As you were building 7SIX9, how did people in your industry respond?

Most entertainment companies in Korea discover and nurture their own artists, whether they are solo performers or groups. We didn’t have the ability to do that, but our big competitors did, and they often told us that because we didn’t have our own artists, we wouldn’t be able to survive in the industry. But I figured, if so many people were telling me no, there might be other people who would say yes to these ideas.

How did you find those people?

We looked outside our usual circles. When I talked with connections in the industry based in the United States and China, they said they really wanted to produce albums with us. They loved the idea of putting Chinese and Western artists on a record together. And that’s the idea our competition said wouldn’t work. That felt pretty good.

Do you have any regrets?

Not trying it sooner. We tried and failed twice to do things like everyone else. If we had gone forward with something riskier, we might have found this success so much sooner.

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