sovbooks Chapter 29 | The Chapter Returns to the Beginning
Chapter 29 | The Chapter Returns to the Beginning
Cao Yisen looked at the words "must attend" and was somewhat speechless: "How did I suddenly become 'must'?"
Park Ji-eun walked by with her coffee and immediately understood: "You talked too fast in the last few meetings, and everyone remembers you as a newcomer who asks questions. Plus, you're good at English, so who else would they take advantage of if not you?"
She shoved another stack of internal briefings into his hands and whispered, "The company really spent money this time."
The briefing listed the overseas production team for this single:
Executive Producer: Andreas Carlsson
Producer: Denzil Remedios
A line of small print was also specially added below:
"I have produced songs for many popular groups under SM Entertainment, including SHINee, Super Junior, EXO, and Red Velvet."
Cao Yisen whistled softly: "Wow, the company really went all out this time."
From his perspective in his previous life, a producer of this caliber would cost a small company a fortune just for a trip to Seoul, including airfare, hotel, and appearance fees, let alone a long-term partnership. PLEDIS was clearly determined to make fromis_9's "first order after the transfer" a resounding success.
The atmosphere was actually a bit awkward at the first formal meeting regarding the new single project.
PLEDIS brought in all its core personnel: planning, marketing, A&R, content operations, and fromis_9's agent. The whiteboard had several large words written on it:
"To continue the legacy of innocence?"
"Concept upgrade?"
"A sexy transformation?"
Some people have already drawn several lines around the concept of "sexy style".
The team leader of the planning group spoke first: "There are just too many innocent and pure styles on the market right now, and the competition is fierce. fromis_9 originally had a girlish image, but since this is their 'first debut after the transfer,' how about we consider making a breakthrough? For example, a bit more mature, or even a little sexy, would make the visuals and stage presence more impactful."
Some in the market echoed this sentiment: "Actually, brands prefer groups that can 'handle multiple styles' for collaborations. If a group is completely unrelated to sexiness, there will be some limitations in their external collaborations."
A&R flipped through the files: "The members aren't young anymore; wouldn't it be a bit boring to keep them completely in a schoolgirl style?"
One sentence after another, the direction seemed to be slowly tilting towards "sexiness".
Han Shengshou didn't comment, but simply tapped his fingers lightly on the table, looked around, and then focused his gaze on a certain spot: "Any opinions from the content operations team?"
The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.
Everyone's gaze followed his eyes and turned to Cao Yisen.
He was jotting down the keywords everyone was talking about in his notebook, but under the intense gaze of everyone, he coughed and put down his pen: "Then I'll share some data and my personal opinion."
No one interrupted.
Cao Yisen turned the computer upside down so that people in the front row could also see the screen, and brought up the dashboard he had prepared earlier: "Let's start with the data."
The screen displays a series of simple charts:
fromis_9's past main playback curves, the tag cloud of short video platform derivative works, and the high-frequency words when they are mentioned in overseas discussion forums.
"Judging from the numbers," Cao Yisen said calmly, "the keywords people use to describe fromis_9 are concentrated in the categories of 'refreshing, sunny, clean, and trustworthy.' Even overseas comments, those casual observers who can't fully explain the background of K-pop groups, mention things like 'they look so bright' and 'refreshing' when they talk about them."
He tapped on a word cloud on the screen, where English, Korean, and Japanese words were interspersed, and the largest words in the middle all had similar meanings.
"And there's something interesting," Cao Yisen continued, "among girl groups of the same era, their fan-made videos are significantly more prevalent in the 'everyday life' and 'lighthearted and funny' categories. In other words, fans prefer to edit them into 'girls you'd meet in real life' rather than 'unapproachable goddesses on stage'."
Someone from the marketing department chimed in, "But that doesn't mean you can't be sexy, right? Maybe a change of direction will make you a hit."
"They can switch," Cao Yisen didn't deny. "The problem is—this is fromis_9's first single after switching to PLEDIS. For fans, this isn't just 'any song,' but rather 'what will happen after they change companies.'"
He paused, letting the words linger in the air.
"If we suddenly push them in a direction that is strong in sexiness and impact at this point, the most direct effect will of course be that they will generate more buzz." He spread his hands. "But in the long run, the risk is that the core fans who originally liked them because of their 'refreshing, sunny, and trustworthy' image will feel that this is not the original group."
Someone in the planning team frowned: "So, how do you think we should 'upgrade' it?"
This is the real topic.
"My opinion is," Cao Yisen clicked on another chart, showing the changes in age groups and album purchase repetition rates of fromis_9 in recent years, "that we don't need to overturn the 'pure' label and start over, but rather take it to a higher level."
He put it in a more understandable way: "It's not about jumping from 'innocent' to 'sexy' all at once, but rather upgrading from 'girlishness' to 'charming young woman,' without losing that clean quality they possess."
A&R listened attentively: "Could you be more specific?"
"Musically, the arrangement and harmony can be more mature, instead of just girly melodies; visually, the clothing and makeup can be 'simple and have good lines' for a mature feel, but don't deliberately emphasize exposure; on stage, be more confident and have a more assertive gaze, but not in a forced sexy way."
He paused for a moment, then changed his words to something more like a closing statement:
"Simply put, we don't need a new fromis_9, we need to let everyone discover: 'Innocence' can look like this."
The meeting room was quiet for a moment.
Some people were flipping through the documents and thinking, some were looking down at the notes on the table, and some people's eyes visibly lit up.
Han Shengshou, who had been silent until now, finally nodded: "I think what Ethan said makes a lot of sense."
He looked at the marketing department: "Everyone is talking about girl crush and sexy style, but what's really scarce in the market right now is a girl group that you can 'feel at ease liking'. fromis_9 already has that foundation, and it would be a waste if we overturned that foundation right from the start."
He then looked at the planning team: "The concept can be upgraded. Fresh doesn't mean childish. Go back and refine it in this direction—the theme, visuals, and MV storyline should all revolve around 'grown-up freshness,' don't force it into being sexy."
The planning team leader thought for a moment and nodded: "Actually, this is more in line with their current age group and the mentality of their fans."
Some joked, "So, should we save the sexy style for the next new girl group?"
Han Shengshou also laughed and said, "Let's talk about the next one later."
After the meeting, everyone began to leave. Some people, while packing up their belongings, sighed, "I never expected that the final decision would be made by that kid from the content operations team with just a few words."
Park Ji-eun walked next to Cao Yisen and nudged him: "This time, it's a bit like you're treating fromis_9 like a stock for long-term investment."
Cao Yisen laughed: "I just think that an asset doesn't necessarily have to 'change tracks' to grow. Sometimes, sticking to your long-term value is more interesting than trying to grab attention in the short term."
She raised an eyebrow: "Speak like a human being."
"Their innocence is valuable in itself," he shrugged. "There's no need to rush to discount and clear out their stock."
—----------------
During the comeback preparations, the entire company was extremely busy, with meetings almost every day. After the general direction was set, the next step was to coordinate with the producer.
Recently, even after the company closes for the day, the lights in the planning office remain on. People no longer chat and type as usual; the screens are all displaying the same PowerPoint presentation—"fromis_9 2021 New Single Global Project." Cao Yisen reviewed the last page of notes again, confirming there were no grammatical errors in the English annotations, before closing his notebook.
In the past few days, he had heard countless phrases like "The company has invested heavily this time" and "The first shot after the transfer cannot go wrong." Everyone from finance to marketing was watching this project closely. He knew that what would appear on the other end of the screen later was not just an overseas producer, but also a "partner" that would be written into the internal briefing later. And what he had to do was far more than just being a window to the planning department—translating, coordinating, making sure PLEDIS spoke well, and ensuring that the other party understood what he was talking about.
He habitually checked his headphones, meeting notebook, and spare pen again to make sure they were all on him before getting up from his seat. At the end of the corridor, the door to the large conference room was ajar, and colleagues were already setting up the video equipment inside. The PLEDIS logo and the word BIGHIT flashed alternately in the corner of the screen.
The project briefing officially began in the main conference room.
This time, there were no banners, but a large screen was set up in front, broadcasting a video conference from BIGHIT headquarters. The screen lit up, and several foreigners appeared on screen; the blond, middle-aged man in the center wore headphones and had a very professional smile.
"Hi, everyone. Nice to meet you all."
Han Sung-soo first exchanged pleasantries in Korean, then switched to English: "Thank you very much to Andreas and Denzil for joining the production of fromis_9's new single today."
After he finished speaking, he glanced at the back row and stopped at Cao Yisen's group.
"I'll leave the translation to Cao Yisen from our content operations team. Is that alright?"
Dozens of eyes turned around at once.
Cao Yisen had no choice but to stand up and give the screen a "I'm okay" smile: "Hi, Andreas, hi Denzil, I'm Ethan. I'll be in charge of translating and communicating for everyone."
After a few polite exchanges, the meeting officially got down to business.
The Korean side discussed the project direction and the current state of girl groups, while BIGHIT added information on brand positioning and overall tone. Andreas and Denzil then shared their thoughts on melody, hooks, and arrangements.
"What we want is bright and fresh, but not the kind of cute that's too childish."
"I hope the chorus has a catchy line that will be easy for passersby to remember."
"We heard that the members sang well live, and we don't want to cover up their vocals with too thick an electronic sound wall."
These words, when translated into Korean, need to be transformed into sentences that can be executed.
"The overall goal is to create a refreshing and sophisticated pop song, not the traditional childlike and cute kind, but a bright atmosphere with a touch of mature groove; the chorus should have a catchy melody that you can remember immediately, and the choreography should correspond to a signature move; we will try to preserve the members' vocal range as much as possible during recording, so we will emphasize live performance ability more than ever before."
As Cao Yisen translated, his mind automatically mapped the words to the data.
Whether short video platforms are suitable for segmentation, whether the hook length is sufficient to create a challenge, the stability of the live performance, and the potential for future stage dissemination—all of these were considered in my mind.
Midway through the conversation, the topic shifted from the music itself to the details of execution.
Andreas asked, "Who's responsible for sending us the data regularly? Like streaming data, YouTube views, social media reactions, etc."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the video call.
A&R looks to the market, the market looks to the planning team, and the planning team naturally looks to Park Ji-eun. Park Ji-eun's eyes darted around, then she looked at Cao Yisen, her expression saying: Congratulations on winning!
Han Shengshou simply named names: "This part will be handled by our content operations team. Cao Yisen?"
Cao Yisen stood up for the second time: "I can take responsibility. We can provide a master report every week, and daily snapshots during the return week."
Andreas smiled even more broadly: "That's great. Also, if possible, I'd like you to help compile the feedback from overseas fans. They can tell us whatever they like about fromis_9 and what they're looking forward to in the new song."
This one sentence directly propelled him from "the one who makes reports" to "the one who participates in A&R and marketing discussions".
After the meeting, PLEDIS held a small internal meeting. The meeting room door was closed, and only family members remained.
The A&R team leader threw down his pen: "Yisen, from now on, for the song 'fromis_9,' you'll be the point of contact with the external producer."
"I applied for a finance position at the time," Cao Yisen reminded him.
"You can make tables, speak English, and know a bit about the market," the team leader laughed. "In a company like this, it's easy to be used as a jack-of-all-trades."
Park Ji-eun summarized for him: "Simply put, what you need to do now includes - organizing data, coordinating with producers, summarizing opinions from planning and marketing, translating them into content they can understand, and then getting their feedback back from them."
"Is the bonus still the same?" Cao Yisen asked casually.
The group laughed together, and the A&R team leader patted him on the shoulder: "That's a very good question, very capitalist."
The rhythm of real work changed from that day on.
Every morning, he first pulls the backend data of all audio sources before fromis_9:
The curves of domestic and international streaming platforms, the regional distribution of viewers of low-bandwidth videos, the age range of fans, subscription growth, and the most frequently occurring words in the comments.
Previously on Wall Street, I worked on indices and individual stocks; now I work on groups and singles, but the financial statements I produce actually look somewhat similar.
With time on the horizontal axis and popularity on the vertical axis, it's clear at a glance which day had an event and which live stream brought fan growth.
Around noon is the time to exchange emails with the producer.
Andreas will release the latest demo version, and Denzil will follow with a draft arrangement description. Cao Yisen will need to confirm the files, naming, and notes, then forward them to A&R, the planning department, and Han Shengshou to gather feedback, and finally compile a concise and clear English reply:
"The intro can be compressed by two bars to make it easier for broadcast editing."
"The setup in the first chorus is very good. Could you give the lead singer more space for some soaring notes?"
"I suggest leaving some space in the second verse for the dance highlight."
He quickly discovered that the internal memos he used to write to fund partners and the feedback he was now writing to producers were essentially structurally similar.
First, explain the overall picture, then highlight the key points, and finally provide alternative solutions.
We often have short meetings around 3 or 4 pm, bringing together the person in charge of fromis_9 to discuss the parts and keys of the latest demo.
Sometimes when Tsao Yi-sen passed by the recording studio, he could see Li Na-jiong wearing headphones, repeatedly singing the same hook into the microphone through the glass. The producer would gesture through the glass, saying things like, "A little lighter," or "A little more expression here."
As people gradually left work in the evening and the lights on the floors went out one by one, his computer was still on.
On one side is the schedule sent internally: recording schedule, cover shoot, MV shoot, trailer, music release, and music show schedule;
On the other hand, there's a market summary to send to overseas producers: which teaser image received the best fan response last time, which caption was shared the most, and the trend of discussion on overseas forums regarding "fromis_9 changing companies".
KakaoTalk occasionally pops up a few messages:
[Park Ji-eun]: Are you working overtime again?
[Cao Yisen]: It's making money for your girl group.
[Park Ji-eun]: Could you also give your sister a raise?
[Cao Yisen]: Do you want me to show you the report?
[Park Ji-eun]: Forget it, keep it to scare the higher-ups.
One evening, he had just sent out a data report when a new email popped up in his inbox.
The sender's name is Andreas & Denzil.
Ethan,
We have received the fan feedback and data you posted recently, and to be honest, they have been very helpful.
This makes it clearer for us what resonates globally and which parts need to maintain a "very Korean" feel.
I'm really looking forward to hearing the final product, and I'm also looking forward to fromis_9's performance this time.
Cao Yisen stared at the lines of English text, his fingers hovering over the touchpad for a few seconds.
In his previous life, he used a bunch of complicated numbers to help people avoid crashes and bet on black swan events, but in the end, he also got himself caught up in it.
Throughout his life, he sat in a small office in Seoul, using similar methods to help a girl group find a more stable direction for their "first song of a new beginning".
As night slowly fell outside the window, the rhythm of music could still be faintly heard from the direction of the practice room. fromis_9 was facing the mirror, turning the demo from the first audition into a real stage performance.
Cao Yisen closed his notebook, leaned back in his chair, and knew very well one thing:
In this project, he was no longer just a "junior employee who was only responsible for filling in numbers into forms".
From producers to company executives to the girl group members themselves, more and more people are starting to habitually say this:
"Let Ethan see what the data says for this part."
After several busy days, reports, meetings, and emails from fromis_9 piled up all at once, and he even lost count of how many iced lattes he'd had at the coffee shop downstairs.
That afternoon, after a short meeting, Park Ji-eun glanced at his dark circles and suddenly closed the file: "That's enough for today. Don't work overtime this afternoon. Go home early."
"Huh?" Cao Yisen was still a little unaccustomed to it. "The work isn't finished yet."
"You've already done twice as much as everyone else these past few days." Park Ji-eun decisively pressed down on her mouse. "Formis_9 isn't going to disband just because you left two hours early. Get lost."
Park Ji-eun spoke half-seriously and half-jokingly, but her attitude was very firm.