Chapter 258: More Gossip to Eat

On the evening of January 31st, the 52nd Grammy Awards were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Grammy Awards, founded in 1958 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States, are one of the most prestigious music awards in the world.

The prestige here can be represented by the sales of music works.

Every nominated singer, after receiving the nomination, will see their music sales increase by more than 5% compared to the previous week, while the winning singer's work sales can increase by more than 20% compared to the previous week.

This is a substantial benefit, so the Grammy Awards are not only an honor but also a top promotion platform.

This is also the reason why singers from all over the world want to participate in the Grammys.

The Grammy Awards cover more than 30 music genres, including pop, rock, R&B, rap, country, gospel, jazz, Latin, classical, reggae, children's, spoken word, comedy, and so on.

There are a total of 84 awards.

With five nominees or bands for each award, there are thousands of guests invited to attend each Grammy Awards.

This year, there were more than 10,000 musicians and audience members at the Grammy scene.

At around 7 o'clock that evening, when Link and Taylor walked onto the red carpet, the entrance was surrounded by fans.

Reporters and cameramen from various media outlets also set up their cameras outside the red carpet, constantly interviewing and filming the guests walking on the red carpet, with flashes going off continuously.

"Link! I love you!"

"Honey, look here, you're so beautiful today!"

When Link and Taylor arrived, the fans outside shouted loudly.

Link waved to the crowd outside.

This was his second time attending the Grammys. The last time he came as an audience member, he was besieged by Grammy winners Lil Wayne and Kanye and had to leave early, causing quite a stir.

This time, he had received eight nominations and was considered the strongest contender for several comprehensive awards.

Some media used the phrase "the return of the king" to describe Link's Grammy journey this time.

"It seems like you have more fans than me."

Taylor said softly, looking at the lively crowd.

"Of course, after all, I'm the king of pop music, the number one on the world's sexiest men list. My female fans can line up from here to France."

"Shameless! You even dare to accept the titles randomly given by the media."

Taylor pursed her lips and smiled.

"Well-deserved!"

Link stopped in the photo area and pulled Taylor to take pictures.

To make their appearance more eye-catching, they wore couple outfits today, designed by the famous LV designer Andrea Lieberman and her team.

Link wore a black suit with classical features and a white lining, which made him look taller and more elegant.

Taylor wore a white chiffon off-the-shoulder pleated skirt, revealing her delicate collarbones and tall, sexy figure.

The two walked hand-in-hand on the red carpet, looking very well-matched and also the most attractive couple at this year's Grammys.

"Mr. Baker, how many awards are you planning to win at this year's Grammys?"

A reporter from "USA Today" asked.

"I hope to win eight, but I don't want Taylor to go home empty-handed, so any number is fine."

Link waved to the fans.

Taylor rolled her eyes at him and also went forward to accept interviews from reporters.

"Mr. Baker, after Wiz Khalifa's new single topped the rap chart, the media predicted that his new album is also expected to break platinum sales. If Wiz Khalifa's album breaks platinum again, all four singers under Link Music will have achieved platinum sales. This achievement is amazing. How did you do it? Is there any secret?"

A reporter from the "San Francisco Chronicle" asked.

"Secret? No, my experience is to collaborate with excellent musicians. Before I met Lana, Bruno, and Wiz, they had been working in the music industry for many years, and their music creation and singing abilities were very strong, no less than those of first-tier singers. What they needed was just a platform, and Link Music happened to be suitable for them. Therefore, in my opinion, it's completely deserved that their albums can sell to platinum level."

Link took a pen and signed autographs for the fans.

"Mr. Baker!"

A reporter with a sharp voice shouted, holding a recording pen, "Last November, Justin Bieber released his debut album, and just three months later, he is preparing to release his second album. Many musicians in the industry think his singing skills are average, and the quality of his songs is average. He only relies on publicity and hype to achieve good results in the record market, causing many professional singers' albums to not sell at all. David Kibler, the lead singer of the band Lividity, believes that this is bad money driving out good money, and that garbage singers are killing the living space of excellent musicians.

At the same time, according to Billboard statistics, album sales in the first half of last year in the US music industry decreased by 17.2% compared to the same period in 2008. In the second half of the year, due to Michael Jackson, album sales surged, so the gap with 2008 was not widened. However, the decline in annual data also shows that the music industry is in a declining trend.

Do you think the decline of the American music industry is related to the popularity of internet celebrity singers like Justin?"

This reporter from "Newsweek" spoke very quickly and asked very sharp questions, so sharp that Link couldn't answer.

If he admitted that the decline of the American music industry was related to the popularity of internet celebrity singers, this criticism would also fall on him.

Because he released two albums last year, he also relied on publicity and hype to sell records, rather than purely relying on quality.

From the phenomenon of his and Justin's popularity, the development of the American music industry was undoubtedly also affected by the internet, gradually entering the fast food era.

Singers who released new albums quickly and with good quality would have higher album sales and greater influence.

While those musicians who spent ten years polishing one album might become popular if they were lucky, more people would gradually be eliminated because they couldn't keep up with the times.

This was not only the case in the American music industry but also in the music industries of the UK, China, South Korea, Japan, and so on.

In some places, it was so serious that there wasn't even one decent song released in a year, and the entire music industry was like a barren desert.

What could Link do about this?

He smiled lightly, "This reporter, the question you raised is very worthy of attention, but I want to say that the popular singers of each era are the choices of that era, not that the singers influence the entire era. Singers don't have that much power. Especially when singers of the same type become popular, you should pay attention to why they become popular and what the underlying reasons are, instead of simply criticizing them. That's meaningless."

"Mr. Baker, do you think internet celebrity singers will replace traditional singers and become the mainstream of the world music scene in the future?"

The Newsweek reporter continued to ask.

"This question is quite professional, and I can't answer you at the moment."

Link politely ended the topic, seeing that Taylor was also being pestered by reporters with endless questions. He walked over to remind Taylor and pulled her towards the awards ceremony venue.

Before they could enter, they heard the fans shouting "Bieber, Bieber~" and "Baby, baby, oh~" from behind.

The shouting was no less loud than when Link and Taylor appeared earlier.

"Justin is really popular this year!"

Taylor stopped and said.

Link looked back and saw Justin Bieber, the Canadian boy who wasn't much taller than Selena, wearing a fancy leather jacket, walking onto the red carpet with his mentor Usher, Lil Wayne who had just been released from prison, 50 Cent, Drake, Chris Brown, and others.

Justin was the most popular, walking in the front, greeting fans as he went, and sometimes striking a few dance poses from the "Baby" MV, causing the fans to scream.

"The speed of renewal in the music industry is accelerating. Compared to him, I feel like a veteran."

Link said, pulling Taylor along.

"Me too."

Taylor blinked and smiled.

"Link Baker!"

Just as Link and Taylor were about to enter the awards hall, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, and others caught up, with Justin following behind.

"What's up?"

Link didn't stop, pulling Taylor along as he asked.

"Do you still dare to compete with us on the charts?"

50 Cent asked.

"Last year at the MTV scene, I told you that if you could write a song that surpassed 'See You Again' in sales, I would voluntarily admit defeat. Did you write one?"

Lil Wayne and the others' faces darkened when they heard this, glaring at him unhappily. Link's song "See You Again" had currently sold 52 million copies worldwide, ranking 15th on the global singles sales chart.

Ahead of it were Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On,"

"Justin, your song 'Baby' is great. Are you interested in developing your career at Link Music? I have some songs that would be perfect for you."

Link greeted him.

Justin scratched his bangs and smiled at him, looking like an innocent little animal.

"Hey, Link Baker, poaching people in front of us, that's not cool, is it?"

50 Cent said with a dark expression.

"Alright, let's talk later when we have time!"

Link waved his hand and walked inside with Taylor.

"Hey, Link, we will definitely beat you on the pop music charts in April."

50 Cent said, looking at Link's back in the crowd.

The reporters passing by were overjoyed when they heard 50 Cent's shout. Last year, Link competed with the East Coast rap group for the top spot on the rap charts. With one divine song, Link dominated the rap charts for more than three months, suppressing East Coast rap.

The entertainment media also made a lot of money from this news.

But after the two sides reconciled in September last year, the music scene had been calm for more than four months, and the reporters also earned a lot less money.

Now the storm was rising again, and the East Coast rap group once again sounded the horn of battle, ready to support Justin Bieber and compete with Link on the pop music charts.

Link was a singer who became popular last year, and Justin Bieber was a recently popular singer.

Both of them were very popular in the music scene. If they competed on the singles chart, the intensity of the battle would be no less than last year's competition on the rap chart.

Thinking of this, the media people took out their mobile phones and sent the news they just heard to the editorial department.

At 8 pm, before the 52nd Grammy Awards started, a sensational news broke online.

'The music scene is in turmoil again, Link PK Justin Bieber, who will be the final winner?'

When Yahoo put this news on the top of the entertainment section, the number of clicks exceeded 100,000 within a few minutes.

Many people, seeing the title, thought that Link was going to continue fighting with Justin Bieber after defeating the East Coast rap group.

They felt that Link debuted earlier, was older, and more famous than Justin, and was suspected of bullying.

Later, they saw in the news content that 50 Cent and others from the East Coast rap group were going to support Justin Bieber to compete with Link for the pop music charts in March and April.

From the forum posts, everyone also knew that Justin had close ties with the East Coast rap group and was in a cooperative relationship.

Now Justin represented East Coast rap to compete with Link on the charts.

The gossip-loving crowd was excited and took out their small benches to watch the show.

(End of chapter)