Rockstar Again - Chapter 144



Only Noblemtl

Episode 144. Surfin’ USA (2)

The time when Lee Dong-ha headed to America.

A meeting of its own was taking place within CheongA Entertainment, the management company in charge of Lee Dong-ha.

“It’s the second album. Shouldn’t we release it quickly?”

The topic of the meeting is the second album of Blue Porcelain, the flagship product of Hyun Cheong-A Entertainment.

It might seem a bit early to say this, considering that their first album came out just two months ago and is still dominating streaming charts.

“The timing is right, but… … shouldn’t we look at Blue Porcelain differently from regular idols?”

Marketing Team Leader Na Moon-hee agreed with the meeting topic but expressed some disagreement.

“A typical idol… … No. That’s right. Not a typical idol. Not a single or mini-album like a typical idol. But you know. When will Blue Porcelain’s second album come out? Does anyone here know the answer?”

Everyone looked at each other as Gil Min-seok, the head of the headquarters in charge of running the meeting, spoke.

A person who was sent down to assist Gu Se-ryeong as a direct subordinate to the chairman of Gu Se-ryeong Group, Gu Se-cheong, who is Gu Se-ryeong’s older brother.

Discover and cast artists.

If the person in charge of communicating with the outside world or taking on big tasks is Gu Se-ryeong, the face and representative of Cheong-A Entertainment.

The person in charge of internal affairs is Gil Min-seok.

Among the meeting attendees who were looking at each other, the team leader in charge of A&R cautiously opened his mouth.

“Dong-ha wrote and composed all the songs himself. I don’t think we can control it.”

This is something I can say as the head of the A&R team.

Because I am the one in charge of the overall planning of album production and recording.

But it seems that Chief Gil Min-seok had different thoughts.

Gil Min-seok nodded calmly and opened his mouth.

“That’s why we need to have a meeting.”

“… …Why?”

“Because we can’t control it. It’s a company asset, but we can’t control it. I don’t think we should understand this because we’re in the entertainment industry. That’s wrong. And while one of the biggest assets in the entertainment industry, the artist’s first album, is selling very well, our company’s profits are minimal.”

“… … .”

The A&R team leader frowned instead of answering, but Gil Min-seok ignored him and continued speaking.

“They were a hot topic even before their debut. They took first place on the back of the hot topic. Their buzz is also at its peak. Oh, of course I agree that their first album is a great album. I’m not denying that. I’m just saying that the company’s share of the pie is quite small compared to the results they’ve achieved. On the other hand, it’s true that we’re fully covering the cost issue because CEO Koo has given us exceptional treatment.”

As Gil Min-seok glanced at him, the finance manager, who had received the signal, began reading the documents in a mechanical voice.

“Every time we show up on a music show, the company spends an average of 30 million won. We currently participate in music shows at least three times a week, including terrestrial and cable. If we average this out again, it’s at least 120 million won a week. Since the start of our promotions, Blue Porcelain’s loss from participating in music shows has exceeded 800 million won.”

As if passing the baton again, Chief Gil Min-seok opened his mouth and looked at everyone.

“Did you hear that?”

“… … .”

“In addition, we made the music video the best and made a final 1 billion won with two versions. People say that the goose that lays the golden eggs, Blue Porcelain, came into our arms on its own… … Well? I think differently. Just like other idols, they spend money on buying songs and raising trainees, but don’t they spend a lot more money elsewhere? Putting money into music videos is the trend these days, but which idol loses 30 million won per music show?”

Chief Gil Min-seok’s words were not wrong.

Music shows aren’t about making money.

There is virtually no guarantee for participation in the broadcast, at the level of several hundred thousand won.

Even so, the reason why they work so hard to find producers to participate in music shows is because that is the biggest promotional channel.

Even though YouTube has become the trend and the number of people watching TV at home has decreased significantly, music broadcasts are still the biggest indicator of fans who love music.

It’s easy to think of it as a promotional channel.

However, due to the nature of the band, Blue Porcelain, the amount of money spent on stage for each music show is considerable.

Cheong-A gave us an amount that a small or medium-sized company would never have been able to afford.

There are many reasons.

The first reason was that I absolutely hated the fact that the artist, who was the alpha and omega of Blue Porcelain, just played MR and smiled.

The second reason was that the company’s CEO, Koo Se-ryeong, was fully supporting this move.

This is a side note, but one reason is that those who have to speak out in the company all have artist-biased thinking.

‘It’s also difficult to say that Chairman Yoon Tae-joo is a member… … .’

Chief Gil Min-seok smiled bitterly and stood up, leaning on the table.

“The more we do this kind of activity, the more we lose. They say it’s covered by music revenue, but isn’t that the main source of income? As you said, this band isn’t a global idol group, right?”

“… … That’s true. If they were a global idol, their overseas music revenue would increase, but Blue Porcelain only has a cult following in Korea… … .”

There are also rebuttals.

“There’s a festival going on, right? Isn’t it covered there?”

This is Na Moon-hee, the marketing team leader.

It was the university festival season, and she was the one who was most interested in him.

But when this story comes up, Chief Gil Min-seok smiles rottenly again.

“The guarantee for university festivals is that although we are rookies, we are highly evaluated and are on par with A-listers. It’s 3,000. But I told you, right? The cost of performing on a music show is 3,000. What’s funny is that whether we sing multiple songs at a university festival or one song on a music show and leave, the Blue Porcelain Live stage costs 3,000 each time. From now on, it’s simple math. We spend 3,000 and earn 3,000. There are a lot of festivals like that in May. We at Blue Porcelain diligently attend such events. How much profit do you think the company makes from them?”

“Zero… … is it?”

When Team Leader Na Moon-hee had no choice but to answer, Gil Min-seok smiled and shook his head from side to side.

“It’s a minus. The company pays for the expenses, but the profits are shared with the artists. Isn’t it funny? That’s what I’m thinking right now. I also wonder, “What is this group?” I also wonder if they’re assassins sent by a competitor to eat up our company. That’s not all that’s spent during Blue Porcelain’s activities. It includes costumes, hair, makeup, personnel support, and vehicles. It goes on much more.”

“… … .”

“Then how do you make money as musicians? You probably know that better than I do. When the settlement fee is favorable for the company, we film as many advertisements as possible during our rookie days, hold external events, hold concerts at the end of the year, and go on overseas tours. Since then, our overseas fandom for our music has been rapidly increasing. However, we don’t film advertisements and only do events, but the more we do, the more we lose. It’s not idol music that people overseas are familiar with, so it’s different from the existing trend. So we won’t have more overseas fans right away.”

at that time.

Once again, the A&R team leader intervened with a question.

“The more I turn it, the more it hurts… … Why are you talking about the second album?”

“That’s the gist of today’s meeting.”

Chief Gil Min-seok, who smiled properly for the first time to everyone, held up three fingers.

“Three thousand.”

“… … ?”

“I was wondering if it was worth keeping this group because of the cost, when I received a report on the university festival and realized it. The cost of setting up the stage is 3000, whether you do one song or ten songs. Oh, of course, it goes up a little bit, but it’s not like you spend 300 million just because you sing ten songs?”

Everyone’s attention is immediately focused on Gil Min-seok.

When we see things like this, everyone starts to think that I am definitely a person.

Gil Min-seok opened his mouth again.

“The revenue structure of this band is very simple. First, music revenue. Second, the increase in event guarantees. More broadly, rather than participating in external events, it would be about hosting events proactively, like the world tours that everyone does these days.”

Originally, it was a finger spread to emphasize the cost of 30 million won. However, two of Gil Min-seok’s three fingers spread out were folded while mentioning the reason.

Only one middle finger pointed towards everyone.

“……hmm…….”

“This money-eating hippopotamus. On top of that, the CEO must be crazy, and the settlement ratio is garbage. The member composition is also like that, so it’s impossible to control, and although it’s popular, there’s no way to know how long it will be able to hold on to domestic fans. As a manager, this damn group is scary… … Ugh… … .”

Chief Gil Min-seok, who had been catching his breath for a moment after his sudden rash, finally folded his middle finger and spoke.

“To transform into a goose that truly lays golden eggs, you need to move up a class. That’s my conclusion.”

After hearing Gil Min-seok’s conclusion, Na Moon-hee burst into applause inwardly.

‘They said they were key personnel at headquarters, but they are different… ‘

As a marketing manager, I didn’t know there was such a story behind it.

It was just a college festival period, and we were having events and getting number one on music charts, so I thought the company was making a lot of money.

It is also admirable that he was able to explain to the company’s key employees why the second album had to be released so quickly.

Even those who were questioning it are now just nodding their heads.

However, the conclusion that we simply need to increase our weight class was somewhat disappointing.

Even if it’s not exactly Blue Porcelain, it’s common sense in today’s entertainment industry that you have to target a large market to make big profits.

However, targeting a large market does not necessarily mean that one will become a world star.

In the case of Lee Dong-ha, NBD9’s individual popularity is slowly rising overseas, but due to the nature of the rock genre, there is no response at all in Southeast Asia, which is the easiest and largest market for music sources.

Japan, on the other hand, is showing some reaction.

Rock has its own place there.

Even that isn’t a big deal.

The other members are… …just so-so.

There was no reaction. It may have been a story that resonated in Korea, but overseas, it was just a one-off issue like a hot topic.

So I was curious.

“I agree with the direction, but is there a method? Just because you say, ‘Become a world star,’ doesn’t mean you’ll become a world star, right? I don’t think rock music will work in overseas markets, right? This isn’t something a marketing manager should be saying, but… … There’s no response from Southeast Asia at all. From their perspective, it’s just that it’s really unusual, that’s all. So, I think it’s right to focus on building up your foundation first, even if it means taking a loss, as long as it’s within the company’s allowable scale. Just because you say, ‘Let’s make a second album,’ doesn’t mean you’ll make it right away.”

Chief Gil Min-seok laughed at Team Leader Na Moon-hee’s words.

“When did I say Southeast Asia? I said World.”

“yes?”

Gil Min-seok, who had been garnering everyone’s sympathy up until now, failed to gain everyone’s sympathy with his last words.

Although Na Moon-hee was the only one who asked, everyone’s eyes were filled with doubt.

If not Southeast Asia, you might think it refers to the huge markets of Japan and China in Northeast Asia, but everyone knows that’s not the case, even though the subject is omitted.

However, the industry consensus is that although the Korean Wave is popular in the West, it is because the music and concept are fresh to them.

As for rock… well… … .

Well, it’s not even that level.

To be honest, there is no reason for Western fans to listen to Asian rock music.

Exactly―.

As Gil Min-seok snaps his fingers, one of the waiting staff turns on the beam projector and quickly turns off the lights in the room.

“This is the sheet music I received from Team Leader Park Soo-chan, who is in charge of Blue Porcelain, a while ago.”

Just a scanned copy of the music score floating on the screen.

While the few people who could read sheet music were scanning it with their eyes, Gil Min-seok smiled confidently as if he had taken some kind of drug.

“Some of you here think I was demoted by the head office or that I’m a businessperson who doesn’t know anything about music. Both of you are wrong. I came here of my own accord. I’m a guy who graduated from Berklee. I studied business administration and got a job at Cheong-A.”

Gil Min-seok, who had boasted quite grandly about being able to read sheet music, looked at the wall where the beam projector was shining with rapt eyes.

“I’ve never made a sheet music of this quality before, and it came out of my manager’s pocket, crumpled. It’s crazy, really. If I tell them to release a second album, that band will release a second album in no time. So I’m going to work hard.”

A large picture is drawn above Gil Min-seok’s head.

Rockstar Again Episode 145