When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

# 209

New Prologue (1)

The first time Dowook bought Jam Music stock was when he invested in Hyesung Entertainment.

As the album market decreased and the music market emerged, investors who saw the potential of the market in the very early stages invested significant amounts of money into music distributors.

Among the music distribution companies that sprang up at that time, the ones that survived were ‘Pineapple Music’, ‘BN Music’, and ‘Jam Music’, which are now called the top three music distribution companies.

However, Jam Music’s share of the music market was quite low, at around 10 percent.

This fact was clearly realized when we compared the fact that Pineapple Music and BN Music had a market share of 56% and 26%, respectively.

In fact, its position was gradually being lost to Pineapple Music, which was the industry leader, and BN Music, which was receiving support from a music broadcaster called TBN.

When the music is released, it is released in the same way, but if the distributor is Pineapple, it is exposed a lot on the Pineapple site and shows strong performance on the Pineapple chart.

In that case, it was advantageous for the producer to distribute through Pineapple Music, which has the highest market share.

Because of that connection, Pineapple Music continued to grow while Jam Music continued to lag behind.

However, since Do-wook said he was investing in Jam Music, the consultant introduced by Do-wook’s father had no choice but to express deep concern.

In fact, even after Dowook bought the stock, Jam Music’s stock price continued to decline.

However, Do-wook bought more shares every time Jam Music’s stock price fell.

As a result, Dowook’s stock in Jam Music became enormous.

Of course, it didn’t have much monetary value.

If Dowook had invested the same money elsewhere, he could have made more money.

However, what Dowook wanted to gain was not financial gain.

What I wanted to achieve by investing in Jam Music was to acquire defense tools as a producer.

Just as album sales and broadcast rankings were indicators of popularity in the previous era, as music charts began to replace them, the power of music distributors became enormous in the music industry.

In order for the music produced by producers to reach consumers, a distributor was essential.

Because of that structure, distributors who grew in size increasingly passed the burden on to both producers and consumers for their own profits.

In this way, the distribution fee amounted to half of the total profit, and even if consumers purchased music at a high price, the actual profit returned to the producer was not much.

There continued to be criticism that the company sat back and took too much advantage, but it was difficult to change the already established structure.

‘The tyranny becomes more severe as Pineapple Music is acquired by a famous conglomerate and forms a near-monopoly market…’

Do-wook clearly knew that future.

And now, Pineapple Music had just been acquired by a famous conglomerate. That’s why Pineapple Music is moving to raise fees all at once.

It was Pineapple Music that proposed collusion through behind-the-scenes work to BN Music and Jam Music.

Dowook’s preparation was a preparation for that. Dowook was now in the position of a producer who produced music, not simply an employee of an entertainment agency. And the consumers were fans who listened to Dowook’s music.

‘In the past, no one could stop the tyranny of Pineapple Music because it had grown so big…’

By owning Jam Music, Dowook planned to prevent Jam Music from raising fees.

If the commission was not raised, Jam Music would naturally lose money compared to other distributors in terms of immediate profits.

The problem is that even though the commission is low, the market share is also low, so Jam Music could not be the top choice for production companies.

However, the story could have been different if KK joined hands with Jam Music. Now, KK is a singer who has achieved the highest marks in both album sales and digital music performance even without any broadcast activities.

It also meant that there was no need to promote it through Pineapple Music, which has high fees.

In addition, if Hit Entertainment helps Jam Music grow and Jam Music’s market share increases, Jam Music will also be able to have an influence. In that way, the relationship between the production company, distributor, and consumer could be created in the positive direction that Dowook wanted.

It was difficult for Do-wook, who is currently active in various fields, to handle this work alone.

So Do-wook was thinking of handing this over to Manager Joanie.

Dowook was already the majority shareholder of Jam Music and had the power to move Jam Music. Jam Music, which was losing ground, had no reason to refuse Hit Entertainment’s hand. It was an opportunity to revive the article.

Dowook’s proposal to acquire a distribution company was surprising even for Hit Entertainment, which must bear the burden of distribution fees in the long term.

Director Joanie was just amazed that Do-wook had been preparing for a long time in a direction that even she had not imagined.

“But it looks like Pineapple Music has already notified its customers that they will be raising commissions… Shouldn’t they let Jam Music know that they won’t follow suit?”

Manager Annie asked Dowook.

If it becomes known that Jam Music will not raise fees, some people will definitely feel burdened by the fees and choose Jam Music over Pineapple.

In particular, agencies with large singers were expected to show interest. In that case, there was a high possibility that Pineapple Music’s fee increase policy would be canceled.

“We’ll have to wait a bit before announcing it to the outside world.”

The increase in distribution company fees was one of the situations that would put pressure on Director Seo Jung-won.

It was clear that if the commission was increased, sales performance would decline, and that fact would serve as justification for the Ara Entertainment board of directors to demand more performance from General Manager Seo Jung-won.

It was not until after Director Seo Joong-won had completely fallen into abyss that the fee increase case was aborted.

‘Of course, too many things have already come in the way of Director Seo Joong-won…’

At that time, Do-wook’s cell phone rang.

It was an unsaved number.

‘It’s Jumin.’

Do-wook asked for understanding from Manager Joanie and stood up. It was also a call to let me know that everything was coming to an end.

***

‘goodbye.’

It was Dowook’s last greeting. Joo Min-ah hung up the phone with Do-wook and calmly walked out.

I wasn’t able to properly say hello to my family or even the manager I had been with for a long time. They only unilaterally announced that they would quit their jobs and live abroad for the time being.

A reporter spotted Joo Min-ah walking alone toward the arrival hall and ran to her.

As soon as one person came running, all the reporters wandering around the airport began to gather.

She wasn’t covered by a hat or a mask or sunglasses. He was too big a top star for that.

After ‘Lovers from Space’, Joo Min-ah was at the height of her popularity by playing the lead role in her next weekend drama. It was an hour ago that she suddenly announced her retirement.

It was a retirement announcement made through personal SNS, not through the agency.

The story was that she was mentally and physically exhausted from her long career in the entertainment industry and wanted to live a new life as an ordinary human being rather than as a celebrity Joo Joo Ah.

Inside Ara Entertainment, Joo Minah’s agency, the situation was turned upside down. Calls from reporters poured in. However, there was nothing I could do other than reply that I was assessing the situation.

There was a week left until her contract was renewed. Not only had the contract not been signed, but the terms of the renewal had already been agreed upon.

The reporters searched for the whereabouts of Joo Min-ah, who posted the article, and even found out that Joo Min-ah was leaving the country today, so they were camped out at the airport.

“Mr. Jumin! Why did you suddenly decide to retire?!”

“Is something wrong?”

“Are you married?”

“Answer me just once! Mina!”

A corner of the airport quickly became a mess.

Juminah lowered her mask as if she had no choice. Juminah’s face was extremely haggard.

Juminah opened his mouth with difficulty.

“It’s not like something is wrong. It is exactly as written on SNS. I am so sorry and grateful to the fans who have loved me so far. I think it was too much of a life for me. I will live with a heart of reflection and atonement. I think any more attention would be too difficult for me. Then…”

Her appearance was quite different from the one she was loved for her lively image. Tears clung to Juminah’s eyes.

Joo Min-ah bowed deeply and entered the immigration hall, bypassing the reporters.

Reporters captured Joo Min-ah’s shabby appearance on camera without any filtering.

‘It’s the end.’

Juminah bit her lip and held back tears from flowing. He didn’t even have the right to shed tears.

I was just grateful to Do-wook for allowing me to achieve the ‘end’ that I could never have achieved on my own.

It was only a week ago that Do-wook came to visit Joo Min-ah.

When Do-wook received the photo of Joo Min-ah and Director Seo Jung-won taken by reporter Choi Seong-jun, Do-wook was deeply concerned.

If rumors of an affair between the two broke out, it would naturally be a blow to Director Seo Jung-won.

However, in the case of an affair, the blow would have been greater for Joo Joo-ah than for Director Seo Jung-won. Joo Joo-ah would suffer such a blow that her future life would become uncertain, but Director Seo Jung-won could not have known.

It was unclear whether the Ara Entertainment board of directors would kick out General Manager Seo Joong-won just because he was immoral.

Valentine’s weakness due to girls.

Seo Kang-Jun’s return to the entertainment industry fails.

The appearance of Bunker21, like an ambush.

Pineapple Music’s fee increase that I believed in.

Everything was prepared by Do-wook to weaken General Manager Seo Jung-won’s internal position.

It was clear that the board would take incompetence more seriously than immorality.

Revealing an affair here?

‘No, the target is not Joo Joo-ah, but Seo Joong-won. As long as the power relationship is clear, it’s hard to think of it as just an affair that happened out of love for each other… Jumin, there’s a way to use the card more effectively…’

I needed something bigger. Something that will not only shake your position, but send you away altogether.

Do-wook was confident that there would be something else to gain from the relationship between Director Seo Jung-won and Joo Min-ah. We had to break even. In any case, the evidence of the two people’s affair was already in Do-wook’s hands.

So Do-wook contacted Joo Min-ah directly.

Reporter Choi Seong-jun could have stepped forward, but celebrities never reveal anything to reporters. Regardless of the true intention of the approach, it was difficult to trust the reporter.

It was not difficult to secretly contact Joo Min-ah. Ju Min-ah seemed to think that Do-wook had a crush on her.

Dowook presented a photo to Joo Joo-ah, who came out dressed up to the fullest.

“A friendly reporter sent it to me. If this happens, I think Minah’s career in the entertainment industry will be over…”

Not only her life in the entertainment industry, but her life as a woman could also fall into the abyss.

At first in shock and then in fear, Juminah was unable to say anything. Joo Min-ah, who was shedding tears in silence, began to tell Do-wook everything, as if she thought her life was already over.

“…Anyway, I’m the one who made these choices. If you have to be punished, you should get it….”

Towards the end of Joo Joo-ah’s story, Do-wook felt human anger towards Director Seo Jung-won.

He was a parasite named power who lived by sucking the blood of the weak.

“Then let’s do it like this. I will block this article. Instead…”

Joo Joo-ah’s eyes were greatly shaken by Do-wook’s words that he would not publish the article.