OST Contract (2)

Young-hoon, too, could sense that the reality of the broadcasting industry was far from rosy.

"How does it work in other countries? Say, in the United States, which is considered a pioneer of broadcast production?"

"In the US, production companies and networks often share the copyright. The splits range from 50:50 to 80:20 in all sorts of arrangements. Even so, it's very rare for the network to own more than fifty percent of the rights."

"And what about the overseas distribution rights for outsourced dramas here in Korea?"

"There are all kinds of cases, but the ratio of copyright ownership varies depending on how much production funding the network provides. Honestly, you don't need to know all the intricacies. Why don't you just tell me straight what's on your mind?"

Sensing an underlying intention as the conversation went on, Hye-yoon cut straight to the point.

"To be honest with you... if the drama becomes a hit and sells overseas, I'm curious how the revenue from the OST will be divided up."

"Thorough as ever, I see. For this miniseries, the overseas distribution copyright is owned jointly, fifty-fifty, between the network and our company. So when overseas sales generate revenue, payments go out to the cast, the writer, the OST, and so on according to the contracted terms. For example, if an episode sells for two hundred thousand dollars, roughly half of the company's revenue goes out to the actors' appearance fees and the like, leaving about a million dollars per sale as the company's profit."

"Good. Then how shall we divide up the revenue from our OST? We can't exactly attach a ratings-based option to this one, can we? It's a tricky one."

"Honestly, I haven't thought that far ahead yet. If you give me your opinion, Mr. Young-hoon, I'll consult with our CEO and get back to you."

"Well, how about ten percent?"

"Could you walk me through it?"

"You said Sinabro Production's share of overseas licensing sales is fifty percent. Then another fifty percent of that goes out as expenses. Which means, in the end, about twenty-five percent is your company's profit. I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠asking for one-tenth of that twenty-five percent. Converted to the overall total, that comes to two point five percent. To put it simply... at two hundred thousand dollars ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠per episode, that would come to around ten thousand dollars. Talk it over with your CEO and let me know."

"Wow! Mr. Young-hoon, you're something else. You really are sharp. Anyway, just give me a moment. I'll speak with the CEO and get right back to you."

The call was brief. Hye-in drew a circle in the air with her finger and showed it to Young-hoon.

"The CEO says OK. So when do we write up the contract?"

"Contracts aren't really my territory... That would be President Lee Jae-man's job. He's probably somewhere nearby, so I'll give him a call."

Sure enough, less than a minute after Young-hoon made the call, President Lee Jae-man walked into the office. He must have been waiting close by. When Young-hoon explained the terms they had settled on verbally, President Lee nodded along as if he understood perfectly.

"Jae-man, so when would you like the signing to be?"

"Monday's out — I have something important that day. Let's do Tuesday. I'll come by your office."

"Then I'll need to coordinate with the lawyer, so I'll call you again on Monday. But there's one condition. The condition is this — you must hand over the songs by the promised dates. 'A Loving Heart' is already finished, so 'After Farewell' by the end of October, and the last song by the end of November. Okay? If you miss a deadline, I'll slap a penalty on you."

"Understood. Even if I have to put Sung-hoon through the wringer, I'll make sure we meet every deadline."

Hye-yoon paused for a moment as if mulling something over, then turned to President Lee again.

"By the way, what's the release schedule for the digital singles?"

"My estimate is 'A Loving Heart' on November 1st, 'After Farewell' on November 11th, and the last song depends on how quickly Mr. Young-hoon delivers it... but I don't intend to let it slip past December 1st at the latest."

"Right. And I'll hand the song over to Hye-in by the end of October no matter what."

"So is Five Girls not shooting a music video? Every other singer puts out an MV before their comeback, you know."

"We haven't even registered the digital release yet. We can shoot one when we have the breathing room, or with a full album. Right now we're scraping the bottom of the barrel — it can't be helped."

The three of them went on exchanging thoughts about the drama's success for a long while afterward. A full hour slipped by before Hye-yoon finally rose from her seat, saying she had an appointment. Young-hoon, too, felt exhaustion creeping over him and could no longer bear to stay seated. The truth was, he'd overindulged in drinking the night before, and had risen early today to drive over to Seongnam, so his condition was far from its best.

Young-hoon went down to the practice room, watched Five Girls rehearse for a little while, and then took his leave. Back home, he threw himself onto the bed and promptly passed out cold. Sunday, too, he spent the entire day lying around, dropped by his cousin's house in the evening for a free dinner, and was asleep by ten. His golden holiday had vanished in the blink of an eye.

Monday — the final week of October began.

Young-hoon arrived at the office early, as always. Because he was always the first one in, the spacious office sat completely empty. In half an hour or so it would be packed to the gills with bodies like a jar of bean sprouts, so before that, he took out his planner as usual and began jotting down everything that needed doing. One of Young-hoon's little talents was the habit of taking notes at every turn, and today, once again, that talent made its appearance.

I should map ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out a schedule by date first.

He also needed to get his to-do list in order.

Why won't this workload ever shrink? My top priorities are numbers one and eight... and number two can just be lumped in with number eight. If I move fast today, I should be able to knock out three of these. The songs are all sitting in my head — I'll just sort them out and hand them over tomorrow or so.

Young-hoon organized his thoughts, sorting out what needed to be handled first.

That leaves only four items then... they'll be long-term projects anyway, so I can think them over slowly. Speaking of which, I wonder how hard Deputy Cho and Deputy Hong are going to ride me today? Eh — grind me down or not, I'm walking my own path from here on.

While Young-hoon was lost in deep thought, the employees trickled in one by one and settled into their seats. Assistant Manager Park, evidently still curious about the blind date, asked Young-hoon the moment he sat down.

"Young-hoon, how was the blind date?"

"Meh, nothing special. We had a meal, a beer, and called it a day."

"Did you at least exchange numbers?"

"Nope. When we parted, she told me I wasn't her type. So I just let it go. That was that."

Just then, Deputy Hong, sitting beside them, opened his mouth with a sneer.

"Enough with the useless chitchat and get to work. How about figuring out how you're going to hit this month's targets? You can't do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your jobs, but you sure can run your mouths."

I don't know what's gotten into that bastard, showing up early for once just to get under people's skin. One of these days, I'm going to deal with him properly.

At nine o'clock, Deputy General Manager Cho arrived. Right on cue, the moment he sat down he instructed Manager Kim to prepare for a meeting, whereupon Kim Jin-man, the office's junior staffer, printed out sales progress tables by client and handed them out one by one.

With a large-volume delivery this month, Young-hoon's sales had already crossed 85% of his target. He was 150 million won short of his individual goal of a billion, but since most of the month's sales tended to pile up at the end, this month looked set to clear without a hitch. And thanks to that, his mood was warm and easygoing for once.