Chapter 434: A Newly Minted Producer
On the afternoon of March 15th, at Incheon International Airport.
He opened a card at Shinhan Bank in the airport, then exchanged ten million korean won, keeping one hundred thousand korean won in cash and depositing the rest into the card.
He took a taxi to JYP Entertainment.
Looking at the JYP Entertainment building, the familiar yet strange feeling once again emerged for Jiang Shu.
He walked up to the security guard.
“Hello, I’m here to apply for a producer position,” Jiang Shu said to the security guard.
“Your credentials?” the security guard glanced at Jiang Shu and asked lazily.
“What credentials?” Jiang Shu was startled, looking at the security guard in confusion.
“You don’t even know producers need credentials and you’re pretending to be one? Get out of here,” the security guard said impatiently, waving his hand.
No, producers need credentials?
Jiang Shu opened NAVER with a puzzled expression and after a quick search, he discovered…
According to new regulations by the Korea Music Copyright Association in 2022, producers who register their works with the association can receive a producer’s certificate issued by the association, which serves as proof of identity.
A big question mark appeared on Jiang Shu’s forehead.
There really is a damn certificate?
I’m screwed…
He raised a hand to scratch his head and returned to the guard booth.
“Ajiaxi, excuse me, where is there a recording studio?”
The security guard, seeing it was Jiang Shu again, waved his hand with some impatience.
“It’s right next door, don’t bother me.”
His attitude was really terrible.
Jiang Shu clicked his tongue but didn’t get angry.
He stood on the street and looked around, quickly finding the recording studio the old man had mentioned.
He recorded three songs he had brought with him, then took a taxi to the Music Copyright Association.
Registration was quite fast, and the Music Copyright Association didn’t concern itself with the quality of the songs; after a simple check to rule out plagiarism, they issued Jiang Shu a producer’s certificate.
It was a good thing he came straight here after getting off the plane; his passport and ID card were both with him, otherwise, he would have had to go get his identification documents.
After getting his producer’s certificate, Jiang Shu returned once more, and then…
“We’re off work, come back tomorrow.” The security guard, looking at Jiang Shu’s newly minted producer’s certificate, spoke in a less aggressive tone, but his words were still not very pleasant to hear.
“Oh, you’re off work.” Jiang Shu looked speechlessly at the brightly lit JYP Entertainment building.
Never mind, I’ll find a hotel to stay in first.
Since his job wasn’t settled yet, Jiang Shu found it inconvenient to rent a place directly.
The next day.
After several trips back and forth, this time Jiang Shu finally managed to enter the JYP Entertainment building.
“Hello, Mr. Jiang Shu, right?” After waiting for a while on the first floor, someone came to pick up Jiang Shu.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“President nim happens to be free; he will personally interview you, so be prepared.”
A question mark appeared on Jiang Shu’s forehead.
Zheng Xu?
Why would he have the leisure to handle a producer’s onboarding?
Filled with doubts, Jiang Shu arrived at the President’s office and met Zheng Xu.
Compared to the Zheng Xu in his memory, the Zheng Xu in this real world looked much older.
No one else knew what Jiang Shu and Zheng Xu discussed, only that when Jiang Shu came out, Zheng Xu told the HR director that the production department would add another producer, and this producer, Jiang Shu, would participate in this year’s ITZY comeback project production team.
As for the information about this new producer, it was gradually learned by others.
A genuine rookie producer.
Inside the company, rumors quickly spread: Jiang Shu was a relative of Zheng Xu, or a relative of a company director, and so on.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shu, the center of the rumors, after receiving his employee ID, went to Hyundai Department Store to rent a place.
This was the most suitable place to rent around JYP Entertainment; it was close to the company, the downside was it was expensive, but these were minor issues.
Zheng Xu gave him a salary equivalent to a mid-level producer in the industry, higher than a rookie producer, roughly five million korean won per month, with a royalty system for songs.
But these were minor matters; he had made a military pledge to Zheng Xu: if he couldn’t uplift ITZY, he would pack his bags and leave, self-banishing himself from the K-pop industry and returning half of the salary he received from JYP Entertainment.
These conditions were what moved Zheng Xu.
In JYP Entertainment’s eyes, ITZY was a bit of a white elephant that could make money no matter how you tinkered with them—tasteless to eat, but a shame to discard.
With their loyal fans, no matter how you tinker with ITZY, they could still make some money. Anyway, there was no expectation for ITZY to make big money, so let Jiang Shu tinker with them.
Jiang Shu had also mentioned NMIXX, but this was a group that Park Jin-young occasionally paid attention to, and Zheng Xu said he needed to discuss it with Park Jin-young, so Jiang Shu decided not to pursue NMIXX.
March 17th, Jiang Shu’s third day in Korea.
JYP Entertainment.
He placed the Snow King he had just bought on his desk, opened his computer to continue “copying homework,” but before he could start, he was called over by the Production Director.
“Jiang Shu xi, your application for the ITZY comeback team meeting has been approved. When do you plan to hold the meeting?” the Production Director asked directly.
“As soon as ITZY members are available, the sooner the better. I need to get familiar with the ITZY members as quickly as possible so it’s easier to communicate with them and produce songs,” Jiang Shu said.
The Production Director nodded.
“I’ll give you ITZY’s manager’s contact information; you can contact them yourself.”
“Alright.”
After getting ITZY’s manager’s number, Jiang Shu returned to his desk and immediately contacted them, arranging to meet today at eleven in the morning.
At this time, the ITZY members were not even awake yet.
“Which song should I use for the first one?” Jiang Shu looked at the few songs in his folder, a conflicted expression on his face.
Each song here had been recognized by the Bond World and was a suitable song that could stack “Wangdao Passion.”
But which song to use as the opening?
The song for challenging the top, “Wangdao Passion,” couldn’t be brought out directly; no one starts with their trump card.
It had to be a gradual progression.
And most importantly, how to bestow the bonds upon the few individuals?
Jiang Shu looked at the “Dream” bond that had reappeared; as for how to bestow bonds, he only had some guesses and hadn’t actually tried it, so he wasn’t sure if his guesses were correct.
Everything had to wait until he met the ITZY members before making a decision.
He shook his head, pushing the thought away, took a sip of Snow King, and continued to transfer songs.
While his memory was still clear, he needed to get them out quickly, lest he couldn’t copy the songs later.
A bad memory is better than a good pen.
Once a person focuses on something, time flies by, and in the blink of an eye, it was ten fifty.
A piercing alarm sounded in Jiang Shu’s headphones, pulling him back from his thoughts.
He turned off the alarm and glanced at the message from ITZY’s manager.
They had already arrived at the company three minutes ago.
He thought for a moment, then replied with a message.
Shu: I’m going to ITZY’s practice room now. Everyone except the ITZY members, please leave.
Ding-dong.
ITZY Manager: Okay.
Let’s go!
