[Exclusive]Gwang-soo Baek Sang-yeop, CEO of the 28th '24/7 Passion', "Mad Town, My Painful Finger." [★ Research center]

*This content was translated by AI.

[Editor’s Note] [★Lab] Star News meets people who drive the entertainment industry and delves into their own unique know-how and success strategies. Here are the practical experiences and philosophies of those who silently make their way behind the colorful star.

"You seem to have a lot of personal connections"

I was surprised by the interview. CEO Baek Sang-yeop, who appeared under the pseudonym Kwang-soo in the 28th Dolsing Special of SBS Plus and ENA's "I Am Solo," was often a close brother or acquaintance among colleagues who worked together in the entertainment industry in the past. Even Lee Soo-man, who met an entertainment producer at church and faced him through street casting. Of course, Baek Sang-yeop's know-how in managing his personal connections was supported, so he would have continued his career so far, but these were unusual connections that the CEO of the decision-making company, who was a British student who spent his childhood in Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong Rodeo, had.

CEO Baek Sang-yeop, who was in charge of idol A&R in the entertainment industry for about 15 years, unfortunately, his memories did not seem to be as happy as ever. At least physically, it was very difficult, he confessed, adding, "I have no regrets." Nevertheless, he was proud that his achievements at that time were never in vain.

-Did you have a dream of becoming a celebrity.

▶Not at all. I'm not an extrovert. I think it's right for me to produce from the back. I've only been interested in fashion and music since middle school. A&R is about decorating and making artists. It really suited my clothes. However, as you know well, how much will your salary be if you start from the bottom of the old days. That's how the entertainment industry is. And there aren't many employees. You have to be at the level of the general manager to be treated. Still, people in the entertainment industry work with that sense of pride when they see the artists they create on stage and they do well. At that time, I went to the recording studio even with my baby. That's how hard I worked.

-I also heard stories about Lee Soo-man. I'm also curious about the behind-the-scenes stories from that time.

▶I didn't really think about becoming a singer, and I thought my parents would not protect me, but I danced a lot wearing only hip hop clothes. It was when solid dancers were the best, and I learned how to dance from them. Apgujeong Rodeo, where I lived, was when there were only people playing and there were a lot of orange people, and there (Mr. Lee Soo-man) picked me up. So I went and Yoo Youngjin told me to dance, so I danced. It wasn't an audition, it was an audition. I just danced in front of Yoo Young-jin and Lee Soo-man. And then I came out, but it wasn't long, so I ran into him again by chance. At that time, I went because I was told to come (to cast me), but it was a bit difficult because my parents didn't let me, and I said I would persuade my parents (Lee Soo-man), but I went to England to study.That was in 1996, the third year of middle school. After that, I came back to Korea in 2004.

-How many years have you been in the entertainment industry.

▶I did it for about 14 to 15 years. At first, untitled Seo Jung-hwan and Yoo Gun-hyung were all from Cheongdam Middle School, but they were not close when they were in school, but after they came out of school, they became close. I wasn't close to the same age because I looked presbyopia. I was close to the guys born in 78. Anyway, when JUNG HWAN became a Yedang producer, he went under you and started working.

-In the broadcast, I introduced him as a person in charge of A&R, but please explain the overall entertainment career process.

▶I learned marketing A&R-related work at Yedang, and then officially took my position at an entertainment company under CEO Acube, who belongs to Apink. I was in charge of overseas marketing. The CEO also watched "I'm Solo" and contacted me from the U.S. Then, J-Tune Entertainment didn't last long and went out. The composer who introduced me to J-Tune is the one who worked with me on Sweet. He was working on the MBLAQ album and since then, he's been holding the A&R position there. Actually, even though it was my first time meeting them, there were a lot of people who just collected songs underneath when it came to A&R. But I let him do everything from the planning to the concept, and there was a DJ who composed it with him. I did it with him. In terms of career, I've been with J-Tune for the longest time, and I've been with them until I failed because they were my closest friends.

-Who was the artist you encountered on J-Tune.

▶It was when team activities were getting difficult after MBLAQ's 2nd album. I went in after "It's a War." Since then, I've been together for a while, and I've been in charge of Mad Town. Madtown is a really painful finger, and the response was good and everything was good. It's kind of weird to say this, but we debuted around the same time as BTS. The director of the music video for BTS was my classmate, and he wasn't this famous at the time. While watching Madtown, my friend told me that it was better than BTS. It's not bad even if you look at the contents right now. But the reaction was good, too. I did everything from naming Medtown. The name Mad Town itself has a great ambition to make Seoul a Mad Town, and I even thought about launching the game. But it almost went well, but at that time, the CEO made a bad investment in a scammer, so only the kids were taken away, so the company couldn't operate. That's why it didn't go well. It wasn't ruined because Madtown was bad. So eventually, they came out and went to DSP, and KARD, Mirae Boy, and a team of ballads were there. But for six months, I released about 10 singles in total. I came out because it was so hard there. If I work once, I work hard. I like it, too. After that, I stayed at MOMOLAND's company for a while. That was the last time.

-Listening to the story, it seems that there are more difficult memories.

▶ That's right. It was hard. I had a hard time when I was young. I worked hard to raise a baby. Madtown is a friend who works hard and raises a baby, but is more proud than I thought.

-I don't know if he found the artist himself.

▶I wasn't involved in the excavation. It was the role of developing when the rookie development team picked it. I'm not very involved in idol training, but I start by making the hottest, hip, and good concepts and putting them on my children. To be honest, I'm not close to artists. You can't be close. Because you can't get into your own interest anymore. And just because they're friends, you don't always research what's best, what's hot, and what's hot. There are a lot of times when old artists know everything, but there are a lot of times when we have to put it on. That's why my position is not a position that I've been close to. Since then, my team members have been so precious since I became a general manager or higher. Because I'm not working alone. As the team members know well, Enter said that the lights should not be turned off 24 hours a day. You really work until dawn and you probably still work until dawn. I really grind it. I worked like that when I was young, but there are a lot of people who don't do that these days. Work-life balance is very important. Entertainment doesn't have a work-life balance itself.

-Don't you have in mind a return to the entertainment industry in the future.

▶I don't have any regrets. Of course, there were offers after "I'm Solo" came out, but there were companies that didn't fit the timing. Among the idols who contacted me about how they were doing was MBLAQ JIHO and KARD. Now, we have to be true to our reality. What if you have a lingering attachment. Haha. Honestly, we can't even make a singer right now. If it's not something I'm really good at, I don't touch it no matter what the result is. As you know about the production of singers, the cost was about 10 billion won until at least a few years ago, but these days, they talk about at least 13 billion won. What if you know the name of someone's house and it goes wrong. It's someone's money anyway. So I stopped doing that, but one day at the church I went to, I met producer Lee Hwan-jin, who plays SBS's Running Man for a long time, as a toddler teacher. We've gotten closer recently. While I was making my decision, I had another dream because I wanted to make a love program. As a love evangelist, I want to spread love, so I want to make a Yeonp.

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*This content was translated by AI.