YG reveals plans for 2011 through YGLife blog

Previously, YG Entertainment revealed that they would answer burning questions from fans through their YG-LIFE blog.
The site was recently updated with detailed plans for 2011 from CEO Yang Hyun Suk.
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Hello, this is Yang Hyun Suk.
Today is December 30th; there is only one day left in 2010.
Today I will answer some of the fan’s questions regarding YG’s plans for the first half of next year.

1. GD&TOP had three title songs for their album – What is the plan for future promotions?

To be more precise, GD&TOP had five different title songs. Aside from the “Intro” song, G-Dragon and T.O.P sang 5 songs together, and we plan to promote all 5.
This plan is similar to that of 2NE1’s. Instead of concentrating on a single song, we want to inform everyone about the entire album.
After “High High“, “Oh Yeah“, and “Knock Out“, we plan to promote “Don’t Go Home” in mid-January. Director Lee Ki Baek, who’s worked on G-Dragon’s “A Boy” MV, will direct the music video for the two new songs.
We plan on releasing the music video for “Knock Out” on January 3rd. It was directed by Seo Hyung Seung, and finished just a few days ago. It’s a little ambitious, but given the time and opportunity, we want to move ahead with GD & TOP’s solo MVs.

2. For what reason did you choose “High High”, “Oh Yeah”, and “Knock Out” for the first round of promotions?

The reason is very simple and straightforward.
To promote the five songs, each song must fit with the time and season. “High High” and “Oh Yeah” really fits with the end-of-the-year atmosphere, so we decided to promote them first.
“Knock Out” is the ‘main’ title song, and it was my favorite, but I had one concern about promoting it – I was worried about whether it would be approved for public TV broadcast.
If “Knock Out” did not get approved, we would only promote “High High” and “Oh Yeah” through public TV channels, and promote “Knock Out” on Mnet’s “M! Countdown.”

3. What is the reason for the lack of TV appearances?

This has become the biggest issue among YG fans. I understand that fans want to see more of their favorite stars, but as the individual in charge, I have to be more careful.
The reason for the reduced appearances is because we are concerned for our artists. To show up on music programs for 3 minutes, the artists will have to wake up very early in the morning to start rehearsing. For female group 2NE1, they have to prepare their hair and makeup, and start moving at 2:00 in the morning. Having schedules the night before and not getting any sleep to go to broadcasts is also very commonplace.
In a week, [artists can have] 4 nights of music programs, various CFs and photoshoots, events, oversea schedules etc… Although 2NE1 didn’t appear on variety programs or radio shows, I could feel their tiring situation. I just wish they could sleep an hour more.
Although the artists may be receiving a lot of popularity, it takes a toll on their bodies. YG’s biggest worry is that the artists don’t have any time to spare because they are preparing for their next stage.
Regarding broadcast appearances and conflicting results…
I’ll use 2NE1’s first mini-album and G-Dragon’s first solo album as examples. Both teams only had one broadcast a week, and had interesting results.
The result was better than we had expected, and [thinking about the artists also], we thought we needed to lessen the number of broadcast appearances.
Of course, the album’s success is proportional to broadcast appearances, but it’s definitely not half-and half. Let’s examine this in detail.
As a rookie group, 2NE1 had one broadcast a week. Their debut songs “Fire” and “I Don’t Care” were very well known, and their mini-album sold 165,000 copies. At the same time, Park Bom’s “You and I” was also quite popular, and she only went on broadcasts twice a week.
Last August, G-Dragon released his solo album. At the time, he broke the record on Hanteo Data System by selling 130,000 copies. Now he has sold 248,000 copies. This is also very surprising within YG, since this album did better than Big Bang’s albums.
YG does not carry our own results, so please refer to YG’s long-time sound-music distributor Mnet Media to confirm them. There are no mistakes for albums that have been on sale for a long time, and a CEO of a company has no reasons to lie.
It’s easy to ask, ‘What if there are demands for YG to conform? What if the relationship with the broadcast companies decline? Perhaps there’s an easier way?‘
However, YG considered everything and chose the more difficult way because we think that while this kind of promotion may seem frugal, it has more value and emotions attached to it.
I won’t speak further on what is the best decision or conclusion, but we do worry about our artists during their promotions.

4. On Seungri and Big Bang’s album plans:

A while ago, we revealed that Seungri will release a digital single on January 3rd, and Big Bang’s new album will follow on February 1st. There have been some changes.
We want to give all their fans even greater news!
At the time, we planned to kick off Big Bang’s Japanese tour in April of next year, so we wanted to promote Big Bang’s new album for two months, beginning February 1st. Because of this, GD&TOP and Seungri’s album promotions would have been shorter than normal.
Fortunately, we were able to delay Big Bang’s Japanese promotions by one month.
Thanks to this, GD&TOP’s second round of promotions for “Don’t Go Home” will be extended, and Seungri’s digital single will become a mini-album.
We had planned for a digital single release on January 3rd, and a mini-album 10 days later, but we decided not to do an online release, and just reveal everything at once.
While reviewing Seungri’s preparations for the mini-album, I had an idea for “Ambush” to be the mini-album’s title. Even though it’s the first time for Seungri to be co-writing and co-composing, YG has recruited new producers to elevate this product, so please look forward to it.
The new release date for his mini-album is January 13th. The dates for Big Bang’s album will be revealed at another time through the official channel.

5. Will the “BIG SHOW” be held early next year?

Big Bang’s “BIG SHOW” concert, which was held annually on January, will be held on February 25th, 26th, and 27th next year at the Olympic Athletic Stadium.
Since the “BIG SHOW” is scheduled right alongside Big Bang’s new album, all of Big Bang’s latest music will be featured, including GD&TOP and Seungri’s mini-album. We’ll be releasing a more detailed announcement soon, so please check it out when it’s revealed.

6. What is the schedule for Big Bang’s Japanese tour?

Starting next May, Big Bang will be holding a two-month tour in Japan, which is expected to bring in a 160,000-member audience.
Up ’til now, Big Bang has only done short-term promotions during their week-long stays in Japan. Starting next year, they’ll be promoting more directly and aggressively.
The agreement between YG and our Japanese partner is to completely differentiate the group’s Korean and Japanese activities, and to focus completely on one at a time.
Again, they’ll be in Korea for March and April, in Japan for May and June (due to their Japanese concert), in Korea again from July through September for their new album, and in Japan for October and November.
Big Bang’s popularity in Japan is a lot higher than what is known in Korea, so we are hoping to garner more favorable results with more direct promotions.

7. What are the plans for 2NE1’s Japanese debut?

Honestly, proposals regarding 2NE1’s Japanese debut have been in the talks since last year. The reason for the delay was that they were a rookie group who had only just debuted, and the consensus was that they needed to focus on Korean activities first.
With their first album promotions at an end, 2NE1 will officially be debuting in Japan on February of 2011. As expected, the record company they’ll be working with is Avex.
Avex has always shown much affection for 2NE1, and the biggest owner of Avex will also be working with the girls, so we’re anticipating a lot for them.
2NE1’s first Japanese activities will be on February and March. We’ll be working hard to ensure that 2NE1 can still release a new Korean album in May or June.
Details regarding 2NE1’s activities have yet to be confirmed because Will.I.Am is currently busy promoting Black Eyed Peas‘ latest album.
On the day of the Yeonpyeong Island skirmish, Will.I.Am asked, “Is 2NE1 okay?” He’s watching 2NE1TV and revealed himself to be a bigger fan through the show. He also stated that he will be making more new tracks for 2NE1.
There are still so many things left to say, but I’ll end it here for next time.
Reflecting back on our year, there are still a lot of things we regret and lacked in. As there is Big Bang’s comeback to look forward to next year, the YG staff and I are filled with excitement and anticipation.
In addition to saying that we will be working harder than ever, we hope that all of the fans have a Happy New Year and to be healthy.

Thank you (Bow~~)
2010.12.30 From Yang Hyun Suk


Credits: supermar@allkpop