Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

On November 25, the 40th Annual American Music Awards took place at the Nokia Center in Los Angeles.

Before that, Nielsen SoundScan had also released the US record market sales figures for 2012.

Link's fourth album "Love is gone," which was released in mid-August of last year, had sold 5.22 million copies in the United States by the time the American Music Awards began in November last year.

This year, "Love is gone" has sold 6.12 million copies in the United States, bringing the domestic total to 11.49 million copies, making it the highest-selling album rated by the Nielsen SoundScan system this year.

After MJ's "Thriller," which was released in 1980, this album is the second album to be crowned champion on the record sales charts for two consecutive years. Since its release over a year ago, it has never fallen out of the top 20 on the album sales chart.

"Love is gone" is also the 22nd diamond-certified album according to the Nielsen SoundScan system, which has been tracking domestic album sales in the United States since 1991.

The 21st diamond album was Link's third album "The Woman I Love."

The runner-up on the album sales chart is Adele's "21," which was released in April last year and had a total US sales of 5.82 million copies by December 31, 2011.

From the beginning of the year to now, its sales have reached 4.41 million copies.

The total sales have just surpassed 10 million copies.

"21" is also the 23rd diamond-certified album by the Nielsen SoundScan system.

Ranked third is Taylor Swift's fifth album "Red," released in March, with a current total of 3.87 million copies sold.

This is also her fourth time being in the top three on the annual album sales chart.

Her children's album "Fairy," released at the end of last year, has sold 1.25 million copies this year, ranking eighth on the album chart.

The albums ranked fourth to tenth are One Direction's "Up All Night" with 1.62 million copies, Mumford & Sons' rock band "Babel" with 1.46 million copies, Lana Del Rey's third album "Paradise" with 1.42 million copies.

Justin Bieber's "Believe" with 1.34 million copies, Taylor's "Fairy," Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" with 1.2 million copies, Bruno Mars' "Unorthodox Jukebox" with 1.18 million copies.

Wiz Khalifa's "Rolling Papers," released at the end of last year, has sold 1.02 million copies this year, ranking 14th.

This year, there are a total of 14 albums on the Nielsen SoundScan album sales chart that have reached the million-sales mark.

Out of these 14 albums, five are from Link Music, including the fourth-ranked One Direction from Britain. The group's US release work is represented by Link Music. Including One Direction's "Up All Night," six albums are released by Link Music, nearly half of them.

This has also continued to grow Link Music's influence in the music industry.

Currently, Link Music has solidified a market cap of 1.8 billion US dollars. According to The Wall Street Journal, Link Music's market cap could surpass 2 billion US dollars after the release of Link's fifth album.

If Link Music were willing to go public, there is a great chance of surpassing 5 billion or even 6 billion US dollars in market value.

Since the awards at the American Music Awards are linked to album sales, and since Link announced last year that he would not participate in the awards selection, Adele was able to win five major awards at last year's American Music Awards. This year's biggest winner at the American Music Awards is Taylor, who led her peers with three major awards for Artist of the Year, Favorite Country Female Artist, and Favorite Country Album.

Justin Bieber took home two awards for Favorite Pop Male Artist and Favorite Pop Album.

Others like Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lana Del Rey, Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, Shakira, and others all took home one or two trophies.

Afterward, media reports claimed Link announced he would not take awards to help artists signed under Link win awards. If he had not announced his withdrawal from all award selections, he would have become the biggest winner at the American Music Awards for three consecutive years; making it difficult for people like Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, and even Adele, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry to win awards at the music awards.

Although such assessments may be exaggerated, based on the sales of Link's two albums, he indeed has the capability to overshadow his peers, including the likes of Adele and Taylor, who are temporarily trailing him in album sales and are also far behind in terms of popularity and influence.

Since the Olympic Games in July and August, the addition of multiple identities has made him a unique superstar, temporarily without peer.

"Hmph, I think your refusal to participate in the awards is an act of cowardice. You're afraid of losing to us,"

Taylor said, looking at the three Pyramid trophies laid out on the seat of the moving nanny car.

"Are you kidding me? For a singer, album sales are what matter most; everything else is just icing on the cake. I crush anyone on the album sales chart, so why would I worry about not winning awards? The reason I don't participate in the selection is that I don't want to bully you all. You won an award and still dare to show off in front of me?"

Link shook his head.

Taylor wrinkled her nose and kicked him lightly with the tip of her high heel.

"Don't make it sound so noble. How about you announce you're participating in the awards from next year and we'll see who wins more awards?"

"It's not necessary. Once spoken, words can't just be taken back, and besides, my fifth album is my last, and I will be in a semi-retired state with the band thereafter. Reannouncing participation in the awards wouldn't make much sense."

"Last time you told me you would continue to write songs, were you lying to me?" Taylor said dissatisfied.

"I didn't lie to you, I'll release singles when I'm inspired in the future, just no albums," Link said.

Looking at him discontentedly, Taylor replied, "In the past, you could write so many good songs each year, and now you've become lazier and lazier, hardly writing a few good songs in a year. I think those comments are right—money and fame have taken away your drive for music creation, making you lazy and vulgar. You should give up all your wealth and focus on creating."

Link shook his head, "I said at the beginning that the reason I became a singer was mainly because of you. With you, I was able to love music and find inspiration for creation. Later, when you kicked me out without hesitation, I lost the grounding for my music and my interest in it too. Continuing to create became difficult, and writing good songs was hard, so leaving the music scene was inevitable, no need to force it."

"Are you blaming me?"

Taylor pursed her lips and stared at him.

"I'm not blaming you, I'm just stating a fact. You were my muse in music. Because of you, I was able to write those songs in the past. Without you, what could I use to write? Eva is now my muse in business, so I am more focused on the development of the companies under my wing."

"But we're still together now, I haven't left you."

Taylor retorted.

"It's not the same. Before, you loved me, we were lovers in love. Now, you don't love me the same way as before, you just think of me as Alexander and Cynthia's father, which is another form of estrangement."

"Hmph, what an egotistical man."

Taylor snorted lightly, folding her arms and looking out the car window at the neon lights.

"Alright, don't be angry. I just said I won't release albums anymore, I didn't say I'd give up music. Songwriting is a lifelong job. I've written too much in the past few years and lacked accumulation, which has led to a decrease in my creative ability. Resting for a few years is also for better creation, and I believe you will feel the same in the future."

Link sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist as he spoke.

Taylor stared out the car window without speaking. The neon lights filtered through the glass, casting reflections on her pale, delicate cheeks. Her blue eyes and long eyelashes looked even more enchanting under the dim light.

Link pulled her into his embrace, his palm touching her smooth cheek, cold earlobes, and earrings.

"What are you doing?"

Taylor looked at him dissatisfied.

Link lowered his head and kissed her thin lips. Taylor made some soft sounds and hit him a few times with her white fists, but he kissed her even more passionately and deeply.

Taylor's pale hand rested on his chest, gradually moving up to embrace his neck.

Just as he was about to pin Taylor down on the seat, she sat on his lap instead.

The business van drove slowly along Hollywood Boulevard.

The neon lights shone on Taylor's smooth, pale back, casting a hazy glow.

Her golden hair was also loosely spread over her shoulders, becoming gradually damp with sweat.

The car windows fogged up, becoming increasingly blurry.

——

Following the American Music Awards, Link's new album "As It Was" was released as scheduled.

This album not only contains old songs like "We don't talk anymore," "Blinding Lights," "Good Time," "Listen," "Sugar," and others totaling eight.

It also includes hits like "What Lovers Do," "As It Was," "Remember Me," "What Are Words," "Something Just Like This," "What A Beautiful Name," and ten others.

Different from the past, to cater to the market, the standard edition of this album was reduced from 29.5 US dollars to 19.5 US dollars, averaging one dollar per song.

This album was promoted and released jointly by Link Music and Universal Music, which provided more resources and wider distribution channels than the last album.

Due to various factors, "As It Was" sold 3.05 million copies in its first week in the United States alone.

It smashed the record of 2.41 million copies set by the boy band 'N Sync in 2000 with their album "No Strings Attached."

It elevated the first-week sales to a new high that is difficult for ordinary artists to reach.

The reviews for this album were relatively positive. Although the style was not as unified as the third or fourth album, the song quality of this album was not inferior to the fourth one and catered to fans of all tastes.

In its first week, Billboard's singles chart top 12 were all from this album, with all eighteen songs entering the top 30, smashing multiple Billboard records in the process.

On the iTunes Music Store, Amazon Music, and Spotify platforms, the album's songs reached over one billion plays in the first week, setting another new record.

Overseas, "As It Was" topped the album sales charts in 22 countries including Canada, Britain, Belgium, Japan, and South Korea, and was in the top three in sales in 45 countries and regions.

With a cumulative first-week sales of 11.8 million copies, the album achieved diamond status in its first week and set multiple new records in the world music scene.

The new album's songs also successively reached the top position on the singles charts in multiple countries.

Because this album was such a hit, fans around the world were listening to its songs in December, and its tracks were being played everywhere from streets to alleys worldwide.

This almost became a global cultural trend and a pop phenomenon.