Chapter 278: In Position
Yang Hyun-suk acted quickly; he urgently needed to mitigate the negative impact caused by Jiang Shu, so within three days, he completed the share transfer procedures for Jiang Shu to join the YG Entertainment Board of Directors.
DM Entertainment also moved swiftly. After confirming Jiang Shu’s status as a member of the YG Entertainment Board of Directors, it cooperated with YG Entertainment to suppress the buzz and re-edited the live broadcast video Jiang Shu had posted on Instagram, then re-released it, and also turned off the live replay from October 1st.
Such actions naturally couldn't completely eliminate the impact, but cold processing is a classic public relations method; although not the most effective, it is the best option when there are no other choices.
Netizens are forgetful; if something doesn't appear for a while, it will be forgotten, thus achieving the objective.
Similar to when he joined S.M. Entertainment, the news of Jiang Shu joining the YG Entertainment Board of Directors did not attract much attention from the public, except for a few interested individuals.
Everything happened quietly.
As the century-long showdown between IZONE and ITZY approached, the cold-processing public relations proved very effective, easily drawing the public's attention away.
To build final momentum for the Dual-I Battle, DM Entertainment leveraged its industry connections, prompting many well-known artists to check in and support the artists they wished to back.
Numerous short videos of encouragement and support were successively released online. As the date drew closer to November 3rd, the online buzz surrounding this event grew, and the story that had been building for months was about to reach its climax.
November 3rd, the day of the Dual-I Battle!
For this showdown, the album release event was announced as canceled, and all resources and personnel were concentrated on the upcoming Inkigayo.
After finishing lunch at the company, Jiang Shu returned to his office to prepare for a nap, but as soon as he lay down, Choi Ji-yeon called him.
“Young-joo, Director of Human Resources at DM Entertainment, accompanied by Minister Kim of the Trainee Department, went to YG Entertainment. Yang Hyun-suk, the CEO of YG Entertainment, personally met with Director Young-joo and Minister Kim. As per your instructions, both parties reached an agreement that after BLACKPINK disbands, we will have priority signing rights for Heo Yunjin and Isa,” Choi Ji-yeon reported meticulously, looking at Jiang Shu lying on the sofa.
“And what were our conditions?”
“Our team needs to participate in the production of YG Entertainment’s new girl group.”
Jiang Shu nodded upon hearing this; these were minor matters.
The soul of DM Entertainment is him, it is the bond, not DM Entertainment’s production team.
It’s not to say that DM Entertainment’s production team is useless; quite the opposite, DM Entertainment’s production team is absolutely among the industry’s top tier. But DM Entertainment’s production team has a major problem: without Jiang Shu to guide them, these individuals struggle to produce independently.
This kind of production team can enrich and improve a concept that only has a core. But without a core idea, they can’t create anything.
Like Jay Chou, when he collaborated with Fang Wenshan and other excellent singers, the lyrics he wrote were divine. But when he collaborated with groups like BTS, who were not a good fit and had poor Chinese proficiency, his lyrics were utter garbage.
Everything depends on compatibility.
Jiang Shu knew exactly what his own production team was like.
YG Entertainment wanted to leverage DM Entertainment’s production team to elevate the quality of their new girl group; the idea was good, but useless.
Participating is fine, it doesn't matter.
“Speaking of which…” Jiang Shu thought of this and couldn’t help but look up at Choi Ji-yeon, “What time does it start this afternoon?”
“The official broadcast time for the program is 3:40 PM, live throughout. Audience admission begins at 2:00 PM, and ITZY and IZONE will perform last, with their segment scheduled between 4:30 PM and 5:00 PM.”
Inkigayo is usually around seventy minutes long, but this time was different. SBS specially cleared its schedule, extending the original seventy-minute program to one hundred and twenty minutes, a full two hours, all for this century-long battle that had been hyped for over three months!
Among the Three Greats broadcasting stations in Korea, only SBS would do something like this.
Among the Three Greats broadcasting stations, KBS is fully government-controlled, most stringent with rules, and a rigid old-fashioned type; they would never disrupt broadcast schedules like this.
MBC is half-governmental, half-corporate. They are willing to try new things, but due to the official system, their attempts are not very strong. They were willing to extend the broadcast for the Dual-I Century Battle, but the time they offered was stingy, and they were unwilling to provide a large venue.
And SBS…
Although this broadcasting station is notorious, much like the Korean version of Zhejiang TV, it must be said that SBS is serious about making money.
As long as it believes you can make money, its investment will not be small; everything can make way for profit.
To capture the immense traffic from the Dual-I Battle, SBS directly cleared out its largest 5,000-person capacity studio and nearly doubled the broadcast time, all in service of Inkigayo on November 3rd.
They were also highly accommodating to DM Entertainment’s requests, primarily operating on the principle of “money in hand, you’re my boss.”
DM Entertainment was happy to deal with a broadcasting station that only cared about money.
“What about the mic setup? What did the broadcasting station say?” Jiang Shu inquired.
“The broadcasting station’s preference was no live mics, letting the artists lip-sync, as it’s easier to manage. However, Director Kim Hye-soo considered the possibility of live performance accidents, and that if there were no live mics, the artists’ performance might be affected. After comprehensive consideration, it was decided to use a semi-live mic performance method,” Choi Ji-yeon reported.
Not using live mics certainly wouldn't affect the listening experience, but if they were completely off, artists might become too relaxed, leading to lip-syncing errors. Semi-live mics, however, can keep artists attentive and enhance stage presence, while also reducing the impact of actual vocal ability on the listening experience.
After all…
Neither IZONE nor ITZY could be considered powerful vocal groups; full live mics really wouldn't work.
If these two groups were replaced by NMIXX and Red Velvet, there would be nothing to say; full live mics would be perfectly fine.
“Alright,” Jiang Shu nodded upon hearing this.
A completely female company is intimidating, but that intimidation comes from the fear of everyone being useless. While it's true that DM Entertainment's executives, aside from Jiang Shu, are all women, every single one of them is a capable and accomplished strong woman.
Kim Hye-soo's considerations were very thorough; at least Jiang Shu hadn't been aware of these aspects, which made him very satisfied.
“It’s almost time,” Jiang Shu said to Choi Ji-yeon, glancing at his wrist, “I’ll sleep until 1:30 PM, then you call me to wake up, and we’ll go to the venue.”
“Alright, I’ll call you promptly at 1:30 PM,” Choi Ji-yeon nodded, bowed to Jiang Shu, then turned off the lights and left the office.
With the curtains drawn, even at midday, the chairman’s office was completely dark, and with excellent soundproofing, it was perfect for resting.
Okay, time to sleep!