Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 213 Preparation for the boxing match

 “Hi! Ivaca, what’s up?”

 After answering the phone, Link bit the bullet and chatted a few words with Ivaca in front of Taylor.

 Fortunately, Ivaca is talking about business, Lana's first single "YoungAndBeautiful" was also released last week.

 Sold 12,000 copies in the first week, ranking 42nd on the Billboard singles chart.

 The ranking is lower than that of “LetItGo”.

 However, professional magazines such as "Rolling Stone", "Billboard", and "Pocket Music" spoke highly of this song.

　　Calling the song forlornly singing about heartbreak, grief, and other similarly dark themes, it adopts a retro aesthetic patina.

 Somewhat similar to British Amy Winehouse and Adele, but Lana's singing style has a more classical charm.

 "Rolling Stone" magazine praised Lana as one of the most anticipated newcomers in the field of new baroque pop music.

Although neo-baroque pop music is not mainstream music, there are still some die-hard fans who like this type of songs very much. As long as Lana Del Rey can persist in this field, the future is promising.

After the release of "YoungAndBeautiful", Link Music will continue to release the second single "VideoGames", and the first album is planned to be released in early November.

Evaka told him about the world tour again.

According to the tour schedule sent by Mandy previously, in all the cities where concerts were planned, his two albums sold more than 50,000 copies in those cities.

 It means that he has a market there, holds concerts in those places, and can sell tickets.

After hearing that he refused, Universal took the initiative to increase the price, increasing the basic appearance fee for each concert from 800,000 US dollars to 1 million US dollars per concert. The 30% share of the concert ticket remains unchanged, and the tour cycle is extended to 18 months.

 One million per show, two hundred shows equals US$200 million in appearance fees, which sounds like a lot, but this money does not belong to the singer alone.

Singers often hold concerts in a team format, including backup dancers, makeup, costumes, lighting, directors, art directors, videographers, etc., some involving hundreds or even thousands of people.

 The wages and expenses of these people also account for more than 30%.

  If there is a brokerage company, the company must also be given a share. If the song copyright is not in the singer's name, the creator must also be given a share.

 General singers can get 30%-60% of these incomes.

Link’s song copyrights are all in his own hands, and Link Music also belongs to his own label. He earns more than 60% of his income from each concert.

If he can continue to perform more than 200 concerts, the income from appearance fees and ticket sales alone will reach more than 200 million US dollars.

　　Including album sales and other peripheral income, the revenue from a tour is no less than 300 million US dollars.

At the same time, you can also expand your fame and influence during the tour.

 Generally speaking, it is very cost-effective for popular singers to go on tour. This income is stable and sustainable, and they can make money continuously.

 At this point, stronger than boxing.

 Boxing matches don’t just make money by fighting, they also need publicity, selecting suitable opponents, and creating selling points.

 After defeating an opponent, or being defeated by an opponent, the audience will lose interest in his game.

For example, De La Hoya, the top boxer in the boxing world, competed with Pacquiao in December last year, and the prize money was as high as 100 million US dollars. However, after the game, De La Hoya had to consider retirement.

 Because he has competed with several other top players including Bernard Hopkins, Mayweather, and Pacquiao.

 The audience all knows which of them is better, loses curiosity about their games, and will no longer pay for their games.

 With no one paying the bill, boxers can’t make money, and there’s nothing they can do if they don’t retire.

In the music world, the music market is much larger. Although it is not like top boxers, who can earn tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars in a game, it is common to earn hundreds of millions or more in a tour.

 Taylor launched a small-scale tour in 2008/09, earning more than 30 million U.S. dollars. Counting the income from record sharing, she is almost a billionaire. In the future, her tour income will be more than hundreds of millions of dollars.

Link heard Ivaca’s explanation and decided to agree.

 He needs money now.   It takes billions to do something big.

In addition, launching a world tour can also increase its influence. If boxing matches are held in the future, PPV and ticket revenue will be higher.

 The two complement each other and are not contradictory.

“Sounds good, but I need to have time to train for boxing, um, and spend time with Taylor. She canceled more than ten concerts last year because of me, and I can’t go out on tour and leave her at home.”

Link looked at Miss Taylor next to him and said.

Tyler raised the corners of his lips and turned his eyes away from him.

“Okay, let’s keep the meeting a little smaller, and please give my regards to Taylor.”

 Evaka hung up the phone.

"Okay, bye!"

Link secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "Look, we are really just talking about work, you don't have to think about it."

 “I’m not thinking randomly, you’re just too nervous.”

Taylor wiped his forehead with a tissue and said with a half-smile, "Look, he's sweating from nervousness."

 “It’s because it’s too hot, not because I’m nervous.”

Link pushed her hand away and concentrated on driving.

Taylor held his chin with his fingers, thought for a while and said:

“Actually, it’s a good thing for you to go out and hold concerts. On the one hand, it can expand your influence and sell more albums.

On the other hand, if you go out for a concert and I am at home alone, maybe I can find inspiration and write a few good songs while thinking about you. "

“I heard it, you want to kick me out of the house, right?”

“No, I am a country singer, and small rural cities are the soil where we live. I originally planned to go out for a walk after a while to find creative inspiration.

I just don’t know how to tell you. Now that you are going on tour, I don’t have to worry about you. I can arrange my time freely in the future. "

Taylor waved his hands and said excitedly.

 “Well, be careful and don’t go to some strange places.”

Link also saw that Taylor was a wild horse. If she wanted to grow quickly, she needed a larger grassland. The area around her was too small to meet her needs.

 “Don’t worry, I’m not a child.”

Taylor kissed him on the cheek excitedly and almost made him drive the car into the ditch again.

 After returning home, Taylor continued to read, play the piano, and play cat, while Link went to the boxing gym to train.

 The WBA-WBC super middleweight title showdown is about to begin, and he needs to use all his time to train during this period.

 When he was training, De La Hoya would sometimes come over and watch him and Morales sparring.

When he invited De La Hoya to come up for a fight, De La Hoya refused and said that he would wait until he got into the boxing ring before fighting, leaving some suspense in the match between the two.

Morales mocked his fear of losing.

Of course, De La Hoya would not admit it, saying that he had found a way to defeat Link. When the two actually competed, he had a 60% chance of winning.

 Sometimes Emma Roberts would come over and practice boxing with Link when no one was around. When others were around, she would just stand by and watch for a while before leaving early.

 In mid-September, two days before the WBA-WBC boxing championship showdown, Link came to London with his logistics and medical team to prepare for the match.

 (End of this chapter)