Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Hi-Lite Records was recently bought by CJ E&M, basically so the conglomerate can keep up with the changing music trends.
CJ officials said the company will provide the label assistance in funding, marketing and expanding global network, allowing it to solely focus on music.
“More musical genres are being recognized and accepted by the masses than the past. Taking this into account, we’re at a critical point for a change, to seek diversification in genres,” CJ E&M music department head Ahn Suk-joon said in a press release. “We hope that labels like Hi-Lite Records will lead the Korean music market’s diversification in the future,” he added.
On the surface, there’s not a lot of downside here, and there doesn’t figure to be much of any downside for Paloalto, who probably profits immensely from this. If all goes well, CJ E&M will simply provide them with more money to make a better product, market for them so their stuff gets more pub, and provide expanded publishing avenues. All this while still allowing them autonomy to do their own thing.
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Well, if they continue to sell well. Granted, Paloalto didn’t get in this to run a charity, so making money was always important, but it’s a lot harder to maintain artistic autonomy when there’s a conglomerate with shareholders hovering over you as opposed to just Paloalto. That’s usually the case with these types of things, as the conglomerate will (probably) avoid meddling as long as the revenue expectations are hit. If not, though, it’s time to “inject fresh ideas” that involve execs coming down to suggest pop-friendly singles (like Tiger JK has mentioned) or the company gets absorbed by the conglomerate for being a money drain.
Of course, all that doom and gloom is just a pessimistic take on the downside, but for those asking what could go wrong with this, well that’s the kind of stuff that could potentially happen. More than likely, though, everything will be just fine for Hi-Lite Records considering their brand is strong, their roster is current, and they have loyal fans dedicated to them like they were idols.
