Marketing (5)

“First, I’ll explain the progress of the full-length album recording.”

A full production meeting had been called, bringing together Hyein, Go Gyeongmin, Jeong Yuyeong, the other label employees, and the members of Group Sound—in other words, everyone involved in producing the full-length album. As he spoke, Go Gyeongmin picked up the laser pointer and indicated one side of the projector screen.

“There are currently ten songs in production. Recording is currently underway for three of them, and one song has been completed. Our progress is approximately twenty percent, so you could say we’re moving somewhat more slowly than expected.”

At Go Gyeongmin’s words, Hyein lightly rubbed her cheek. She had a look of confusion.

“When I spoke with Suyeon before, I was told the album would have around twelve to fifteen tracks… If only ten songs are currently in progress, shouldn’t we be much further along?”

“Hmm, it’s a little complicated to explain, but… when making an album, you don’t usually produce only the exact number of songs you need for that album. You make many more—twice or three times as many, for example—and then narrow them down, polish them, and put together the tracklist.”

At that explanation, Myeongjeon remembered an anecdote. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys had been unable to finalize the tracklist for their album Smile for more than forty years, eventually releasing it in an unfinished state.

“That’s because if you make twelve songs for a twelve-track album, you’re bound to end up with songs that aren’t quite good enough. So usually, you make a lot of songs first, then carefully select the best ones for the album. That’s why musicians have so many unreleased songs.”

Hyein nodded as though she understood Go Gyeongmin’s explanation. Seeing that, Gyeongmin turned his gaze toward Myeongjeon and the girls.

“Will you be able to meet the deadline?”...