Jacky Cheung Denies Falling Out with Manager Due to Money
Originally scheduled to hold his 30th anniversary concert tour at the Hong Kong Coliseum in April and May, Jacky Cheung (張學友) suddenly announced the postponement of his tour, explaining that he needs more time to prepare for the concert.
Jacky stated that his upcoming concert will be exclusively produced by his record label Universal Music and himself, leaving his longtime manager Florence Chan (陳淑芬) out of the picture.
The sudden postponement led to speculation that Jacky fell out with Florence, who has been producing concerts for Jacky since 1995. Florence also managed late singers Leslie Cheung (張國榮) and Anita Mui (梅艷芳).
According to rumors, Jacky and Florence had a disagreement over the tour’s profit distribution. Jacky then gave up working with Florence, opting to produce the tour himself with Universal Music.
However, both Jacky and Florence denied the reports of their discord. Florence said the reports “twisted the truth” and said she has always given Jacky a lot of freedom when it came to his own productions.
Universal Music also released a statement, clarifying that Florence has never been Jacky’s official manager and they are not bound by contract. Instead, Jacky and Florence’s relationship is based on friendship and mutual trust. The April timeslot for Jacky’s concert was booked by Florence, but Jacky later decided to postpone it because he wants more time to prepare.
Jacky expressed that he has been with Universal Music for over 30 years and understands that the music industry is not like what it used to be. He said he needs a change in image, and believes it is time to give his record label more control in his concert productions. Jacky stressed that he did not have a fall out with Florence, and may work with Florence for the China leg of his tour.
Source: stheadline.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Why he even bother to change his image? Jacky Cheung is already a great Trademark. He’s known for his great voice not looks.
The article was actually mis-translated. Jacky didn’t say anything about changing his image. The translation of his words are as follows (as reported in the original article from Mingpao):
“Our [Florence Chan and Jacky] collaboration has never been bound by contract — it has always been a relationship based on trust – whatever amount she decides to give me, I don’t question it. Having collaborated for so many years, of course there will be differences of opinion between us, as I will insist upon certain things. This time around, the reason I decided to have Universal Music manage my career and concert is because I’ve been with Universal for 30 years and understand how difficult the music industry is currently. Producing albums is actually a money-losing business, so it’s necessary for record companies nowadays to change the way they operate – if there are no other avenues for them to make money, it’s very hard for them to stay afloat. Right now is a good time [to turn over concert management to them] – hopefully this can help their profits. The entire matter is actually very simple.”
I think whoever translated the article misread it and thought Jacky said that he needed to change his image when in reality, he said that the record companies need to “change image” (meaning change the way they operate). Either that or the original article from STHeadline incorrectly reported what Jacky said.
its addy he always change it a bit to look more sensational to read,lol.
Thanks llwy12 and kolo for pointing this out. Sensationalizing news, omitting relevant information from original article and inaccurate translations can invite readers to cast their doubt on the credibility of the site. I hope owner of site will check for accuracy of articles before posting.
Don’t like his manager….after Leslie Cheung and Joyce Cheng incidents.
I am NOT exactly a Florence Chan supporter either, since she keeps saying whatever she does is for Leslie …and those projects always involve money.
She also sensationalized his death … can’t recall the exact details now but something along the lines of “his last words” that she had never spoken about.
Oh so is this Florence the same lady that kept on saying she knew what his last words were prior to his memorial concert? If so,hm… You really wonder if there is some truth in this article?
Many of us Jacky fans actually don’t doubt the validity of the article (especially the original article from last week’s Mingpao magazine that talks about what type of person Florence Chan is) – however since Jacky is choosing to deal with the matter in his usual graceful, neutral way while trying to consider everyone’s feelings as much as possible, we of course are supporting his decision.
I think the way Florence Chan handled Leslie’s memorial concert last year definitely ruined her reputation – there was too much controversy and the whole thing about his last words was too much of a gimmick. In comparisons, the way Jacky handled Anita’s memorial concert was perfect – perhaps Florence should take a page out of Jacky’s book and learn from him…
Lastly – I’m putting in a plug for Jacky’s new Mandarin album, Wake Up Dreaming, which came out on December 23rd. The album was 7 years in the making (technically 10 years for a few of the songs), which definitely shows in the quality of the songs. It’s a great album and those who buy it definitely won’t be disappointed!
@llwy12, pl share what the article said about Florence. I’m a Leslie fan and frankly i was quite disappointed with the whole concert issue esp with regards to how the funds raised were handled. The whole thing about the last words was so gimmicky i cringed at it. I really want to think that she sincerely cares about Leslie which i think to a certain extent she does but the whole memorial series just smack of commercialism.
@Soo: To paraphrase, the article claimed that Jacky was unhappy with Mrs. Chan because 1) her ‘books’ (the accounting portion related to the money earned from their collaborations) were always ‘messy’ (reading between the lines – probably there was some ‘fishy accounting’ going on that he found out about) and 2) he felt that in all of their past collaborations, what Mrs. Chan earned (in terms of money) was ‘too excessive’. The article claimed that Jacky felt Mrs. Chan already ‘earned enough’ so he felt the need to end their collaboration.
There were quite a few specific examples cited in the article – one example: for the Mainland China leg of Jacky’s world tour concerts, Mrs. Chan usually ‘subcontracts’ the production of the shows to a 3rd party production company to handle and the asking price is usually around 5 million RMB – but instead of quoting that price, she hikes up the price to 7 million RMB….this creates problems because in order to meet that price, the production company may need to cut costs elsewhere or skimp on certain aspects of the production if they are not able to sell enough tickets at a high enough price to cover the cost (and we all know that the ticket prices for Jacky’s concerts are already VERY expensive). Raising the price so exorbitantly puts a huge strain on production and that’s the part Jacky was most dissatisfied with (since he cares more about the quality of the production than how much money he will or won’t make).
Another example – everyone knows that Jacky has high standards when it comes to his concerts – whether it’s equipment, lighting, sound, etc. or the musicians working with him, he expects the best….however there have been times where Mrs. Chan would hire ‘cheap’ musicians or use ‘cheap’ equipment to ‘save money’ (lower cost, higher margin = bigger profit)…the article even cited instances when Jacky’s friends who own production companies would go watch his concert and try to visit with him backstage (most likely to discuss possible future collaborations), but Mrs. Chan would try to come up with ways to prevent them from getting close to Jacky.
Of course, people can argue that the stuff the article claimed isn’t true (and some of it might not be), but based on how Mrs. Chan handled other concerts and such (plus information from others involved with those concerts who have actually seen it with their own eyes), I tend to lean more toward believing most of what the MP article stated about Mrs. Chan and the money aspect….
@ llwy 12:
Thanks for enlightening. As of last yr, I don’t read Ming Pao anymore (no time) so gave up buying my weekend supplements too.
I enjoyed~enjoy both Leslie Cheung and Jackie Cheung … and both had Florence involvement so I did read related articles all those yrs and got some impression of her.
Used to think of her as everyone’s good supportive family friend (Leslie, Jackie, Linda Sum) – even on Leslie’s death.
But that impression eventually changed as she kept on reviving Leslie (and those memories always involved money making and some kind of sensationalist gimmick). you wonder, after a while about the WHYs.
Let the dude RIP, for pete’s sakes. Invoking his memory for commercialism and to sensationalize his last words …jeez.
Even as a former Leslie supporter, I don’t want to know his last words nor feel the right/need to know = those should remain private to his loved ones.
There’s something about Florence I don’t like, can’t pinpoint exactly what but i guess all hard-nosed businesswomen like her are like that. The souvenirs she sold at Leslie’s memorial concerts were exorbitantly priced but they were still snapped up by fans. She’s a very savvy businesswoman bit i also didn’t like the was she sensationalized his last moments, milking fans’ emotions.
sorry typo “was” should read as “way”.
Precisely – it’s “milking of fans’ emotions”.
Plus, if she was such a personal friend of Leslie’s – just let him RIP, no need to commercialize more stuff on a dead man’s behalf.
Those last words turned out to be nothing significant, and shouldn’t it have been kept private if they were “last words”?
Maybe I am judging but I just don’t like the vibe around this manager.
Pls enlighten about the Joyce Cheng incident, thx.
Jacky, I hope it is not too late to wish you and your family a Happy New Year! I really like your songs.
Really like Jacky Cheung! His songs are great.
Jacky is a legend, I love his songs too and now days is very hard to find singer with a powerful voice like him. support you Jacky
The god of romantic songs
Nice to hear my all-time fave singer is still producing new songs.
Nowadays audience watch concert not just to listen to songs but also to watch those interesting elements that it presents. Jacky Cheung’s powerful vocal is his main strength but as a musician, he knows where the market is heading and thus want his recording company and himself to take full charge of the concert production. A lot of people don’t want to spend on buying a genuine CD (the most is to buy the digital music) but they are willing to spend on watching concerts because of the LIVE excitement.
just as long as Jacky is still performing, I will pay money to watch and listen to him sing! Love Jacky Cheung! 0=)