“Are you kidding?” Ripper blows out a deep breath. “You loved our album two weeks ago. And youreallyloved it when our songs were going viral and selling tickets.”
“Listen. I’m going to tell you something about this business,” Roger says. “You can be on top of the world and then the next thing—bam! You’re cratering. Maybe a bunchof projects you invested in, which you thought were going to be moneymakers, didn’t pan out. You learn to be wiser with your money. Implement austerity measures.”
I frown. “Roger, is something going on at Manifest?” I know record labels have a tendency to be boom-and-bust enterprises, famous for springing up and then folding after one bad investment, but Manifest is an institution. It should be able to weather some hard times. What’s got Roger talking about austerity measures?
He sidesteps the question. “Just imagine if we put out the album and your social media fans decide they’re bored with you and onto the next? Or maybe they agree with theTimesreview. We need this album to be a hit.” His eyes find mine and he shakes his head. “Weneedit. It’s too risky. Better to hold out and keep working.”
“Artisrisk,” Kenny insists.
Roger pushes his aviators higher up his nose. It hits me that he wore them so he wouldn’t have to look us in the eyes while delivering this news. “I know you’re invested in the album. But once the disap-pointment passes, we can get cracking on a new product. Test it every step of the way with reviewers and consumer audiences, figure out what resonates with the broadest possible market. All right, that’s my five minutes.” He turns for the door. “Call me when you cool down.”
“Roger.” There’s such depth of feeling in Hannah’s voice that everyone goes silent. Roger pauses by the door.
“It’s not a product,” she says. “The album is our heart. It’s Ginny herself.”
Everyone remains frozen.
“Please,” she adds, and the sound of Hannah begging breaks my heart.
Roger inclines his head like it hits him too—but after a moment, he simply says, “I’m sorry,” and walks out, followed quickly by his assistant.
They leave a pall hanging over the room. I’m as shell-shocked as the band. More than that—betrayed.Angrythat this has been pulled on me, on my band.
Ripper puts his arm around Hannah’s shoulders. “It’ll be okay. We just have to fight like always.”
Hannah closes her eyes. “I’m tired of fighting.”
Her defeat reminds me of the first night I met her—the way she’d sunk to her knees onstage and gazed out hopelessly at the crowd. I hadn’t known it, but she’d been ready to quit.
Kenny must see it, too, because he takes her by the shoulders and maneuvers her into one of the chairs. “I’m tired too. But this fight’s worth it.”
I kneel in front of Hannah, my throat thick. After everything we’ve gone through to get to this day, I can’t let the Saints’ victory be taken from them. “None of you have to fight.” I glance at Kenny and Ripper. “Not this time.”
Kenny frowns. “What do you mean?”
“Hate to break it to you, Suit,” Ripper says. “But your side’s the one saying it’s over.”
“That’s not my side. Not anymore.”
The Saints look at me like I’ve told them pigs can fly.
I scrub my hands over my face. I know I’m on the verge of blowing up everything I’ve ever worked for, and yet I feel remarkably calm. I meet Hannah’s eyes, try to show her I mean it. “Give me one day,” I say. “I have an idea.”
Chapter 46
Excerpt fromMusic Business Worldwidearticle, “EXCLUSIVE: Manifest Records Pulls the Future Saints’ Hotly Anticipated Album—Source Cites ‘Risk Aversion’ and ‘Cowardice’ from the Top” (Friday, October 25, 2024)
In a bombshell of a scoop,Music Business Worldwidecan exclusively report that Manifest Records has canceled plans to release what was one of the most highly anticipated records of the year from fan favor-ites the Future Saints. An anonymous source close to the band says the record is finished but has been halted by top brass at the label. The reason? Our source cites a lack of vision on behalf of execs, who have “never understood the Future Saints on a creative level but have been more than happy to profit from them.”
“Roger Braverman is trying to pull the Saints’ album because it’s gotten some criticism that’s spooked him,” says our source. “It’s risk aversion. Pure cowardice. Any organization actually interested in making art—instead of, say, engineering scandal to sell downloads— knows that producing anything original involves risk. Yes, making music is a business, but it’s also an act of faith, and Manifest has lost theirs.”
Rumor has it the criticism that spooked Braverman, long respected as an industry tastemaker, was an early review of the Future Saints’ album by music critic Jerry Hughes of theNew York Times. In it, Hughes called the album “immature” and “disappointing.”
“Sometimes critics simply don’t understand a project,” says our source. “And unfortunately, the arts have a well-established history of old white male critics like Hughes who willfully misunderstand in order to belittle the thoughts, emotions, and artistic output of young female artists. As a femaleled rock band, the Future Saints are subject to this pattern like any other artist. Rather than bow to the misogy-nistic, retrograde gatekeepers of the industry, Manifest should gather its courage and have the Saints’ back.”
Since their breakout single “Six Feet Under” went viral earlier this year, the Saints have been no strangers to controversy. In fact, the many scandals associated with the three-member band—and particularly its front woman, Hannah Cortland—have only fueled their success, helping four of their newest singles chart on the Billboard Top 100.
It’s notable that the sound for which the band has become famous marks a departure from that of their previous discography. Their forthcoming album, titledOne Day, Virginia, was set to be their first definitive collection of darker rock, the style that has driven so much internet traffic and even Grammy buzz.
