No Music, No Life
"That's a good phrase."
That was Suyun's very first thought upon seeing the words written in massive letters—actually, letters far larger than any actual gate—on the front of the building. She had absolutely no idea that, due to the events of the previous day, a YouTube video titled [Super Kawaii Korean High School Girl Appears?! Beautiful Girl Guitarist Hits Shinjuku!] was already beginning to spread across the internet.
No Music, No Life. Others might not agree, but Suyun had dedicated her entire life to music. And since she was dedicating even this second life, which she had obtained by sheer chance, to music as well... she couldn't help but feel that the phrase described her perfectly.
"It's really huge!"
"It sure is."
"Are all of those records inside? Do they actually sell that many physical albums?"
"Looking at the crowd going in, I think they might. I heard that in Japan, a lot of people still listen to physical albums."
This was the conversation between Manager Jung Yuyoung and the staff members who had accompanied them. Giving them casual nods of agreement, Suyun stepped inside Shibuya Tower Records, a landmark of Shibuya. Despite it being the middle of the day, the place was packed with people.
"If Korean record shops had this many people, we wouldn't have to go through the trouble of stuffing photocards into albums just to sell them!"
"If we didn't do that, everyone would probably just listen on YouTube."
"True. I heard that nowadays, computers don't even come with CD drives anymore."
"Really?"
Hearing this for the first time, Suyun looked up at the ceiling and pondered. Come to think of it, she felt like the computer she used didn't have a CD drive either.
"...Shouldn't you know that better than us, Suyun? I mean, Leader?" one of the staff members chimed in.
Suyun whipped her head around to stare at the employee. While the employee flinched slightly, Manager Jung Yuyoung spoke up.
"There's so much anime music here too!"
There were anime soundtracks she had never even heard of (though she knew of one or two because Iseor and Hyun-ah had shoved them in her face before). There was also The Beatles, Tatsuro Yamashita, and countless others. Marveling at how such a massive physical retail store could still exist, Suyun and her group made their way up to the third floor. They wanted to see if, by some miracle, Group Sound's albums had made their way here without them knowing.
"Nothing at all."
But despite the four of them searching until their eyes grew sore, their albums were nowhere to be found. The fifth floor was the same story. There wasn't a single Group Sound album to be seen. It was a natural result, of course. They had never officially debuted in Japan, nor had they ever negotiated any import deals. Still, looking at the sheer volume of records around them, Suyun couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment that there wasn't a single spot reserved for them.
"There are so many Korean idol albums, though."
"Come to think of it, what about other bands?"
"Pardon?"
"They say it's really hard to make a major debut in Japan. Along those lines, are there any Korean bands that have released albums under a major Japanese label?"
At the staff member's suggestion, the four of them scattered once more, searching diligently for Korean band albums. They were just as hard to find as Group Sound's, but they did manage to track down a few.
"These are all labels I've never heard of."
"The boy groups have a few releases under major labels."
"Just because they aren't here doesn't mean they haven't been released in Japan at all, but still...!"
Yuyoung fell into thought. Group Sound had achieved unprecedented, back-to-back successes. Perhaps she had grown drunk on that success, but Yuyoung had assumed that entering the Japanese market... and debuting under a major label wouldn't be all that difficult. After all, the Japanese market was highly favorable toward Korea these days, and K-pop was a household term. She figured there would be plenty of Korean bands that had made the leap to Japan, and that they could simply analyze those cases... but to think there were barely any precedents at all.
'Well, there are some... but those are boy bands backed by massive entertainment agencies. We can't replicate that.'
Aside from Group Sound, there were other Korean rock bands she had discovered while working at Label Echo Sound. Their songs were so good that she had often thought, 'Even if they aren't quite on our girls' level, shouldn't they be genuinely famous?' Yet, far from having official releases, none of their music was even being imported to Japan. Or if it was, it was tucked away in some dusty, forgotten corner under an obscure label name, slowly gathering dust.
"Aren't we scheduled to start visiting labels tomorrow?"
"Ah... right! It does look like it's going to be tough, haha~"
Yuyoung, who had been spacing out, snapped back to reality at Suyun's voice. They hadn't even started yet, but she already had a feeling that a very rocky road lay ahead.
A few days later.
While Manager Jung Yuyoung took one of the staff members to meet with label representatives again today, Suyun went around with another employee to conduct some research of her own. Her focus was primarily on the live house scene in Japan.
"What's the biggest difference between live houses—or whatever you call those venues—in Japan and Korea?"
"Without a doubt, the acoustics."
Musicians who returned from performing in Japan often joked, only half-seriously, that a tiny Japanese live house with a capacity of fifty to a hundred people had better acoustics than professional concert halls in Korea. While Korea's sound systems were notoriously terrible, Japan's acoustics were just that exceptionally good.
"I've heard that even at live house chains like Zepp... the sound quality is on a completely different level."
"In what way?"
"Uh, it's kind of hard to explain in words."
Explaining things to the employee in that manner, Suyun grabbed dinner outside before heading back. But when she returned to their accommodations and went to greet Manager Jung, she was greeted by a towering pile of empty beer cans.
"Oh, oh! Suyun!"
"Wait, it's not even that late. Why have you had so much to drink already?"
"No, really~! I'm just... I'm just so frustrated!"
"What's making you so frustrated?"
At that, Manager Jung Yuyoung began to pour her heart out. To sum it up, she had visited about three major Japanese labels so far to pitch the official release and import of Group Sound's albums. And the response she got was...
"They said, 'We're sorry, but we don't see this as profitable enough, so we must decline.' Just like that!"
"Well, isn't that true?"
"Even if it is! From a business etiquette standpoint! Who flat-out rejects someone on the first meeting?! They're supposed to at least say they'll review it, and then send a rejection email later!"
"Hmm..."
Hearing that, Suyun thought she had a point. In business, you never knew when or where you might cross paths again, so who would be so blunt and sharp? Especially when dealing with a fellow industry professional who was proposing an album distribution deal.
"You could see it in their eyes! It was like, 'Koreans playing band music?' That kind of look! You know that completely dismissive look, right? Looking down on us like we're pathetic..."
"Do you mean the look Suyun gives Iseor sometimes?"
"Yes, exactly that!"
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
Suyun sputtered in disbelief at the casual, ridiculous slander. Yet, the other two staff members nodded in agreement with the employee's remark.
"Anyway, it wasn't just that company. The others were all the same! It wasn't even 'we'll consider it,' they just flat-out said it's impossible! They say they're sorry, but if they're so sorry, they should let us release our CD!"
"Maybe it's because we didn't follow their business etiquette? I heard Japan is really strict about that. Like, you even have to tilt your stamp when signing documents."
"That might be part of it... but more than that! It just feels so insulting to have our proposal rejected so bluntly! It's not like our music is bad. We sold thirty thousand copies of this album in Korea!"
Manager Jung Yuyoung was so worked up she kept chugging her beer even while talking.
"Suyun! Let's make amazing music, successfully break into their market, and get our revenge!!"
Seeing her shout this, Suyun thought she was genuinely trembling with rage. Suyun reached out to pick up a beer can, only to have her hand slapped away by Manager Jung. As Suyun stared at her in bewilderment, Manager Jung scolded her.
"Suyun! You can't even hold your liquor! Why on earth are you trying to drink beer?!"
"No, I can actually drink quite well..."
"What are you talking about?! I literally saw the video of you throwing up the other day!"
"Suyun, just because you're an adult now doesn't mean you have to drink. You don't need to force yourself to practice here."
"We aren't drinking either! Only Manager Jung is. Don't feel pressured!"
"No, that's not it..."
No matter how she tried to explain, they refused to listen. No matter what excuse she made, the staff simply treated her like a cute kid trying to look like a seasoned drinker. Looking at them, Suyun felt like her non-existent low blood pressure was instantly cured by sheer frustration. Why on earth did she have to go through such bizarre situations...?
Even after that night, when Manager Jung had eventually passed out after downing a few more cans, she continued to contact major labels.
"The important thing is an unbreakable mind!" she kept repeating.
But watching her spirit break in real-time, Suyun couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Even if it was her job, who would actually enjoy being turned away at the door and looked down upon? Work was work, but pity was pity.
"When are we scheduled to head back?"
"Originally, it was this Sunday... but Manager Jung called Team Leader Ko this morning to ask if we could stay longer."
"Why?"
"I think she feels it would be too disappointing to leave like this. She's been running around non-stop, but far from a contract or even a review, we haven't even established a solid connection with any company. It looks like she's planning to start visiting indie labels next."
"But I thought we were somewhat popular here. Weren't we? I heard we've been getting emails and our YouTube views are pretty good..."
"That's what we thought too. But I guess things are different when it comes to corporate business."
Suyun twirled a strand of her hair. Back in Korea, she had definitely heard that they had passionate fans in Japan who were willing to pay over seventy thousand won just to join their premium fan club. Even if they conservatively estimated the ratio of casual fans to core fans at ten to one, wouldn't that mean they had ten times as many casual fans? If so, shouldn't their albums sell reasonably well?
'Ah, the core fans buy the physical albums... while the casual fans probably just listen on YouTube.'
She had heard that in Japan, there were still many artists who didn't allow their music to be streamed. Suyun thought she understood why now. If they allowed streaming, their mainstream popularity might increase, but physical album sales would ultimately plummet. Furthermore, unlike Korea, where the market had been restructured due to illegal music sharing from the very beginning, Japan had steadily maintained its traditional physical music market.
"How big do you think our Japanese fanbase actually is?"
"Uh... who knows?"
At Suyun's sudden question after a brief silence, the staff member scratched their head and replied. If they had a way of knowing that, Manager Jung Yuyoung wouldn't be struggling so much right now.
"Even if we don't know for sure, it's probably on the smaller side. It's definitely smaller than in Korea."
"Hmm... is there any way we could find out?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I just want to help. If we can figure that out, we can at least bring one more piece of data to the table."
Touched by Suyun's sweet heart, the employee replied, "That... would be pretty difficult. Since there's really no way to measure it." If there were an easy way to estimate the exact number of fans, the workforce in the global entertainment industry would probably be cut in half.
After asking that, Suyun quietly took a sip of her coffee and gazed out the window. Sleet was gently falling outside. Just as the employee was spacing out, thinking that she looked like a literal painting, Suyun spoke up.
"I've been thinking."
"Yes?"
"Since Manager Jung said she's going to extend our stay anyway."
"Yes. Though I'm not sure if the budget for accommodations and expenses will allow it..."
It wasn't a five-star hotel, but because Suyun was coming along, the CEO had specially booked a very decent place. The employee was just thinking that if they extended their stay, they would probably have to move to a business hotel like Toyoko Inn, when Suyun's next words hit them...
"Since we'll have a few extra days anyway, why don't we hold a free fan meeting?"
"Excuse me?"
"If we do that, we can look at the number of attendees and get a rough estimate of our fanbase. Wouldn't that work?"
The employee seriously contemplated erasing their earlier thought about 'Suyun's sweet heart' from their memory. It was a decent idea—actually, a very good idea. And it was undoubtedly proposed to ease Manager Jung's burden.
'But it feels like my workload is about to multiply by several times in an instant...!'
For an office worker who actually had to execute the plan, it felt like a bomb had suddenly dropped on their head. The employee wept tears of blood internally as they stammered, "That... sounds like... a decent idea..."
"Right? It won't give us a perfect count, but I think it's a good starting point."
Hearing her response, the employee recalled a memory from the past. It was something Iseor had said while being ruthlessly run through the ringer during concert rehearsals under Suyun: "She has no human heart."
It was, indeed, the absolute truth.