Volume 2 2010 Chapter 172: CCM Trip (Part 2)
But Yi Haoyan is not optimistic that T-ara will become more popular than Girls' Generation.
The problem also lies with Kim Kwang-soo.
In addition to the previous issues of selecting members and arranging the group, CCM's positioning of the group's style is also a problem.
President Kim knows how to choose songs, so there’s no problem with that.
But he is not Park Jin-young, and he can't write songs. He can't provide T-ara with a series of good songs in a continuous style, so he can only use what he can get.
The song is actually tied to the group's style. Generally speaking, a group can become popular if it can leave a fixed and strong impression on the audience through a song.
T-ara took a strange approach on this point. Although the quality of their debut song "Lies" is very good, it is a song about complaining women!
It's hard to imagine that a group of beautiful girls in their early 20s, among whom Park Ji-yeon is only 16 years old, would actually sing a song about a woman who hates her husband? They are pretty and willful, unique and unconventional.
Next, "Time To Love" and "Time To Love Listen 2", which she collaborated with her senior supernova from the same company's boy band, continued the style of a resentful woman with a slightly dance-like feel.
By the time of "Same Old As Before", it had become retro and sexy similar to Wonder Girls, but in "Bo Peep Bo Peep", it was a combination of pure cuteness and beautiful sexiness.
To be honest, Yi Haoyan has never seen a girl group with so many changes in style in half a year.
Fortunately, the quality of each song is very good and the members are good-looking enough for the audience to remember them. Otherwise, even Girls' Generation would not be able to change styles so quickly.
The news said that T-ara is a versatile girl group that can digest all styles. In fact, from another perspective, Kim Kwang-soo couldn't find the most suitable style for this girl group and kept trying.
This attempt is risky.
T-ara is now clearly at the stage where their songs make them famous, and they need good songs to drive the group's development. Kim Kwang-soo can get good songs, which is his ability, so T-ara has become famous, but who can guarantee that they will always get good songs?
In the early stages of an idol’s development, investment is greater than output, and good resources are needed to support them. At this time, songs are what make them famous.
When it develops to a certain stage and has a fixed fan base, it will enter the profit period, that is, the input is less than the output, and this is when the idol becomes popular with the song. During this period, unless they can reach the next level, the idol will not get as many resources, and making money to recover the cost is the main thing.
Good songs are usually invested in the early stage, and T-ara is doing that now. But when they become famous and need to make money, it is hard to say whether they can still get good songs. Even with the support of the wealthy CJ, they will not always make a loss to gain publicity.
With Girls' Generation's strength, they can fully digest various styles. The reason why SM does not do so is mainly due to market positioning.
Idol singers are not just singers. The market group of idols is fans, not listeners.
As a girl group, the easiest thing to attract at the beginning is male fans, so most new groups go for a cute and pure style, and later on go for a sexy style. This is determined by market preferences.
Girl groups like Girls' Generation that have reached the top ultimately want to capture the hearts of female fans, so they are now starting to transform and adopt an independent and strong style to attract female fans.
These are all carefully researched strategies, and the songs and style themselves are just the means and tools to implement these strategies.
But T-ara now seems to have no such plan at all. They just release whatever style of songs they like, which mostly attracts listeners rather than die-hard fans.
No one can guarantee that they will always get good songs .
If the idol can't get a good song, his fans will continue to follow him, but the audience will leave, which is fatal to the idol.
Therefore, determining T-ara's style as soon as possible and attracting a fixed group of fans are the key to stabilizing the group and generating revenue.
At least Yi Haoyan has not seen Kim Kwang-soo have any consideration in this regard at the moment.
In addition to their style positioning, T-ara also releases songs quite frequently.
On July 29, 2009, the group debuted with "Lies".
On September 14, he collaborated with Supernova to release a special single "Time To Love".
On October 9, he collaborated with Supernova again to release the remastered version of "Time To Love Listen 2".
On November 27, the first Korean full-length album "Absolute First Album" was released, and the title song "Same As Before" was promoted.
On February 23, 2010, the repackage album "Breaking Heart" was released, with the hit song "Crazy Because of You".
In the six months since their debut, T-ara has hardly left the stage, and the corresponding promotions have not stopped. The main and follow-up songs of the two albums lasted for almost 8 months!
You should know that the promotion period for Korean idols is usually only one or two months, and for new idols it is only three months at most. Even Girls' Generation and Kara usually only come back 2 or 3 times a year. Once at the beginning of the year and once in the middle of the year, each time for about one or two months. 4Minute and other new groups also have basically the same rhythm.
The frequency of idols’ comebacks follows a normal pattern in the industry.
Generally speaking, newcomers or groups on the rise will return more frequently, because they need a lot of publicity and exposure to increase their popularity and attract fans. Famous groups will return more regularly, harvesting fans' wallets about once or twice a year.
This is actually an economic account.
Idol activities are very expensive. The costumes, dancing, MVs, songs, album production, promotional programs, etc. all require huge investments. Generally speaking, an activity for a famous group of decent quality will cost several million RMB at a time.
Therefore, when promoting new artists, they invest a lot of money and return frequently to attract fans. When the group becomes popular, they return at a stable frequency, reduce investment, and make money to recover their investment. This is the norm in the industry.
With T-ara's frequent activities regardless of cost, it is conceivable that CJ must have provided huge financial support behind the scenes.
In addition to economic considerations, there are also industry unwritten rules unique to South Korea.
The Korean market is too small to accommodate so many idols. Therefore, there is a default return frequency that everyone can accept, so that idols from different companies can return in rotation and each company can have a stable income.
Groups like T-ara have been relying on CJ's wealth and power to keep doing activities. I don't know how many jobs they have taken away from other companies. This is something that people hate.
Kim Kwang-soo must be aware of this industry rule, but I wonder what he is thinking? Can he do whatever he wants with CJ's support?
With such doubts and anger, Yi Haoyan pushed open the door of the practice room under the guidance of his agent.
T-ara members already knew Yi Haoyan's identity. A relative of Mnet's top executives, a cousin of Director Sun, and a young master of a large Chinese conglomerate. No matter what the relationship was, they had to take it seriously.
The moment the door opened, the six people stood up subconsciously and entered the standard idol state.
"Aniha Saiyo!" After being introduced by their agent, T-ara and Yi Haoyan greeted each other.
After the introduction, the manager tactfully left the practice room. This person was not an ordinary person, and he was also young, so he didn't need a manager to watch over him.
The two sides looked at each other and had a good impression of each other.
T-ara is worthy of being the top-notch group with perfect looks. Although the intensive activities make the members look a little haggard, the embellishment of light makeup still makes them look bright and charming.
Yi Haoyan's handsome and delicate appearance and gentle temperament exceeded the girls' expectations. They didn't expect that he was such a prince-like young master!
As the captain, Ham Eun-jung was about to speak when Yi Hao-yeon gave her a surprise.
"Noona, please sit down first~ You must be exhausted recently~ I think Jiyeon and Noona can play Kim Tae Hee without eyeliner!"
Yi Haoyan talked to himself while casually sitting on the floor of the practice room.
As they were meeting each other for the first time, the boy's familiar and out-of-touch behavior, and his words that were hard to tell whether they were teasing or sarcastic, surprised the members who had only started idol activities for less than a year, and they were stunned for a moment.
There was an awkward silence in the practice room.
