10. Label (3)
'Why is hyung here?'
That was my first impression of the month-end evaluation.
Son Dong-young was a close hyung who had been by Planet's side since they were unknown, and after he became the executive manager, he changed his position.
The unexpected reunion was surprising, but when he said 'Han Awon', I thought I fainted.
'I was shocked.'
After finishing the team mission stage, we waited for the trainers' evaluation. The first one to speak was Team Leader Lee Ki-ho again.
"I saw it well. Everyone did so well."
"Thank you!"
"But this part is different from the one the agency decided~ Whose idea was it?"
The sharp eyes scanned the team members. No one answered, as if they didn't want to take a risk.
Those idiots. Just before I, who was grumbling inside, raised my hand, Lee A-ram answered first.
"The idea to redistribute the parts was first suggested by trainee Kim Jung-hyun, and the parts were divided after the team members agreed to it."
Kim Jung-hyun kept his mouth shut at the plain words that only listed facts, and then opened it.
"...Yes. I gave my opinion, and Yoo Young worked hard to distribute it."
"Tainee Yoo Young?"
Team leader Lee Ki-ho twirled the ballpoint pen between his fingers. Then he tilted his head.
That bastard Kim Jung-hyun, look at that. Look at him passing it all on to me for fear of getting scolded for changing parts. I smiled slowly.
"Yes, it was possible because the other team members helped me a lot."
"I see... You know it was experimental, right?"
"I know. But I thought our team members would be able to handle it well."
This is half a lie. To be exact, it was made so that 'each team member could stand out when they pushed their skills and talents to the limit.' How do you make this possible just by changing parts? The answer is simple.
Attention-grabbing.
Literally, it means attracting people's attention (eyes). This is often overlooked, but it is an important element when designing a stage. This is because the audience's perception of the image or stage changes completely depending on how they move their gaze.
'And the best element to draw the audience's attention on stage is the dance line according to the part distribution.'
For example, if the person in the center does a good job with the part, the attention will be focused on him, so even if the side is relatively bad, the level of completion will naturally look high. Then, what if the center is slightly distorted?
I slightly lowered my head and waited for Team Leader Lee Ki-ho's feedback.
"Well, it wasn't bad. But idols are team players. I thought everyone would know why we have to evaluate team missions."
"I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. What I'm curious about is that Trainee Yoo Young hasn't been here long. He probably hasn't figured out all the trainees' characteristics yet. I wonder how you distributed the parts in that situation."
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho's question was still sharp. I rolled my eyes without showing it.
Unlike before, the A&R team intervened in the part distribution, and the trend has become to prevent the fixation of parts according to positions. However, since each agency has its own preferences, each tends to pursue their own style without thinking. Lime Entertainment values the overall balance and prefers main vocalists to be vocalists, dancers to be dancers, and positions to fit perfectly.
'If I put it nicely, it's stable, but if I put it badly, it's timid.'
In short, if you look at the parts, it is easy to predict the positions that the agency wants for each person.
...I can't say this out loud, so let's just say it briefly.
"I referred to the parts that the agency gave us."
".....Hmm?"
Team leader Lee Ki-ho made a face like, 'Do you think that makes sense? ' But I pretended not to know. I couldn't explain that I was Han Ah-won, who had been rolling around at Lime Entertainment.
"I understand for now."
After that, I came down from the stage after hearing all the remaining evaluations. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief since the overall evaluations were favorable.
Lee A-ram patted me on the back as if to convey we worked hard and passed by. As expected, that guy seemed to have enjoyed the stage as much as he had practiced.
'The results are not as bad as I thought.'
Maybe it's because everyone practiced like crazy. The reaction was okay, considering that they were prepared to be criticized for changing parts.
Now, I just have to wait for the results. I made up my mind lightly. I wouldn't be able to make it into the debut group right away with this evaluation, but the process was building up step by step.
***
A few days had passed since the end of the month evaluation. Suddenly, I, Lee Aram, and Baek Hangyul were called to the New Development Headquarters and received an unexpected offer.
"There's a new label called O&M MUSIC that was just established. Do you think all three of you would like to move to this label? Oh, I'm the label's CEO, Son Dong-young."
I opened my mouth at Son Dong-young's offer. I wondered why he was at the end of the month evaluation for trainees, and he said, "He's the CEO of a new label?"
Whether I was surprised or not, Son Dong-young continued his explanation.
"We're currently preparing a new male idol. We've finished coordinating with Lime Entertainment, so if you accept, you can move to a new agency right away."
"A label...?"
Lee Aram and Baek Han-gyul were both shaking. I, the only one who accepted the situation, raised my hand as the representative and asked a question.
"Does Lime Entertainment do the actual care as it is?"
"Yes, since it's a label under Lime, we'll use the same building."
Son Dong-young continued his explanation. When Lee A-ram touched his forehead, he began to blurt out sweet terms as if he were a salesperson introducing a product.
"I was impressed by the three of you on your end-of-month evaluation stage. I, as the CEO, came here to cast you. If you come, you will be included in the debut group right away."
I was impressed... As far as I know, having watched Son Dong-young longer than anyone else, he definitely has a good eye for people. He also cast Nine, the leader of the junior group Ter.
But isn't this too much of a spurious story? If you come, you will be included in the debut group right away? There's a kid here who has only been a trainee for a month?
Lee A-ram seemed to have similar thoughts, furrowing his brows as he spoke.
"Thank you for the good suggestion, but... it's a little sudden."
Son Dong-young paused for a moment while maintaining a smile. It was one of his habits when choosing his words. Such behavior always had bad things to say.
As expected, the fact that came out of his mouth was enough to shock Lee A-ram.
"Well.... You might think so. But it's heartbreaking that talented people can't debut here and have to waste their skills."
"Huh?"
Lee A-ram suddenly stood up, and Son Dong-young raised his hand to calm him down.
"Oh, oh, didn't you hear? The lineup for Lime Entertainment's debut this time has already been confirmed."
As Lee Aram bit his lip, Baek Han-gyul, who was next to him, raised his hand. Son Dong-young and I immediately focused our gazes on Baek Han-gyul.
"I'm good at moving, but... I think it might be a little difficult to get into the debut group right away."
I crossed my arms and leaned back against my chair. That's because Baek Han-gyul's performance at the end-of-month evaluation was intense.
Baek Han-gyul, who came out with a gangster hip-hop song, was really flying. From the middle, he even induced a response, which made the rap trainer's face smile.
If you look at his rap skills and stage manners, it wouldn't be strange if he got into the debut group. However, that thought was shattered the moment the next song started.
That guy is really bad at dancing.
The reason the trainers don't tell him to pack his bags and go home is probably because of his face and rap skills.
I was confused whether I should admire the rap skills that covered those dance moves or the dancing skills that kept that rapper in Class B.
However, Son Dong-young seemed to think differently.
"Why do you think that?"
"Uh........... I'm not good at dancing..........."
"Aren't you underestimating your own talent? You can practice dancing."
Baek Han-gyul was nodding his head with a face that was already in a state of shock. He could be said to have thin ears, but Son Dong-young's uniquely affectionate voice convinced him of everything.
'That hyung's nickname was 'Fox.'
He made everyone leave him alone and coaxing him with nice words. Look at him coming to cast him himself even now. It's obvious why he didn't use an employee. If he were a typical agency CEO, he wouldn't even meet with a trainee.
"Listen carefully. Mr. Lee A-ram has a beautiful voice, and he has a great style. He has a cute face, so he won't be outdated. Especially, in the part you performed yesterday, 'I'll pretend not to know, so come to me quickly,' the emotional expression was so good that it was hard to believe he is a trainee."
"Ah... Thank you."
"Mr. Baek Han-gyul is a really great rapper. His diction is also clean, and I liked how he revised all the lyrics of the hip-hop song in a healthy way. He uses words with a sense. And what about his looks? Did they say that this kind of face is good for fangirling? Both of them are talented enough to debut."
The two of them struck up a rare moment of laughter. At least Lee A-ram seemed to be thinking seriously about the future rationally, but Baek Han-gyul....
"Thank you! When you say that, I feel confident."
"Right? Then, about the label transfer..."
"I will!"
That simple guy.
When Baek Han-gyul made his decision, even Lee A-ram agreed to the label transfer. It seemed like he was trying to seize a new opportunity since it would be difficult to debut even if he stayed at Lime.
I lifted my waist off my chair while watching that scene. I felt Son Dong-young's gaze turning to me.
"Ah, Mr. Yoo Young..."
I wonder how I am now, as evaluated by that hyung. Son Dong-young opened his mouth as he stared at me. It was a sign that his words were going to be long.
"...That's why we decided to cast Mr. Yoo Young. And I felt it after watching the stage yesterday. Even though your position is listed as dance, you're capable of producing to some extent, right? If not, you wouldn't be able to change the parts so exquisitely. I also looked up the audition videos for the agency, and I heard that you arranged the audition song yourself?"
"...Yes, I did."
"I thought so. Even though you're a trainee, if you have that level of arranging skills, it means you have a good sense..."
Son Dong-young continued to praise me, then smiled with his eyebrows furrowed.
"We don't have a general producer in charge of the group right now. So I'd like to give that position to Mr. Yoo Young. What do you think?"
".....?"
Is this hyung finally crazy? Giving the position of general producer to such a young trainee?
Son Dong-young rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly when I couldn't answer the outrageous question.
"It would be absurd to you. Oh, you don't have to worry. I won't leave it all up to you from the beginning. I'll give you a lot of support."
He must know that it doesn't make sense. I calmly took a breath and asked the most likely possibility among the many possibilities.
"...Is the direction of this label and group 'self-production, self-producing' by any chance?"
Self-producing was popular for a while, and there were idols who pushed it. These days, it's often used as a selling point.
However, a general producer is different. A composer's job is to create songs, and a producer's job is to create the color of the artist's music..........
"Yes, that's right. Trying something new, isn't it good?"
The general producer is a job that takes charge of all management and responsibility related to album production, including not only the album concept, but also the group image, song selection, music video, concept visual, choreography contact, and even MD or logo confirmation.
'If we only consider the work, it's closer to a CEO than a musician.'
They probably don't know that either. I chewed on the inside of my cheek. This isn't a bad thing. In some ways, it could be an opportunity. Since it's a new label, there probably won't be any unique colors. However....
'What about the position?'
I absolutely have to succeed in the 'dance position'. If that's impossible, it's better to move to another agency.
Son Dong-young, who noticed my hesitation, quickly added a condition.
"You don't have to worry about the position. I'm casting not only a general producer but also an idol."
Doing idol work and producer work at the same time? He said such absurd things so casually. I held back a laugh and rubbed my fingertips.
What on earth are you thinking?
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