One week after the release, the noise had changed completely.
It was no longer about anticipation or first reactions. The conversations had shifted into something heavier, something people in the industry paid attention to more than excitement. Numbers had settled enough to form direction. Not guesses. Not early spikes. Real patterns.
Across different platforms, reports had been compiled, broken down, and compared. Internal dashboards had updated multiple times over the week. External tracking pages had stabilized. What was left now was not speculation.
It was performance. The songs top the charts in different countries and cities.
***
Michael's office was quiet when the report came in.
Not the kind of quiet that came from emptiness, but the kind that came from control. The blinds were half drawn, cutting the sunlight into thin lines across the polished surface of his desk. A large screen sat in front of him, but he wasn't looking at it yet. His attention was on the door.
