Chapter 86 - If This Flow Continues

‘#1 on the NEW100...!’

When he checked Lap Music, it was #1 on the NEW100 chart.

It's a chart that only includes new songs, but considering that 'Gravity' last time ended in the double-digit ranks, this is a great achievement.

‘On other sites, we got #1 even with Gravity... but this is the first time taking #1 on Lap Music.’

But why did it suddenly climb to #1?

Until this morning, it had been staying around 3rd or 4th place.

As Baek Hyeon-woo was feeling puzzled, a message arrived on his phone.

—Baek Yeon-ah: Hyeon-woo-ya, did you see the 'Talking with Oh' that was uploaded?

Talking with Oh.

It's a talk show program hosted by South Korea's top MC, Oh Hyeon-joong.

They invite figures from various fields, not just celebrities, but also writers, scientists, athletes, etc., and have various talks.

It's released weekly on a web variety channel run by TVX, and it's gaining enormous popularity, to the point where every video records millions of views.

But why is 'Talking with Oh' coming up?

—Baek Yeon-ah: CEO Seol Woo-myeong was on this time!

The composer Seol Woo-myeong, who made Newstarz's new song 'After girl'.

He had appeared on the mega-hit YouTube show.

……

“Then do you personally raise the quality yourself from beginning to end?”

“That's right. I refine it until I am satisfied.”

“You're a true artisan.”

In the YouTube video, Oh Hyeon-joong and Seol Woo-myeong could be seen sitting in a studio having a conversation.

Befitting the national MC Oh Hyeon-joong, his control of the conversation's tempo was outstanding. Thanks to that, Seol Woo-myeong was able to explain his composition philosophy in detail without hesitation.

‘Yeah, if it's CEO Seol Woo-myeong, he's worthy of appearing on a show like this.’

Oh Hyeon-joong's 'Talking with Oh' brings in famous people that the public would be curious about and interviews them.

Since Seol Woo-myeong, who had composed numerous hit songs like 'Come on', had released a new song for the first time in a long while, he was more than worthy of being cast and appearing.

On top of that, Seol Woo-myeong also has a connection with TVX's PD Seo Dong-cheol.

“The manager there said this to me.”

“What did he say?”

“That he'd like a song that has both public appeal and completeness at the same time.”

“Public appeal and completeness, are those two things difficult to achieve at the same time? A feeling of having to catch two rabbits at once?”

“That’s right. Raising a song's completeness is only possible by meticulously refining even the small details. But the public likes simple songs more. That’s the reason hook songs are popular.”

“Hook songs, you mean songs where a simple phrase repeats and stays in your ear, right? The addictive ones.”

“That’s right. Therefore, asking for public appeal and completeness at the same time is the same as making the contradictory request to 'make it complex, but also simple'.”

“So what did you do? Did you say, 'I can't do it because it's contradictory'?”

“No. I said I’d do it. Because I wanted to.”

“It’s contradictory, but is it possible?”

“A musical piece is multi-dimensional and multi-faceted, so it can embrace contradictory elements. However, you must put in a tremendous amount of effort.”

“It seems we're returning to that 'artisan' story you mentioned earlier.”

Seol Woo-myeong explained step-by-step what kind of mindset he had when composing 'After girl'.

This program wasn’t a broadcast for promoting 'After girl', but in the end, the viewers would come to think, ‘Should I give it a listen?’

‘Of course, not everyone who watched this program would have listened to this new song. And the people who listened on Lap Music would have only been a portion.’

As with all promotion, among the people who encounter the promotion, only a portion of them follow through to actual consumption.

However, if you can properly capture the hearts of that portion and make them fans, you can achieve a meaningful result.

The #1 on Lap Music NEW100 this time was also a result obtained that way.

“I wanted to make the best song without compromising. By pouring my soul into it, you see.”

Just as Seol Woo-myeong said, this new song is a song that Seol Woo-myeong made by pushing his skills as a composer to their limit.

Newstarz sang that with all their might, doing their best.

Because it was that kind of song, it was able to fascinate people who had listened to it lightly with the thought of, ‘Should I give it a listen?’

‘Now the music show stage videos will start spreading too. If this flow continues…’

Baek Hyeon-woo checked the TOP100 chart, the overall ranking, not the new song chart.

The current TOP100 rank was… 3rd place.

‘A chart all-kill might also be possible.’

A Newstarz new song chart all-kill.

He imagined the sight of articles like that flooding the news.

……

“Geun-taek hyung, what happened?”

The DARWINS entertainment agency headquarters.

There, Drum Fire's leader Seok-joon was protesting in a rough voice.

“You said we'd be able to overtake them soon since we did a ton of promotion. You said their company is the size of a booger, so they can't even promote much.”

DARWINS is a large domestic agency, ranked in the top 4-5.

It falls just short of the top 3 agencies, but it's a decent-sized mid-level enterprise, and it has many celebrities affiliated with it.

Compared to Haram Entertainment, which practically only has Newstarz, it's truly a sky-and-earth difference.

Therefore, the money that can be put into promotion is also enormously different.

“We promoted properly, Seok-joon-ah.”

The one who answered that was DARWINS's producer, Jeong Geun-taek.

He was originally an idol singer, but he retired, switched to being a producer, and has successfully launched numerous albums and idols.

Drum Fire is the most successful case among the idols Jeong Geun-taek has produced, and is currently putting out results that compete for 1st or 2nd place among DARWINS's boy groups.

That's why the company had been giving them their full support, but...

“We spent 10 times more than Haram Entertainment... no, probably more than that.”

“But why is our music chart rank continuously lower than theirs?”

“……”

Jeong Geun-taek bit his lip.

It's a story that ends if he just says, 'Because the Newstarz new song is a better song,' but he couldn't possibly say that.

Because it would be admitting defeat as the producer who directed this album's production.

“They keep getting supporting fire from here and there, so what can we do? It's more effective than us promoting with money.”

In the end, Jeong Geun-taek turned the blame to external factors.

No matter how much promotion money DARWINS spends, they can't win if various influencers are giving Newstarz supporting fire in all sorts of ways like this.

“Hyung, the composer in charge of Newstarz this time went on 'Talking with Oh', didn't he? Can't you go on something like that too?”

“Go on and say what?”

Jeong Geun-taek got annoyed.

“Say something like: 'We made it in a song camp with many people dividing the labor, the advantage is being able to mass-produce many songs in a short period like running a conveyor belt in a factory'?”

All the songs on this album were produced in a song camp.

Many composers gathered in one place and, receiving direction from the producer Jeong Geun-taek, made many songs in a short period.

Of course, it's not that Jeong Geun-taek himself is ashamed of this method.

Because he thinks there's no method as certain as a song camp to pull out several passably decent songs in a short time.

In fact, he had achieved great success with that method so far, and he also had his own pride in it.

However, he can't say that kind of thing publicly right now.

Because he'd obviously be compared with Seol Woo-myeong, who stated, 'I raise the quality by pouring my soul into it alone from beginning to end.'

“Shouldn't we be doing something?”

Seok-joon said in a dissatisfied voice.

“At this rate, isn't Newstarz going to take 1st place on the music shows too?”

“You don't have to worry about that.”

Jeong Geun-taek said flatly.

“Because there’s the album sales score.”

Music show rankings reflect not only music site performance but also physical album sales. To be precise, the sales chart compiled by the Korea Music Content Association is reflected.

Drum Fire's album, because fans buy many copies at once, is bound to get a high album sales score. On the other hand, the Newstarz new song, released as a digital single, will get 0 points in this category, so they are at an absolute disadvantage.

“In other categories too, like viewer vote scores, you guys with your thick fanbase are bound to be at an advantage. So this time, you should be able to take 1st place.”

“Hyung, aren't you thinking too complacently?”

“What?”

“Don't you know about the girl group competition program that was on TVX last time?”

Seok-joon said, as if frustrated.

“In that one too, N.A.N tried to crush them with their status but lost to Newstarz in the viewer vote. I'm saying it could happen this time too.”

“How do you know so much about the girl group side of things?”

Jeong Geun-taek showed a dumbfounded reaction.

“I met a member from a group that appeared on that show and was eliminated a few times recently. She's the one who told me.”

“Haah… this bastard is at it again.”

Being a womanizer was Seok-joon's biggest flaw. If there's a woman he likes, he uses his handsome looks to the fullest and hits on her.

“Do it in moderation. It's a headache if a problem breaks out.”

“You don't have to worry. You know well that I don't do things that'll make it into an article.”

“Yeah, I know that, but…”

Jeong Geun-taek was suddenly lost in thought.

“Hold on, something that'll make it into an article, you say.”

“Why?”

As he said before, the possibility that Drum Fire will take 1st place on the music show is high. But since there could be an emergency, wouldn't it be better to take some measures in advance?

“I'll have to look into it.”

Jeong Geun-taek thought of the faces of the entertainment reporters he was close with.

……

Monday lunch.

Inside the van, moving to the next schedule, Seo Na-eun put a piece of bulgogi kimbap into her mouth with a brighter expression than usual.

At that, Laura, who was eating tuna kimbap next to her, asked.

“Unnie, can I try just one piece of your bulgogi kimbap?”

“Hm? If you want to eat it, go ahead.”

Laura, having received permission, picked up one piece of Seo Na-eun's bulgogi kimbap with her wooden chopsticks.

However, after actually eating it, she made a dissatisfied expression.

“It doesn't seem to have that much of an amazing taste.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You were eating it while smiling so much, I thought it must be incredibly delicious.”

Hearing that, Seo Na-eun chuckled.

“I was smiling because of the chart all-kill, not the kimbap.”

“Ah, was it because of that?”

“'After girl' is #1 on the Lap Music TOP100 right now. I can't help but be in a good mood.”

The influence of composer Seol Woo-myeong's appearance on 'Talking with Oh' was also there. However, what drew an even bigger response was the music show appearance video.

The YouTube views increased at a much faster speed than with 'Gravity', and entertainment reporters also poured out a large number of articles while giving high praise.

People fell head over heels for the charm of Newstarz's new song, and the play count continued to rise.

In the end, it hit #1 not only on the NEW100, which only aggregates new songs, but also on the TOP100, which targets all songs. This could be called a tremendous achievement.

“'Newstarz's New Song Storm', 'Chart All-Kill'... articles like that keep coming up. I never even dreamed a day like this would come for us.”

Seo Na-eun said with a laugh.

“We might really be able to get 1st place on a music show. I'll have to look forward to 'Music World' this week.”

Among the music broadcasts of the 3 major networks, the one that airs first is 'Music World'.

Originally, the cable stations also have music shows, so their ranks are usually announced first, but they are currently on hiatus due to reorganization.

“Unnie, do you think we can be nominated for 1st place on 'Music World' this week?”

“Well, in my opinion…”

Right at that moment.

A call came to the cell phone of Baek Hyeon-woo, who was holding the steering wheel. Since he was stopped at a traffic light, Baek Hyeon-woo answered the call on speakerphone.

“Yes, Director Choi.”

The person who had called was Director Choi Tae-hyung.

“Team Leader Baek, you have one recording left today, right?”

“Yes, that's right.”

“As soon as that recording is over, bring Seo Na-eun to the company.”

Choi Tae-hyung's voice was more serious than usual.

“An article hasn't come out yet, but it looks like a scandal is about to break.”

“A scandal?”

“Yeah, a Seo Na-eun scandal.”

As Seo Na-eun's name popped out, everyone held their breath.

A scandal for Seo Na-eun, the leader, who could be called the biggest model student among the Newstarz members?

“D-Director!”

Seo Na-eun dropped the kimbap she was eating and urgently raised her voice.

“I-is it by any chance… a scandal between me and Manager-nim?”

The members held their breath once again.

While everyone was staring at Seo Na-eun with surprised expressions, Choi Tae-hyung's voice was heard over the speakerphone.

“What nonsense is that?”

“Pardon?”

“Why would a scandal break out between you and Team Leader Baek? Is there something you feel guilty about?”

Seo Na-eun's face turned red.

“Ah, no. There's nothing to feel guilty about, but just in case…”

Feeling the gazes of the other members staring at her as if thinking 'No way?' 'It can't be?', Seo Na-eun asked once more.

“Th-Then who is the scandal with?”

She didn't have anyone she could have a scandal with, so it felt so unfair.