In the music show of 【SF Media】, the group naturally focused on Lee Hyun-woo after listening to the song by Makaronni.
Not only did they fix their gaze on him, but a barrage of questions followed.
“What exactly is it that you don’t know, CEO?”
“Seriously. You’re making us look shabby.”
These were the words of Han Se-jin and Oh Min-woo, respectively.
The meaning behind their words was clear.
It referred to the CD brought from Korea and the current situation where Makaronni’s song appeared on an American broadcast.
Lee Hyun-woo’s club activities were well-known within the company.
Of course, they knew that the song created from those activities was Makaronni.
Even though it was a remake of a Spanish song, it felt like he had some kind of foresight.
Thus, the two continued to look at Lee Hyun-woo with eyes filled with respect.
Lee Hyun-woo shrugged his shoulders at their gazes.
“I would like to say that there are more things I don’t know than I do. And Oh Manager, why feel shabby?”
“It feels like you knew this would be a hit. They say there’s always someone better, no matter what I create. If there’s someone who can see at a glance whether it will succeed or not… Sigh, you get what I mean?”
“Well, you’re putting me on a pedestal. Honestly, how could I have known it would be a hit?”
“True, but…”
It was half a lie.
Considering he experienced huge success with the Makaronni remake in his previous life, which also boosted the original song, it wouldn’t be wrong to say he knew.
However, the direction of the remake had completely changed.
In other words, the song remade in the U.S. was vastly different from the version remade by Absolute Pitch, so it couldn’t be guaranteed to be a hit.
That’s why his claim of not knowing it would be a hit was half-true.
“And it’s just the first broadcast today, so why all the fuss?”
“Still, it somehow feels like it’s going to do well.”
“Yeah, I feel the same way.”
“CEO, honestly, can we not make a fuss? This is the first time in my life that I’ve seen a Korean music video on American TV.”
“Yeah, me too. Now that it’s been broadcasted, let’s hope it spreads from the region to the nation, and from the nation to the world!”
Both hadn’t seen much of American television, so their claim of it being the first time had some exaggeration.
But it was a time when they couldn’t imagine a song made in Korea becoming a hit in the U.S.
‘Technically it’s a remake, but it’s still an amazing feat.’
However, someday a Korean artist will directly create something that will conquer the world.
It’s the story of an idol group.
Why does it feel like such an event will happen sooner in this life?
At the same time, Ray Burin and Mihail Phaise, who coincidentally watched the same broadcast, started humming the song without realizing it.
“Ah, Makaronni!”
“Ah, Makaronni!”
They always believed that music boosted work efficiency.
Moreover, this highly addictive song even inspired them.
“Today, I feel like we can perfectly finish the simulation!”
“There’s nothing perfect in this world. But at this rate, we can finally release our work to the world.”
The two had been planning a P2P site for quite some time.
The end of their efforts was now in sight.
“But I’m hungry.”
“No, hold it in.”
“Yeah, let’s finish this and then eat.”
With the thought that they were almost done, the two had no choice but to skip their meal.
“Done!”
“Finished!”
Finally, after completing the site, they looked at each other with pounding hearts.
Then Mihail Phaise spoke with a slightly stiff face.
“I have… one concern.”
“I know what it is. Intellectual property infringement?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“The sacrifice of the few for the greater good is inevitable. We’ve done something great for sharing and openness.”
“Right?”
“Of course.”
Their fundamental philosophy in creating the previous life’s 【Single】 was sharing and openness.
However, as it developed in an unintended direction, the dual nature of P2P, both positive and negative aspects, would now emerge.
Moreover, in this world, negative aspects tend to spread much faster than positive ones.
On this day alone, the P2P site created by these two attracted an enormous number of visitors.
One of them was Oh Min-woo.
“Ah, those guys finally made a P2P.”
This comment from Oh Min-woo, who returned from the lab of 【Jungle USA】 in the evening, raised Lee Hyun-woo’s eyebrows.
“You mean Mihail Phaise and Ray Burin?”
“Yes, I mentioned before that they were developing a P2P.”
“You did. I was worried back then. With its emergence, it would bring an era where people’s creative works are shared without compensation.”
Though it happened for a while, laws and regulations, along with public perception, eventually changed.
‘As things get accelerated, even this form has appeared sooner.’
Soon, Oh Min-woo spoke with a frown.
“The problem is… Makaronni, which aired this morning, is starting to spread.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes, I accessed the site and saw that quite a few people had uploaded it. Some users were already downloading it. It won’t be long before it spreads widely.”
“Well, it’s inevitable.”
“Huh? Why such a reaction?”
“It’s the truth. Before laws and regulations are in place, it’s hard to solve this. There are so many people who love free stuff in this world. Aren’t there?”
“Haha… Laws and regulations… That will take years.”
“Let’s think positively.”
“How?”
“It’s a world where everything spreads quickly now.”
The negative aspect is that it spreads without compensation or reward.
“Ah, damn, why do those guys develop such things? They say sharing and openness are their philosophies, but it’s really absurd.”
“Any philosophy can be attached, but the problem comes when it’s attached without understanding its true meaning.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
“Alright, since the situation has already happened, we need to think about new things that can be generated from it.”
“You’re not suggesting we do P2P, are you…”
“Of course not. You mentioned earlier that Makaronni is likely to spread rapidly. So we need to prepare two things.”
“One is to make it difficult to share content produced by 【Jungle】?”
“Is it possible?”
“I’ve already discussed it with the research team here. We’ll start development.”
Being ignorant of codes, Lee Hyun-woo could only encourage with his next words.
“Okay, I believe in you, genius.”
“It feels good to be praised by a genius. Ah, what’s the other thing we need to prepare?”
“It may sound cold, but the reality is that content will spread due to P2P.”
“Well… There are limits to blocking it.”
“The most shared files will be MP3s. What do you think will sell well?”
“That’s obvious… Wow, MP3 players!”
“Exactly. Currently, it’s the only music player that can be made in our country. We need to exclusively sell it through 【Jungle USA】’s online shopping.”
“This will make 【Alpha Cast】 a great success! Yu Chul mentioned recently that the contracted factory is about to start operating.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded.
He was also well aware of it.
“But there’s no online shopping in 【Jungle USA】.”
“We have to start, of course. It’s not difficult with your help.”
“We’re going back to Korea the day after tomorrow. We can’t do it by then.”
“I know. So you’ll have to travel frequently to the U.S., and the research team here will also have to visit Korea often. Anyway, Japan is doing the same these days.”
Japan was also preparing 【Jungle】’s online shopping and music services, which would soon be available.
Perhaps the next target would be the U.S.
‘Somehow, we’re hastening the shopping and music services in the U.S.’
Originally, they planned to take it easy.
Compared to Korea, the U.S. was an infinitely slow country.
To the extent that users were grateful to receive popular items even a month later due to shipping delays.
Thus, they thought that users would be patient enough to wait for the delivery of MP3 players, ensuring the success of exclusive sales.
‘In various ways, this trip to the U.S. has become quite dynamic.’
The next day, before leaving the U.S., Lee Hyun-woo met with Joe Murphy again.
It was time for a wrap-up.
“There were three tasks I brought to the U.S. Initially. Two of them are likely to succeed with your help.”
The two Lee Hyun-woo mentioned were business related to his father’s company and Absolute Pitch’s Makaronni music video.
Even though they were not directly related to 【Jungle USA】, they received help.
“Once again, I sincerely thank you.”
It was polite to convey his gratitude sincerely.
Joe Murphy responded with a smile.
“Let’s wait and see. We haven’t signed the contract with 【GAPE】 yet, and Makaronni has just been broadcasted.”
“Yes, that’s true. However, I received a call from 【GAPE】 this morning. They will visit Korea next week to inspect the store location and then sign the contract. And Makaronni received positive reactions after the broadcast, with a small article in a local newspaper.”
“Hyun, if you had promoted it yourself, it would have been a full-page article.”
“I’m getting a lot of attention these days, but not to that extent. Hahaha.”
Lee Hyun-woo laughed lightly at the polite comment and gradually brought up the main topic.
“It’s unfortunate that if we had launched the music service, it would have been a greater commercial success…”
“You’re right. We’ve been eagerly waiting for 【Jungle Music】. When can we start?”
“Bring your technical team to Korea.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes, we will also send our team here frequently. Anyway, we need to meet more often for SNS design.”
“That’s true.”
Development had started in Korea, but the development of ‘Make Friends’ had also begun in the U.S.
The initial design was assisted by Oh Min-woo, and they would continue to prepare for a grand launch through continuous exchanges.
Meanwhile, the high-speed internet ecosystem in the U.S. would improve, and it seemed they could start preparing for 【Jungle Music】.
However,
“As you might have heard, 【Jungle Music】’s revenue will be affected by the P2P site.”
It’s time to address this issue.
