Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 51



Only Krnovel

51. Profile shooting

Including Yuna and Monsta Z.

All singers under MXM Entertainment self-produce their own albums.

Therefore, MXM Entertainment places the artist’s opinion first and foremost when conducting album meetings.

Cha Sung-jun also talked about the concept he had in mind.

“I’d like my first album to be a light EP.”

EP(Extended Play).

One of the release formats of an album, it is a format that is located between a single and a full album.

While singles contain 1 to 3 songs and regular albums contain 8 or more songs, EPs contain 4 to 7 songs, so they are also called ‘mini albums’ or ‘mini’.

And these days, the trend is to release an EP before releasing a full-length album to gauge listeners’ reactions.

In situations where there is not enough time and budget to prepare a full-length album, but the needs of the fandom must be met, EPs are often released as a compromise, and this has become a common practice.

There is no need to create songs just to fill the album for music activities.

Moreover, it was natural that they preferred EPs, which allowed them to operate at lower costs, shorten the album release cycle, and continuously expose themselves to the public.

Moreover, in today’s music market, it is more profitable to promote with one title song, or killing track, that is easy to do well on music charts, and one or two sub-songs to promote during a comeback or goodbye week, rather than an album with many songs.

That is why Cha Sung-jun’s EP proposal was passed with natural agreement.

The next thing to discuss is the EP concept.

Basically, Cha Sung-jun aims for popular music rather than individualistic music.

Most of the songs he has composed also use money chords, and the genres he uses are mainly pop and band music.

Therefore, I plan to create my first EP with a concept that will resonate well with the public.

A topic that I’m sick of hearing, but still end up finding the time to listen to it.

It’s about ‘love’.

There is no special reason why love songs abound in popular music.

Simply because it is the topic that the public can most easily relate to.

People are all different.

Gender, age, life. Each and every one of us is completely different.

However, even among such countless differences, ‘love’ belongs to its own intersection.

Whether it’s a parent, a lover, a friend, or a pet dog, humans love.

In other words, ‘love’ is not a special experience and emotion that only I can feel and have, but rather something universal that anyone can easily empathize with and recall.

This is the reason why the public can’t let go of it and continues to consume it even though they curse it, saying, “Is this another love song?”

Well, anyway.

Among the various forms of love, Cha Sung-jun wanted to capture the repetitive process of love between lovers in the EP.

Accordingly, the concept he proposed was –

“How about ‘Love Cycle’?”

The story deals with the cycle of love, from the moment of love at first sight, to meeting, reaching the peak of happiness, and then to the boredom and breakup that follows.

In the meantime, I also conveyed my thoughts on the idea of ​​officially recording and including ‘Drink me like coffee’.

After hearing the concept proposed by Cha Sung-jun, the A&R team also gave their opinion.

“Love Cycle, do you think it’ll be okay?”

“I think it would be good to compile four or five songs on the topics you mentioned.”

“Are you thinking of the genre as guitar bass pop rock this time?”

“Do you need any support from producers?”

He replied that he hasn’t decided on a genre yet and that he just plans to create it whenever inspiration comes.

On the other hand, producer support required some brief consideration.

Of course, it would be easier to produce an EP if you get help from a producer.

however,

‘This is Sungjun’s, my first album.’

Composing, writing lyrics, singing. I have a desire to fill it all up entirely with my own things.

If you end up collaborating with a producer, there are areas where their ideas or modifications, big or small, may be incorporated.

There is a possibility that conflict may arise between them.

As such, there were clear merits and demerits to working with a producer.

“Um… For now, I’d like to ask you to just do the mixing and mastering. Can I try working on it and then request it later if necessary?”

First of all, I answered while leaving the possibility open.

The A&R team also gave it the okay.

Because Cha Sung-jun has already shown results as D.Voice.

The heated meeting continued for a while longer.

First day of signing with MXM Entertainment.

As ‘Seongjun’, the day passed like that.

*

The next day, Tuesday.

Cha Seong-jun went out early in the morning.

As I heard in the briefing during the meeting yesterday, his profile photo shoot was scheduled for today.

In front of Cha Sung-jun’s studio apartment, there was a black celebrity van that gave off an atmosphere that was different from the surroundings.

It was Baek-seok and his road manager who came to pick up Cha Seong-jun.

“Hello. Wow.”

Cha Seong-jun, who got on the van, exclaimed in a low voice.

The interior is incredibly spacious, the seats are luxurious, and the soft cushioning is also excellent.

Moreover, the recline is also free.

A makeshift table extending from the armrest also had yogurt on it, which seemed to be a substitute for breakfast.

What a shameful treatment this is!

It feels real that I have signed a contract with a big company.

“It’s rush hour so there’ll be a bit of traffic. You can get some shut-eye until you get there.”

Baek-seok said, smiling as he watched Cha Seong-jun curiously examining the inside of the van.

But Cha Seong-jun couldn’t do that.

‘If you think about it, it’s the first schedule···.’

It was embarrassing and self-conscious to show someone moving while sleeping soundly.

In the end, I moved while talking about various things with Baek-seok.

After running for two hours, we arrived at our destination.

Studio ‘The Vivid’ located in Gangnam.

It was a place where celebrities affiliated with MXM Entertainment as well as other famous celebrities took profile pictures.

As I opened the door to the studio located in the basement, an unfamiliar sight unfolded.

A set much larger than your average neighborhood photo studio.

There are lights that look like umbrellas, and giant reflectors that are twice as tall as an adult.

The clothes and shoes hanging on the hangers also vary by type.

At that moment, a man with shiny bald head and red triangular glasses approached.

“Director Baek, you’re here. Then, the person next to you will be taking the profile picture today-”

“Yes, this is our MXM Entertainment rookie artist, ‘Sungjun’.”

“Hello, this is Seongjun.”

“Wow, you’re so handsome. Hello, I’m ‘Eom Jung-man’, the main photographer of Studio ‘The Vivid’. Let’s work hard together for today’s shoot.”

Afterwards, Eom Joong-man briefly explained the concept of today’s profile photo shoot.

“Today there will be three concepts.”

You, Sadie, Sungjun.

Since you’ve been active with three personas, you’ve also decided on three different profile concepts.

So the concept that was decided was black, white, and music.

Eom Jung-man added that they weren’t specifically matched with each other, but were simply meant to show various concepts.

The black concept is chic yet softly charismatic.

The white concept gives a clean and refreshing feeling.

Lastly, he explained that the music concept will be one that captures the unique musicality that only the artist Sungjun possesses.

“Next is the shooting order.”

First, only Eom Joong-man looks at the costumes brought by MXM Entertainment and decides the shooting order, and then hair and makeup are done according to the order. In the meantime, the staff changes the set.

And after you’ve taken your first concept photo shoot, you can repeat the process.

“Well, I guess I’ll start with the white concept for Hemeko (hair, makeup, coordination). Next is the music. And the last one is black.”

Only Eom Jung-man determined the order and prepared Hemeko accordingly.

As I sat in front of the mirror wearing a white shirt and beige slacks, the two hair and makeup artists came to work.

“Wow, he’s handsome. Look at his nose and jawline. I don’t think he needs any shading at all.”

“I’ll just give you a perm feeling, lightly revealing only your forehead.”

“I will trust and leave it to the teachers. Please create Won Bin.”

It was the right answer to upgrade [Appearance] to level 7 in preparation for today’s profile photo shoot.

Anyway, thanks to the two teachers’ skillful speaking skills, the 30 minutes passed without a moment of boredom.

Filming began immediately afterward.

“Okay, smile while showing your teeth a little~ Okay. Next time, let’s try a different pose···”

Only Eom Jung-man presses the shutter and hands over the director.

Cha Seong-jun’s profile picture is nothing more than a photo taken for a job application, ID card, or passport.

Even though I try hard to change poses, I still feel awkward and embarrassed.

Somehow… I feel like I’ve become a spectator?

But as I kept doing it, I felt like I was gradually getting used to it.

Of course, I took close to 200 pictures for each concept, so I was able to get used to it.

Thanks to that, I was able to finish filming all three concepts with a little bit of ease.

in result,

For the black concept, I took a black and white photo with a nonchalant expression while wearing a black turtleneck.

For the white concept, I took a picture with a smile on my face in a white shirt.

For the music concept, I took pictures wearing trendy casual clothes and using a guitar.

I don’t know if it’s because I raised my appearance stat or because it was taken by a famous photographer.

‘Is this me?’

Even when I looked at myself on the monitor screen, I thought I looked like a real celebrity.

Eom Jung-man and the staff also unanimously praised him.

“Wow, it came out well! I would believe it even if you said it was an actor profile and not a singer profile!”

“There’s nothing really like a B-cut. It’ll take some time to select this one…”

“Because your skin is so good, I don’t think you’ll need any special touch-up, except for the remaining hair.”

After that, it went through the A-cut selection process.

It took quite a long time, just as Eom Jung-man had predicted.

There were sharp differences of opinion as to which photo was better.

And finally, filming was completed by selecting the final select cut.

Now the studio will retouch the photo and send it to MXM Enter.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“See you next time, okay~”

After saying hello, I left the studio.

Let’s check the time. It’s 3:00 PM.

The profile photoshoot started at 10 AM and ended in 5 hours.

If I didn’t have a stamina stat, I would have collapsed from exhaustion.

Back in the van.

There is no schedule after this, so you can go home or to the studio.

I decided to go home today.

First of all, I wanted to take a shower.

The road manager set the navigation destination to home.

At this time, Baek-seok asked.

“Mr. Seongjun, do you plan on using the studio in Yeokchon-dong in the future? If not, you can use the MXM Studio.”

“Oh, really?”

This is a well-timed suggestion, as I was contemplating whether I should move my studio closer to the office.

Also, if you use MXM Studio’s equipment, you may be able to produce better quality songs.

Absolutely not! It’s definitely not because I’m worried about paying rent.

“Once my identity is revealed in ‘Who’s the King’, I will push for a studio relocation. Until then, I think I will have to film content in my existing studio.”

“If you let me know your schedule, I’ll prepare it. Oh, and there’s one thing I wanted to ask…”

Baek-seok, who had been silent for a moment, opened his mouth.

“I heard that Yuna will contact Sungjun soon. Did you have a conversation with him? I heard that she will ask him to help her with song production.”

“No, I didn’t hear anything.”

“I see. Um… Then rather than me talking to you separately, I think it would be better for you two to talk it over first. Anyway, Yuna wants to work on a song with Sungjun. Nothing has been decided yet, but I will contact you to ask for Sungjun’s opinion. As for the details… Well, you can listen to it yourself and decide. After all, there’s Sungjun’s album schedule.”

Then he dismissed the explanation.

As for what kind of song they are working on and why they want to work together, you can check with Yuna directly, as Baek Seok said.

Anyway, I came back after such a busy day.

“Whoa, I’m tired.”

Cha Seong-jun stood in front of the door with a sigh.

And when I try to press the password-

Huh?!

Something creeps up my spine.

Cha Seong-jun quickly looked back.

And there,

“Are you back now, little brother? I heard it was hard for you to wait in this cold weather?”

There was a difference.

Her two eyes scanned Cha Sung-jun’s appearance up and down.

With a guitar on his shoulder,

A look where the hair and makeup haven’t even been removed yet.

“Wow, my little brother has become more handsome. He really is a great character. But that’s that.”

Cha Seong-eun smiled coolly.

“We seem to have a lot to talk about. A lot of things to talk about.”

It was a laughter that announced the beginning of a battle between siblings, where one must survive by logically outsmarting the other.

Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 52