Chapter 206

# 207

Last minute (3)

***

The employee in charge of writing press releases in the Ara Entertainment public relations team had a hard time hiding his embarrassment.

I felt like I needed to revise the titles I had selected, such as ‘Man to Man Chae Eun-ho’s successful solo debut, LUV’s No. 1 sensation.’

Chae Eun-ho’s music release time is 6 p.m. However, this was because the music rankings changed at midnight.

The planning and strategy team and the album production team, which are in charge of analyzing the performance after the release of music, were also embarrassed.

Yesterday, it was clearly confirmed that Chae Eun-ho’s ‘LUV’ was ranked #1 on the music charts.

Of course, even if you entered in first place, it was not possible to stay in first place. However, the girls’ song, which ranked second, had already been released for about three weeks. It was in 3rd and 4th place for several days, and even when it rose to the top again, it was still around 2nd place.

As a rookie, it had stayed at the top of the charts for quite some time, so it was clear that the only thing left to do was to go down.

And among the music sources to be released for the time being, there is no music source that is as well-known as Chae Eun-ho. The drama OST could have been an ambush, but there was no particularly influential drama that could stand out.

Although it was pushed back under the direction of General Manager Seo Jung-won, it was a release date that took all of these things into consideration.

They were even promised exposure by distributing the music through Pineapple Music, which boasts the largest market share in the music chart market.

Chae Eun-ho’s song not only appeared on the main screen, but also continued to appear in recommended songs, encouraging users to click on it.

Man to Man’s fandom has now clearly established itself as the largest fandom next to KK.

There was no situation where Chae Eun-ho’s sound could have been pushed out.

The person who was feeling the gloomiest about the real-time music charts was Jin Gook-seon, head of the strategic planning team. I wasn’t afraid of Director Seo Jung-won’s anger for a moment.

Director Jin Gook-seon was in the same boat as Director Seo Jung-won. Because of that, he was able to take on the position of head of the strategic planning team, the most important position among Ara Entertainment’s working-level staff.

1 Listen Bunker21

2 LUV Chae Eun-

ho 3 Our Time Girls

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68 Valentine’s Day Like Chocolate

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Valentine was also doing extremely well for a rookie. Chae Eun-ho also had a successful solo debut.

However, it seemed clear that Ara Entertainment’s reputation was cracking. That meant that Director Seo Jung-won’s reputation was being damaged.

It was natural to say, ‘It’s not like it used to be.’

It even achieved this level of success because it was Pineapple Music that was intentionally promoting Ara Entertainment’s songs. In BN Music and Jam Music, Chae Eun-ho ranked 3rd and Valentine ranked 80th. Although their market share was lower than Pineapple Music, they were still large music sites.

If a major singer was pushed out by surprise by releasing a music source, I would at least try to create a competitive structure, but the singer that Chae Eun-ho was pushed out was a singer with a group name I had never heard of called ‘Bunker21’.

It was a huge wound to my pride.

If this was the case, there were limits to the strategy of leading Valentine with Chae Eun-ho. It was a game where the focus had to be on making Chae Eun-ho number one.

“Who the hell are you? How can you suddenly be number one? “Isn’t it like hoarding?”

As the influence of music sites grew stronger, there were a few agencies that resorted to a method called ‘sound recording hoarding.’ Once the rankings are raised, it is easy to maintain the rankings because many people listen to them, so it was a tactic used by entertainment companies to somehow promote their singers.

The strategic planning team’s office became deathly quiet as Director Jin Kook-seon muttered to himself in anger.

However, it was also true that Director Jin Kook-seon’s anger was funny to the team members who were listening. In the case of Ara Entertainment, not only was there controversy over hoarding, but they also strategically partnered with Pineapple Music to openly promote Ara Entertainment’s songs.

As the saying goes, it was a ‘strategic partnership’. It was publicly known to all members of the strategic planning team that bribes were being exchanged with Pineapple Music.

“Yesterday, on a program called Dancing Dancing, she performed a ballet performance to this song…. Looking at that, I think she might be a singer promoted by TBN. Considering that the distributor is BN Music, run by TBN…”

It was just as the team member explained.

Bunker21’s ‘Listen’ became known after being broadcast on TBN’s popular program ‘Dancing Dancing’ last night.

It was a special stage where ballerinas performed with pop music in the background, not classical music.

‘Listen’, which was accompanied by an acoustic band, was a song with a cheerful melody and bitter emotions.

It was a song that once you heard it, you would want to keep listening to it, and if you listened to it, you would want to go outside for a walk.

The tone of the comfortable melody was also soft and pleasing to the ear. It was a familiar tone that seemed to have been heard somewhere, but with a unique singing style, it also felt unique.

If Chae Eun-ho’s ‘LUV’ is a gorgeous dance song and the song becomes perfect when you enjoy watching it, Bunker21’s ‘Listen’ was a song optimized for listening.

It was also a song that would be played on the streets and in cafes for a long time to come.

Of course, even if it was a good song, it didn’t mean it could get first place right away.

We needed awareness that would entice people to click. However, this unheard of new singer debuted through a popular program called ‘Dancing Dancing.’

As people were looking for the song from ‘Dancing Dancing’, TBN just happened to release the song.

“The agency…”

“The distribution company is listed as the same… Did BN Music produce its own singer?”

“If he had done that much, we would have known.”

Director Jin Gook-seon frowned and answered.

Director Jin Kook-seon checked BN Music’s site.

The music was released on all sites, but each site in charge of distribution was different.

Just as Pineapple Music featured songs from Ara Entertainment, which it distributes, as recommended songs, BN Music also featured songs from ‘Bunker21’, which it distributes.

It was when Director Jin Kook-seon entered Jam Music with a curiosity in mind.

“Try to find the right agency. “Have you been hoarding money?”

“yes. All right.”

In fact, within Ara Entertainment’s album production team, there was already a reaction saying, ‘Bunker21’s song is so good that we can’t help it.’

‘We need to receive more songs from Ara. ‘If you continue to work conservatively with existing composers, you may continue to lose out on songs.’ Problems with the album production process were pointed out.

It was a story that came out from the time when Man to Man was losing to KK.

Promotion and strategy are important, but the album production team thought that the most basic thing was the song itself.

However, because the position of the strategic planning team was much stronger than that of the album production team, the opinion of the album production team was that the

strategic planning team’s position was that the strategy was as important as the song. After a few successes, we sometimes reached the arrogant idea that strategy could cover everything.

Therefore, it was difficult for Director Jin Gook-seon to admit that he was pushed out by a singer whose name and face he did not know.

At that time, the phone rang at Director Jin Kook-seon’s desk.

For a moment, I thought it was Director Seo Jung-won, but Director Jin Gook-seon was nervous, but he soon confirmed that it was an external call.

Director Jin Gook-seon, who made a gesture with his hand to get his team members out of their seats, answered the phone.

“yes. “This is Jin Gook-seon from the strategic planning team at Ara Entertainment.”

-ah. Manager! hello. Pineapple Music…….

The person who made the call was the person in charge of the distribution contract for Pineapple Music.

Since it was rare to receive a call from a contract manager who was not in charge of distribution, a question mark appeared in Director Jin Kook-seon’s head.

And Director Jin Gook-seon’s expression gradually darkened.

“Do you think that makes sense now?!”

In the end, Director Jin Kook-seon’s voice became louder. The strategic planning team members who had been holding their breath have now reached the point where they are holding their breath.

Director Jin Gook-seon soon calmed his voice and continued speaking calmly.

“All right. It seems like this is an area that requires separate discussion. yes. First, let me give you a report… Yes. I understand your position…”

***

“Please come in.”

Director Seo Joong-won answered the loud knock on the door.

The atmosphere in Director Seo Joong-won’s office was also not good.

Director Seo Joong-won was already planning to call Director Jin Kook-seon, but he received a call from Director Jin Kook-seon asking if he could go up to the office first.

“okay. “What…”

“I’m sorry. Director. “There is no shame.”

As soon as Director Jin Gook-seon sat down, he bowed his head to Director Seo Jung-won.

However, Director Seo Joong-won shook his head.

It was clear that the situation was not good. However, Director Seo Joong-won also recognized that pushing his own person, Director Jin Gook-seon, to the brink would only result in him being scraped off.

Anyway, he needed someone to work for him. Even Chae Eun-ho’s album was in trouble. I needed a loyal dog who would work harder.

“no. That’s it. Director Jin did his best. How can Director Jin manage such variables?…”

“Thank you for saying that.”

Even though Director Seo Joong-won offered comforting words contrary to expectations, Director Jin Guk-seon’s expression remained dark. Director Seo Jung-won even came up with the measures he had in mind.

“For those who are talking about Bunker21 or something, the genre is different from Eunho’s, so… I’ll just unplug like this is what happened anyway. “A lot of new talents have appeared… and they even tie up valentines to the girls.”

Director Jin Gook-seon also nodded because it was the method he was thinking of.

“And beat those KK guys.”

“yes?”

“I wonder if it will still be the same even if KK comes back… Now the generations are changing. “You know what I mean, right?”

“Ah… But if you do that, it might just be too aggressive…”

“Shouldn’t we at least try to attract clicks related to Chae Eun-ho and Valentine first? uh? “First of all, I have to raise my grades right away.”

It was a tactic that only an unknown agency would use without considering long-term image.

Even if he pretended to be okay, it was clear that Director Seo Joong-won was feeling upset ahead of the board meeting. Director Jin Gook-seon answered without further comment.

“yes. All right. “I will forward this to the PR team and they will be processed quickly.”

“okay.”

“But I have something to report to you…”

“But what?”

“I got a call from Pineapple Music. “I want to increase distribution fees…”

“What?!”

“We plan to upload them all at once starting next month.”

“Even now, they already take half of the music profits! This is like a day robber! If I upload everything, will you stay still somewhere else? uh?”

Director Seo Joong-won huffed.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do… We have to distribute… This time, not only pineapple but also BN and jam are being uploaded. “It seems like collusion.”

Naturally, if the commission went up, the profit returned to the agency would inevitably decrease. It couldn’t have been bad news in an already bad atmosphere.

At that time, Director Seo Jung-won’s secretary burst open the door to the Director’s office and came in.

“what!!!”

Director Seo Joong-won shouted in a raw voice. He seemed ready to throw the coffee cup in front of him at any moment. The secretary responded with a wince.

“Director. You two… I think you should see it now. “It was an article that just came out… and there was an uproar.”

The secretary held out the pad she was holding.

There was an article floating on the secretary’s pad. Former Man to Man member Seojun. So, it was an article about Seo Kang-jun’s return.