Do Wook first bought Jam Music stocks when he invested in Hye Sung Entertainment.
As the album market shrank and the sound file market was created*, investors who saw the potential of the market in its very early days invested considerable amounts of money in music distributors.
(TL Note: I guess platforms like youtube, soundcloud, spotify ect.)
Among the music distributors that sprang up at that time, the only ones that survived were the companies currently considered the three major music distributors: Pineapple Music, BN Music, and Jam music.
However, Jam Music’s share of the music market was quite low; around 10%.
If you compared it to the fact that Pineapple Music and BN Music’s share was 56% and 26% respectively, it would really sink in.
They were getting pushed out by Pineapple Music, a leader in the industry, and BN Music, which was supported by the music broadcast station TBN, and losing more and more ground.
When a sound file is released, it’s released at the same time, but if Pineapple was the distributor, it got lots of exposure on the Pineapple website and did well on the Pineapple chart.
When that was the case, from a producer’s point of view, it was undoubtedly advantageous to distribute through Pineapple Music, which had the highest share.
Because of that connection, Pineapple Music continued to grow, and Jam Music continued to lag behind.
Do Wook was investing in Jam Music despite that so the consultant that his father introduced him to couldn’t help but express deep concern.
In reality, Jam Music’s stock continued to fall even after Do Wook had bought shares.
However, every time Jam Music’s stocks fell, Do Wook bought even more shares.
As a result, the amount of Jam Music stocks Do Wook held was astronomical.
Of course, it didn’t have much monetary value.
If Do Wook took that money and invested in something else, he could have made even more money.
However, what Do Wook was looking to gain wasn’t financial gain.
What he wanted out of investing in Jam Music was none other than to arm himself with defensive tools as a producer.
Just as album sales and broadcast rankings were a measure of popularity in the previous era, the power of music distributors became enormous in the music industry as music charts began to replace them.
For music made by manufacturers to reach consumers, distributors were definitely necessary.
Since that was how it was structured, distributors who had grown in size increasingly put pressure on both producers and consumers for their own profits.
As such, distribution fees reached half of the total revenue and, even if consumers bought music at expensive prices, the actual profit that would come back to the manufacturers was not much.
Criticisms continued that they were enjoying excessive gains while sitting on their butts, but changing an already established structure was difficult work.
‘As Pineapple Music gets acquired by a famous conglomerate and forms a near-monopoly on the market, the tyranny gets more severe…’
Do Wook was well aware of such a future.
And this was just after Pineapple Music got acquired by a famous conglomerate. That was the reason Pineapple Music was moving to raise fees across the board.
It was also Pineapple Music who proposed under-the-table collusion to BN Music and Jam Music.
What Do Wook prepared for was a countermeasure against it. Do Wook was no longer a simple agency employee, but a producer who produces music. And consumers were fans who listened to Do Wook’s music.
‘In the past, Pineapple Music had gotten so big that nobody could stop its tyranny, but…’
Do Wook planned on preventing Jam Music from raising its fees by owning Jam Music itself.
If they didn’t raise their fees, of course Jam Music would suffer some immediate loss of profit compared to other distributors.
Jam Music couldn’t become a top choice from a production company’s perspective because, even if the fee was low, the problem was that the share was low too.
However, if KK joined hands with Jam Music, that could change the story. KK were now singers whose album sales and music chart ratings were both top notch even if they didn’t do broadcast activities.
It also meant that it wasn’t necessary to do PR through Pineapple Music and their high fees.
Furthermore, if HIT Entertainment helped Jam Music grow and its share increased, Jam Music would be able to have influence too. If that happened, they could drive the relationship between producers, distributors, and consumers in the positive direction that Do Wook wanted.
It was difficult for Do Wook, who was currently active in various fields, to handle this work alone.
Therefore, Do Wook planned on handing over the job to Division Head Jo Anna.
Do Woo was already the majority stockholder of Jam Music, and in a situation where he had the power to control Jam Music. For Jam Music, who was losing their status, there was no reason to decline HIT Entertainment’s helping hand. It was an opportunity for revival.
Do Wook’s proposal to acquire a distributor was surprising for even HIT Entertainment, who would have had to bear the burden of distribution fees in the long term.
Division Head Jo Anna was in awe that she hadn’t even thought about going this direction while Do Wook had been preparing for it for a long time.
“But it seems Pineapple Music had already informed their clients that they’re increasing their distribution fees…shouldn’t we let it be known that Jam Music won’t follow suit?”
Division Head Jo Anna asked Do Wook.
Once people learned that Jam Music would not raise their fees, there would definitely be some people who, feeling pressured over the fees, would choose Jam Music over Pineapple.
In particular, agencies with major singers would show interest. If that happened, there was a high chance that Pineapple Music’s policy to increase their fees would get cancelled too.
“Let’s hold off a bit on letting the public know.”
The increase in distributor fees was one of the situations that would put pressure on Director Seo Joong Won.
Operating performance would obviously decrease if the fees were raised, which would be justification for the board to demand better results from Director Seo Joong Won.
The fee increase failing must come after Director Seo Joong Won completely fell into the abyss.
‘Of course, there are already many things that are blocking Director Seo Joong Won’s path…’
At that moment, Do Wook’s cellphone rang.
It was an unknown number.
‘It’s Ju Min Ah.’
Do Wook excused himself to Division Head Jo Anna and got up from his seat. It was also the phone call that would let him know that everything was coming to an end.
***
‘Get back safely.’
That was Do Wook’s final greeting. Ju Min Ah ended her call with Do Wook and walked out calmly.
She wasn’t able to say a proper goodbye to her family or the manager whom she had been with for a long time. She only had a one-sided conversation informing them that she was quitting her job and would live abroad for the time being.
A reporter spotted Ju Min Ah walking alone toward the arrival hall and ran towards her.
Once one reporter started running, all the other reporters who were wandering around in the airport started to flock.
The pressed down hat, mask, and sunglasses couldn’t hide her. She was too big of a top star for that.
Ju Min Ah’s value had increased and reached its peak being the female lead in a weekend drama after ‘Sweetheart from the Universe’ ended. Yet, an hour ago, she suddenly announced her retirement.
She didn’t even announce it through her agency, she announced her retirement through her personal social media.
It said that she mentally and physically tired from her long career in the entertainment industry and wanted to live a new life as a normal person, not as the celebrity Ju Min Ah.
Ju Min Ah’s agency, Ara Entertainment, was turned on its head. There were a flurry of calls from reporters. However, all they could do was reply that they were trying to grasp the situation.
There was one week left until her contract renewal. She had all but signed the contract, the conditions of the contract renewal were already negotiated a while back.
Journalists were wandering, searching for the whereabouts of Ju Min Ah, who had written the post, and were camping out at the airport after learning that Ju Min Ah was leaving today.
“Ju Min Ah! Why did you suddenly decide to retire?!”
“Did something happen?”
“Are you getting married?”
“Please give us an answer! Min Ah!”
A part of the airport immediately became a scene of chaos.
Unable to avoid it, Ju Min Ah lowered her mask. Her face looked haggard.
With difficulty, Ju Min Ah started to talk.
“Nothing happened. It’s exactly as I wrote on social media. I’m so sorry and thankful to all the fans who have given me love until now. I think the lifestyle was too much for me. I’ll live self-reflecting and atoning. I think any more attention will be too hard for me. Then…”
It was quite different from the lively image that she was loved for. There were tears at the edge of her eyes.
Ju Min Ah gave a greeting with a deep bow, went past the reporters, and entered the departure hall.
The reporters captured Ju Min Ah’s unfiltered haggard appearance on camera.
‘I guess this is the end.’
Ju Min Ah bit her lips to hold back the tears. She didn’t even have the right to cry.
She was just grateful to Do Wook for making it possible for her to have the ‘end’ that she never would have been able to have on her own.
It was only a week earlier that Do Wook went to meet with Ju Min Ah.
When he received the picture of Ju Min Ah and Director Seo Joong Won from Reporter Choi Sung Joon, Do Wook thought it over deeply.
If rumors of an affair between them spread, it would obviously hurt Director Seo Joong Won.
However, if there was an affair, the damage would definitely be bigger to Ju Min Ah than Director Seo Joong Won. Ju Min Ah would be damaged enough to make her future unclear, but for Director Seo Joong Won it was unclear.
It was unclear if Ara Entertainment’s board would drop Director Seo Joong Won just because he was immoral.
Valentine’s weakness due to Young Women.
Seo Kang Jun’s failure to return to the entertainment world.
Bunker21’s dark horse-like appearance.
Fee increase from Pineapple Music, whom they had trusted.
They were all things Do Wook had prepared to weaken Director Seo Joong Won’s position internally.
The board would definitely take incompetence more seriously than immorality.
Exposing an affair on top of that?
‘No, the target is Seo Joong Won, not Ju Min Ah. The clear power imbalance makes it hard to believe that the affair blossomed from them loving each other…a way to use the Ju Min Ah card more effectively…’
He needed something bigger. Not just something to rock the boat, but to crush him completely.
Do Wook was certain that there was something else he could gain from Director Seo Joong Won and Ju Min Ah’s relationship. It would be his loss. The evidence of their affair was already in Do Wook’s hands.
So Do Wook personally contacted Ju Min Ah.
Reporter Choi Sung Joon could have gotten involved, but celebrities never reveal anything to reporters. Whatever their true intention may be for approaching, it’s hard to trust reporters.
It was not difficult to contact Ju Min Ah secretly. Ju Min Ah seemed to think that Do Wook thought positively of her.
Do Wook held out a picture to Ju Min Ah, who was dressed to the nines.
“A reporter I’m friends with sent this to me. If this gets out, I think your life in the entertainment world will be over…”
Not just her life in the entertainment world, but her life as a woman could also fall into the abyss.
Ju Min Ah couldn’t say anything, first out of shock then out of fear. Ju Min Ah, who cried without saying a word, thought that her life was already over and started telling Do Wook everything.
“…these are all choices that I made myself anyways. If I need to be punished, I’ll have to accept the punishment…”
Toward the end of Ju Min Ah’s story, Do Wook felt anger towards Director Seo Joong Won’s inhumanity.
He survived by sucking the blood of the weak, being a parasite to the thing named Power.
“Then, this is what I’ll do. I’ll block this article. In return…”
Do Wook’s words that he wouldn’t publish the article made Ju Min Ah’s eyes tremble greatly.
Next chapter: We learn more about Director Seo Joong Won and Ju Min Ah’s relatinoship