Chapter 431: Epilogue
D Dispatch Exclusive Report.
Reporter: Jin Zhongting.
Seoul Time: January 1, 2024, 1:30 AM.
Front Page Headline: Navigator in the Storm Falls.
Title: K-Pop Empire's Helmsman Jiang Shu Dies at 29; DM Entertainment Confirms Obituary.
Lead: In the golden era where the Hallyu wave has swept the globe for over two decades and girl groups have reached their peak, the 'Captain' who single-handedly created this cultural miracle passed away last night from a sudden myocardial infarction while watching the MBC New Year's Eve special. When he collapsed, the legendary godfather was alone, departing in solitude. This K-Pop legend, once revered as a god by trainees and adored by countless fans, met his end in a way no one could have predicted.
Chapter One: The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier (2018-2024)
In a flashback interview with a DM Entertainment insider, Jiang Shu once directly stated on camera when he first entered K-Pop, "The business model of K-Pop girl groups is like soulless robots." In 2018, Jiang Shu came to Korea and founded DM Entertainment. He wrote in his business plan, "Girl groups will be the future of K-Pop," and indeed, as Jiang Shu predicted, from 2018 until now, girl groups have generated nearly 70% of the K-Pop industry's revenue, making them the undisputed main force.
Digital Legacy: DM Entertainment's global tour revenue exceeded 6.4 trillion korean won (approximately 35 billion Chinese yuan), creating 18 artist styles that topped Asian music charts, and was listed by Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management as a "model of cultural industry innovation."
Dream Weaver on the Altar: "Without him, we would just be one of the ordinary masses." Irene, Vice President of DM Entertainment, leader of Red Velvet, and record-holder for the oldest idol debut age, wrote in her early morning statement. Attached to the article was a paper showing the lyrics of Red Velvet's hit song "Psycho," a work widely recognized in the industry as a perfect fusion of artistry and popularity, personally revised by Jiang Shu: "Let's make each other shine brilliantly."
Eternal Memory: Since IVE1.0's debut, Jiang Shu has left us with 57 songs. For a producer, this number of works is undoubtedly insufficient. But those who knew Jiang Shu understood that every song he released would be a massive hit. As of now, among these 57 songs, the one with the lowest download count across all platforms (in Korea) has still reached an astonishing 400,000 downloads. Jiang Shu may be gone, but the works he left to the world will be remembered by everyone, along with these girl groups active on the front lines of K-Pop.
Chapter Two: The Battle of the Century, The Birth of the Girl Group King (2019-2022)
On February 1, 2019, a group named ITZY debuted under DM Entertainment. With the dazzling achievements of IVE1.0 and Red Velvet preceding them, ITZY, who debuted as a three-line act, seemed not so prominent. At the time, no one expected that such a group would become the biggest rival on the path to the 'Great Demon King's' ascension.
On August 5, 2019, the first super-large girl group in history, personally created by Jiang Shu, debuted as scheduled. With even more astonishing popularity than IVE1.0's debut, they immediately dropped a 'deep-sea bomb' named IZONE into the girl group market upon their debut.
On one side was ITZY's steady progress, and on the other, IZONE's continuous dominance.
On November 3, 2021, the 'Battle of the Two Is' began.
We all know the final outcome: IZONE achieved ultimate victory. After this battle of the century, ITZY gradually faded into obscurity, and IZONE disbanded in May of the following year.
These two girl groups, representing the pinnacle of two different styles in Jiang Shu's hands, thus came to an end. One wonders if Jiang Shu had any regrets about these two groups before his passing?
Chapter Three: New Routes in the Storm
Heartfelt Warmth: At 9 AM this morning, the entrance of DM Entertainment was piled high with fans who came to bid farewell to Jiang Shu. The bulletin board at the entrance still displayed the company motto set by Jiang Shu in 2018: "To be a company that the public and artists can trust." Fans spontaneously came to DM Entertainment, holding albums of DM Entertainment's artists in their left hands and a bouquet of white chrysanthemums in their right, commemorating this legendary Chairman who swept through K-Pop history like a comet. A reporter randomly interviewed a fan, who said, "Chairman Jiang was very down-to-earth; he would interact with us, and he knew what we wanted to see." "He was truly good to artists, a Chairman who genuinely treated artists with human dignity and exuded personal charm."
Capital's Game and New Order: Big Hit Chairman Fang Shihe stated, "The territory Chairman Jiang Shu pioneered is still the industry's oxygen." According to experts, the "concept girl group" (such as the undefined styles of Red Velvet and (G)I-DLE) proposed and perfected by Jiang Shu is now exemplified by Big Hit Entertainment's core group NewJeans, a successful example of a concept girl group. Min Xizhen, Big Hit Entertainment's Art Director, is now the only remaining master of the concept girl group after Jiang Shu's passing.
Final Chapter: The Fading of the Morning Star
The Korea Entertainment Producers Association's obituary called him "the eternal morning star of K-Pop," but the top trending post on online communities read: "Chairman Jiang Shu should be most remembered for how artists lived like human beings, not commodities, in his company." People only saw Chairman Jiang Shu's achievements in music, but overlooked his outstanding contributions to promoting artists' welfare and shaping human rights. A legend is a legend precisely because he placed himself and the artists on the same level.
When Chairman Jiang Shu was alive, even though he was Chinese, the public and K-Pop practitioners had long regarded him as the morning star of Hallyu, following in Chairman Jiang Shu's footsteps and DM Entertainment's development direction, striving together towards the future.
However, with Chairman Jiang Shu's sudden passing, where will this K-Pop ship sail in the future? Will a new pioneer emerge to lead the future of K-Pop?
Finally, as a close friend of Chairman Jiang Shu, on the eve of the deadline, the reporter discovered an unreleased videotape in DM Entertainment's warehouse: In 2019, when IVE1.0 was forced to disband, numerous advertisers jointly pressured DM Entertainment, which faced huge compensation for many breaches of contract. Many artists in the company heard about this and approached Chairman Jiang Shu, wanting to take on a portion of the compensation for the company. Chairman Jiang Shu smiled at the artists and said, "The company is your parent. The company hasn't gone bankrupt yet, so how can family debt be borne by the children?"
Yes, that's how he was from the very beginning, treating each artist as his own family. He always protected these artists in his own way, just like he would his own children.
Special Report: The Allocation of the Enormous Estate.
Jiang Shu's death was sudden, but there was a will concerning his enormous estate already lodged with a notary.
According to an interview with Jiang Shu's father, regarding the management rights of DM Entertainment, Jiang Shu's will chose to entrust the company to President Li Duohui, with his parents inheriting DM Entertainment's shares, but President Li Duohui would take over the company's decision-making power.
In terms of share inheritance, all of Jiang Shu's holdings in S.M. shares, JYP shares, and Cube shares were inherited by Jiang Shu's parents.
Jiang Shu's parents chose to respect his will and handed over the company's decision-making and management rights to President Li Duohui.
