Chapter 12

LOEN Entertainment's strength is beyond question, and their financial situation is certainly not in any state of tension. This is especially true for a singer. LOEN is indeed the best choice, as they have their own distributor and a Korean music entertainment website, MelOn, similar to iTunes. This makes it even more convenient for promoting their artists.

LOEN does not yet have a singer who can carry the company. If Lee Woo-ho joins their company, seeing his potential, they will undoubtedly invest a lot of effort into him, hoping that Lee Woo-ho can become their company's leading 'symbol.' This is like Lee Woo-ho joining a strong 'new' agency.

Lee Woo-ho smiled and dialed the number on the business card. A middle-aged man answered the phone, "Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, I'm Lee Woo-ho. Are you from LOEN? I'd like to talk to you. Do you have time?"

"Lee Woo-ho? Oh... Oh... Hello, Lee Woo-ho. I have time, I have time. Where should we meet?"

"Are you driving? If you are, please drive into the campus, take the second turn to the right, then turn left. I'll be waiting at the small playground."

"Alright, wait a moment, I'll be right there." The talent scout was already extremely excited when he heard from Lee Woo-ho. He knew that although his company had a strong foundation, they had not yet achieved any significant success in creating stars, and compared to agencies like S.M. and JYP, they felt somewhat inferior. Therefore, in the face of many agencies 'fighting' for talent, LOEN was at a disadvantage.

He originally thought that among the many competing companies, he had no hope. But he never expected that Lee Woo-ho would actually call him. How could he not be happy? Among the many agencies, Lee Woo-ho had specifically chosen him, and he was completely thrilled.

The talent scout couldn't wait to call his CEO and report, "CEO, Lee Woo-ho has chosen to contact us first among all the agencies. What do you think...?"

"Oh? Lee Woo-ho? Oh, the Seoul University student who sang 'Like Being Shot.' I see. This time you did well. Bring him to the company, and I'll talk to him personally." The CEO of LOEN hung up the phone and smiled.

The video of Lee Woo-ho was shown to the CEO by the head of the music department, who rated Lee Woo-ho's appearance at 90 points and his singing ability at 95 points. If the song was created by Lee Woo-ho himself, then he is definitely a rare talent. With good looks and strong abilities, attracting fans is easy. Add in his songwriting skills... that would be even more incredible, and he could even help other artists in the company stand out.

The CEO of LOEN, after watching Lee Woo-ho's video, also felt that he was a rare talent, just like YG's G-Dragon, a true gem. Therefore, he asked the veteran talent scout to try his luck and see if he could bring Lee Woo-ho to the company with a significant investment.

Now that Lee Woo-ho has already contacted them, the next step is to see how they can negotiate with him. However, he decided that they could offer a slightly higher price to ensure that Lee Woo-ho stays with their company.

...

Lee Woo-ho was already sitting in the car of the LOEN talent scout. The middle-aged man said to Lee Woo-ho, "Mr. Lee, our CEO is ready to talk to you personally. I'll take you to our company now."

"Oh, LOEN is really very sincere. The CEO, who is so busy, can still find time to see me. It's truly an honor."

The talent scout also smiled, "Actually, joining LOEN is a great choice. Although our company hasn't created a strong idol or signed any artists, our company's strength is definitely top-notch in Korea. Our company has..."

The talent scout kept praising their company to Lee Woo-ho, emphasizing their strength and capabilities. These were the very reasons why Lee Woo-ho was interested in LOEN.

Before long, the talent scout brought Lee Woo-ho to the LOEN company. They got out of the car and headed straight for the CEO's office. Lee Woo-ho looked at the LOEN building and thought to himself, "LOEN looks much better than S.M.'s dilapidated building. I wonder what S.M. is thinking, making so much money but not even building a new building. Don't they care about their image?"

They arrived at the CEO's office, and the talent scout said to the secretary, "The CEO called us." The secretary then picked up the internal phone and called the CEO, "CEO, XXX has arrived." After hanging up, she said to Lee Woo-ho, "Please come in, the CEO has been waiting for you."

The talent scout led Lee Woo-ho into the CEO's office. As soon as they entered, the CEO of LOEN stood up and smiled, "Mr. Lee, hello. I'm the CEO of LOEN, Lee Min-jeok."

Lee Woo-ho also smiled and greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Lee. I'm Lee Woo-ho."

"Please sit down." The CEO pointed to the sofa and then patted the talent scout's shoulder, saying, "Thank you for your hard work." The talent scout nodded and left. The CEO's office was now left with Lee Woo-ho and the CEO of LOEN.

The two sat down, and the CEO began, "Mr. Lee, do you know about our LOEN? Our company is a subsidiary of SKT. Although we have a strong background and our own music website, our company's singers haven't even made it to the charts. Isn't that a joke? Let me be honest with you. This year, the SKT headquarters has asked us to increase our investment and hopes to create a representative artist for our company. I see great potential in you and hope you will join our company."

"Ha, Mr. Lee, you're straightforward. I don't like beating around the bush either, so I'll be direct."

Lee Min-jeok also smiled and nodded, "Please go on... You can share your thoughts, and we can discuss them together."

"Have you already seen my video?" Lee Min-jeok nodded, and Lee Woo-ho continued, "The song is my own creation. Before this, I also created another song. That song wasn't released, but my friend, who is a CCM trainee, sang it during practice, and it was passed to CEO Kim Gwang-soo. They are interested in buying my song and have offered a very reasonable price. But I haven't agreed yet."

"CCM also wants me to join their company. My friend called me this morning, saying that CEO Kim Gwang-soo wants to talk to me again. I think it's because of the video I released last night."

"But this morning, when I went to school, the entrance was blocked by many talent scouts from different agencies. They gave me many business cards..." Lee Woo-ho took out all the business cards and threw them into the trash can. Seeing this, Lee Min-jeok smiled.

Lee Woo-ho continued, "But I chose your company because I feel that if I join a well-known agency, I would likely have to compete for company resources with others or groups. Although I believe in my abilities, I don't want to deal with the politics. Actually, a new agency also approached me, and I was very interested."

"But after comparing the new agency with your company, I decided to contact you first. I wonder what kind of contract your company can offer me."

Lee Min-jeok smiled and said, "The contract we offer will definitely satisfy you. Our company won't exploit artists like S.M. does. That's self-destructive. Our company's main source of income is from distribution and the music website, which is about channels, not squeezing artists. Only when artists and the company both benefit is it the best solution. I believe you understand this, given your background in finance."

Lee Woo-ho smiled and nodded, "Can I see the contract? If it's suitable, I'll sign it right away, no more delays."

Lee Min-jeok laughed, "Ha... You're very straightforward. The assistant hasn't even brought in the coffee, and we're already almost done talking. Ha, please wait a moment, I'll get the contract for you."

Lee Min-jeok got up from the sofa, walked back to his desk, opened the drawer, and took out a contract.

At this moment, the assistant brought in the coffee and placed it in front of Lee Woo-ho, then left.

Lee Min-jeok smiled and handed the contract to Lee Woo-ho, "You can read the contract while you drink your coffee."

Lee Woo-ho smiled, nodded, and took the contract, starting to read it carefully: 'The company signs the artist with a 200 million won signing fee... The profit-sharing agreement between the artist and the company is 3:7, with the company taking 70% (if the artist independently secures advertisements, the split is 4:6). The artist must unconditionally comply with the company's reasonable promotional, event, and shooting schedules (the artist can discuss with the agent to accept events). The contract duration is 5 years, and the company has the right to renew the contract under no dispute...'

Lee Woo-ho carefully read the contract and found it to be a very good one.

PS: I beg for the support of all readers!!! Please give your recommendations to this book, thank you!!!