novelraw Chapter 101 : You Did It, Aunt
Chapter 101 : You Did It, Aunt
Chapter 101 - You Did It, Aunt
Baek Yeon-ah originally belonged to a large agency that could be called the undisputed number one in Korea.
Since her days as an active singer, Baek Yeon-ah was affiliated with that company.
Even after transitioning to a producer, she continued to work exclusively there.
However, Baek Yeon-ah quit the company and founded Haram Entertainment herself.
She wasn't dissatisfied with the company's treatment. Nor did she harbor greed to make a fortune by setting up an agency herself.
There was only one reason Baek Yeon-ah founded the company herself.
Because she wanted to do the best producing she envisioned, without interference from anyone.
In large agencies with a long history, the influence of the higher-ups is correspondingly strong.
Cases where decided matters were overturned due to internal office politics were common.
Subjected to all sorts of internal interference like that, she couldn't produce the way she wanted.
So Baek Yeon-ah went independent.
Because she wanted to do the best producing without being interfered with by anyone.
Of course, handling producing while also acting as the company CEO was no easy task.
Still, she gritted her teeth and worked hard with the single-minded determination to create the best group and present the best music.
However, Baek Yeon-ah failed to achieve success.
She couldn't properly resolve the conflict regarding the treatment of a group member. As a result, the main vocalist ran away.
Losing the main vocalist, the songs she had prepared with her heart and soul instantly became awkward and lackluster.
Baek Yeon-ah didn't want to debut them in such an incomplete state either.
But delaying the debut was impossible. It was because she had received investments from various sources.
Eventually, Baek Yeon-ah's group debuted in an incomplete state, and achieved results that fell short of being called a success.
So Baek Yeon-ah gave up.
She abandoned her dream of doing the best producing without anyone's interference.
She only performed her duties as the company CEO and completely laid down her role as a producer.
However, at this very moment.
Baek Yeon-ah was recalling her dream once again.
“……!”
In the drama, Wolhwa was standing up, covered in blood.
Overcoming long anguish and pain, she stood up and began to walk toward what she truly wanted to do.
That is by no means an easy path. It will be a more arduous and difficult path than the one she has walked so far.
Nevertheless, that very image of walking toward her dream is the story of the character Wolhwa played by Kim So-yeong.
What expressed that story through rhythm, melody, and harmony was the insert song ‘Journey (Yeoro)’ playing right now.
It was Wolhwa's song, and at the same time, Kim So-yeong's song.
Simultaneously, it was also Baek Yeon-ah's song.
“Ah……!”
Wolhwa, who was walking unsteadily, turned her gaze toward the sky.
Although it was a night sky, it was clear without a single cloud.
At that moment, the voices of the other Newstarz members layered over the singing voice.
What that rich harmony bursting forth expressed was faith in the path she would walk.
With the OST expressing the drama's narrative as the background, Wolhwa began to walk again.
To continue her own story that would unfold throughout the latter half of the drama.
“Sob……
”At some point, tears began to flow from Baek Yeon-ah's eyes.
Was it because of Kim So-yeong's passionate acting, expressing the narrative solely through her eyes without a single line?
Was it because of the drama production team's direction utilizing the insert song?
Baek Yeon-ah couldn't control her emotions and shed tears.
“Waaaaah!”
“That was great! It’s a huge hit!”
Cheers were heard from outside.
The employees who had been watching the drama in the office were screaming in excitement.
“This will definitely succeed! The chart performance is going to be amazing too!”
“Look at the internet! Every community is in an uproar!”
Anyone could see it.
This OST is a success. It suits the drama well, it suits the character Wolhwa well, and it suits the individual Kim So-yeong well.
They obtained the best possible result that could be created in the form of an OST.
“Aunt.”
Baek Hyeon-woo spoke to Baek Yeon-ah.
“You did this, Aunt.”
“No, no, Hyeon-woo. This is what you...”
“You did this, Aunt.”
Tears continued to flow from Baek Yeon-ah's eyes.
Towards such a Baek Yeon-ah, Baek Hyeon-woo offered warm words.
“Please take care of Newstarz's music in the future too, Aunt.”
……
The new OST ‘Journey (Yeoro)’ for the drama ‘Unshakeable Dynasty’ created a massive buzz.
That song, which Baek Yeon-ah personally composed and produced, suited the drama very well.
Since Kim So-yeong, who played the role of Wolhwa, wrote the lyrics herself and sang as the main vocal, a phenomenon occurred where the song and drama became unified like a musical.
Because the drama production team also put tremendous effort into directing that scene, viewers were deeply moved unexpectedly.
If the viewership ratings hadn't been that high, no matter how moved the viewers were, the ripple effect wouldn't have been very large.
However, when the song played in the drama, the instantaneous viewership rating was 15.5%.
Since it means more than 4.5 million viewers heard the song, even if only a portion of them spread the word, it becomes a tremendous topic.
Under these circumstances, the media had no choice but to react.
Not only entertainment media but also major media outlets like daily newspapers began reporting on this phenomenon.
The clip uploaded to the official YouTube account racked up views at a tremendous speed, and people who became interested in the drama belatedly also started binge-watching through OTT.
In such a situation... finally, the official track for ‘Journey (Yeoro)’ was released on music streaming sites.
“Director Park, how do you think the ranking will come out this time?”
“I guarantee it, it will come out higher than ‘After girl’.”
When Baek Hyeon-woo asked while waiting for the real-time ranking, Park Yeong-ho spoke in an excited voice.
“For ‘After girl,’ it started at 17th on Rapmusic NEW100 and 85th on TOP100. Even without massive promotion, it was that high. But this time, we're starting after promoting to millions through the drama, right? Naturally, it has to come out higher.”
“Director Park, don't count your chickens before they hatch. Out of those millions, how many would listen as soon as it pops up on a music site...”
Choi Tae-hyeong, who was with them, said a word.
“Then do you see it coming out lower than last time, Director Choi?”
“Who said that? Just saying don't get your hopes up too...”
“Ah, it’s up.”
At Baek Hyeon-woo’s words, Park Yeong-ho and Choi Tae-hyeong urgently checked the rankings.
“Rapmusic NEW100, 9th place!”
“9th place?!”
It entered the top 10 on NEW100, which tallies statistics for the latest songs.
If it was at this level right after release, it seemed like it could climb near 1st place soon.
“Even on TOP100... 42nd place!”
“Huk...!”
To think it’s at this level even on the TOP100, which targets all songs.
It was a much better result than during ‘After girl’.
“Director Choi, do you still think I was counting my chickens before they hatched?”
“Groan...”
Next to the triumphant Park Yeong-ho, Choi Tae-hyeong groaned.
Beside those two, Baek Hyeon-woo checked other music sites as well.
Just like with ‘After girl’, they were almost all 1st place.
“Hyeon-woo, what are you doing?”
Just then, Baek Yeon-ah, who was in the CEO's office, poked her face out.
Baek Yeon-ah must have checked the chart rankings too, as her complexion was brighter than usual.
“We decided to have an album planning meeting. Come quickly with Director Park.”
“Yes, understood.”
Eventually, Baek Yeon-ah came to take charge of the producer role for Newstarz's next album.
While overseeing the entire album production process, she decided to personally handle the composition and arrangement for some songs.
‘If Aunt displays her skills properly, she will be able to churn out a bunch of good songs like Journey.’
Through arrangement and rearrangement, ‘Journey (Yeoro)’ became a very outstanding song.
This was a fact that could also be confirmed via the music information window.
————
[Journey (Yeoro)]
Mass Appeal: S
Lyricality: S
Addictiveness: D
Completeness: S
– Affinity with Newstarz (Main Vocal: Kim So-yeong) is 100%.
————
Mass appeal and completeness increased compared to when she first played it for Baek Hyeon-woo.
Furthermore, since the affinity with Kim So-yeong was 100%, she could touch people's heartstrings even with Kim So-yeong's singing ability, which was staying at Vocal B-rank.
If Baek Hyeon-woo gets involved while checking with the information window like this, Baek Yeon-ah will be able to continuously churn out high-quality songs.
‘And... other people's songs too.’
Laura and Kanade's self-composed songs are also scheduled to be included in this album.
Of course, since it is difficult to complete a pro-level song with one's own strength alone, Baek Yeon-ah needs to help a lot as a producer.
This too, Baek Hyeon-woo will have to manage so that they become decent songs while checking with his information window ability.
“Actually, Laura and Kanade submitted their self-composed songs just a moment ago.”
When entering the meeting room, Baek Yeon-ah brought up the self-composed songs right away.
“They each made one song reflecting what they studied at Big Sound Camp as much as possible.”
It is rare for idol singers to make and bring songs themselves like this when composing.
Often, when they convey the concept that they want to make such-and-such song, the producer or composer makes the skeleton of the song, and the idol adds the topline melody on top of that.
However, this time Baek Yeon-ah told Laura and Kanade to make and bring a song entirely on their own.
It was to grasp the two's overall musical capabilities.
“CEO, is it worth listening to?”
“Just listen first.”
After replying to Park Yeong-ho’s question like that, Baek Yeon-ah began playing the songs one by one on her phone.
Baek Hyeon-woo and Park Yeong-ho sat in their seats and listened to the songs.
“Uh……?”
“……?”
And, both of them were surprised.
“W-Wait a minute. You're saying *they* made this?”
“Yeah, that's right.”
“No, but how long has it been since they learned composition...”
In front of the flustered Park Yeong-ho, Baek Hyeon-woo also fell into deep thought.
The two songs Baek Yeon-ah played were more decent than expected.
It seemed Producer Park Cheol-woo taught them really well at Big Sound Camp.
However...
“CEO.”
Baek Hyeon-woo spoke cautiously.
“To my ears, the first song among the two is very good. It is addictive.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”
————
[Untitled]
Mass Appeal: B
Lyricality: E
Addictiveness: A
Completeness: C
– Affinity with Newstarz (Main Vocal: Yoo Jeong-ah) is 80%.
————
The first song possessed the potential to be a hit as a hook song.
If Baek Yeon-ah touches it up and refines it well, it seemed it would gain great popularity as an addictive song.
However...
“The second song... the completeness is okay, but it doesn't feel very charming.”
“Correct. Your thoughts match mine.”
————
[Untitled]
Mass Appeal: C
Lyricality: D
Addictiveness: D
Completeness: B
– Affinity with Newstarz (Main Vocal: Yoo Jeong-ah) is 75%.
————
Looking at the information window of the second song, the completeness itself is not bad.
Considering it was made by someone who hadn't been learning composition for long, it could be said to be at a quite outstanding level.
However, the other parts were substandard.
It did have the form of a dance song in its own way, but that was it.
It continued without a single impressive measure and ended flatly.
In this case, Baek Yeon-ah would have to fix the song a lot, but it would be better to just create a new song from scratch rather than doing that.
“CEO, by the way.”
Baek Hyeon-woo asked cautiously.
“Who made which song?”
Laura and Kanade.
Who made the first song, and who made the second song?