Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 126

36. Debut

-YC Revolution Surpasses Domestic Social Media Rank 4, D Company!-

-A Dash Towards Rank 3, K Company!-

-Japanese Social Media Rank 2, N Company, Crumbles Under YC Revolution!-

-Discussing Expansion into Various Platforms Including Shopping and Webtoons!-

-Following Diva(G), YC Entertainment Artists Release Their Own Platforms!-

-Views Soar for Concert Edited Videos of G1 Band Currently on US Tour!-

-YC Revolution, Where the Main Consumer Base is Active, Establishes Itself as a Hot Platform in the Advertising World!-

“Whew~”

I sighed in relief as I reviewed the articles.

I felt that YC Revolution was establishing itself faster than I had anticipated.

“More money went in than I thought.”

The expenses were more than three times what I had expected before the launch.

This was partly due to unexpected problems arising here and there, but the biggest reason was the forced early entry into the US market.

If I hadn’t listed YC’s US branch last year, I might have had to put some of the stock back on the market before the end of this year.

“But now that things are going so well, there’s no need to.”

I had anticipated Diva(G)’s success to some extent, though it exceeded expectations.

However, the success of Trot Revolution in Korea was truly unexpected.

“It was just a plan to target the senior demographic, which could be called a blue ocean.”

Even this was a project carried out with A Broadcasting Station, which was enjoying popularity comparable to terrestrial channels on cable, as a favor.

In fact, it was okay if it failed, and it would be fortunate if it broke even.

But this Trot Revolution project was a huge hit.

“It was an incredible, unexpected reserve consumer base.”

Many of today’s seniors, who had been through Korea’s golden age of growth, had accumulated considerable wealth.

Nevertheless, they had not stood out much in the consumer market because their consumption patterns were indirect or due to already well-established hobbies.

As such, when they started taking up hobbies in this area through Trot Revolution, they unleashed tremendous firepower.

“I knew it would be easy to establish a presence in Japan because of its unique insularity, which made it seem like an unclaimed territory, but the situation was different in Korea.”

It was no exaggeration to say that the social media scene in Korea was one of the most fiercely contested in the world.

This was evident in the fact that H Corporation’s portal site, which had once swept the world, did not have much power in Korea.

The situation was even worse now, and even YouTube had to go through more battles to establish itself in Korea than in other countries.

This was because several platforms like YouTube had already recognized the potential of the market and were scattered throughout Korea at the time.

However, due to government policies that were particularly harsh on domestic companies in addition to funding and technology, they had to give way to YouTube without much resistance.

It was such a fierce market.

The fact that we were able to aim for 3rd place in this market was thanks to the Trot Revolution.

This is because all the seniors, who were a blue ocean, adopted YC Revolution as their main social media platform through the Trot Revolution.

In fact, the hottest star on Korean YC Revolution right now was neither me nor an idol.

It was Kang A-young, who started as a dancer and won the Trot Revolution.

-Ratings Soar When Trot Goddess Kang A-young Appears?-

-‘Reckless Challenges,’ Which Was Said to Be in Crisis Due to Falling Ratings, Achieves Highest Ratings of 34% with Trot Goddess Kang A-young Special!-

-If Kang A-young Uses It, It Sells Out? Trot Goddess Kang A-young Becomes a Blue Chip in the Advertising World!-

-Companies Issue Special Orders to ‘Catch Trot Goddess Kang A-young!’

-Kang A-young Takes Position as Model for S Corporation’s New Smartphone!-

-Kang A-young’s Fashion is Trending Among Young People? Fierce Competition is Taking Place in the Cosmetics Industry…….-

Her popularity was so great that the title of Trot Goddess was not an exaggeration.

Jang Hee-young, who had been reigning as the Queen of Trot for nearly 10 years, said this on a variety show with Kang A-young.

“After listening to A-young’s song, I had a feeling. Ah~ when this show is over, I won’t be called the Queen of Trot anymore. But I didn’t expect my thoughts to be wrong in this way. I never thought she would become a Trot Goddess!”

“……”

At her playful words, Kang A-young blushed and bowed her head as if she didn’t know what to do.

Jang Hee-young, who was teasing her, as well as the MC [Master of Ceremonies] and panelists who were there, were all speechless.

This was because she showed an unexpectedly pure and cute appearance with a beautiful appearance that could be called a goddess.

“Oh my! How can she be so pretty? That’s why people are so crazy about Kang A-young!”

Jang Hee-young exclaimed in admiration and hugged her, and the MC expressed his envy at Jang Hee-young hugging Kang A-young, saying, ‘For the first time in my life, I regret being a man,’ causing laughter.

These clips became popular among those in their 20s and 30s who were in denial of their fandom, and succeeded in creating young fans.

Kang A-young was not the only one who succeeded with the Trot Revolution.

All the trot singers who made it to the finals of the Trot Revolution gained great popularity.

It was said that their value had increased at least 10 times, but most of them were earning less than 1 million won [approximately $750 USD], so even 10 times was not a huge amount.

Considering that top-tier singers move around for about 30 million won [approximately $22,500 USD] at local government events, this was even more so considering their current popularity.

But there were always exceptions.

-Trot Goddess Kang A-young Renews Highest Event Fee? Calls for 300 Million Won at a Corporate Event-

-A Goddess You Can’t Hire Even with Money!-

-Ranks First in Casting at University Street Festivals, Beating Out All Girl Groups-

That was Kang A-young.

Officially, the highest amount at a corporate event was 300 million won [approximately $225,000 USD], but in fact, the most expensive event fee unofficially set was a whopping 500 million won [approximately $375,000 USD].

It was an event to celebrate the birthday of the chairman of a leading domestic conglomerate, and the reason they took her there even for that amount was because the chairman of the company was her fan.

In fact, Kang A-young also received expensive gifts worth over 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD] prepared by the chairman, separate from the event fee.

Of course, after that, it was decided to exclude all such events.

This was because bad rumors, such as sponsorships, could circulate.

She also tried to reduce her schedule, but Kang A-young opposed this.

“I’m okay. I actually feel energized when I go on stage.”

Having lived a difficult life of obscurity, she says that she is overjoyed to see fans welcoming her with enthusiastic cheers like now.

In particular, when she meets elderly people on the street who don’t know what to do, she is reminded of her grandmother.

Fortunately, even though she was so successful, she had not changed from when I first saw her.

No, rather, after her success, I was able to confirm her hidden, excellent character.

Since she had not been a trainee, she succeeded in settling her accounts shortly after her debut.

After that, she donated more than half of the money she earned from events and CFs [Commercial Films, or advertisements] to underprivileged neighbors.

She donated to the things that were most inconvenient in her poor childhood, when she was once a recipient of government assistance.

One of them was sanitary pads.

It was difficult to afford sanitary pads in a situation where she had to save every penny, so she had to solve it somehow in an unsanitary way.

This was a great hardship for a sensitive teenage girl.

Remembering that, she took the lead in donating sanitary pads, and the ripple effect was so great that the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a project to support women’s and adolescent health and hygiene products.

If you were officially recognized as a recipient of government assistance, you would receive free supplies, or even if you weren’t, you could receive the sanitary pads you needed for the month for only about 10,000 won [approximately $7.50 USD] per month.

I couldn’t help but admire A-young’s ripple effect, which even created a national project.

Due to this incident, A-young received the title of Goddess of Donation, and after that, she obtained the right to be immune from criticism (a word meaning the right to be exempt from criticism and malicious comments).

In addition, the malicious comments of jealousy towards her, who was doing so well, disappeared.

-Trot Goddess Kang A-young Holds Concert for Trot Goddess Kang A-young Fan Club Goddess Sunflower!-

Kang A-young, who created a history of virtuous cycles like this, finally held a concert after adjusting her hectic schedule.

And around the time this article came out. I got a call from my mother.

“What’s going on? Mom calling me first.”

I couldn’t help but be a little nervous.

Perhaps because she was from Gyeongsang-do [a province in South Korea known for its direct and sometimes reserved communication style], my rather taciturn mother usually only called me first when there was a problem.

And just as my anxiety grew as my mother hesitated to speak, she finally spoke.

“Can’t you get me some Kang A-young concert tickets?”

“???”

“I guess it’s difficult? Three tickets would be enough……”

“Sigh~”

Only then did I realize why my mother was hesitant, and I let out a long sigh. At this, my mother muttered, ‘I guess it’s not possible?’ and I hurriedly continued.

“There’s no way I can’t. We’re the ones holding the concert.”

“Really! That’s my son! Ohohoho!”

I scratched my cheek at my mother, who was so happy that she let out a high-pitched laugh, and asked.

“But Mom, were you a fan of A-young?”

“Didn’t you know? I even changed the picture I posted on my account. No, more than that, son. Are you close to Kang A-young?”

“How can I not be close to her? First of all, I practically discovered and raised A-young. No, before that, she’s also an artist in our agency.”

“Oh my! My son is really amazing. You’re friends with A-young!”

“……”

I was speechless for a moment at my mother’s fuss.

This was because my mother had never been so happy even when I first reached number one on Billboard or when I made the incredible record of being number one for 18 weeks.

Well, it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand at all.

It’s Billboard, but unless you’re in the industry or interested in this, you won’t know how amazing this is.

So that’s why she’s making such a fuss about being friends with A-young.

“But why three tickets? If you’re going with your sister, two tickets should be enough, right?”

“Sigh. That girl wants to go to a place like this. She’s going with her friends. But these girls didn’t believe me when I said my son knows Kang A-young……”

In short, she wanted to brag about her son and go to A-young’s concert.

“I’ll get you as many tickets as you want. Tell me later if you think of more.”

“Really! Then 5 tickets. No, 7 tickets……”

I could only end the call after telling my mother, who was increasing the number of tickets, that I would give her 10 tickets.

“I really feel how popular she is among seniors.”

When my mother, who had not shown much interest, showed so much interest, I decided to pay more attention to A-young’s concert.

I also decided to make new songs for her to sing.

As the first half of the year, which was so busy with YC Revolution, passed, I was spending a busy journey with another project in the second half of the year.

That’s because of the European tour planning that will start in November.

Since Black Tiger’s new album has to be released around that time, my uncles, who had been relatively free, are now back in battle mode.