Rivals in the Same Business

After saying goodbye to Cooper, Song Ya went out of his way to buy a copy of Cooper's new CD and give it a listen. The whole album was full of women, drugs, money, street gangs, and violence—classic gangsta rap. It seemed that, in response to the black community's accusation that he wasn't "street enough," Cooper had chosen to answer by getting even more street. He hadn't held back on either the album or the movie.

With the Thrift Shop single selling so well, Old Joe and Little Lowry could hardly avoid bringing Song Ya up during interviews. Now everyone knew that the Thrift Shop's songwriter, APLUS, was a good kid who excelled both academically and morally. It was praise, but to some extent it could also alienate him from certain parts of the black community, just as Cooper was experiencing now.

Not to mention that he'd already had a bit of a "misunderstanding" with New York's black music scene.

"Don't go copying him."

During the flight, Hayden took off his headphones. "The stuff Cooper sings about will attract the attention of law enforcement. I've heard that in some places, white narcotics officers will sneak 'gifts' into the cars of black people they don't like. One slipup, and your whole life is over."

"I won't."

Since his arrival in this world, Song Ya had been very careful. He didn't drive without a license, and he did his best to avoid even minor conflicts on campus. The only things he'd gotten involved in were high-minded civil rights activities. He and Cooper had taken completely opposite paths.

But there was something to Cooper's theory: bring together the power of black DJs to influence the Billboard rankings, then use that momentum to "move product" and sell records...

Song Ya carefully ran through the idea in his head and felt he couldn't pull it off. It was simple: DJs at small and midsize radio stations were poorly paid and, on the whole, not very well educated. If he relied purely on money to maintain ties with them, he'd soon be unable to keep up with their greedy appetites. Unless, like Old Joe, he had gang connections, so that behind the carrot of money there was also the invisible threat of a stick. The two together could make those DJs fall in line. And even Old Joe only had enough pull to get by in Chicago; in New York, he'd run into a brick wall.

"Gang connections, a certain amount of clout in the local black community, especially in music circles, and a sizeable bankroll." Song Ya sketched out the profile of someone who could make it work. "Even then, a person like that could only have regional influence. Gangs are intensely local, after all: the East Coast, the West Coast, the Midwest around Chicago, and the South... You'd need at least four or five powerful people working together..."

"What am I doing, organizing the Mafia?" The thought made him shake his head and laugh. He tossed it out of his mind.

On this return trip to New York, Song Ya went straight to SBK's best recording studio, Oak Barrel.

Oak Barrel was named for the long, oak-colored sound-absorbing panels in the recording booth. It was SBK's most advanced studio, and it was huge. Even with a band and a backing-vocal group in addition to the singer, there'd still be room to spare.

Inside, Mira swayed gently to the music with headphones on, completely unaware that Song Ya had arrived. She seemed to be in good spirits. SBK had even brought in a little cocktail table, with a pretty drink on top. Every so often she caught the straw between her lips and took a small sip.

Two of SBK's top sound engineers sat at the spacious mixing console. They were white, and Eric and Al were assisting them.

"APLUS? Those two new synth sounds you came up with are nice. At first, I thought Delay had messed up the synthesizer settings." Perhaps Daniel had warned them; the two engineers stuck to work-related matters and were unfailingly polite while keeping their distance from Eric and Al. There was nothing to criticize.

"Thanks." Song Ya shook their hands. "How's the recording going?"

"Rehearsals went well. We've actually got a few versions we're pretty happy with. We've just been waiting for you." One of the engineers took several CDs from the rack in front of him.

"Then let's hear them," Song Ya said.

"Sure." He slipped a CD into the player.

Song Ya picked the version closest to the original, then suggested a few changes, all of them very minor.

"Good idea. We'll make those adjustments right away," the other engineer said. He turned on the microphone and spoke into it. "Let's take a short break, then we'll make a few changes..."

Only then did Mira notice Song Ya. Her face lit up with joy. She blew him a kiss through the glass, then rushed out and threw herself into his arms. "Darling, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." Song Ya kissed her forehead.

Everyone else in the studio kept busy with their own work, studiously looking away.

Then a call came in. "Daniel wants to see you." After answering it, Eric reminded Song Ya, "He's moved to a different office, but it's still on the same floor."

Right, Daniel's title had changed from SBK's vice president of marketing to SBK's vice president and general manager.

Song Ya was delighted.

"APLUS! Come on in, and watch your step."

Daniel's new office was enormous, with an unobstructed skyline view outside the window. Several workers were carrying in boxes, while his female assistant silently unpacked them and arranged the contents on cabinets along the wall. Meanwhile, Daniel was leisurely playing golf. There was even a miniature indoor putting green on the floor. With a slight swing of his club, the white golf ball rolled slowly along the turf and dropped into the hole.

"Congratulations, Daniel," Song Ya said.

"Haha, thanks. How's the recording going?" He picked the golf ball out of the hole and put it back in its original spot.

"I'm happy with it. I think we just need to make a few minor adjustments."

"Perfect!" The ball dropped into the hole again. "Once the song's recorded, we'll start the promotional tour right away. By then... APLUS, you'll have to get used to your role changing."

"I understand. I still have to go back to school, too." Song Ya knew that once the single was recorded, his first stint as a producer would be over. The follow-up promotion was SBK's responsibility. He could offer suggestions, but he no longer had any real authority to get involved.

"Haha, I almost forgot you're still in high school," Daniel said with a laugh.

They chatted for a while, and Song Ya noticed an open magazine on the desk behind Daniel. It happened to show a color photo of Mariah Carey.

"You know her?" Daniel noticed him looking a little too long.

"I ran into her by chance in Detroit yesterday," Song Ya replied. He didn't want to tell Daniel that he'd met Mottola.

"The Palace of Auburn Hills?" Daniel turned his golf club upside down and tapped the photo of Mariah Carey with the handle. "It's everywhere. Look: 'A Stunning Voice Wows the Palace of Auburn Hills.' It happened yesterday, and today it's already in all the major music publications. Looks like Mottola's grooming her to be the next diva. Hmph! He even made up a Cinderella story about how they met by chance at a party. What a joke! Just to get Mariah Carey, he and Warner Records spent three hundred and fifty thousand dollars bidding against everyone else! Then he spent two years carefully building her up. And what was it this year? He's going to divorce his wife over this woman."

After finishing his gossip, he said with a cold laugh, "Warner has Madonna and Cher, BMG has Whitney Houston, PolyGram has Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul, while Columbia's Barbra Streisand is getting old. They're starting to panic!"

"Mottola looks down on you, and you look down on Mottola. They really weren't kidding when they said rivals in the same business are enemies!" Song Ya grumbled to himself. He'd meant to ask who SBK had, but held his tongue. He'd heard that SBK's parent company, EMI, had a long, complicated history with Columbia Records. Better not to risk rubbing Daniel the wrong way.

"Unless something unexpected happens, Mariah Carey's single will hit number one on Billboard. Meanwhile, the Thrift Shop's momentum isn't looking so good. I expect it'll drop a dozen or so places in its sixth week."

Daniel brought the conversation back to business. "Little Lowry should drum up some news to get people looking our way... Later, when we're about to fall out of the top fifty, we'll release the studio version of the Thrift Shop, then follow it with a dance remix... The important thing is to keep it in Billboard's top fifty for as long as possible."

"So this is what they mean by grinding out the chart run?" Song Ya asked.

"Grinding!"

Daniel was emphatic. "We'll grind it until there's nothing left to grind, then we'll put out Little Lowry's garbage album and make one last buck."

"Isn't that exactly what Mottola meant by burning through a singer's future?... Looks like Mottola wasn't entirely wrong, after all. Daniel's strategy might make a lot of money in the short term, but it'll probably make it harder for Little Lowry to win over listeners down the line..." Song Ya thought to himself.