WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.359 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are putting 00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:06.379 a magnifying glass on one of the most volatile 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:09.140 currencies in the creative world. Oh, yeah. Volatile 00:00:09.140 --> 00:00:10.919 is definitely the right word for it. We're talking 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:14.419 about artistic risk. Exactly. You know, it's 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:16.899 that terrifying moment when a creator looks at 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:20.140 a formula that is just printing money winning 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:22.559 fans and working perfectly. And decides to just 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:24.960 light a match and burn it down. Right. Just to 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.920 see what they can build from the ashes. It's 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:29.219 the classic Dylan going electric moment. It's 00:00:29.219 --> 00:00:32.380 the pivot. Yeah. And usually in the highly manufactured, 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.460 incredibly high stakes world of K -pop, the standard 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:38.979 operating procedure is basically. If it outbroke, 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:40.780 for the love of God, don't fix it. Right, just 00:00:40.780 --> 00:00:43.619 rinse, repeat, and cash the check. Exactly. But 00:00:43.619 --> 00:00:45.659 today we are looking at a group that looked at 00:00:45.659 --> 00:00:47.679 their winning streak and took a really hard left 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.140 turn. We are talking about Seventeen and their 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:52.899 2017 release, Don't Wanna Cry. Which is such 00:00:52.899 --> 00:00:54.899 a fascinating case study because looking back 00:00:54.899 --> 00:00:56.600 from where we stand now, it's easy to see it 00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:59.899 as a classic. Oh, for sure. But in May 2017, 00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:03.159 this was a massive gamble that could have alienated 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.819 their entire core fan base. So let's set the 00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:10.980 scene for you. It's May 22, 2017. Seventeen drops 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:14.700 their EPL1. Right. Now, if you were a Carrot, 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:17.099 that's a fan of the group. Up until this point, 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.719 you had a very specific image in your head. We're 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:21.140 talking about what they called the fresh teen 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:23.620 energy. Yeah, think of songs like Adore You, 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:26.760 Man See. Very nice. It was highly theatrical. 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:30.400 It was high energy and deeply influenced by funk 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:32.340 and hip hop. Bright colors, school uniforms, 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.239 all of that. Exactly. They carved out this very 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:39.260 specific niche of being the happy boy group in 00:01:39.260 --> 00:01:42.400 a sea of generally much darker concepts. And 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:44.819 then Don't Wanna Cry happens and suddenly the 00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:46.980 funk guitars are just gone. Completely gone. 00:01:47.099 --> 00:01:49.239 The bright smiles are gone and we are plunged 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:51.920 into this moody atmospheric soundscape. And that's 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.920 really the mission of this deep dive today. Yeah. 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.040 We aren't just recounting a release. We want 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:58.200 to understand the actual mechanics of this pivot. 00:01:58.280 --> 00:02:01.060 Right. How did a single track shift the group's 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:04.780 entire identity from boyish charm to emotional 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:06.659 maturity? So we're going to look at that move 00:02:06.659 --> 00:02:09.240 into EDM and Electropop, the visual rebranding. 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:10.580 And of course, we have to talk about the elephant 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:13.259 in the room. Oh, yeah. The elephant. It's a big 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:15.400 one today. It really is. We're going to unpack 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:17.539 the controversy regarding the songwriting credits. 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:20.479 OK. Because there is a very complex story there 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.259 involving. plagiarism accusations, and some massive 00:02:25.259 --> 00:02:28.280 Western superstars. It totally challenges our 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.000 understanding of independent creation. Absolutely. 00:02:31.300 --> 00:02:34.240 It's a story that involves legal maneuvering 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:37.819 that would make a corporate lawyer sweat, honestly. 00:02:38.219 --> 00:02:40.659 And just to be clear, we're pulling this from 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.080 a stack of data regarding the composition chart 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:44.960 performance, the music video production, and 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.479 the official statements from Pledis Entertainment 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:48.439 at the time. So let's get right into the sound. 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:50.879 Because this wasn't just a new song. It was a 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.740 total sonic rebrand. Completely. As we said, 00:02:53.780 --> 00:02:55.860 the previous DNA of the group was very hip -hop 00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:59.939 based. But Don't Wanna Cry is pure 2017 EDM pop. 00:03:00.259 --> 00:03:02.639 It's built on these washout synths. A very specific 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.340 beat drop and this deeply melancholy melody. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.780 And 2017 was the peak year for that sound, right? 00:03:07.819 --> 00:03:09.259 I mean, it felt like every song on the radio 00:03:09.259 --> 00:03:11.319 had that drop instead of a traditional chorus. 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:13.639 It was the Chainsmokers era, effectively. And 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:16.300 that's exactly where the risk lies. For a K -pop 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:20.090 group known for a unique... funky sound to certainly 00:03:20.090 --> 00:03:23.270 pivot to the dominant western radio trend that 00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:25.710 is incredibly dangerous yeah you risk looking 00:03:25.710 --> 00:03:27.849 like you're chasing a trend rather than setting 00:03:27.849 --> 00:03:29.969 one or worse you risk sounding like everyone 00:03:29.969 --> 00:03:32.930 else and the lyrics shifted drastically too we 00:03:32.930 --> 00:03:35.430 went from i like you you're pretty let's date 00:03:35.430 --> 00:03:38.969 to well pure misery yeah don't want to cry is 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:43.210 a straight up breakup anthem it's all about Loneliness, 00:03:43.210 --> 00:03:46.509 regret, that empty post breakup feeling. It's 00:03:46.509 --> 00:03:48.370 a maturation of their narrative. I mean, you 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:50.389 can't stay the high school crush group forever. 00:03:50.629 --> 00:03:52.689 Yeah. But you have to wonder what the atmosphere 00:03:52.689 --> 00:03:55.509 was actually like in the recording studio. They 00:03:55.509 --> 00:03:57.289 had to have known this was a massive departure. 00:03:57.610 --> 00:03:59.710 Oh, they definitely knew. Yeah. I actually found 00:03:59.710 --> 00:04:01.770 this interview with Teen Vogue from around that 00:04:01.770 --> 00:04:04.710 time. Yeah. And DK, who is usually the human 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:07.389 embodiment of sunshine for the group, was pretty 00:04:07.389 --> 00:04:09.330 candid about the fear they were feeling. Oh, 00:04:09.330 --> 00:04:11.849 really? What did he say? He admitted that even 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:13.710 before the comeback, the group was just full 00:04:13.710 --> 00:04:16.389 of worry. He said, quote, we wondered how our 00:04:16.389 --> 00:04:18.709 fans and the public would react and if they would 00:04:18.709 --> 00:04:21.060 even like it. Yeah, and he explicitly called 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:23.480 it a very different sound. That anxiety is so 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:25.879 real. You have to understand, in K -pop, the 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:29.000 relationship with the fandom is totally symbiotic. 00:04:29.019 --> 00:04:31.060 Right, it's everything. If you release something 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:34.060 that feels inauthentic, or if the fans feel like 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:36.360 you've lost the spark that made them stan you 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:39.459 in the first place, the backlash can be swift. 00:04:39.779 --> 00:04:42.480 They were walking a serious tightrope. And yet, 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:44.779 ironically, the backlash didn't actually come 00:04:44.779 --> 00:04:47.259 from the fans disliking the new style. No, it 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:48.720 didn't. The backlash came from somewhere else 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:50.500 entirely. So let's talk about that controversy. 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:53.800 Plagiarism accusation. Yeah. So the song drops. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:57.060 Everyone is streaming it. And almost immediately, 00:04:57.240 --> 00:04:59.379 the Internet does what the Internet does. People 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:01.079 started pointing fingers and saying, wait a minute, 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:03.279 I know this song. Which is the nightmare scenario 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:06.199 for literally any songwriter. Listeners started 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:09.240 drawing immediate comparisons to something just 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:12.560 like... This, you know, that massive collaboration 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.519 between the Chainsmokers and Coldplay. Right. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:17.899 And look, I've listened to them back to back 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:19.579 as part of the research. I'm not a musicologist, 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:22.720 but even I raised an eyebrow. It's hard not to. 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:24.879 When you look at the structure, the way the verse 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:26.899 builds into the pre -chorus and specifically 00:05:26.899 --> 00:05:29.620 the synth design in the drop, the similarities 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:33.480 are striking. It shares that exact same mid -tempo 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.500 sentimental EDM progression. It's basically the 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:39.480 millennial whoop of synth drops. Exactly. And 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.500 in 2017, that sound was just ubiquitous, which 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:46.379 really complicates things. Was it actually plagiarism? 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.019 Or was it just two different groups drinking 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:51.379 from the exact same creative well of current 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:54.360 trends? Right. But the public perception was 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:57.339 tilting dangerously toward ripoff. Put yourself 00:05:57.339 --> 00:05:59.339 in the shoes of Pledis Entertainment here. You've 00:05:59.339 --> 00:06:01.360 got your star group. They've just taken this 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:05.139 massive artistic risk to mature their sound. 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:08.220 And now the headline isn't 17 matures, it's 17 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:10.420 accused of plagiarism. What do you even do in 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:13.160 that situation? You deny it. You release a statement 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:15.579 saying, we hired three professors of music theory 00:06:15.579 --> 00:06:17.180 who say the chord progressions are completely 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:19.319 different. And you just ride out the storm. That's 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:21.600 the industry standard playbook. But Pledis didn't 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:23.839 do that. No, they did something actually very 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.139 rare. They updated the copyright credits. And 00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:28.060 this is where my jaw literally hit the floor 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:30.040 when I was reading the source notes. They didn't 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:32.439 just add a generic interpolation credit or something 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:34.660 quiet. They added the absolute titans of the 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:37.180 industry. Oh, yeah. I'm looking at the official 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:40.500 writers list for Don't Wanna Cry right now. You've 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:44.019 got the 17 members, Woozy, Vernon Hoshijongan, 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.920 and their producer, Bumzu. Standard stuff. Right. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:50.459 But then Andrew Taggart. Of the Chainsmokers. 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:53.699 And then it continues. Guy Berryman, Johnny Buckland, 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.699 Will Champion, and Chris Martin. Literally the 00:06:56.699 --> 00:06:59.439 entire roster of Coldplay. So essentially, they 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.639 handed a piece of the song's ownership. and the 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:05.079 royalties that come with it to some of the richest 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:08.160 musicians on earth. Yes, they did. Now, be real 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:10.939 with me here. Doesn't that look like a massive 00:07:10.939 --> 00:07:13.720 admission of guilt? I mean, you don't just give 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:15.740 Chris Martin a check if you didn't take his song. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.279 That is definitely the cynical view, and frankly, 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:19.959 it's a view a lot of netizens took at the time. 00:07:20.819 --> 00:07:24.019 See, they admitted it. But we have to look at 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:26.500 the official statement Pledis released, because 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:29.480 it is an absolute masterclass in corporate gymnastics. 00:07:29.819 --> 00:07:32.310 Oh, I have it right here. They maintained firmly 00:07:32.310 --> 00:07:35.110 that Don't Wanna Cry was independently created 00:07:35.110 --> 00:07:38.589 by Seventeen. They stood by their artists 100%. 00:07:38.589 --> 00:07:41.629 So you have this wild contradiction. We made 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:44.449 this ourselves. It's totally original. But here's 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:47.290 a songwriting credit for Coldplay. So why do 00:07:47.290 --> 00:07:49.850 it? Why give up the money and the credit if you 00:07:49.850 --> 00:07:51.949 actually believe you're innocent? Because of 00:07:51.949 --> 00:07:54.889 the what if. Pledis stated the move was to protect 00:07:54.889 --> 00:07:57.300 the artists from potential legal issues. You 00:07:57.300 --> 00:07:59.139 have to think about the power dynamic here. OK. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.019 On one side, you have a K -pop agency, successful, 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:05.339 sure, but not a global monopoly. On the other 00:08:05.339 --> 00:08:08.040 side, you have the combined legal might of the 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:10.720 chain smokers and Coldplay, backed by massive 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.459 Western labels. It's essentially David versus 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:16.819 two very well -funded Goliaths. Exactly. Even 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:18.939 if Pledis was 90 percent sure they could win 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:21.750 in court, the cost of that battle both financial 00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:24.389 and reputational, would be catastrophic. Because 00:08:24.389 --> 00:08:26.910 a copyright lawsuit drags on for years, right? 00:08:27.149 --> 00:08:30.850 Years. It freezes the song's revenue. It completely 00:08:30.850 --> 00:08:33.070 dominates the news cycle every time the group 00:08:33.070 --> 00:08:35.009 comes up. By giving the credit, they essentially 00:08:35.009 --> 00:08:37.409 paid a go -away fee. Wow. It's risk management. 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:39.870 They sacrificed a slice of the pie to ensure 00:08:39.870 --> 00:08:42.470 the bakery didn't get shut down entirely. Precisely. 00:08:42.549 --> 00:08:45.429 It's a settlement without a trial. And honestly, 00:08:45.570 --> 00:08:48.009 from a purely business perspective, it was brilliant. 00:08:48.129 --> 00:08:50.409 The moment those names appeared in the credits, 00:08:50.610 --> 00:08:53.840 the scandal effectively ended. The legal threat 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.679 just evaporated, and Seventeen could go right 00:08:56.679 --> 00:08:58.840 back to promoting the song. It's really fascinating 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:01.620 how independent creation can be so fluid when 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:04.559 lawyers and risk managers get involved. But let's 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:06.820 shift and talk about that promotion, because 00:09:06.820 --> 00:09:09.620 despite that whole legal cloud hovering over 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:12.539 them, they still had to sell this brand new sad 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:14.879 boy image. And this is where the visuals really 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.159 come in. You can't sell a moody song like this 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:19.419 with a bright box set in the studio. You need 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.860 real atmosphere. So they flew the entire production 00:09:21.860 --> 00:09:25.460 over to Los Angeles, USA. Which was a statement 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:28.419 in itself. The video is gorgeous. It's got that 00:09:28.419 --> 00:09:32.500 vast, desolated L .A. landscape, the desert vibes, 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:36.019 the dramatic rooftop shots. The source actually 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:38.840 describes it as the group melancholically expressing 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:41.779 their regrets. Yeah. And it feels lonely, even 00:09:41.779 --> 00:09:43.480 though there are literally 13 of them on screen. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:47.000 And that visual isolation was so crucial to the 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:50.500 pivot. the theme of the song instantly to the 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:52.720 viewer. But I want to pivot to the performance 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:55.480 aspect because this is where Seventeen really 00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:58.500 separates themselves from the pack. Right. Because 00:09:58.500 --> 00:10:01.320 usually when a boy band does a sad song or a 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.500 ballad, The choreography kind of takes a backseat. 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:06.200 You get a lot of standing around, maybe some 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:08.899 dramatic hand gestures or sitting on stools. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:11.139 But Seventeen is known specifically for their 00:10:11.139 --> 00:10:13.039 synchronization. They are performance monsters. 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:15.100 Right. So even for a track like Don't Wanna Cry, 00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:17.159 they didn't dial it down at all. No, they didn't. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:19.659 They created a choreography that was incredibly 00:10:19.659 --> 00:10:23.200 intricate, kinetic, and honestly, just difficult. 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:26.179 It's iconic now. The opening formation, the kneeling 00:10:26.179 --> 00:10:28.159 parts, it's arguably some of their most famous 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:30.059 choreography ever. And the industry recognized 00:10:30.059 --> 00:10:33.190 that. We have to mention the 2017 MMA Awards. 00:10:33.450 --> 00:10:36.289 The MNET Asian Music Awards. Exactly. They won 00:10:36.289 --> 00:10:39.470 best dance performance for a male group. Think 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:41.230 about the weight of that. They didn't win best 00:10:41.230 --> 00:10:43.809 ballad or best vocal. They won best dance performance 00:10:43.809 --> 00:10:46.909 with a song about heartbreak and trying. That 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:49.960 is a massive flex. because it proves that they 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:52.500 didn't just borrow a Western sound. They made 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:55.360 it entirely their own through their performance. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:59.000 They translated that EDM drop into physical movement 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:01.840 in a way that the chain smokers certainly weren't 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:05.000 doing. Exactly. It completely validated the artistic 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.679 risk. It showed that they could change the genre, 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:10.440 change the vibe, but keep their core competency, 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:13.440 which is that elite performance, totally intact. 00:11:13.779 --> 00:11:15.460 So we've got the risk, the scandal, the video, 00:11:15.539 --> 00:11:17.580 the dance. The big question you have to ask is... 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:20.799 Did it work? When the dust finally settled, was 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.440 the juice worth the squeeze? If you look at the 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:25.320 scoreboard, the answer is an overwhelming yes. 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:28.159 Let's run those numbers then. In South Korea, 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.279 it was a smash. It hit number one on the K -pop 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:34.840 Hot 100. It peaked at number 12 on the Gaon digital 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.500 chart. Which is highly impressive for a boy group, 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:40.080 since the general public charts over there are 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:42.639 usually dominated by girl groups or soloists. 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:45.440 But the international numbers are where I think 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.159 that Western sound really paid off. It peeped 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:51.019 at number three on the U .S. World Digital Songs 00:11:51.019 --> 00:11:53.639 chart by Billboard. That proves the pivot worked 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:57.299 globally. By adopting that trending EDM sound, 00:11:57.789 --> 00:12:00.049 They effectively lowered the barrier to entry 00:12:00.049 --> 00:12:02.610 for Western listeners. Right. It sounded familiar 00:12:02.610 --> 00:12:05.370 to an American ear, which likely helped pull 00:12:05.370 --> 00:12:07.970 in totally new fans who might have found their 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:10.850 older, fresh teen stuff a little too distinctively 00:12:10.850 --> 00:12:13.169 K -pop. And the longevity is there, too. I was 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:15.129 looking at the Japanese certifications, and the 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:18.070 song went gold under the RIAJ. And that is specifically 00:12:18.070 --> 00:12:20.070 for streaming, right? Right, right. Specifically 00:12:20.070 --> 00:12:23.159 streaming over 50 million streams. That's not 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:25.799 just a dedicated fan base mass buying physical 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:28.440 CDs in the first week. No. That has sustained 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:30.940 casual and dedicated listening over years in 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:33.000 the second largest music market in the world. 00:12:33.139 --> 00:12:36.139 It really cemented their place in Japan. And 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:37.860 honestly, the critical reception helped quite 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:39.899 a bit, too. We talked earlier about their fear 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:42.799 of alienation, but critics actually praised the 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.000 song as a transition. Yeah, they really did. 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:47.679 They used words specifically like mature and 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:50.059 evolved to describe it. Which is kind of funny, 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.230 right? The very thing they were terrified of, 00:12:52.269 --> 00:12:53.929 people saying, oh, it's too different, became 00:12:53.929 --> 00:12:56.330 the main selling point. Oh, listen to how mature 00:12:56.330 --> 00:12:58.509 and different they are now. It's the paradox 00:12:58.509 --> 00:13:01.509 of artistry in pop music. You almost have to 00:13:01.509 --> 00:13:04.029 risk losing your audience to actually grow your 00:13:04.029 --> 00:13:06.269 audience. Well, yeah. If they had just released 00:13:06.269 --> 00:13:08.909 Very Nice 2 .0, the reviews might have been, 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:13.549 17 is stagnant. By taking the risk, they forced 00:13:13.549 --> 00:13:16.090 the industry to take them seriously as artists 00:13:16.090 --> 00:13:18.710 who could tackle complex adult emotions. And 00:13:18.710 --> 00:13:21.179 they swept the music shows. For you listeners 00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:22.940 who track the day -to -day promotional battles, 00:13:23.179 --> 00:13:25.720 they were completely unstoppable in mid -2017. 00:13:26.259 --> 00:13:29.059 It was a clean sweep. The show Music Bank Show 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:32.779 Champion M Countdown. From late May through mid 00:13:32.779 --> 00:13:34.799 -June, they were picking up trophies practically 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.100 every other day. And remember, this is all happening 00:13:38.100 --> 00:13:40.779 while the plagiarism accusations are actively 00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:43.240 flying around on social media. That's the most 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:46.210 crucial point. The data shows that while the 00:13:46.210 --> 00:13:48.809 scandal was loud in the comments sections, it 00:13:48.809 --> 00:13:50.529 didn't stop the general public from listening 00:13:50.529 --> 00:13:54.129 at all. The song was simply too good, and the 00:13:54.129 --> 00:13:56.669 performance was too compelling. The controversy 00:13:56.669 --> 00:13:59.210 essentially became a footnote to the success. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.059 It really is a case study in crisis management 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:05.059 and artistic evolution rolled into one single 00:14:05.059 --> 00:14:08.399 comeback. You take the huge risk, you hit a nasty 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.120 legal speed bump, you pay the toll, and you just 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.500 keep speeding toward number one. It truly marked 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:16.139 the end of their rookie era. Before Don't Wanna 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:18.580 Cry, they were the talented, energetic kids. 00:14:19.059 --> 00:14:21.539 After this, they were a top -tier group capable 00:14:21.539 --> 00:14:24.059 of weathering a storm and seriously evolving 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:26.320 their sound. And now looking back, it's impossible 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.679 to imagine their discography without this track. 00:14:29.049 --> 00:14:31.070 It really opened the door for all the emotional 00:14:31.070 --> 00:14:33.350 and complex tracks that came later in their career. 00:14:33.509 --> 00:14:35.669 It definitely did. It proved that they could 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:38.029 be vulnerable and massively successful at the 00:14:38.029 --> 00:14:41.029 very same time. So as we wrap up this deep dive 00:14:41.029 --> 00:14:45.190 into the high stakes world of 2017 K -pop, we're 00:14:45.190 --> 00:14:47.610 left with a pretty incredible story of survival 00:14:47.610 --> 00:14:51.230 and success. But before we sign off, we want 00:14:51.230 --> 00:14:52.909 to leave you with a thought to kind of chew on. 00:14:53.070 --> 00:14:55.169 We talked a lot about that independent creation 00:14:55.169 --> 00:14:58.470 defense versus the reality. of the songwriting 00:14:58.470 --> 00:15:01.429 credits and it raises a question that gets harder 00:15:01.429 --> 00:15:03.710 and harder to answer every single year what's 00:15:03.710 --> 00:15:05.789 that well we live in a hyper -connected world 00:15:05.789 --> 00:15:08.570 now we're all consuming the exact same viral 00:15:08.570 --> 00:15:11.190 trends the same 15 second audio clips the same 00:15:11.190 --> 00:15:15.169 global hits right in that environment where does 00:15:15.169 --> 00:15:17.429 independent creation end and unconscious inspiration 00:15:17.429 --> 00:15:21.450 begin Can anyone truly write a song that is 100 00:15:21.450 --> 00:15:24.429 % original anymore? Or are we all just kind of 00:15:24.429 --> 00:15:26.230 remixing the things that are constantly stuck 00:15:26.230 --> 00:15:28.690 in our heads? And if the result is a masterpiece 00:15:28.690 --> 00:15:31.250 that 50 million people want to stream over and 00:15:31.250 --> 00:15:33.409 over again, does it even matter where the inspiration 00:15:33.409 --> 00:15:35.470 came from? That is the real question. Thanks 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:37.070 for taking this deep dive with us. We'll catch 00:15:37.070 --> 00:15:37.690 you on the next one.