“No problem!”
Jiang Shu suppressed the excitement in his heart and nodded with a smile towards Min Xizhen.
“I trust talent that even Director Min praises.”
“It’s just… isn’t General Manager Li doing well at this, uh, what entertainment company?” Jiang Shu asked.
“Their company is called Pong Entertainment, but it has already gone bankrupt,” Min Xizhen waved her hand. “She’s currently unemployed at home. I’ll introduce her to you later, and you can arrange things as you see fit.”
Alright, alright, alright!
Director Min is a great person!
“Then I’ll trouble Director Min,” Jiang Shu said with a smile.
“It’s just a transaction,” Min Xizhen looked at Jiang Shu. “I don’t expect every title track to have the quality of a debut song, but don’t let it be too far off.”
“Don’t worry,” Jiang Shu gestured for Min Xizhen to relax. “I still have that much confidence.”
Anyway, he was only responsible for the title tracks. Red Velvet wasn’t TWICE; at most, they’d have two or three comebacks a year, which meant two or three songs. His current song library was still sufficient.
“When is Red Velvet’s debut date set?” Jiang Shu inquired.
“When is IVE’s comeback?” Min Xizhen thought for a moment and asked.
“You want to clash with IVE?” Jiang Shu asked in surprise, but still told Min Xizhen the time, “October 15th.”
“October 15th? Isn’t your solo singer also in October, if I remember correctly?”
“Yes, October 10th,” Jiang Shu nodded.
Jiang Shu deliberately put Lee Ji-eun’s debut stage and IVE’s first comeback together. Anyway, there were no rivals for IVE during that period, so it was better to boost Lee Ji-eun’s popularity in the early stages.
Unique Star only suppressed solo singers, it was useless against IVE. Moreover, when it came to rapid popularity growth, Lee Ji-eun was still inferior to IVE, who had the dual-C bond. She still needed a boost in the early stages.
“Then Red Velvet’s debut will be scheduled for November,” Min Xizhen said.
“Won’t that be too late?” Jiang Shu inquired.
With only two months, it would be difficult to win awards at the end of the year, right?
“IVE is here this year, so the Rookie Award cannot be taken,” Min Xizhen shook her head.
The Three Greats and various ceremonies naturally had connections. Under similar circumstances, they could share the pie, but with IVE being so dominant, if you still gave the award to Red Velvet, wouldn’t that be treating the audience like fools?
The audience could tacitly approve of some degree of 'sharing the pork,' but you couldn't do it openly.
Sometimes, some groups don’t need this award to prove themselves; instead, the award needs to be given to these groups to prove its own authority.
IVE’s current popularity was exactly that situation. IVE, who had just debuted for a little over a month, less than two months, had already reached an unprecedented level of popularity for a girl group.
This is our C-position bond!
Without the Rookie Award, Red Velvet had nothing else to contend for, so why care about when they debuted?
“'I AM' has a chance to win the Bonsang and Daesang,” Min Xizhen thought for a moment. Currently, let alone girl groups, even among this year’s boy groups, few could beat IVE’s digital performance.
Digital music was already a strong point for girl groups, and IVE was an exceptionally strong one.
“Not necessarily,” Jiang Shu smiled mysteriously.
Min Xizhen was startled at first, but then she quickly reacted.
“It seems you’re very confident about IVE’s comeback this time.”
“Of course,” Jiang Shu chuckled softly. “Compared to 'I AM,' I lean more towards this one.”
“Then I’ll look forward to it,” Min Xizhen didn’t ask to listen to it beforehand, but instead prepared to anticipate it.
Jiang Shu gave an OK gesture.
After chatting with Min Xizhen for a while longer, Jiang Shu excused himself.
Red Velvet’s matters had been settled. Next up were the debut procedures, filming, recording, and all sorts of miscellaneous things, which Jiang Shu didn’t need to worry about.
He had to go back and arrange matters for participating in the draft.
He couldn’t trust others to go to the draft, as only he knew about the bonds. If others went, they would truly be picking up scraps.
…
As Lee Ji-eun’s debut and IVE’s comeback countdown reached two months, the marketing department also began pushing out relevant content.
However, Qu Fan’s celebrity chairman plan for Jiang Shu hadn’t seen much movement. Aside from many IVE fans and Aotian fans still playing with the meme, the buzz about Jiang Shu had already died down.
Jiang Shu didn’t know what Qu Fan was up to. He wouldn’t question what professionals were doing; amateurs shouldn’t dictate to experts. Just give them full authority.
There needed to be a warm-up before the comeback, and as it drew near, individual member videos and group teaser videos would be released. Even though the other four were accessories, they still had to receive the proper treatment; not one would be left out.
Compared to IVE’s initial lack of attention, Lee Ji-eun’s popularity was much higher. With IVE, such a top-tier group, Lee Ji-eun’s debut warm-up immediately attracted a lot of media and IVE fans’ attention.
DM Entertainment’s first solo singer, and launched shortly after IVE’s debut, made many IVE fans unhappy.
After all, being active at the same time often meant that resource allocation would be snatched away, so how could IVE fans be willing?
But this group of people was ultimately a minority. Others were still curious about the situation of DM Entertainment’s first solo artist.
After all, only an album cover and Lee Ji-eun’s back profile were released, with no front face or video. Out of trust for IVE, this “noble child from a humble family,” the public was quite interested.
Of course, more people simply weren’t paying attention to this matter at all.
DM Entertainment was not one of the Three Greats after all. Even with IVE, the debut time was still too short, ultimately lacking a bit of momentum, and the popularity aspect was too far off.
When DM Entertainment officially announced IU’s debut and IVE’s comeback, personnel adjustments were also underway.
Kim Young-joo, whom Li Duohui personally invited, was finally persuaded. This deputy head of JYP’s HR department agreed to the “transfer” invitation.
According to Li Duohui, Kim Young-joo was willing to come because she wasn’t optimistic about JYP’s internal plan to enter the American market, and thus had been marginalized. Therefore, Li Duohui promised Kim Young-joo the position of Human Resources Director, and coupled with their long and congenial conversation, Kim Young-joo finally decided to come to DM Entertainment.
Jiang Shu didn’t know what the two of them talked about, but as long as she came, it was fine. This plump auntie wearing glasses was very capable. With such an HR Director, Jiang Shu could relax a bit more.
In addition to Kim Young-joo, Li Xianzhu, introduced by Min Xizhen, also joined the company as the Visual Creative Director.
The high-level management personnel that had troubled Jiang Shu for a long time were filled in just half a month.
It was… ridiculous.
Jin Zhongting also brought good news: Kim Minjeong was successfully coaxed by him to come over. However, on Kim Chae-won’s side, Kim Chae-won was willing to come, but her mother expressed a desire to meet and talk with Jiang Shu.
Jiang Shu did not refuse this.