Chapter 214: The Five Great Sects Besiege Dwarf Peak
Kim Jiwon happily walked away with the red envelope. Jiang Shu glanced at her back, chuckling as he continued to hand out red envelopes to the trainees.
Walking towards the back, Kim Jiwon hadn't reached the very end when she heard Song Yuqi's loud voice.
"Daebak! There's actually 20,000 korean won!"
Hearing this, Kim Jiwon was startled. She tore open the red envelope in her hand and, sure enough, found two green 10,000 korean won bills with King Sejong's portrait inside.
A New Year's red envelope of 20,000 korean won per person means the entire company would spend four million korean won... Uh, that doesn't seem like much?
Four million korean won is a significant amount for Kim Jiwon, but when that number is placed in the context of DM Entertainment, it's not so large.
Kim Jiwon didn't understand financial reports, but the company's revenue had been a hot topic in October of last year.
In the top 10 entertainment industry company revenues for the first half of 2019, DM Entertainment, with its exceptionally high net profit, surpassed the Three Greats to rank third. It was the only entertainment company in all of Korea to break into the top three as an idol agency.
At the time, it caused a huge sensation in the K-pop industry. One must remember that IZONE and aespa had not even debuted yet.
DM Entertainment only had Red Velvet, ITZY, IU, Taeyeon, and the recently disbanded IVE.
This news spread like wildfire, and as a trainee at DM Entertainment, Kim Jiwon also felt honored.
However, what she didn't know was that DM Entertainment's profits were actually after several rounds of compression.
If DM Entertainment were like JYP, with minimal staff, cost savings, and a tendency to be stingy with money, this profit figure would soar even higher.
Nearly two hundred people sounds like a lot, but in reality, with several executives distributing them together, it was all done in half an hour.
After distributing the red envelopes, everyone took a group photo, and then went about their respective work.
Chairman's Office.
Li Duohui followed Jiang Shu closely as he entered.
"Chairman, there are a few documents here that require your signature."
"Why bother coming in person for something a secretary could send over?" Jiang Shu asked, puzzled.
Li Duohui placed the documents in front of Jiang Shu and smiled slightly.
"I came to ask about the position changes you mentioned at the year-end management meeting."
"Oh, that." Jiang Shu chuckled, reached into the folder, pulled out a document, and handed it to Li Duohui.
Li Duohui reached out and took it.
The document contained a personnel appointment letter, removing Li Duohui from her position as Vice President and appointing her as President.
Below, all the company's directors and Jiang Shu had already signed and approved it.
Li Duohui's lips curved upwards. Although she had known about this news at the year-end meeting last year, it was only now truly settled.
Then Li Duohui noticed there was another page behind it and curiously flipped it over.
It was also an appointment letter. Like Li Duohui's, it removed the 'acting' from Art Director Kim Hye-soo's title, officially appointing her as DM Entertainment's Art Director. However, there was only the signature of Human Resources Director Kim Young-joo, with a blank space remaining.
The President's position requires the signatures of all directors and above, excluding acting directors and associate directors.
However, the appointment of executives only requires two signatures: the Human Resources Director + the President.
Although Li Duohui was the Vice President, she wouldn't be for long, so the second signature line on this personnel appointment letter was blank.
Normally, Li Duohui was the Vice President, but the President's authority for personnel appointments was in Jiang Shu's hands.
Now that Li Duohui was to become President, this authority would be released by Jiang Shu.
Of course, even though the Chairman's signature isn't required, all these matters still need the Chairman's consent. Otherwise, even if you pass it, if you don't get the Chairman's approval, he can still take it back from you.
"From now on, you'll be signing these documents." Jiang Shu said, looking through the documents in his hand without raising his head.
Li Duohui's lips couldn't help but curve upwards at his words.
After removing the word "Vice," she would truly be DM Entertainment's President!
"By the way, what date is NMIXX's debut?" Jiang Shu asked, looking up.
"The tenth, the day after ITZY's comeback." Li Duohui replied.
DM Entertainment's "Five Great Sects"—IU, Kim Tae-yeon, ITZY, Red Velvet, and IZONE—all returned in the first half of January, and NMIXX debuted on January tenth...
This is surviving in the cracks.
Except for ITZY and IZONE, whose albums were meticulously prepared to stack their hot, royal road concepts, the other groups' albums were transitional. Of course, they weren't bad, but if NMIXX's debut song quality was excellent, this could even be an opportunity.
As for ITZY and IZONE...
To quickly accumulate more earnings with IZONE, Jiang Shu spared no expense, directly unleashing a major move.
"What's NMIXX's debut song called?" Jiang Shu asked, looking up.
"Cheer Up."
?
"What was that?"
...
On January 5th, IU, who had risen to fame by directly defeating one of the two great female soloists, Kim Hyun-a, with her mini-album 'bbibbi,' made another comeback with her third mini-album.
The next day, January 6th, Red Velvet, returning after three months, also made a comeback with their third mini-album, competing with their senior, IU, who debuted five days earlier, on the same stage.
On January 9th, K-pop's workhorse and monster rookie ITZY made another comeback, competing with their labelmates IU and Red Velvet during the same period. Whether they could firmly establish themselves as a top-tier group with this comeback was what countless people were most concerned about.
On January 10th, NMIXX, the third group launched from the nationally popular large-scale audition variety show 'Produce48,' officially debuted amidst the anticipation of countless fans. Their debut album 'Cheer Up,' upon its release, immediately garnered the love of countless fans and casual listeners. Its vibrant, youthful style filled a gap in the K-pop market and was widely praised by numerous media outlets as this year's most promising rookie group.
On January 12th, a week later, IU announced the official start of her promotional period. On the same day, Taeyeon, one of DM Entertainment's only two solo artists, officially made her comeback. Kim Tae-yeon, who had stunned K-pop seniors and shot to fame with her debut song 'I,' returned with her first mini-album's title track 'Why,' which was also of excellent quality. Her competition on the same stage with labelmate IU was highly anticipated.
On January 15th, IZONE's first comeback after forming officially released its music. The title track of their first mini-album, 'Gee,' upon its release, immediately captivated countless people with its extreme addictiveness, sweeping through the streets and alleys of Korea in an instant, and its popularity quickly spread like a plague.
At the start of 2020, DM Entertainment directly played six cards, engaging in a left-hand-right-hand battle. The 'Five Great Sects besieging IZONE' even spread throughout the K-pop world.
Each individual act, if taken alone, would achieve excellent results, securing first place during their respective periods. But what happens when these six waves of artists are put together?
On January 22nd, the answer was revealed!
Music Core, which seized this opportunity, spared no effort in promoting this showdown, to the point that the first-place wins previously achieved by IU and NMIXX were ignored by casual listeners, who awaited the arrival of the 22nd.