King of Stage

In the vast music market, it has never been so simple to occupy a place; what's more, at the moment of 2012, the band has gradually declined, and pop, hip-hop and rhythm and blues, etc. are all occupying the market, leaving it to the band. Little room for development remains.

From the audition show "Voice of America" ​​officially launched in April 2011, it can be seen that many talented and capable lead singers of the band choose to participate in the show, and the band’s development prospects in the torrent of the times are getting narrower and narrower. , They are also forced to choose to fly solo.

　　 The same is true for the One Day King Band. Even with the help of Trastan, the agent, it is difficult to impress the record company.

　　 has been unable to sign a record company for a long time, and the hope of recording a new album is far away, and the band has gradually fallen into the trap of commercial performances.

The so-called commercial performance is not a concert, but a "guest performer", performers of the same level as clowns, magicians, circus, puppet shows, etc., in opening ceremonies, year-end conventions, birthday parties, wedding ceremonies, etc. Perform in the guesthouse, and are responsible for the guests who sizzle the atmosphere.

It is undeniable that commercial performances come in very quickly, and they are basically cash flow. A performance is good income; but commercial performances have nothing to do with music, albums, dreams, etc. This is completely another business category. The development direction and ultimate goal are different.

Moreover, the revenue of commercial performances is focused on quantity. In order to maintain the daily practice and daily expenses of the band, it is still shared by the four people-plus the agent’s commission, this also means that the number of commercial performances must keep up. Otherwise, the number of commercial performances must be kept up. The frequency of performances in Tian Dayu two days of showing on the net, the income is still a drop in the bucket.

In the initial stage of development or the low stage of career, it is understandable to use commercial performances to improve the situation, change the status quo, and win some performance opportunities; but in the long run, you will not see any development opportunities, just like a "wedding singer", always just a clown The existence of this kind of music, and falling into a vicious circle of commercial performance after commercial performance, there is no time to create a new song.

Unknowingly, the band slowly fell into another pit, the light of rose dreams gradually dimmed, the future blankness and the pressure of reality are like a process of slow drowning, no matter how hard they struggle, they can’t get rid of the sinking. Cold and suffocation.

　　 Should I give up?

　　 Should I insist?

　　 They also don't have an answer. Life continues to move forward like this, but it has already deviated from the original track.

　　 Regarding this matter, the band members once sat down with Trastan to have an in-depth conversation face-to-face, exchanging views on future plans, development goals, and current dilemmas.

Maxim even directly issued an ultimatum to Trastan. If the record company cannot be signed within three months—at least an interview with the record company is required, then they will terminate the brokerage contract; and the future of the band will be Members discuss and decide on their own, success and failure have nothing to do with Trastan.

　　 Ultimatum, it worked.

　　 Two months ago, things finally ushered in a turning point-Trastan found a tour opportunity for the band, not a commercial performance, but not a concert tour, but a bar tour.

　　 This is a contract for touring performances in thirty bars across the United States. Although it is not a commercial performance, but a pure performance, it is not a formal performance stage. At best, it can only be regarded as the lowest level tour performance.

　　 Of course, this is not perfect. However, countless independent bands have completed such touring performances, especially at the peak of rock and roll in the 1980s and 1990s. Most indie bands in the United Kingdom and the United States have experienced such training, including The Beatles (The Beatles). -Beatles) is no exception. The band can get in close contact with the audience, but also gain exposure opportunities and performance experience, which can be described as a win-win situation.

　　 More importantly, Trastan won two record company interview opportunities for the band, one in New Orleans and one in Chicago.

Representatives of 　　 record company will go to the bar to watch the performance in person and make judgments based on the performance of the band.

　　 This is undoubtedly an ecstatic news!

　　 So the band embarked on a tour of the bar, embracing hope and expectation.

　　 However, ideals are beautiful, reality is skinny, and the cruel truth once again made the band slowly slide into the abyss.

　　 First is the bar tour.

Obviously, there is a huge gap between this and expectations. The reality is that those bars do not have dedicated performance venues, at most, the level of the "piano restaurant", which is not much different from previous commercial performances. Even the performance venues and the audience are still It's worse.

　　 Even the payment of remuneration is not straightforward. It is divided into two parts, one is cash and the other is dinner supply, and the latter is used to lower the asking price of the former. From here, you can clearly see the level of the performance, which is the most embarrassing performance at the bottom.

　　 Followed by the record company interview.

　　 The interview in Chicago went smoothly. After the performance, the other party made a lot of greetings, full of praise for their performance, and sent a lot of compliments and praises, but in the end they couldn't go further, because the other party said that they needed to go back and discuss further with the company. Unable to answer within time.

　　 Although there is still a glimmer of hope, they all know how slim such hope is.

　　Interview in New Orleans...the pigeons were released, and the record company people didn't show up at all.

　　 The last bubble of hope was also burst.

　　 At this time, UU reads www. uukānshu.com has completed five bar tours.

However, Trastan has given up the band ahead of time. He secretly advanced the cash income from the last five performances behind his back, and swept away the income accumulated by the band from previous performances, disappeared without a trace, and there is still left in the brokerage contract. Under the situation of the next three months, the contract was terminated early—

　　 When the lawyer's letter was delivered to the motel, the band members realized that they had been abandoned.

　　 This is what happened two days ago.

It's over, everything is over. The band's struggle and persistence seem to be all over. Ronan, who has been hit hard by the flu, caught the flu, has a high fever, and spent two days in a daze. Finally, today They fainted during the night's performance, and then they came to where they are now.

　　 was abandoned by Trastan, this is already an established fact; moreover, the desperate situation of poverty, this is also an undeniable fact.

　　 As Cliff said, in the last five performances, should they continue? Even if they perform on stage, they will not get any cash income, at most it is just a dinner. Moreover, there is no audience, no hope, and no goal, so what is the meaning of the performance?

　　Even, they still need to pay back their own funds, rush to five different venues to complete the performance, and then look at Ronan's terrible physical condition...Does the band really need to do this?

This is also the reason for the dispute between Cliff and Maxim tonight. All dreams and futures can be temporarily left behind. They must now run for a livelihood again, just like the past few years, struggling and persevering. But never really saw hope.

　　 What’s even more frightening is that Trastan’s giving up is as if they were sentenced to death:

　　 You, it's not worth it.