The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 302

< Verse 47. On & On >

***

Tours that circle the globe rarely come to Korea.

The Korean public, seeing posters of foreign singers, might question this, but it’s rare for artists at the height of their popularity to perform in Korea.

Unless the singer has a strong personal desire to visit, more lucrative markets exist once they reach peak fame.

The revenue structure differs significantly between domestic and international tours.

American musicians typically expect income from ticket sales and advertising when touring within the US (or neighboring countries).

Frankly, these tours often aim to ‘make as much as possible while the iron is hot.’

Having already maximized album and song sales domestically, the goal is to capitalize on that recognition through concert revenue.

However, overseas tours are a different ballgame.

They place a greater emphasis on future revenue streams, not just immediate ticket sales.

This additional revenue primarily comes from album sales.

In essence, overseas tours are about reaching untapped markets and promoting, ‘Please buy my album.’

Therefore, the ideal performance inspires the audience to ‘buy this musician’s album.’

Japan is a particularly attractive country in this regard.

It boasts low barriers to cultural and artistic consumption.

Consequently, foreign singers often sell tens of thousands of albums after touring in Japan.

‘Japan is a really strange country. They’re quiet as if they’re watching a classical performance during the concert, but after the concert, tens of thousands of albums are sold.’

Musicians, frustrated by Japan’s reserved audience culture, sometimes vow, ‘I’m never coming to Japan again!’ after a tour.

Eminem even famously asked during a Japanese concert, ‘Did you guys come to see a classical performance?’

So, musicians are often stunned by the subsequent sales figures. The audience appears bored during the show, yet they buy thousands of albums.

Conversely, Korea isn’t a particularly appealing tour destination in this sense.

It has relatively high barriers to purchasing culture and art, so even a great performance rarely translates into sales.

People might download the music and add it to their playlists, but rarely think, ‘I should buy this album’ after seeing a show.

However, from a performance perspective, Korea is an attractive market.

Experiencing passionate reactions and a vibrant sing-along culture in a small Eastern country with different sensibilities and language is appealing to Western artists.

South American countries are generally considered the best for enthusiastic audiences, but artists visiting Korea after Japan often find the Korean response comparatively striking.

But ultimately, Korea isn’t a lucrative tour market.

Therefore, overseas musicians’ Korean performances usually consist of a single show, rarely exceeding three.

However, the Golden Nu-Era Tour was different.

The Golden Nu-Era Korean Tour included seven performances across five cities.

The most anticipated performance was the seventh, held in Seoul.

It wasn’t just because it was the final show.

Nor was it due to a special lineup.

All seven performances were sold out, so that wasn’t the reason either.

The seventh performance garnered attention because it coincided with another ‘different performance’ on the same date and in a similar location.

* Golden Nu-Era Tour

1st. 2012. 01. 10 – Seoul

2nd. 2012. 01. 13 – Seoul

3rd. 2012. 01. 18 – Incheon

4th. 2012. 01. 22 – Daegu

5th. 2012. 01. 27 – Busan

6th. 2012 01. 31 – Gwangju

7th. 2012. 02. 03 – Seoul

The final schedule of the Golden Nu-Era Tour, which started with two performances in Seoul, toured the country, and then had its final performance back in Seoul,

* Oh! Card Super Concert

2012. 02. 03 – Seoul Ohkyung Card Super Hall

Overlapped with the schedule of the Ohkyung Card Super Concert.

‘Oh? What is this. The timing is perfect?’

This was the interesting thought that Sanghyun had while preparing the silk clothes called the World Tour.

The Korean public reacted similarly.

-Revenge is mine.

-Is Lee Sanghyun a pervert? He’s too persistent.

-But I would do it if I could. Can you guys forget when you’re bullied by a large corporation?

-You shouldn’t mess with rappers. They’re persistent.

Amidst this buzz, the first Korean performance of the Golden Nu-Era Tour finally began on January 10, 2012.

***

Ohkyung Group had given up on taking action against Lee Sanghyun some time ago.

Specifically, it was after Lee Sanghyun began earning more money than Ohkyung Media earned in two years.

Of course, a corporation’s overall revenue dwarfed that of an individual. But considering profit margins, Lee Sanghyun had become a force to be reckoned with, essentially a one-person company.

More importantly than money was Lee Sanghyun’s influence in the United States.

Ohkyung was already a global company, but primarily in manufacturing sectors like electronics and automobiles. Their service industries, such as finance and telecommunications, which relied heavily on image, were just starting to expand internationally.

So, they had no choice but to back off from Lee Sanghyun.

They didn’t want to pay the potential ‘ransom’ [negative publicity and backlash].

It was unusual for a large corporation to take a passive stance against an individual, but Lee Sanghyun had become too influential to target.

‘It’s unbelievable.’

As the president of Ohkyung Media, Oh Yeonju was well aware of these company policies.

So, she couldn’t help but be surprised.

The 18-year-old high school student she had once met with some favor, sympathy, and self-interest had grown into someone who stood on equal footing with major corporations.

Of course, in Korean society, the power of large corporations was immense. If Ohkyung Group had fully mobilized its resources, not only 888 Crew but even H&R INC wouldn’t have been able to hold the Golden Nu-Era Tour in Korea.

They could have simply refused to rent venues to the Golden Nu-Era Tour.

‘But there’s nothing to gain.’

The only potential benefit was protecting their pride.

However, the potential losses were far greater.

Because H&R INC was now backing Lee Sanghyun.

If H&R INC had been denied venue access in Korea, Hadel Raines wouldn’t have stood idly by.

The person who could challenge the Grammy Awards wouldn’t shy away from a fight with Ohkyung Group, which operated on a different scale. Even if he lost, Lee Sanghyun could simply return to the United States.

In short, they were confident they could win the fight, but even a victory would be pyrrhic, and a loss would be a complete humiliation.

So, even when Lee Sanghyun made ‘unpleasant remarks’ about Ohkyung Group on the Oprah Winfrey Show, they ignored it.

But now the situation was different.

Lee Sanghyun had initiated the conflict. Even in Korea.

Concerts competitively run by credit card companies were expected to generate significant losses.

That’s why superstars like Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Usher, Stevie Wonder, and Sting were typically invited.

No company willingly operates at a loss. These concerts lost ‘money’ but were intended to gain something of equal value in return.

And Lee Sanghyun was trying to steal that equivalent value.

Attention, publicity, or brand image, etc.

Therefore, Ohkyung Group was deeply displeased, and Oh Yeonju, the president of Ohkyung Media, was also frowning.

No, she was pretending to frown.

Because she was attending a board meeting with the leaders of Ohkyung Group.

‘It’s not something to worry about. Ticket cancellations have occurred, but the reservation rate is 68%, which is by no means low. On the day of the performance, probably 75% or more of the seats will be······.’

‘So, what was the reservation rate last year?’

‘That was… 100 percent.’

‘What about the year before that?’

The managing director frowned at the senior manager’s question, and the unlucky department head, who was experiencing being a subordinate again after a long time, stammered and answered.

‘I, it was 100 percent.’

‘Has there ever been a time when it wasn’t 100 percent?’

‘During the performances in 2007 and 2008······.’

‘That wasn’t a Super Concert. It was only with domestic singers, so the break-even point wasn’t much different, was it?’

‘······.’

‘And even then, it was over 90 percent, I think? Is my memory wrong?’

‘Y, you’re right.’

The executive director, who had been listening quietly, said.

‘So, are we supposed to stand still? While a young punk is running wild?’

The Golden Nu-Era Tour announced its Asian schedule relatively late.

About halfway through the Western tour.

In retrospect, Lee Sanghyun seemed to be waiting for Ohkyung Card’s Super Concert to be fully confirmed.

Maroon 5 and Lady Gaga were confirmed for this Ohkyung Card Super Concert.

With two superstars confirmed, schedule adjustments were inevitable.

It wasn’t that Maroon 5 and Lady Gaga weren’t popular.

It just meant that Five Six and H&R INC’s musicians were so popular that, given the same ticket price, the Korean public would be more inclined to attend the Golden Nu-Era Tour.

Lee Sanghyun would likely continue to perform in Korea, but Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, who were as popular as Lee Sanghyun, might not return anytime soon.

‘But this means that Lee Sanghyun is completely leading H&R INC······. Isn’t that too much of a leap?’

Hadel said every time, ‘Five Six ignited my passion,’ but externally, there was also an evaluation that super manager Hadel Raines had brought out Five Six, who had been buried in the underground.

While Oh Yeonju was thinking this, the department head, who had been pondering this matter before the meeting, opened his mouth.

‘How about using the police?’

‘The police?’

‘I know that most American rappers do marijuana. They openly reveal it in their lyrics. So, by using the police······.’

At the department head’s words, President Oh Yeonju opened her mouth.

‘Even if the right to investigate foreigners staying in the country is granted, it can be a problem if they didn’t do it after coming to Korea.’

‘I know that hair tests remain even after 6 months.’

‘What if they did it 6 months ago in a state in the United States where marijuana is legal? And we can’t know if Maroon 5 or Lady Gaga do marijuana or not. If we do this wrong, it could adversely affect the next Super Concert. The fact that an American musician came to Korea for a performance and was treated like a criminal will spread quickly.’

‘Hmm······.’

At Oh Yeonju’s words, the executives made humming noises.

They initially thought the department head’s idea was good, but after hearing President Oh Yeonju’s explanation, who had studied in the United States, they reconsidered.

President Oh Yeonju sighed inwardly, observing the shift in atmosphere.

The meeting became sluggish.

In reality, at this point, it seemed impossible to stop the Golden Nu-Era Tour regardless of their actions.

President Oh Yeonju watched the meeting naturally winding down and pondered various thoughts.

No matter what Lee Sanghyun does, Ohkyung Group will continue to thrive. It will grow annually and generate even more revenue.

Even she, a member of a chaebol [family-owned conglomerate] family, sometimes felt like ‘just a cog’ in the machine, because it was such a massive organization.

Perhaps her life would be a continuous cycle of being a cog from birth to death. The only difference was that she was a cog embedded in a core component from the start.

So, Oh Yeonju believed that the best thing she had ever done in her life was meeting Lee Sanghyun.

She hadn’t done much for him, and her actions weren’t entirely altruistic, but Lee Sanghyun’s music had a small connection to her.

That connection might be 1%, or even less, but she could at least delude herself into thinking that her actions had made a significant difference.

‘Am I getting old?’

Oh Yeonju smiled slightly at the thought, then quickly suppressed it.

Because the meeting wasn’t over yet.

On one side of Seoul, the first performance of the Golden Nu-Era Tour was underway, while on the other side, individuals dissatisfied with the tour were gathering.

Among them was someone whose relationship with Sanghyun continued.

Perhaps the most significant change Sanghyun had brought about since his regression wasn’t music, but the strengthening of bonds between people.

***

< Verse 47. On & On > End

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