boxer to hollywood

The room became quiet as the noise was shut out.

Link took off his hat, grabbed a bottle of chilled orange soda from the fridge, drank a little less than half of it, and the heat on his body was mostly dissipated.

He drank the soda, stood by the window, and looked outside. The sun was still shining brightly, and Baker's shop was bustling with people. From the Mexican restaurant on the east side to the hot dog shop next door, the 500-meter-long public beach was full of people who came to the party.

Everyone was listening to music, drinking beer and soda, some singing, some dancing, some surfing, and some playing beach volleyball. It was very lively.

Ding dong!

He received a message on his phone from Selena.

"You just came back from Paris, how come you went to Miami again? You're always running around, and I can't find you even if I want to."

"I'm here to rest for a couple of days. What's up?"

Link slumped on the sofa and typed on his phone.

"I have Taylor's latest news, do you want to know?"

"We broke up, didn't you know?"

"I know, but I think your breakup was too hasty, it's a pity. I think you should try harder and win Taylor back."

Selena said.

"It's over. If you're worried that I don't have a girlfriend, you can introduce your sisters and friends to me, preferably the pretty ones."

"No way, you're a scumbag. Introducing you to them would be harming them."

"So you have a grudge against Taylor?"

"Of course not, Taylor and I are good friends. But I think Taylor is amazing, she can control you, so I hope you two can continue dating."

"Don't you think there's something wrong with your words? Taylor can control me, and I'm pursuing her, am I looking for a warden for myself?"

"Oh, I'm not going to talk nonsense with you anymore. After Taylor finished recording her third album, she went back to her hometown in Nashville for a vacation. If you want to win her back, now is a good time, go go."

Selena actively encouraged him.

Link shook his head. In order to win back Taylor and get her forgiveness, he even released two songs and said a lot of soft words, being scolded by fans as a simp, but still failed to win Taylor back.

Taylor's behavior had seriously affected his confidence and self-esteem.

He would no longer hold any hope for this cold-hearted woman.

Link didn't want to talk about Taylor anymore, so he changed the subject and asked her how the recording of her second album was going.

Selena said it was in the process of recording and asked him if he had any good songs. She felt that the songs collected by the record company were not as good as the ones he wrote.

Selena was a signed artist under Disney Entertainment Group, with her acting agency contract signed with Disney Pictures and her record contract signed with Disney's Hollywood Records, the same company as Miley Cyrus, which was also a very powerful record company.

Disney was very good at creating stars and cultivating singers. The songs they collected were all suitable for Selena's voice and style.

Link didn't intend to interfere with Selena's new album songs, but just told her that he had a duet song, and the female part was suitable for her. He would send her the score later.

Selena quickly agreed and asked him when he would be back and if he wanted to stop by Nashville to see Taylor.

Link asked her how her SAT preparation was going and if she was confident that she could do better than him.

Selena said Katherine was calling her and they would chat next time, and then sent three pink pig heads.

Link smiled slightly. He still had many ways to deal with this girl Selena.

The party outside was still going on. Because there were reporters, he couldn't go out and join in the fun, so he lay on the sofa and continued reading Billboard magazine.

The third album "The Woman I Love" was released on March 22nd, and this was the 10th week.

In the first week of release, the album sold 1.74 million copies in the US, topping the album chart.

In the second week, it sold 810,000 copies and remained at the top of the album chart.

In the third week.

The news of his breakup with Taylor was making a lot of noise, attracting the attention of the media worldwide.

The album had high exposure and a lot of discussion in the media.

It sold 429,000 copies.

It topped the chart for three consecutive weeks.

In the fourth week.

Link joined the film crew, and the popularity of the breakup news gradually faded, causing the album sales to decline.

It sold 147,000 copies, ranking second.

The champion was Drake's first studio album "Thank Me Later," which sold 387,000 copies in its first week.

In the fifth week.

It sold 75,000 copies, ranking fourth.

The champion was Lady Gaga's newly released remix album "The Remix," which sold 324,000 copies in its first week.

Drake's "Thank Me Later" sold 213,000 copies in its second week.

Usher's "Raymond v. Raymond" ranked third with 79,000 copies sold.

In the sixth week.

It sold 127,000 copies, ranking second on the album chart.

The reason for the rebound in sales this week was that during the fifth week, Ivanka and the publicity department launched the hype plan he proposed in March.

This hype plan was very simple.

In early May, Ivanka's sister Tiffany posted a photo on Twitter.

In the photo, she was lying on the ground, posing as if she had fallen, wearing a haute couture dress, one foot on the door of a McLaren, and all the things in her small bag scattered all over the ground.

There were limited edition LV high heels, commemorative Chanel perfume, Dior's latest lipstick, Hermes limited edition bag, Gucci haute couture sunglasses, Patek Philippe limited edition watch, McLaren 720S car keys, the latest fruit phone, and so on.

There were a total of twenty-eight luxury items, each priced at over $500, and the McLaren 720S was worth over $5 million. 

After the photo was exposed, some netizens calculated that these items added up to a value of about 6.8 million US dollars.

It was way too extravagant.

Among these luxury items, there was a copy of Link's album "The Woman I Love," priced at $29.5, the cheapest of all these items.

This album also caught the attention of many people.

But considering that Tiffany's sister was the president of Link Music, there was nothing wrong with her having Link's new album in her bag.

So everyone's attention was still on the luxury goods scattered all over the floor.

Many netizens left messages saying that she was showing off her wealth in this way, some criticizing, some mocking, some envious and jealous.

Tiffany's side didn't respond to this.

Just a day later, socialite Paris Hilton followed Tiffany's example and posted a photo of herself falling and showing off her wealth on Twitter.

The shooting location was on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel in New York.

She had one foot on a private helicopter, and there was a pile of luxury goods on the ground, also worth millions of dollars, including a copy of Link's album "The Woman I Love."

Netizens again complained that Paris Hilton was imitating Tiffany's show of wealth, with criticism, mockery, envy, and hatred.

Media outlets such as the New York Post, USA Today, and Vanity Fair also began to report on the news of Tiffany and Paris Hilton showing off their wealth, discussing whether this high-profile way of showing off wealth was appropriate.

Some media believed it was not appropriate.

Showing off wealth could easily provoke confrontation between the rich and the poor and cause anxiety among low-income groups.

The New York Post strongly criticized their actions, believing that this practice was very harmful.

Firstly, it would lead to many social problems, aggravate the confrontation between the rich and the poor, and have a bad demonstration effect on young people, inducing them to consume irrationally, causing waste of resources, and putting many low-income families into financial crisis.

Secondly, it would lead to a series of psychological problems, such as blind comparison, increased anxiety, and induced crime.

The New York Post also named Tiffany's father and asked him to control his daughter.

Tiffany's father, Mr. TP, dismissed this, claiming that it was a form of performance art, highlighting the maverick personality of young people, and there was nothing wrong with it.

Some media also supported Mr. TP's statement, believing that it was a form of performance art and there was no need to elevate it to the level of class confrontation.

As the controversy on the Internet grew, the popularity of this news also increased.

Then Amanda Hearst, Georgina Bloomberg, the Kim Kardashian sisters, actress Lindsay Lohan, supermodel Candice Swanepoel, and others followed suit, falling down and showing off their belongings in various ways.

For a time, the "falling and showing off wealth" trend swept across the Internet.

Many people were imitating them and falling down.

Soon, observant people noticed that no matter how these people fell or where they fell, 80% of them had a copy of Link's new album "The Woman I Love" among the things they revealed.

This also caused many people to speculate and suspect that the so-called "falling and showing off wealth" trend was helping Link sell albums.

In an interview, the host asked Paris Hilton

why she included a copy of Link's album among the many luxury items, and whether she was helping Link promote his new album.

Paris Hilton denied this, saying that the reason she included Link's new album was that it was expensive enough, of high quality, and had a very high artistic level.

For them, Link's album was also a luxury item with collection value.

Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, and others also agreed with this in interviews, claiming that they might not be able to afford Dior limited edition lipstick, Hermes bags, or Ferrari sports cars, but they must be able to afford a copy of Link's album.

Through the hype of these people, Link's new album became a luxury item equivalent to Dior lipstick, Chanel perfume, and Hermes bags.

Buying "The Woman I Love" was not just buying an album, but also buying a luxury item, a lifestyle, and a fashion culture.

Influenced by these celebrities, the "falling and showing off wealth" trend spread from the United States to all over the world, from celebrities to internet celebrities, and then to ordinary people. Tens of thousands of people posted such photos through various social platforms.

Sixty percent of them included a copy of Link's album among the things they revealed, like a tacit understanding.

Affected by the "falling and showing off wealth" incident, the exposure and sales of "The Woman I Love" increased significantly worldwide.

In the seventh week, the album sales miraculously stopped declining and soared to over 200,000 copies, reaching 219,000 copies, regaining the top spot on the album chart and suppressing a group of newly released albums.

In the eighth week, the influence of the "falling and showing off wealth" trend continued, and the sales this week were 154,000 copies, retaining the top spot.

In the ninth week, it sold 122,000 copies, retaining the top spot on the sales chart.

In the tenth week, it sold 108,000 copies, ranking second.

"The Woman I Love" had sold 3.93 million copies in the US in ten weeks since its release, and it was expected to break four million copies next week, becoming the fastest-selling album in the US in nearly eight years to break four million copies.

Billboard commented that "The Woman I Love" had achieved an "incredible" result in the United States.

Link, a newcomer who had only debuted for two years, sold more than 3.9 million copies of his third album in the US within ten weeks, which was more powerful than several top superstars in the music industry today.

Billboard's editor-in-chief, Steven Knopper, analyzed the reasons for the album's big sales in the article. In addition to the album's quality and Link's popularity, he believed that there was another factor that could not be ignored - the album's marketing and promotion was very successful.

Before the album was released, East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Justin Bieber, and others challenged Link, wanting to compete with him on the album chart.

Link publicly accepted the challenge, attracting a lot of attention and winning the support of many fans.

At this stage, the main focus of Link Music's promotion was that the East Coast rap group + little king Justin Bieber + blues king Usher + Drake were preparing to join forces against Link, putting Link in a weak position, arousing the empathy and indignation of fans.

Link's new album was released in the first week, because of its good quality and the support of fans, it sold an astonishing 1.74 million copies in the first week.

In the second week, the private video broke out.

In the third week, the news of Link and Taylor's breakup remained hot.

In the fifth week, the "falling and showing off wealth" incident started to become popular online, increasing the exposure of Link's new album.

In the sixth week, the "falling and showing off wealth" incident continued to ferment, causing heated discussions in the media, and Link's new album also became one of the focuses of the incident.

In the following weeks, the show-off incident continued to affect the sales of this album.

All these hot news events, whether intentional or unintentional, greatly increased the sales of this album.

Billboard's editor-in-chief, Steven Knopper, also praised Link Music's marketing methods at the end of the article.

At the same time, he also expressed concern, worrying that other record companies would follow this marketing method, and the competition in the record market would become even fiercer in the future, with the winner taking all, and it would be even more difficult for middle and low-level singers to gain a foothold in the music industry.

By the tenth week of release, the overseas sales of this album had also been summarized.

In nearly ten weeks, "The Woman I Love" had sold a total of 9.69 million copies overseas.

4.03 million copies in Europe and the US.

Among them, 1.12 million copies were sold in Canada, topping the album chart for three non-consecutive weeks.

1.07 million copies were sold in the UK, topping the album chart for two consecutive weeks.

About 1.53 million copies were sold in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and other places, and it won the weekly sales championship at least once in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

About 300,000 copies were sold in Latin America, and it won the sales championship at least once in Brazil, Argentina, and other places.

In addition, the seven songs "Girls Like You," "Everything You Need," "Someone You Loved," "Stay With Me," "All Of Me," "Here With You," and "The Woman I Love" successively topped the singles charts in countries such as the UK, Canada, and Belgium, becoming popular songs.

In Asia, Oceania, and Africa, it sold 5.66 million copies.

Among them, 1.32 million copies were sold in Australia, 1.07 million copies in Japan, 940,000 copies in South Korea, 860,000 copies in China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), and about 1.47 million copies in New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, India, and other places.

Twelve songs, including "Girls Like You," "Stay With Me," "All Of Me," and "Here With You," successively entered the top ten of the singles charts in various countries.

Link's album had sold a total of 13.62 million copies worldwide in ten weeks since its release.

Although this number couldn't rank in the top 50 on the "best-selling albums of all time" list.

It was also the first English album in the 2010s to break 10 million sales worldwide.

It was also Link's second diamond album with global sales exceeding 10 million.

Link, a newcomer, released three albums in two years since his debut, with two consecutive diamond albums. He also became the best-selling solo male singer in the music industry after Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, MJ, Justin Timberlake, and others.

Billboard, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and other media began to call Link the "King of Pop," and Asian media even called him the "King of the Music Scene" and "Superstar," putting him on par with Lady Gaga as the King and Queen of the European and American music scene.

(End of Chapter)