Chapter 373: Inside Story
But… the resources Big Hit offered could definitely be exchanged for A-tier resources, yet they must have known S.M wouldn't give them, so…
Did they have money to burn and were just bored?
"You probably wouldn't agree to give A-tier, would you?" Jiang Shu didn't believe that Kim Young-min, a professional manager known for his rationality, would make such a clearly unreasonable decision.
"Of course not. A-tier resources exclusive to rookies are much more valuable than regular A-tier resources," Kim Young-min said with a wry smile, shaking his head.
A-tier resources exclusive to rookies are rarer and thus more valuable because not many publishers are willing to allocate them to new artists.
"I gave them two B-tier resources and a choice of three C-tier resources."
"Tsk, you're really stingy," Jiang Shu looked at Kim Young-min with some surprise. "The value of the resources they offered was enough for three B-tier resources."
Although rookie-exclusive resources are often more valuable than regular resources, this applies to A-tier and B+-tier resources. B-tier and below are not calculated that way.
Precisely because of this, Kim Young-min's trade of two B-tier resources and three C-tier resources just to make up the numbers was completely ripping off Big Hit.
"They had no choice," Kim Young-min smiled slightly. "From the moment they approached us and stated their intentions, the initiative was already in my hands."
That's true.
After all, there were only two companies with such resources, and DM Entertainment wasn't an option, so, from beginning to end, their only trading partner was S.M.
Purely a forced transaction.
Either you don't trade, and your NewJeans debut with nothing, or you trade and accept my price reduction.
Any commercial transaction is like this; when you haven't shown investment potential, being squeezed on price during the transaction is inevitable.
"Here's the transaction list. Take a look if you're interested?" Kim Young-min took out his phone, found the list of replacement resources Min Xizhen had brought, and handed it to Jiang Shu.
Jiang Shu took it and glanced over it, his gaze settling on the script.
Male/Female supporting role, screen time no less than thirty minutes for the entire series.
"I'll take this script. Our DM can offer two C-tier resources."
C-tier resources are almost like waste in the eyes of a leading company like DM Entertainment. Even ITZY, currently at their lowest point, wouldn't be allocated such resources; their minimum is B-tier.
As for new girl groups, except for IVE initially, every subsequent girl group has been launched with B-tier or higher resources.
The upcoming LESSERAFIM and IVE will naturally be no exception.
C-tier resources are used for trading or for artists to pick up when they're bored and want to earn some pocket money. For example, if Kim Minjeong is a bit bored today and wants to earn some extra cash, she'll take a C-tier resource and go for it.
This also reflects the uneven distribution in the K-pop industry. Small and medium-sized companies are reluctant to even throw away their lowest-tier D-tier resources, while C-tier resources are unwanted by dogs at DM.
"Okay," Kim Young-min readily agreed. S.M.'s actors are quite famous, and they have no interest in scripts for minor supporting roles. They'd just trade them away later anyway, so it's better to give them directly to DM and save some resources.
Although S.M is only slightly behind DM, in terms of resources, it is far from as "rich and powerful" as DM Entertainment.
DM Entertainment, with several first-tier and super-first-tier girl groups, is the preferred trading partner for many publishers. Therefore, DM Entertainment has a significant amount of high-quality resources, while conversely, it doesn't have too many mid-to-low-tier resources.
For a large company like S.M, with so many boy and girl groups waiting to "eat," as the head of the family, Kim Young-min has to be meticulous in all aspects.
"Let's talk about something else," Jiang Shu returned the phone to Kim Young-min and said.
Kim Young-min nodded upon hearing this.
"There's some new news regarding YG."
"The higher-ups intend to launch a new company to replace YG's position. They are currently looking for a target, with Cube, Kakao Entertainment, and CJ Entertainment as candidates."
Kim Young-min has a deep background in politics, and of course, Li Xiuman does too.
Regardless of Jiang Shu's intentions, Kim Young-min's return to the core power structure of S.M is inextricably linked to Jiang Shu. This also means that some people behind Kim Young-min have a very good attitude towards Jiang Shu and are willing to disclose some information to him.
"How will Yang Hyun-suk be handled?" Jiang Shu pondered for a moment before asking.
"He'll be imprisoned for a year, then released, ensuring YG falls out of the Three Greats but doesn't completely fade into obscurity."
Jiang Shu nodded.
The Three Greats have been prominent in Korea for so long because each has its own backing. Clearly, this is the result of efforts from those behind YG.
However, that's all it is. Yang Hyun-suk has truly fallen hard this time and won't be let off lightly.
"Also, it's best if DM truly doesn't touch boy groups," Kim Young-min reminded.
"I understand," Jiang Shu chuckled. "If I were Korean, I would have developed boy groups a long time ago."
Seeing that Jiang Shu understood his meaning and warning, Kim Young-min also breathed a sigh of relief, while also feeling a bit regretful for Jiang Shu.
Such an excellent talent; if he were Korean, Jiang Shu's achievements would definitely not stop here.
But given the current situation, it's unrealistic to ask him to become a Korean citizen.
However, looking at Jiang Shu, he doesn't seem to care much, does he?
"Is there anything else?" Jiang Shu asked, seeing Kim Young-min remain silent.
"No," Kim Young-min snapped out of his thoughts. "How is aespa's new song recording progressing?"
"It's going well, progress is good. It should be done by the day after tomorrow at the latest."
"Will you be coming over these two days?"
"Not necessarily. Your sound engineers are quite professional. I explained the song's details once, and he basically grasped them and applied them by analogy."
At this point, Jiang Shu couldn't help but marvel at S.M's deep foundation as the head of the old Three Greats.
These fundamental talents are truly excellent.
DM Entertainment currently doesn't lack top-tier talent, as the benefits are so good, and it's the industry leader, so top talent is very willing to come over.
Where DM Entertainment currently differs from old companies like S.M is in fundamental talent, such as sound engineers.
In layman's terms, experienced veterans.
Top talent are geniuses, while veterans may not be geniuses, but they are definitely experienced.
These types of people have been at S.M for most of their lives, and their salaries have long since gone up. DM Entertainment can't just offer a higher price upfront; how can a situation where pay is based on seniority continue to be calculated when switching companies?
This kind of talent can only be slowly attracted and cultivated by the company using various factors.
So, Jiang Shu can only envy them for now.
"If you think they're good, you can borrow them for DM to use," Kim Young-min said generously.
"Let's not," Jiang Shu shook his head. It's better for them to cultivate their own talent slowly. If they keep using others, they'll never cultivate their own talent in a million years.
Jiang Shu stood up from the sofa.
"I'm leaving."