Chapter 730: Snippets...

The announcement had been scheduled for a Friday, and by the time the marketing teams began their final preparations, everything was already in place. JD Records had spent the previous few days coordinating the release across its international offices, making sure that the announcement would reach different markets at the appropriate times. The promotional materials had been prepared in several formats, and the digital distribution teams had completed their checks.

This announcement would be different from the one that introduced the album cover. People already knew that JD was preparing a new album called Genesis, and they had spent weeks discussing the artwork and trying to understand what the project might sound like. Now they were finally going to receive something they could listen to.

Inside JD Records, Alice was going through the final campaign schedule with two members of her team. Several promotional videos were arranged for release, while shorter clips had been prepared for entertainment blogs and selected music platforms. The department had also coordinated with regional partners who would publish the snippets on their own accounts once the official announcement went live.

"Have all the platforms confirmed their schedules?" Alice asked, checking the list on her tablet.

"Yes. The major accounts have confirmed, and the regional teams have received the materials. Some of the entertainment blogs will publish their clips shortly after the official post goes live."

"What about the captions? I don’t want different accounts using completely different messages. They can adjust them where necessary for their audiences, but the main message needs to remain the same."

"We’ve already sent the approved versions. The release date will be included, and the short caption for the teaser campaign will be consistent."

Alice checked the final files again before approving them. The first announcement would contain the album cover, the official release date and a short message. The teaser videos would follow immediately, giving people their first opportunity to hear parts of the album.

At the same time, Dayo was in his office with Wayne, who had come in earlier that morning. Wayne had already seen the promotional materials and was particularly interested in the snippets. He knew what the album contained, but he was still looking forward to seeing how people would react when they heard the first previews.

"Have you watched all the clips?" Wayne asked, sitting across from Dayo.

"I’ve seen them."

"And what do you think?"

"They’re fine. The team has done what we discussed."

Wayne looked at him for a moment. "You know I’m talking about the reactions. I want to see what people say when they hear some of these parts. A few of those clips are going to surprise them."

Dayo smiled slightly keeping his face still. "We’ll find out soon enough."

"I’m serious. Some people are going to hear those snippets and start asking questions immediately. Especially the emotional ones. I don’t think they are expecting that particular sound from you."

"People have heard emotional songs from me before."

"Of course they have, but these are different. and you know it but, let’s see what happens."

Wayne had no intention of revealing anything further. His earlier comments had already encouraged speculation, and the marketing team knew that his occasional hints were useful. He was happy to let the audience wonder what he meant until they could hear the music themselves.

A little later, the official announcement went live.

JD Records published the album cover across its social media accounts, accompanied by the confirmed release date. JD’s personal accounts followed, with the caption kept short and direct.

GENESIS. COMING SOON. GET YOUR HEARTS READY.

The announcement was quickly shared by the company’s regional accounts and promotional partners. Within minutes, the album cover was appearing across different music blogs, entertainment pages and fan communities. People who had been waiting for the release date began sharing the announcement, while others immediately turned their attention to the teaser videos.

The first clips appeared shortly afterwards.

One showed JD standing in a dimly lit room, with the camera focused closely on his face as he sang a section of an emotional song. The instrumental began quietly, allowing his voice to carry the first few lines before the arrangement gradually became fuller. Just as the vocals reached a stronger part of the chorus, the clip ended.

Another video showed him performing in a recording studio, singing a different section with a more intense delivery. The camera captured his expression as he reached the final part of the snippet, but the video cut off before the next line could be heard and showed Wayne’s face.

There were other clips as well, each presenting a different part of the album. Some focused on JD’s performance, while others showed brief studio footage and close-ups of him singing. The snippets were short, generally lasting between twenty and thirty seconds, but they contained enough music to give listeners an idea of what they could expect.

The response began almost immediately.

On one music blog, a fan replayed the first emotional snippet several times before commenting beneath the video. "I was expecting something good, but I wasn’t expecting this. Why does that part sound like something I’ve been through?"

Another person replied, "It’s the way he sings that last line. I actually stopped what I was doing when I heard it."

A different discussion had already started on Instagram. One user, @thequietlistener, shared the teaser to her story with a message saying that she had listened to it repeatedly because the short section reminded her of a difficult period in her life. Several people responded to her post, with some saying they understood exactly what she meant.

On TikTok, people began using the audio from the snippets in their own videos. Some simply recorded their reactions, while others added captions about the lyrics they could hear. A few people were already trying to identify which songs the clips belonged to, although JD Records had not revealed any track titles.

One comment under a popular repost read, "Twenty seconds and I’m already waiting for the full song. This is actually unfair."

Another fan wrote, "I thought this album was going to be another collection of big performances, but that first snippet sounds personal. I need to hear the whole thing."

A third comment appeared beneath a video of JD singing in the studio. "Can we talk about his voice here? He sounds like he really means every word. I wasn’t prepared for that."

"Someone please check on Dayo I hope he is fine cause from the little I heard he is either going through a lot or has gone through a lot but regardless I cant wait for this album.."

The reactions were not all the same. Some listeners were drawn to the emotional snippets, while others preferred the stronger instrumental sections. A few fans were surprised by how different the clips sounded from one another, especially since the album cover had given them no clear indication of its musical direction.

Within a short time, entertainment blogs began publishing the videos alongside their own captions. Several accounts focused on the emotional performance, while others shared multiple snippets together and asked their followers which one they wanted to hear in full.

One music page wrote that JD appeared to be preparing an album with several different musical directions, while another pointed out that the previews were already attracting considerable attention despite their short length.

The release date was also being discussed widely. Fans who had spent weeks asking when the album would arrive were now sharing the announcement with friends and marking the date on their calendars.

Some of the reactions were particularly personal. A young woman shared a clip of herself listening to one of the emotional previews in her room. She explained that the words she could hear reminded her of a relationship she had struggled to move on from. Another listener said the snippet reminded him of a period when he had lost someone close to him and had spent months trying to accept what happened.

Those comments were among the ones that attracted attention because they were not simply praising JD’s voice. People were connecting the small sections of music to experiences they recognised in their own lives.

Meanwhile, music commentators began discussing the album’s possible direction. The emotional pop-rock snippet attracted comparisons with the kind of music that combined strong vocals, piano arrangements and a gradual instrumental build. Some listeners also noticed that the other clips sounded quite different, suggesting that Genesis would not be limited to one genre.

A few commentators were already discussing whether JD was deliberately presenting different sides of the album to show its range. Others preferred to wait until they could hear the complete songs before making any conclusions.

By midday, the announcement had become a major topic across several entertainment platforms. The attention was particularly noticeable in markets where the combined JD Records and former MK network had been running coordinated campaigns. Regional accounts were sharing the clips, and the audience response was growing beyond the company’s original promotional circles.

At JD Records, Alice had returned to the conference room with the latest campaign report. Valerie, Ulrich and Wayne were already there, while Dayo joined them shortly afterwards. The marketing team had been monitoring the announcement since it went live, and Alice wanted to review the early response before the day ended.

"The announcement has performed very well so far," she began. "The release date is getting a lot of attention, but the snippets are responsible for a considerable part of the conversation. People are sharing the videos, discussing the different sounds and asking when we’ll release longer previews."

Wayne smiled as he looked at the screen. "I told you people would react."

Alice gave him a brief look. "You’ve been saying that since we started preparing the campaign. Let’s see the actual figures."

She moved to the next slide, which showed the updated pre-save report. The numbers had increased since the previous internal review, and the new figures included the activity recorded after the official announcement.

Spotify had reached 150 million pre-saves, while Apple Music had recorded 75 million. YouTube Music stood at 60 million, and Boomplay had reached 25 million. Audiomack had recorded 18 million, Deezer had 12 million, Amazon Music had 10 million, and other regional platforms accounted for another 30 million.

The combined total stood at 380 million pre-saves across the reported platforms.

Wayne looked at the figure for a moment before turning towards Alice. "Three hundred and eighty million?"

"That’s the current reported total," she replied. "These are platform pre-saves, not general interactions or people who have shared the announcement. We’ve kept those categories separate."

Ulrich looked through the breakdown. "Spotify alone has reached one hundred and fifty million. That’s a substantial number of people who have already taken the step of saving the album before its release."

"The other platforms are contributing as well," Alice said. "Apple Music and YouTube Music are particularly strong, and the regional services are giving us additional reach. The combined network has made a considerable difference."

Valerie studied the report before asking about the projected opening performance. Alice changed the slide again, bringing up the updated first-day estimates.

"The conservative projection is around 400 million streams," she explained. "Our central estimate is 480 million, while the high-performance scenario reaches 600 million. Those figures are based on the current online data, the pre-save activity, audience engagement, previous listening behavior and the response to the new teaser campaign."

Wayne leaned back slightly. "So the expected figure is almost half a billion on the first day."

"That’s the central projection," Alice replied. "We shouldn’t treat it as a confirmed result. The actual performance will depend on how people respond when the album becomes available, but the current indicators support that estimate."

Dayo looked through the report. He was pleased with the work the department had done, particularly because the figures reflected the company’s own resources and the combined reach gained after the acquisition of MK Records. His technology company had supplied the detailed online reports, but the marketing team had carried out the campaigns and converted that information into practical decisions.

"How much of the increase came after the snippets were released?" he asked.

Alice brought up another breakdown. "The announcement itself generated a strong response, but the musical previews have given people something new to discuss. We’ve seen increased activity around the emotional clips, especially on platforms where users are sharing their reactions. The pre-save figures have also continued to rise since the videos went live."

"That’s good," Dayo said. "Keep monitoring the response, but don’t let the projections become the only thing we’re paying attention to. We still have to give people a reason to listen when the album arrives."

"We’re doing that," Alice assured him. "The next stage will focus on maintaining interest and giving the audience more information gradually. We won’t release everything at once."

Valerie looked towards the marketing team. "What are the regional departments reporting?"

"They’re seeing strong responses in several territories. The former MK network has been particularly useful in markets where the label already had established relationships. The regional teams have been able to distribute the clips quickly, and the local entertainment pages are helping us reach audiences who might not follow JD’s main accounts."

Ulrich added that the distribution arrangements were progressing as planned. The release date had already been communicated to the relevant departments, and the teams were making sure that the album would be available across the supported platforms when the time came.

Wayne returned his attention to the snippets playing on the screen. One of the clips had been shared repeatedly, and he recognised the section immediately. "That one is getting a lot of attention. I knew people would like it, but I didn’t expect so many people to connect with it this quickly."

Alice glanced at him. "You were also the person telling everyone to prepare their hearts."

"Because I knew what was coming."

"Well, you’ve certainly helped create the expectation. Now we have to make sure the rest of the campaign supports it."

Dayo listened to their exchange while looking at the reactions displayed on the screen. He was glad people were responding to the music rather than only discussing the numbers. The album had different sounds, and the snippets were beginning to give listeners a small idea of what he had been working on.

After the meeting, he returned home. Luna was in the living room with Jennifer, who was sitting on the floor with a few of her toys. The television was on, and one of the entertainment channels was showing a report about the Genesis announcement. A short section of the teaser played before the presenter began discussing the album’s expected release.

Luna looked towards Dayo when he entered. "You’re back. I’ve been seeing your videos everywhere today."

He placed his things aside before joining them. "You’ve watched them?"

"Of course. I wanted to hear what everyone was talking about, so I watched a few of the clips." She paused as the television replayed the emotional snippet. "That one is really good. I can understand why people are reacting to it."

Dayo looked at the screen. "You like it?"

"I do. It feels different from some of the things you’ve released before, even though you’ve done emotional songs in the past. There’s something about the way you sing that part."

Jennifer had become interested in the sound coming from the television. She looked towards the screen, then turned back towards her father and made a small noise while reaching for one of her toys.

Luna smiled as she picked up the toy and handed it to her. "People are already asking for the complete song. I saw someone saying they had played the snippet more than twenty times."

"Twenty times?" Dayo asked, amused.

"Yes. And there are people saying they want to hear the full album immediately. I think the snippets have made them even more impatient."

He sat beside her and watched Jennifer return to playing. "We’ll see what happens when the album comes out."

Luna looked at him. "You know how much people expect from you now. They’re already comparing it with Beautiful Things."

"I know. But I don’t want to spend all my time thinking about what the previous album achieved. I want people to listen to this one for what it is."

"That’s fair. The songs should speak for themselves."

The television continued showing clips from the announcement, including a short report about the pre-save figures and the projected first-day performance. Luna watched for a little longer before turning the volume down so Jennifer could continue playing without the noise.

Back at JD Records, the marketing department was still working through the day’s reports. The release date had been announced, the first musical previews were circulating, and the audience had begun responding to the actual sound of Genesis. The early figures were already substantial, but the team understood that the real test would come when the album became available.

For now, the snippets had done what they were meant to do. People were no longer asking only when JD would release his next album. They were asking when they would finally be able to hear the songs in full.

And with the release date now public, the wait for Genesis had entered a new stage.