Chapter Thirteen: Hot Sales Continue

  Today there is only one update, I will accumulate another chapter. Yesterday I only wrote two chapters, and the accumulation was a bit less. Tomorrow will resume the normal 2 updates per day.

  Thank you for the reward from fellow student Cui, thank you for the update votes from fellow student Mu Tu's Pig!

  "Annual strongest newcomer king, An Jun-he's debut album landed on Japan's Oricon chart with a first-day sales of 50,000 copies, ranking fifth in weekly sales, and is expected to become the second Korean singer to top the Oricon chart since BoA!"

  "Memory" unexpectedly succeeded, Japan's second day of release saw a slight drop, with weekly sales of 90,000 units entering the Oricon chart at number four, experts say it may take the top spot in its first week.

  "Power newcomer saves the record industry, Ahn Jun-hee's 'Memory' Korean version achieves 67,000 data in two days, surpassing senior Tei, and takes the weekly champion throne, still maintaining his butcher-like nature."

  "An Junhe's 'Memory' is a huge hit domestically and internationally, with sales exceeding 150,000 in Asia within two days of release, securing its position as the strongest album of the year."

  “……”

  Overnight, the streets and alleys were filled with similar news, everything was as the company had expected. Ahn Jun-hee's achievements in Japan greatly stimulated the media's nerves. After a brief silence, large-scale reports suddenly poured in like a tidal wave, and the atmosphere that had been hot and lively for a while drove away the cold winter chill that had not yet retreated. The music scene, which was slightly chilly at the beginning of the year, quickly fell into a noisy and boisterous state after being stunned into silence.

  Just as many people predicted, this news is indeed a timely tonic for the increasingly depressed record industry - at least for Ahn Jun-hyuk. Stimulated by the success of "memory" in Japan, its sales in Korea not only did not plummet as some experts had predicted, but still maintained a daily data of around 20,000, which was both astonishing and slightly exhilarating.

  Especially many singers who are preparing to release new albums in the near future, the record market is booming. Although it has nothing to do with them, it's great to see that there are still so many fans willing to spend money on authentic versions, which is a good omen no matter what.

  The increasingly pessimistic predictions about the record industry from the media had indeed frightened them.

  Although exciting, many people had to reluctantly adjust their album release dates to avoid colliding with Ahn Jun-hyuk, who was rapidly rising in popularity. This guy's performance was completely unlike a newcomer, just like the media described him - he was indeed like a ruthless butcher. On the day of his album release, he topped various music charts, and on the second day, he overtook Tei, who had released an album a month earlier, and dominated the weekly chart, eyeing the singers below him. The names of seniors such as Tei, God, Shinhwa, Rain, and others lined up under him, serving as stepping stones to highlight his honor.

  Although the songs represented by those names were either released at the end of last year or in January and February this year, they have all passed their promotional period and no longer have any competitiveness. Even if they win the weekly chart, there's nothing to be proud of. However, in the eyes of the media, it is still a topic worth reporting on. And for many singers, those popular seniors' songs are not something they can compare to even after their promotional period has ended. As for Ahn Jun-hyuk, who was able to surpass his seniors, he is naturally someone they cannot look up to.

  Especially that terrible 670,000 figure, many singers' records can't even sell 60,000 in a year.

  Facing such a strong opponent, apart from adjusting their schedule to avoid being impacted, they really didn't have any other choice.

  ……

  In the Gangnam district of Cheongdam-dong, in the JYP building, the warm sunlight of early spring poured down from the noon sky, shining brightly through the windows and illuminating one side of the building. In a certain office, Park Jin-young's figure was shrouded in light, putting down several newspapers in his hand, reflecting the light slightly, clearly showing words such as "Ahn Jun-hee" and "memory". Apparently, this monkey president, who has never gotten along with SM company, is also paying attention to the dynamics of his competitors.

  "Damn it, those guys have good luck again!"

  She took another glance at the name "An Junhe", and Park Jin-young looked at Rain, who was not far away from her, staring out of the window with an unknown thought, feeling a little resentful and annoyed.

  Fellow travelers are enemies, let alone when he was still a singer and had a feud with SM company. After setting up his own brokerage firm, the explicit or implicit rivalry between the two sides, as well as the competition for the record market, is enough to create some irreconcilable resentment between him and SM company.

  They have been competing with each other all along. When SM launched HOT and opened the glorious chapter of male groups, he created GOD to closely follow and take away a part of the achievement. **When launching BOA to attack the international market, he also trained RAIN to counterattack. A few years ago, there was only him, and even because his previous brokerage company suddenly went bankrupt, he was forced to create JYP. In such competition and counterbalance, it slowly developed into today's scale.

  In fact, for him, making his own company one of the industry leaders was only the second most proud thing in his life, and the first was cultivating Rain.

  No, Rain is his greatest pride. Before this, he even thought that the whole of Korea wouldn't produce a second Rain, that man named Jung Ji-hoon was one-of-a-kind, and no matter how big an agency was, they couldn't cultivate another one - not even SM could do it, just like he couldn't find a second BoA.

  He is so confident because in his view, they were able to take a step out of Korea and into the world due to a combination of their abilities, packaging, and trends, which cannot be replicated.

  But recently, that guy named An Junhe seems to have completely broken his concept.

  "Released for two days, 150,000 sales in Asia... He rubbed his temples and gave a wry smile to himself. This data, even up until now, Rain had never achieved before. Not to mention that was his debut album, back when the music industry was still in its golden age. How many sales did he have back then?"

  Less than 140,000...

  Although this is only a domestic statistic and does not include overseas sales, based on Ahn Jun-hee's current single-day sales data, surpassing it is just a matter of time. Even Rain's best-selling 3rd album, which was released last year with the popularity of "Full House", has only sold around 160,000 copies so far.

  In terms of sales volume, there is no comparability between the two parties.

  He looked up and saw Rain still seemingly lost in thought on the other side. Park Jin-young let out a sigh, knowing that he was feeling very depressed at the moment.

  Last year, during the KBS Acting Awards fan conflict incident, the media compared him to Ahn Jun-hee, and at that time, he was refuted and most people thought that compared to Ahn Jun-hee's timely restraint of fans, as a senior, he was really too incompetent. Later, some fans from his fan club switched to Ahn Jun-hee, which almost made Rain suffer internal injuries.

  By the beginning of this year, X's scandal broke out, and the two people who were also on the list were embroiled in scandals, while An Jun-he was able to establish a healthy image, which made Rain's depression even more unbearable.

  Perhaps it's a natural restraint, since An Jun-hyeok debuted, whether in film and television or image, he has always been suppressed. Now that he has turned to songwriting, he is still being suppressed, even if he didn't release an album this year, he can't escape the media's comparison, it's like he's being shot at even when lying down.

  However, Park Jin-young did not know that Rain's concerns were not entirely about those things. He was not a person without self-awareness, and the album sales were not bad compared to others, nor would they make him depressed to this extent. He thought of what happened last year.

  After the fan conflict incident at the KBS Acting Awards, writer Lee Kyung-hee, who had promoted Jo Jung-suk, came to him with Ahn Jun-ho wanting to make amends, but he refused.

  At that time, he thought that a newcomer had no right to propose reconciliation with him. It was simply beyond his power!

  Is it reconciliation or hostility, depending on his mood, what right does a junior have to speak?

  But now, the refusal at that time has become a joke. The other side, with the residual heat of film and television, stirred up the music scene, and in just a few days, their popularity soared to new heights. Meanwhile, he was trapped by the scandal of the x file at the beginning of the year, his popularity plummeted, and even stopped all domestic activities.

  One side weakens, the other grows strong; he who does not know his own strength seems like him.

  These two days, every time he saw An Junhe's name in the newspaper, every time he saw that string of initial data that he couldn't do, every time he saw the media's praise, his face would burn with a scorching pain, as if he had been slapped again and again.

  Especially just now, on the internet, I saw a portal website report that many singers delayed releasing their albums to avoid colliding with An Junhe's release date. He felt suffocated - among those who postponed their releases were several who had fought him in the past, but back then they didn't see those guys voluntarily backing down from him.

  Unable to discern whether it was jealousy or shame, Rain clenched his fists tightly, the pain of his fingernails digging into his palm slightly rousing his dazed emotions. As he lifted his head, he saw Park Jin-young walking over, looking at him with concern:

  "Ji Xun, don't mind those media outlets that stir up trouble everywhere. They love to make something out of nothing. If you take it seriously, you'll lose." Patting his shoulder, Park Jin-young comforted him thus.

  Rain's eyelids drooped slightly and then forced a smile: "Teacher, I know, it's just...my heart feels a bit uncomfortable."

  "Heh heh, since you're uncomfortable, want to cause some trouble for An Junhe?"

  "Huh?" Rain was taken aback, "What's going on?" he asked in confusion. Usually, when someone said they were looking for trouble, it meant either using their seniority to bully or contacting the TV station to cause problems. But with S.M. Company backing him up, these so-called troubles didn't have any real impact. As for spreading rumors or scandals through certain channels, that wasn't easy either. After all, Ahn Jun-hee was currently in his promotional period and must be very busy, without any room to maneuver.

  I roughly guessed his idea, Park Jin-young burst out laughing: "It's not those troubles, just to curb his momentum a bit, the music scene has been too quiet lately, so the media focused on him and reported heavily, let them disperse their attention!"

  Hearing this idea, Rain furrowed his brow slightly and was somewhat impatient: "How to disperse? You also saw that many singers don't dare release albums during this time slot."

  "I'm not talking about those cowards." Park Jin-young waved his hand disdainfully, his sharp facial features making him look extremely cold and arrogant as he did so. He turned back to the desk and swiveled the computer screen towards Rain, saying "I'm talking about him!"

  As I squinted my eyes and looked away, a small message on the open webpage on the screen reported:

  "Ballad Prince Vol. 6 released, no promotion, no hype, low-key return to the stage!"

  Behind the scenes, Park Jin-young's face is smiling triumphantly: "This guy wants to keep a low profile, but we're going to make him high-profile instead. Heh, let's see how our crown prince and so-called newcomer king can create an exciting showdown!"