Chapter 21 X-Man (1)

  The second update will be late, I don't know how to write about variety shows, but I also can't not write about K-entertainment... what to do...

  ==============

  "There is a strange phenomenon in the current music scene!"

  The Chosun Ilbo's front page article starts by saying, "Many singers are complaining that the environment is getting worse, with piracy and online distribution strangling their livelihood. This complaint has extended in many directions, but one of the most bizarre is the sudden deterioration of interpersonal relationships between singers." People who have been paying attention to the music industry may still remember how several years ago, many singers had genuine feelings for each other. They could scold anti-fans for their friends, resist management companies for their friends, and even participate in demonstrations without regard for their own future. Seniors would invite juniors to collaborate, and juniors would attend seniors' concerts to show support. However, now, after flipping through many articles by singers lamenting the decline of the music industry, it's not hard to discover that between the lines, there are complaints. Seniors complain that juniors are breaking the rules, singing watered-down songs that lower the overall quality of albums. Juniors complain that seniors are stuck in their old ways and don't understand innovation, causing fans to get tired of their music...

  "They are busy shifting all the responsibilities to each other, but they forgot that in any field, for new products to be accepted by the market, not only do they need to have excellent quality, but also good reputation and credibility of the merchants. A group that mutually discredits and shifts responsibility, what credibility can they talk about? What reason is there for consumers to pay with their hard-earned money?"

  "The author was once filled with disappointment towards the music industry, not because of the declining sales year by year, but because of their gradually lost moral integrity. Piracy and the internet are certainly major factors in the decline of the record industry, but it's the malicious competitive atmosphere that has accelerated its demise... Since 2000 when the decline first appeared, in just 5 short years, the highest annual single sales plummeted from 2 million to 300,000, a shocking drop. The harm caused by malicious competition is evident! The author had thought many times that this heartless and apathetic circle was beyond salvation, until yesterday's Music Bank!"

  “…watching Seungri, G-Dragon appear in the light, watching the Anycall stage at that time, they surrounded Ahn Jun-hee who was still a newcomer, together presenting a song "One Sentence" amidst thunderous applause from the audience. The scene was so genuine and sincere without any pretence, it almost felt like going back to several years ago when seniors could hold hands with juniors, giving advice and care, while juniors showed respect for their seniors wholeheartedly. I love and feel comforted by such scenes because they tell me that the circle which I thought was hopeless is not yet cold-blooded, there is still warmth in it, and there is a possibility of redeeming its reputation and developing positively…”

  This article, which is more like an editorial than a report, did not mention Ahn Jun-hyuk and others much, but the author used this incident to express his thoughts on the sustainable development and recovery of the record industry. However, it was published on the front page of Korea's largest and most serious newspaper, and it was even signed with the name of the editorial department of Chosun Ilbo, which is a success in itself and enough to attract attention.

  However, in just one day, the storm of attention and discussion spread across multiple fields, stirring up a hot topic among the people.

  The most obvious effect is the disappearance of the conflict between Ahn Jun-hee and Cho Sung-mo's fans. Since the idols have joined hands, their fans naturally don't dare to confront each other. On the contrary, some people are influenced by the harmonious relationship between the idols and start buying each other's albums while supporting their own idols. This result directly led to a significant increase in sales of Ahn Jun-hee's "Memory" and Cho Sung-mo's "My.First" in the following days. Especially "Memory", which was previously disliked by many due to Ahn Jun-hee fans' provocative behavior, making people dislike him even more. Even though some people liked the songs in "Memory" through TV or commercial promotions, they didn't bother buying his album due to their negative feelings.

  This group of people is quite large, after all, Cao Chengmo is not an idol singer, and there are not many die-hard fans, but ordinary music fans are numerous. As the news spread, Ahn Jun-hee's anti-fan club grew rapidly in size during those few days when Ahn and Cao fans clashed online, roughly estimated to be almost equal to his official registered fan count, making him the singer with the second most anti-fans in Korea after Moon Hee-joon.

  It wasn't until Music Bank on Friday that the trend of ANTI Club's expansion finally came to a halt, but the number is still large. The lost image wants to be redeemed, and there is still a long way to go.

  And without mentioning this kind of thing, on the second day after their debut stage, SM Entertainment began to gradually withdraw its investment in advertising, but the sales of "Memory" were not affected by the negative impact. The shock of the debut stage and the large-scale media coverage kept the sales high.

  On the 6th, in the first weekend of March, according to the chart released by the Korea Music Content Association, the most authoritative sales statistics organization in Korea, "Memory" ranked first with a score of 110,000, followed closely by Jooyoung's "My.First" with a score of 70,000.

  Perhaps because the topic of creation is too much, the first week's sales defeated Cao Chengmo, and it didn't make the media and the public feel surprised, or this was an expected result.

  When 《My.First》 was first released, music critics from various publications analyzed it and gave generally mediocre reviews. As a regular album, the quality of 《My.First》 was disappointing. Although the style of the entire album is still Cao Cheng's strong suit - ballads, except for the title track 《My.Flower》 which is not bad, the only other highlights are the theme song 《Only You》 and ending song 《By Your Side》 from last year's hit drama 《Parisian Love》.

  But these two songs have been circulating on the streets since last year, and relying solely on one main song is not enough to motivate fans to buy.

  After the chart released by the Recording Industry Association, famous music critic Jiang Ming Shi, who once praised An Jun He, criticized this "My.First" as a money-making album on "Popular Music Voice", criticizing Cao Cheng Mo for forgetting his original intention of making music, and even compared him to An Jun He: "...he should take a look at how his juniors are doing it, the first place Memory, a mini-album with only 6 songs, has two title tracks and one non-title track "One Sentence"...", "...after being away for two years, I can only get such a money-making album, personally feeling very disappointed, selling 70,000 copies in a week, relying solely on nearly perfect singing skills, the song itself is not very colorful, hoping Cao Cheng Mo can calm down and not go astray!"

  His views also represent the thoughts of some fans. Some fans quoted this comment on Cao Chengmo's official website to express their disappointment.

  In contrast, Ahn Jun-hyuk's "Memory" received widespread acclaim, although it was released in two versions by SM and had suspicions of being a money-making scheme, the word-of-mouth was actually not bad, and the sales were naturally unquestionable.

  After the list was released, when the media reported it, they were influenced by music critics and fans, plus a little bit of intention to create topics, so there is inevitably some bias.

  "Later waves push forward waves, An and Cao's sales war results are out, music critics crazily criticize Cao Chengmo, An Junhe first week number one laughs to the end!"

  "E-Mart new store settles in Cheongdam-dong, Ahn Hyun-seok attends the opening ceremony, warms up with a performance of 'My Flower', claims to be a fan of Cho Seung-mo!"

  The nanny car sped along the road, leaning against the window, An Junhe put down the newspaper in his hand and shook his head with a bitter smile.

  The media is indeed capricious, and in order to attract attention, they can do anything. Just a few days ago, they were still following the Chosun Ilbo's praise of Jo Sung-mo and his juniors and seniors' friendship, but now they have started to follow the trend and create conflicts between the two people. The writer from the Chosun Ilbo said that the relationships in the music industry are becoming increasingly indifferent, and they put all the blame on the singers themselves, without ever thinking that with such media stirring up trouble and fanning the flames, even the best of relationships will be ruined.

  He casually tossed the newspaper aside, rubbed his brow and looked somewhat tired.

  This is already the second week of his debut as a singer-songwriter, and over time, he has come to feel more and more the chaos and complexity that belongs to the music world. Every day, he has to rush from one schedule to another, attending various music programs, commercial performances, and showcase stages, with only 4-5 hours of rest each day, which is just physical torture. Mentally, he also has to endure the barrage of questions from reporters in every setting.

  The weekly sales chart of the Recording Industry Association was announced two days ago, and for the past two days, whenever he appeared, he was caught by reporters asking about his thoughts on surpassing senior Cao Chengmo's 7 albums in terms of debut album sales, and some asked if he agreed with music critics' criticism of Cao Chengmo.

  He had to be extremely careful with every answer, not a single word could be wrong, otherwise those reporters would immediately seize the opportunity to sensationalize his words and if they had the chance, the media wouldn't mind provoking him and Cao Chengmo into another fight.

  Without sensational topics, how can we attract attention and stimulate newspaper sales? After all, the number of newspapers with large circulation but heavy losses is small.

  Fortunately, there is Su Zhihuan to mediate, and his relationship with Cao Chengmo has improved recently after deliberate closeness. The development is not bad. Two days ago, when he called Cao Chengmo to apologize, the other party laughed and said it was nothing: "The quality of this album is indeed poor, otherwise we and the company would not have decided not to promote it at the time of its release... Hehe, don't worry, I've been in the industry for a few years, and I can still withstand criticism."

  Finally, she teased him with a sentence "I never had the chance to thank you, if it wasn't for your provocation, those media wouldn't have helped me promote for free. Next time when releasing new albums, please notify me, every time like this, can save a lot of money!"

  As expected, Ahn Jun-hee didn't seem to be affected by the blow. It's not like he knew him well anyway. Although he said it was okay, Ahn Jun-hee felt that he couldn't just let it go without making amends. A phone call wasn't enough, and since everyone had been busy with their schedules lately, they hadn't had a chance to meet up until today when they were scheduled to record a variety show together. He planned to invite Jo Sung-mo out for a meal.

  Yes, he is now on his way to record the first variety show since his debut, the program name is "X-Man"!