Park Jin Young Responds to Talk That He's Not a "Hot" Producer Anymore

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In a "drunken" interview with Ilgan Sports during which the celebrity and interviewer down some alcohol for reportedly a more casual and truthful discussion, Park Jin Young opened up about his recent success with the single "Who's Your Mama?", his goals for his company, JYP Entertainment, and what music means to him. In his 20-something year long career, Park Jin Young has had his fair share of highs and lows. Though his latest release was a no.1 hit, 2013's "Halftime" was somewhat of a failure, unable to fulfill the expectations of fans. It even led to talk that Park Jin Young, who composes music not just for himself but also for other artists, was no longer a "hot producer." Park Jin Young agrees that his 2013 release failed to meet other people's expectations, but it wasn't a surprise to him. "I think it always goes down after your latest hit," explains Park Jin Young. "Since this [year's] song was a hit, there will be a downward trend again. I think that's the right perspective. That's why I thank the heavens, thinking that this no.1 song will be my last." He continued: "1994 was the only year in which I didn't have a no.1 song for the 21 years since 1994 when 'Don't Leave Me' was no.1. So of course I would hear that I was in a slump." "Don't Leave Me" was Park Jin Young's self-composed sensational hit from his debut album, "Blue City." With the poor response to his 2013 release, it wasn't easy to get JYP Entertainment to release "Who's Your Mama?" Park Jin Young describes how everyone was opposed to him releasing an album this year. The plan was to release only sure hits this year so Park Jin Young was asked to release next year. His 2013 album was his first album to have lost money so he agreed. However, he had a lingering desire that prompted him to put his song into JYP's evaluation system. In the system, if a song gets over 80 points, it is deemed suitable for launch, and his song got 94 points. The score also determines budget allocation, so with the song obtaining the highest score, the company's staff got really excited. After the scoring, 22 staff members get together to predict how high it will rank on charts. "I wrote second place, but [Who's Your Mama?] was no.1 for two weeks," Park Jin Young said proudly. With music evaluation being so subjective, it is really difficult to create a system out of it like the way JYP Entertainment has. Park Jin Young explains, "I believe a gathering of subjective viewpoints makes an objective one. That's how the system was created." Regarding the company's future, Park Jin Young's goal for JYP is for its market price to reach one trillion won (around 920 million USD). "If we don't use that system and were to just release songs based on my opinion, a market price of one trillion won would just be dream. The most successful companies in the industry right now are SM and YG, but both have been unable to reach one trillion. That's why I chose one trillion for JYP. Think of it as a experiment to prove that creativity is possible in mass production." Source (1)

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