"What!" Ajay exclaimed.
Sitting in front of him, Veronica looked so gloomy that her forehead looked like a dried-up river bed.
"Are you sure you're not kidding, Veronica?" For a moment, Ajay was convinced that he had misheard it. "How come BMG doesn't want to invest in publicity? Seriously, are you kidding me?" He looked at the middle-aged woman in front of him, his eyes filled with hope.
Unfortunately, his heart froze when Veronica didn't immediately laugh and say that she was kidding, but furrowed her brows deeper.
The awkward silence persisted for several seconds until Veronica finally let out a deep breath and shook her head.
"Unfortunately, I'm not kidding, Jay, the company is really unwilling to invest in publicity."
Ajay was shocked, 'Unacceptable!'
"But isn't Melissa contracted to BMG? Why don't they support her?" He found BMG management's decision extremely odd. What was even their thought process? Why were they abandoning their own artist?
Veronica shrugged. "In normal times, BMG would indeed offer the publicity support, but this is not a normal time. Are you aware of Celine Duval?"
Ajay thought about it and nodded. "Pop and RNB powerhouse from Epic Records."
"Yes, she is releasing her new album in a month. And it is rumoured to be a ballad, which clashes with A Thousand Years."
The middle-aged woman momentarily paused, seemingly hesitating to speak. Then, as if she had finally made up her mind, she looked Ajay directly in the eye and spoke.
"I'll tell you this directly, Jay, the senior management in the company is not too confident about this song of yours."
"If you had produced a rap record, they would have provided their utmost support for you, but since it is a pop ballad, they all doubt your ability and are cautious to invest money while going up against Celine Duval"
"They didn't even hear the song?"
"They did, quite a few of them, and liked it as well, but they still felt investing any money in the single now was too risky."
"Then how about postponing the release?"
"Unfortunately, that won't work for me, Jay. Melissa's contract is about to end this year, so if nothing changes, BMG will not renew the contract, and it will no longer have the obligation to invest in Melissa to sell her single."
Ajay immediately understood that Veronica couldn't, or rather didn't want to ask the company to postpone the release because then BMG wouldn't even consider releasing the single.
Ajay felt extremely unwilling, but in the end, he couldn't do anything but accept reality. After all, what was he supposed to do when the external situation was like this?
He was disappointed, but still he asked a final question. "How many copies are they willing to print?"
Hearing the question, Veronica bit her lips. He could tell that she was clenching her fist under the table, so he got a bad feeling about this, and sure enough, the number left him dumbfounded. "5,000 copies."
Ajay abruptly stood up, his eyes widened and his mouth agape. "Five thousand!" he roared.
Veronica lowered her head and took a sip of the beverage.
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Ajay suddenly realised that he was in a restaurant, so he quickly looked around, apologised, and sat down. Nerves popped out at the corners of his neck. "That's it?" he asked.
"Now you should really be kidding me, right, Veronica? How is it so little?"
"This confused me as well." Veronica shook her head and explained, her expression filled with uncertainty. "Although contractually they are only supposed to print 5,000 copies, usually BMG prints at least 10 to 15,000 copies. Given that the upper management liked the song, they should have printed more, but I don't know what happened. They suddenly decided that 5,000 copies was the limit."
Ajay could tell that she was clueless as well, so he didn't try to pressure her any further. Instead, he thought about various possibilities and put forward his conjuncture. "There is someone trying to suppress Melissa in the company?"
"No, she is from Atlanta and doesn't have any acquaintances here, much less enemies. Although Veronica shook her head, she looked at Ajay with some hesitation.
"What?"
"I don't know if this is true or not, but there is a rumour going around in the company that Mr Michael and Mr Brad Grey are both unhappy that you didn't attend Tjay's Memorial event."
"After Thrift Shop became a platinum hit, their standing in the company has increased quite a bit, so they might be pulling the strings."
Ajay's expression immediately turned ugly. His hand began to shake with rage, but in the end, he suppressed the unhappiness and simply nodded.
He was about to pay his bill and leave, but suddenly a thought arose in his mind. Considering the way the management at BMG did their business, they didn't seem to value their clients' feelings at all. Then Ajay looked at Veronica with a hint of curiosity.
"Can I ask you why you divulged all these details to me?" Fearing being misunderstood, he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, what you said was indeed very helpful and insightful, but I have been with Mr Brad Grey and some other people for quite a while, and they don't seem to be as open as you currently are."
Veronica, for some reason, sighed. "Well, it's because my fate is actually not that different from Melissa's. My contract with the company was for five years, and in these five years, I have scouted several artists, but none of them was able to make their mark. Melissa is my latest and probably the last chance to keep my job."
"Since my career is also tied to the success of this song, I don't mind revealing some internal matters of the company."
Ajay looked at the middle-aged woman for quite some time, then stretched his hand. "Thank you for letting me know." His tone was filled with sincerity.
Veronica knew that it was time to leave, so she got up, put her purse on, and stretched out her hand. "Anytime."
Ajay arrived at his apartment only to find Vincent sleeping on the couch, but Ajay did not say anything about it. The guy had worked very hard for the last few weeks. He had done the work of several people by himself, so he deserved some rest.
Ajay himself went into the room and collapsed onto his bed, but he couldn't sleep. The fact that A Thousand Years wouldn't receive any investment for publicity made him restless.
Although he had seen some success, he wasn't arrogant. He was sober enough to understand that the reason why he got to his current stage was simply that he held on to Tjay's leg for dear life, but if A Thousand Years was not an immediate hit, then he would be going back dozens of steps. He was extremely unwilling to go back.
So he sat up and started thinking about what he could do.
He thought about funding the publicity himself, but he immediately ignored it as soon as it appeared.
Ajay could at most put some ads in newspapers and magazines, but if he really did take this route, his remaining money would evaporate before he could blink.
It was not only the financial resources the big companies brought to the table, but also connections and deep industry relationships.
In order to promote the Thrift Shop, BMG was able to get nearly all the major DJs across the country, be it East Coast or West Coast, to talk about it. They ran promotions on entertainment channels and created an artificial buzz surrounding the song.
Ajay wouldn't be able to replicate this even if he had a hundred thousand dollars.
So he needed an alternative, a window that was unique and not taken into consideration.
He thought long and hard, but he had nothing. Apart from his hair turning into a chicken coop from all the scratching, there was no other change.
In the end, he prepared to go out for the night, planning to relax, but just when he was about to lock the door, the landline in the corner of the living room caught his attention, and suddenly a light bulb lit up in his mind.
"That's right! How can I forget the internet!"
The internet was a new thing in 1994. He had rarely ever seen anyone use it, but it should have already garnered millions of users, right?
He could definitely use this to his advantage.
However, he first needed to know the level of the Internet in this era.
So he directly ran to a public library that was actually nearby and scoured through all the electronics journals and computer technology-related journals.
He quickly perused through all the articles, and a plan began to take shape in his mind.
"It will work." He muttered under his breath as his eyes brimmed with unshakeable determination.
To be continued...