Page 14 of Release
Chapter 6
ALEXANDRA lookedover at Rita Sage as she stood at the head of the large conference table for the Artist & Repertoire team meeting. Today she looked the same. Powerful. Confident. No nonsense. Yet to Alexandra, something had changed and she didn’t seem as ominous.
Maybe it’s me.
Maybe I’ve changed.
“This album is dropping in three weeks, people,” Rita started. “What can we do to make Lexxi Rock a household name in time for that release?”
Suggestions flew from all directions. Alexandra sat there, bored, watching other people run the show. She wondered how come no one mentioned what had happened during her appearance on the Sammy P. Higgins Live show. It was quite the surprise that twelve hours could have passed by since she was on the show, and now no one here said a word?
“Exclusivity,” Rita shouted, getting Alexandra’s attention again. “Let’s ensure the subscription music apps and free streaming audio and video sites have no access to the content until a few weeks after the album drops. That’ll boost the first week sales. Everyone will be salivating to get a listen somehow.”
Her Director of Online Promotions added, “Also, once we get to the streaming sites, we push it forward with the ones willing to compensate best. Nobody likes free shit.”
“Nobody in business, that is,” Rita quipped, and only the two of them chuckled. Everyone else seemed to be their usual uptight and anxious selves.
Alexandra looked around at familiar faces she still couldn’t put names to, as well as a few new people. The turnover on the corporate side was not too high, but high enough that she rarely took the time to get to know the incoming staff. An intern brought her a flute of champagne while she nibbled on sliced cucumbers from the catering trays of food. Right now her job was to sit and be present. She didn’t like that.
When this meeting ended, she would head over to the studio. That was what excited her today. She was dying to record the song she had started writing on her first day back in Los Angeles. There was an appointment with a photographer for an album shoot right after that. There was so much to do. She had barely been back home a couple of days, but Rick and the label made sure she hit the ground running.
The question of how come they didn’t mention the wig fiasco started to niggle at the corner of her mind now. She wanted to know.
Another employee slid his tablet across the table. It was lit up with several blog mockups. “Exposure, exposure, exposure! Lexxi needs to be on the cover of every popular print magazine and online blog that targets the same demographic we target.”
“I’m already on top of that!” another guy said.
“What about radio interviews?” someone suggested.
Rita snorted. “Radio is dead.”
Alexandra rolled her eyes. If that was the case, why did she still have a shitload of radio interviews lined up?
This meeting was trying her patience.
Someone else suggested, “Hit social media. Hard. We need Lexxi tweets, Instagram and Pinterest photos, Facebook posts. And those YouTube ads too. Not just her videos, but where we can layer over those ten-second sponsored video teasers.”
“Good,” Rita agreed. “What else are kids using these days?”
Alexandra did not need to be here. Social media was another area where she had a love-hate relationship. She loved connecting to her fans and hearing some of their ideas and stories, but it was impossible to keep up. What was worse was having to deal with the way the team Rita hired portrayed her with their planted tweets. She would be so much better off if they didn’t manage her account, but doing it herself would create a new avalanche of work.
Alexandra glanced at her smartphone when it buzzed with a message from Bash. It simply read,Missing you in this big old house. God she missed him too. Smiling down at the message, she put the phone on the table, and was about to send him a reply when Rita cleared her throat.
“Put that thing away, Lexxi. This next part is important.”
Uh oh.
She slid the purse off the table and into her bag. “Great. I’m listening.”
“All right, so let’s get to a few media management related issues. First, the little situation with bad press after your father became ill, Lexxi. That will likely work in your favor. It put you on the radar way before the release date, which will keep a steady buzz going. People might hate you, but as long as they buy you, it doesn’t matter.”
Alexandra blew out a breath. Rita called up someone from the PR team and whispered something in her ear. The young woman hurried out of the room. Alexandra eyes her as she walked out, wondering what that was about.
Rita continued. “Next, Lexxi, is that stunt you pulled on the Sammy P. Higgins Live show. What are we, twelve now? That whole walking on stage with the wig in your hand instead of on your head…all I can say is…bravo!”
She liked it?
Here I thought I was liberating myself and revealing the new me, and Rita thinks it was all fun and games for the album?
