Chapter 210: Year-End
A few days after Jiang Shu returned to Korea with Hitomi Honda, invitations to various year-end galas poured into DM Entertainment like snowflakes.
DM Entertainment, with IZONE, ITZY, Red Velvet, aespa, IU, and Kim Tae-yeon under its wing, was undoubtedly a giant in the girl group industry. Other companies combined couldn't even stand a chance against DM Entertainment alone.
And girl groups were famously strong in digital music, which is why every year-end gala wanted to invite artists from DM Entertainment.
Even Jiang Shu was once again nominated for Annual Best Producer.
Last year, Jiang Shu won Annual Best Producer at the Golden Melody Awards, and this year he was nominated again, with no one doubting whether he would win the award.
Another year had passed, and Jiang Shu personally took charge of all the title tracks for his groups and artists. Moreover, every song produced by Jiang Shu consistently ranked on the Melon annual chart.
This undeniable quality left countless people, both inside and outside the industry, in awe.
No matter how talented a producer was, he couldn't guarantee that every single one of his works would stay on the Melon chart, but Jiang Shu did it, even winning monthly crowns more than once.
As for the annual crown, Jiang Shu had only been writing songs for just over a year and had only won it once.
But this year, it was highly likely that he would still claim the annual crown. The only question was whether the annual crown would go to IZONE or someone else?
IZONE's digital music strength was impressive, but it was more about the group's popularity boosting the songs. Their two debut songs actually had less widespread appeal than those of the two solo singers.
Especially IU, both "cherry blossom ending" and "bbibbi" were songs that had previously won monthly crowns.
The gap between IZONE and the former IVE was evident here; currently, they lacked absolute digital music dominance. But this couldn't be blamed on IZONE.
What kind of rivals did IVE face back then?
A bunch of mediocre groups, with only Rainbow Girls being noteworthy.
And IZONE?
The energetic ITZY, the five-member, five-color Red Velvet, the wilderness warrior aespa, and at the very least, YG's Blackpink.
One had to consider the same period.
Therefore, even though IZONE's digital music performance still lagged behind IVE's, the public generally believed that IZONE had already fully surpassed IVE.
Even though IZONE had only debuted for four months.
The Golden Melody Awards also introduced something new this year, releasing many questions on their forum and allowing the audience to vote for various awards.
The most popular question was who would win this year's annual crown.
Underneath, the fans of each group argued fiercely.
The main points were:
A. IZONE's "again meeting world."
The argument was that this song was not prominent in the early stages, but starting in October, it had dominated the monthly crown for two months. The December monthly crown, based on current trends, could also be successfully secured. Its strong staying power made it only natural for it to win the annual crown.
B. IU's "bbibbi" or "cherry blossom ending."
The argument was that the widespread appeal of these two songs was undeniable. The latter was the peak of sweet songs this year and had also won a monthly crown. Furthermore, it had never dropped off the Melon chart since its release. The former had directly defeated Kim Hyun-a, one of the two major female solo artists, laying a solid foundation for IU's career. In addition, it had also won three monthly crowns, demonstrating powerful staying power.
C. Kim Tae-yeon's "I."
The argument was that it was widely recognized as the best solo debut song. Her ethereal voice was like heavenly music. Although it didn't win a monthly crown, it had never dropped out of the top five on the annual chart since it first entered, consistently remaining in the top five. This was something no one else had achieved.
The main points of contention were these three contenders, while discussions about groups like ITZY, Red Velvet, and other male groups and artists were not as popular.
It wasn't that male group fans were fewer than female group fans; the main reason was the difference in digital music performance.
Rational fans could see the digital music achievements of these female groups and artists. If you couldn't beat them, why insist on comparing yourself to others?
Asking for trouble?
IZONE, IU, and Kim Tae-yeon were the most voted-for categories by the public, with IZONE being the most prominent.
IU was an IU who had not yet achieved her full potential, and Kim Tae-yeon was a Kim Tae-yeon without the Girls' Generation Tae-yeon's backing.
However, IZONE had even greater popularity than the original IZONE. Their popularity, boosting the song, forcefully propelled "again meeting world," which had a late surge, into this year's digital music battle.
And in the voting for Annual Best Producer, Jiang Shu was far ahead, surpassing the total votes of all other candidates combined.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see Jiang Shu's skill. The Golden Melody Awards needed to give this award to Jiang Shu to prove its credibility, not Jiang Shu needing this award to prove his strength.
The market's recognition of Jiang Shu was so high that a saying had already become popular:
"Produced by Jiang Shu, it must be a masterpiece."
It was just a pity that Jiang Shu generally didn't write songs for others. Even for some requests that were hard to refuse, he would have his student, Jeon Soyeon, handle them.
Speaking of Jeon Soyeon, she was also nominated for Annual Best Producer.
As ITZY's de facto producer, Jeon Soyeon wasn't widely known to the public. More people knew her because of her involvement in ITZY's production and as Jiang Shu's student.
But for industry insiders, Jeon Soyeon's name was practically a household name.
The identity of ITZY's actual producer alone was incredibly valuable.
That was ITZY, a popular group that had been surging forward since their debut, with their popularity never decreasing.
Many even believed that ITZY had the ability to challenge IZONE, though this view was not widely accepted and only circulated in small circles, often met with ridicule.
In such a lively atmosphere, the year-end gala was held as scheduled. However, unlike the previous year-end, Jiang Shu did not attend this year's year-end event; only the company's artists went.
The final award still went to Jiang Shu: Annual Best Producer.
And the Grand Prize ultimately went to IZONE. Although IZONE seemed to be no match for others purely based on digital music, the problem was that these award ceremonies ultimately depended on popularity. There were simply no award ceremonies that only considered digital music.
Not anywhere in the world.
Regarding IZONE's win, some were unhappy, but more were in agreement.
In reality, this was the norm. Awards won without any controversy, like the former IVE, were extremely rare. True award wins involved mixed emotions, with some happy to win and others unhappy and questioning for not winning.
Various year-end galas ended one after another, with trending topics flooding major Korean online platforms. While Jiang Shu's vlogs usually secured a spot, during this period, they couldn't even make it into the top ten.
The new episode of "We Became a Family" was originally scheduled to be filmed on New Year's Eve, but due to Bae Joo-hyun and others having schedules, it was moved up to Christmas.
And on New Year's Eve 2020, Jiang Shu was left alone in an empty house.
The Three Greats TV stations also had programs on New Year's Eve, but Jiang Shu didn't watch them. If he were to watch anything, he'd watch Bilibili, as it was his first appearance on a domestic program.
However, Jiang Shu didn't expect that there would be an unexpected guest tonight.