Is 110 music of K-POP idol a borderless music?
Yoon Hyun has thought that this time, the company that would truly send him an invitation would be a reliable one. It could have been CCM or even YG with whom he had a good relationship, but he really hadn't expected it to be JYP.
But now, the first one who invited him was actually JYP.
Since J.Y. Park's failure in the US, JYP Entertainment and its mainstay Park Jin-young have not had that sense of momentum and confidence as before.
In their view, it is indeed incomprehensible that "Nobody" has already formed a trend, but in the US, it has not caused any waves.
Yun Hyun who didn't start earlier than them, in total, hasn't stayed in the US for more than a week, already has three Billboard number one singles.
Even won several major awards in Europe and America.
Although JYP looks a bit unusual, he is passionate about music. He really wants to know where the problem lies. And finding Yoon Hyun is the best way to find this answer.
But what hurts JYP the most is that TWICE is now in a state of disarray. Not long ago, Lee Chaeyeon also announced that she would be halting activities due to her studies. As a result, JYP's biggest flagship group has slowly begun to crumble. Trying to use TWICE as a comparison is apparently no longer realistic.
2PM was mentioned by Yoon Hyun's manager, saying that Yoon Hyun is interested in writing a song for them, but JYP has his own thoughts about this combination. Moreover, having one boy group and one girl group to make a comparison is obviously unrealistic.
So he didn't plan to find a song for this combination with Yoon Hyun-joon either.
He found Yoon Hyun for another group that plans to debut in July and asked him to write a song. A girl group.
If it's all girl groups, JYP should also be able to distinguish some differences.
The difference in musical style between Yoon Hyun and Park Jin-young. Apart from the specific differences of "Gangnam Style" and "Nobody", some differences.
Moreover, JYP had been preparing for this combination for a long time, especially the busy insider, a girl named Bae Suzy, who is highly valued by JYP. By supporting this group through Yoon Hyun's hands, it was also a very good thing for JYP.
Because this combination is not the object of interest in writing songs revealed by Yoon Hyun's agency, JYP also did not expect to get any discounts from there. However, JYP was not wealthy and arrogant after all, so in the email, Park Jin-young only quoted a price of 200 million won for one song to Yoon Hyun.
Actually, 200 million for one song is already a lot.
But Yoon Hyun refused without even thinking about it.
Yoon Hyun's reason for refusing was also very grandiose: For people he didn't know well, he couldn't guarantee that he could write songs suitable for them. The new group indeed had many possibilities, but he didn't think it was a responsible act to use his own adventure to help these few girls who were about to debut.
What I'm saying is: Am I close to you? Am I close to them? In my Girls' Generation days, I earned 600 million. Why should I give them a discount?
Finally, JYP made a difficult decision at a very fast pace...
The day after receiving Yeonjun's rejection response, JYP released an announcement.
In the announcement, JYP expressed willingness to entrust Miss A's debut single entirely to Yoon Hyun-sang, including lyrics writing, composition, song production, and MV production. The total price is 1 billion KRW. If the song can enter the top 10 of the US Billboard chart, an additional 500 million KRW will be added. If it can reach the top of the Billboard chart, the reward amount will increase to 2 billion KRW.
So, if Yoon Hyun makes a hit single, regardless of sales, he will have at least 3 billion won in revenue. And as the songwriter and record producer, he also has sales royalties...
This announcement was not just sent out to LOEN but also simultaneously posted on JYP's official website.
The entire Korean music industry was shocked all at once.
The previous 600 million won bid already made everyone feel like there was some bubble in it. This time, JYP's bid is directly taken as a sign of wanting to kill Yoon Hyun.
Even at the peak of Wirls' time, they never spent so much cost on producing a single album!
This already has a bit of a desperate meaning. The way the prize money is also indicative of Park Jin-young's ambition: his goal is still across the ocean in America, aside from JYP company.
If Yoon Hyun still ignores such a sincere quote, the entire music industry may not allow Yoon Hyun to continue staying in this circle...
So, on the afternoon of the day they received the quote, Yoon Hyun and Park Joon-young met at a coffee shop in Gangnam.
"I really want to know why seniors are so obsessed with the US and Billboard?" This was Yoon Hyun's first sentence after meeting Park Jin-young.
If it weren't for this curiosity, Yoon Hyun might have really refused JYP's invitation. 3 billion won? Just $2-3 million... For Yoon Hyun, it's not a lot of money at all. It's not worth standing in the spotlight for just that amount of money.
"Don't be discouraged." As a producer, although the young man in front of him had been very humble since they met, Park Jin-young didn't think of Yoon Hyun as a junior at all. "Sunmi and the others have been in the US for so long and ended up like this, I'm responsible, but I'd rather know why."
"Different cultures, different aesthetics." Yin Xian said bluntly, "If my few English songs didn't win the championship on the US Billboard chart, no one would listen to them domestically, do you believe it?"
"Music should be borderless." Park Jin-young still insisted, "Didn't we also succeed in Japan?"
This "we" doesn't refer to one or two individuals, but rather the entire South Korean entertainment industry, also known as Hallyu.
"Besides TVXQ and BoA, who else can have such a big influence in Japan? Moreover, with the rise of AKB, the Korean Wave market in Japan is already becoming a problem. After all, Korea's culture is different from Japan and China, how much of an impact do you think it will make in America?" Yoon Hyun became serious as well.
"Why was your song able to become popular in America?" Park Jin-young asked the question he most wanted an answer to.
"Because when I write songs, I don't think of myself as a Korean person." Yoon Hyun-sang said frankly, "The way of thinking is different, the way of using words and phrases is different, and the attitude towards writing songs is different. Nothing is the same."
"So, what about 'Gangnam Style'? You can't deny that this song is a huge hit globally, right?" Park Jeong-yeong asked further.
Yoon Hyun fell silent for a moment. This song wasn't written by himself, but after all, it was hung under his name and became his trademark. In order to avoid being tongue-tied when asked about this song, he had put more heart into it than any other song, thinking that no one in the world would be more familiar with this song than Yoon Hyun.
"Because this is a song that hangs on the traditional Korean music pattern, but in essence it's Western music." Yoon Hyun thought for a moment and said something he thought Park Jin-young would understand. "For foreigners, they like this song simply because of the melody and horse riding dance. And neither of these two things are Korean."
"But these two things are also very popular in China!" Park Jin-young immediately thought of "Nobody", this song internationally, although not as popular as "Gangnam Style", but still became a little red. And in China, the popularity of "Nobody" was not as long-lasting as "Gangnam Style". Now, Yoon Hyun's representative work will occasionally appear in some occasions, but Girls' Generation's that song...
"This is related to 'Infinite Challenge'. Even now, many musicians look down on this kind of party music." Yoon pondered his words for a moment, "And in between, there must be a balance. There's a saying that the more nationalistic it is, the more global it becomes. But this itself is a paradoxical proposition. Finding balance within this will make it popular."
"So, it's still a choice between insisting on one's own way and catering to the masses?" There was a hint of disdain in Park Jun-young's words.
"This is different. It's like playing a game, we need to respect the game settings, but that doesn't affect us from playing in our own way. If it's just because of respecting the game settings and thinking that it's for others to play games, not getting any fun ourselves... would our country's e-sports industry be so popular?" Yoon Hyun retorted with a smile.
"So, even if it means risking the entire company, I want to see what's different." Park Jin-young, at this moment, didn't look like a CEO of a large company at all. He was just an obsessive musician. "Between sticking to my principles and making concessions, how do I find that balance?"
"I admire senior's dedication to music." Yoon Hyun nodded and gave up the idea of persuading Park Jin-young. Only a stubborn person can occupy a place in this strange entertainment circle. Compared to his own weakness, which is considered unreasonable by many people, Park Jin-young's enthusiasm for sticking to his own ideas is indeed more worthy of respect. "I'll take care of this matter. Don't worry, I won't let JYP lose money."
"Making money is secondary, I didn't think about making money this time." Talking about money, Park Jin-young seemed to regain some sanity, "It's just that I feel a bit sorry for those four girls, especially Soo-young..."
This is like breaking a cauldron and sinking a boat, actually putting these girls on the fire to roast. Well, one fly soared into the sky, crashed, and was destroyed forever.
"Do you like that little girl?" Yoon Hyun's gaze at Park Jin-young was somewhat playful.
"I just don't want them to be remembered for only one song in the future." Park Jin-young fell silent for a moment, honestly expressing his concerns. At this moment, he returned to his identity as the head of his company. "Girls' Generation already has such worries now!"
"If your group has the same quality as Girls' Generation, then you don't have to worry that they will only be remembered for this one song." Yoon Hyun shook his head and said seriously to Park Jun-young: "But I think senior, you're worrying a bit too much. When your girl group really reaches that position, then consider erasing my mark. There's precedent for this, you can go ask Lee Soo-man or Yoo Young-jin sunbae about it!"
"I won't be like that, burning bridges after crossing the river!" Park Jin-young burst out laughing. The two albums released by Yoo Young-jin after "GEE" had become a model of blindly following trends in the music industry, although fans didn't think much of them. "You can rest assured on this point. I still hope you'll take good care of this girl group in the future."
"I don't know what will happen later, that's up to you." Yoon Hyun said bluntly, he had no intention of selling himself to JYP. Park Jin-young was indeed a talented person, but his personality was really too neurotic. Otherwise, when he first debuted, he wouldn't have completely ignored the platform provided by JYP.
Also, due to IU's past grudges, Yoon Kye-sang has always had a bit of an awkward relationship with JYP...
Then Yoon Hee thought it would be better to change the subject: "I took a look at the information of the four members of that group before I came, and there are two Chinese girls. Are you planning to let this group try their luck in China?"
"That's a matter for the future." Park Jin-young nodded, he also saw that Yoon Hyun did not want to make any promises about the future of this girl group: "For now, I just want to see the abilities of Yoon Hyun, who is known as the new generation song god."
"I only do, I don't teach." Yin Xian smiled and started to act arrogant, "How much you can learn, how much you can comprehend, I don't guarantee. After all, I'm not collecting tuition fees."
Park Jin-young also smiled, with a confident smile on his face.
