consequence of a series of chain reactions was a serious lack of control.
"Now he is negotiating with Live Nation. If he loses control of the ROC Kingdom, he might not get involved in the record business again in the short term." Beyoncé thought saying this would make Leon feel better.
Apocalypse Music and the ROC Kingdom were like fire and water on the East Coast, regarding each other as the biggest competitors.
Jay-Z quitting the record industry might allow Leon to walk out of the gloom of losing his best friend sooner.
"I don't think he's willing to abandon the empire he built with his own hands."
"Maybe you're right." Beyoncé turned over and straddled Leon, hoping to cheer him up. "His business advisors have long thought of a way out for him. You know he owns some shares in the Nets. In the future, he might focus on acquiring more team shares."
NBA team shares were appreciating rapidly as the shadow of the financial crisis faded, and it was now an investment direction that everyone in the rich circle flocked to.
"Don't mention that buzzkill name. You seem to have gotten fuller again." Leon pretended not to care, but his mind was churning.
If Jay-Z saw the NBA as a retreat, then he would get ahead and block all the roads!
Smack. He curled his lips into a wicked smile and slapped Beyoncé's taillight heavily.
Creating ripples that made it hard to look away.
Beyoncé leaned down, firmly grasping the initiative in her own hands. "Then you have to feel it properly. time went by too fast just now..."