Damn Idol — Episode 156
* * *
Typical fan signing events are held to coincide with the initial sales tracking period.
It is an agency’s marketing strategy to connect the hearts of fans who want to see the歌手 with album sales records.
So even if it was not strictly the initial period, they would usually schedule fan signing events during times when album sales figures held significance.
Because records and revenue are eternal.
But Sedalbaekil was different.
They had announced that they would hold a fan meeting or fan signing event after their four-week album promotions had ended.
["Because we hoped the desire to listen to music would be pure."]
It was Han Sion’s answer when asked about it on a live broadcast.
The general public reacted that Hip-Sion was being Hip-Sion again, but the fandom’s reaction was somewhat ambiguous.
—Is there really a need to go that far?
—Can you separate the heart that wants to cheer for the kids from the heart that wants to listen to music?
—How on earth are they going to run the fansign? They said they don’t want to use album purchases as a cutoff.
—Is it really 100% random?
—It’s touching that they seem to be thinking of us, but it’s also a bit confusing.
—I just wish they’d use album purchases for the fansign cutoff.
—Why? I love how things are now, haha. There’s no other idol group like this.
—Right. On the flip side, wouldn’t it be off-putting if Sedalbaekil were desperate to make money by any means? Since they don’t have a company, it all looks like the members’ own will.
—It’s not like they’re skimping on music videos or promotions, so shouldn’t they be making at least that much?
—Right. The thing is, the music video hasn’t even come out. What idol group in the world doesn’t have an MV for their album’s title track?
—But! They’re on the verge of selling a million albums.
—Hahahahaha, this is getting me hyped.
—Prism (Take Scene’s fandom)
—doesn’t even pick fights anymore, hahaha.
—Of course! They’re on another level!
—They’ve never disappointed us. Let’s just watch and see.
While the fandom was settling the situation like this, it was the other agencies that were actually frantic.
No, but why on earth aren’t they maximizing revenue with merchandise?
If they had set an album-purchase cutoff for the fan signing, they would have sold 2 million copies, wouldn’t they?
Why aren’t they holding concerts?
You know, if it’s because the company structure isn’t set up yet, we’ll help.
Could you maybe give us just 20% of revenue? No, 30%? You take 70%.
We’ll do all the work!
Inquiries like these poured in several a day through Division Chief Seo Seung-hyeon.
Even a large PR agency offered to hold a fan signing event for free and proposed signing an MOU.
This was an offer that couldn’t have come without a very high evaluation of Sedalbaekil.
Because it meant they wanted to build a good relationship with Sedalbaekil even while bearing current losses.
In other words, it was an offer made only when one was certain that Sedalbaekil’s future value would easily offset the present losses.
It was only natural.
It was simply that the Sedalbaekil members lacked a realistic sense of their own popularity; right now, the Republic of Korea was in the era of Sedalbaekil.
Parents who had lived through the ’70s and ’80s liked Sedalbaekil tremendously.
A father listening to idol music with his daughter, or a mother listening with her son, was not a common sight.
But Sedalbaekil embraced both age groups.
And that wasn’t all.
There was considerable interest in Sedalbaekil in America as well.
Rock stars who had been fading into the back alleys of history
—not in the sense that they performed the rock genre—
The devil’s talent that mobilized them all.
An album that mixed a sound clearly surpassing 2017 sophistication with the sentiment of the 1970s and ’80s.
Billboard listeners who had properly heard it even once could not help but applaud.
Of course, the language was different, and since they had no activities in America, they couldn’t break into the mainstream.
Albums sold in America numbered around 250,000, still only half-gold (sales of 500,000 copies)
It was no more than that.
This was a level of achievement that even underground singers who had gained regional popularity could reach.
But regardless of sales figures, everyone held them in tremendously high regard.
Even Chris Edward revealed that the next song to be released was composed by Zion.
With the situation being what it was, to outside companies Sedalbaekil looked like land flowing with money and gold.
They were frantic to enter that land.
They wanted to get close.
If I’d known it would come to this, I would have helped when Choi Dae-ho was going crazy!
If only we could get a featuring just once!
I should have booked them on variety shows in advance!
Laments were rising from everywhere.
But Sedalbaekil, and Han Sion who led them, had no interest at all.
No, that was how it appeared.
But this was said because they did not know Han Sion’s exact situation.
Han Sion had to remain pure where albums were concerned.
Marketing must not infiltrate the pure hearts of fans wanting to buy albums.
["If you attempt to own someone’s moment with a currency that can be exchanged for anything in the world, that is an offering, worship, and conquest."]
If album purchases were linked with the fan signing, then if luck was bad, it might not count toward the Devil’s Counting.
If they were more interested in filthy lucre than the heart that wanted to buy albums?
That was not owning someone’s moment through currency.
Of course, the devil hadn’t explained things in such detail, but Han Sion was interpreting the devil’s words that way.
That was why the fan signing, too, was being held after all promotions had ended.
TT had been harboring questions about how they would do it, but—
Then, one day in October.
[Today's Gukmin University Festival Video!]
As always, TT was hanging out on the official homepage.
Sedalbaekil’s official homepage was shabby in design, but perfect functionally.
At first there was so much that it was bewildering, but they quickly grew used to it, and now it was very convenient.
So Sedalbaekil’s fandom would upload videos to YouTube too, but they preferred uploading them to the official homepage.
Because then they could enjoy the vivid reactions of fans without haters—not that there were absolutely none—together.
And that wasn’t all?
Originally, to periodically share messages or communicate with singers, you had to pay a usage fee to a specific platform.
But Sedalbaekil’s official homepage already had a communication function built in.
So these days, the general public who took an interest in Sedalbaekil called them the “Communist Idol.”
It was used with the opposite meaning of calling someone “Capitalist” when they showed a love for money.
Of course, that wasn’t what communism actually meant, but the meaning got across, so the meme spread further than expected.
But then, after a while, a notice from the admin team went up.
‘Finally!’
‘It’s here!’
Since no one had any idea how the fan signing would be conducted, the fandom hastily clicked the notice.
Then something like a Google Form popped up.
There were survey items there, and the content was excessively detailed.
Choose a date you can attend 100%?
Choose your favorite time?
If you could meet just one person, who would you want to meet?
Favorite song?
What on earth are they planning by asking these things?
* * *
Money really does make people smile.
Since receiving the settlement payment, the members’ faces somehow seemed fuller.
Onsaemiro in particular…
“Onsaemiro. I told you to save some money.”
“Can’t I just check a few things off my bucket list and then save…?”
They were crazy about shopping.
Snapping up tons of things in the 10,000 to 30,000 won range.
But when I saw their bucket list, I felt a bit sorry for them and left them alone.
It was really so trivial.
They had checked off most of their bucket list, but they still hadn’t managed to eat their fill of odeng.
Where would you find street-side odeng vendors in October?
This wasn’t my intention, but since we’ve been turning down most variety show appearances, our value has been rising.
Well, nothing makes money in this industry quite like scarcity.
While spending my days like that, I heard an interesting story about the festival we were performing at today.
Whether by good luck or bad, until now we had never run into Take Scene while working events.
If I had to guess, either the agencies had intentionally avoided it, or Ryan Entertainment had been very tactful.
We had humiliated them, but Choi Dae-ho’s influence hadn’t disappeared.
Ryan Entertainment was still one of Korea’s top three agencies, and Choi Dae-ho was one of its most successful producers.
So avoiding overlapping schedules between Sedalbaekil and Take Scene was easy enough.
But—
At the Gunam University festival we were performing at today, we would meet Take Scene.
We had suddenly been booked, so Take Scene couldn’t avoid it.
But the interesting thing was that none of the Sedalbaekil members were nervous.
“We’re the closing act anyway. Take Scene is on the opening side.”
“Really?”
“And…”
Onsaemiro whispered into my ear.
“You met Juyeon on Masked Singer.”
“Right.”
“I won.”
Well, she had a point.
Take Scene was no easy team.
It was my first time seeing Fade debut with Take Scene rather than For The Youth, but even I had known the name Take Scene itself.
Among them, Juyeon was someone who would later shed the idol label and succeed as a solo vocalist.
But—
Even excluding me, Sedalbaekil was better now.
In the past I had adjusted for personal connections, but now it was true even objectively.
So I smirked as well.
Until now, the Sedalbaekil members had tended to lack confidence because of someone like me.
Saying it like this sounds like chuunibyou, but it was the truth.
I was a regressor, and I had devoted countless years to music.
I had always resided at the very top of the Billboard charts, had been a Grammy winner, and was counted among the greatest singers of all time.
So my skill couldn’t be hidden just because I tried to hide it, nor could it be avoided just because one tried not to be influenced.
Because of that, we had succeeded, and Sedalbaekil’s hearts were filled with confidence.
I looked forward to working on the next album.
To the point that I wanted to dive into album work as soon as the Self-Made with PD Gang Seok-u ended.
I knew it was originally the timing to release a single or mini-album, but…
I like physical albums.
I’d have to coax them well.
While thinking such thoughts, the festival began.
Personally, I hadn’t expected Take Scene to appear in the waiting room.
Busy singers usually showed up to university festivals exactly on schedule.
It wasn’t like we were sitting in the waiting room because we wanted to be.
We were sitting there because filming Self-Made required a shot of Sedalbaekil handling their schedule.
Besides, considering our relationship with Take Scene, the standard procedure was for them to wait in the Ryan Entertainment van, perform on stage, and disappear.
But that wasn’t the case.
“Hello. Have you been well?”
As if having already steeled themselves before entering the waiting room, Siu, the leader of Take Scene, greeted us with a natural smile.
The Sedalbaekil members also rose from their seats to return the greeting.
I didn’t really know, but there had been members of Sedalbaekil who were close with Take Scene members.
Had Gu Tae-hwan been close with Ready?
I didn’t have any particular ill will aside from Fade, either.
But relationships are shaped by circumstances, so they could no longer be close.
Watching them exchange awkward greetings, I approached Fade.
“Hello?”
Fade bit their lip, then looked at the Self-Made camera set up for filming and gave a slight nod.