SM are the executive producers so they have overall control over the content but the brunt of the work is done by the local distributor like your UMJs. I’m not even sure what SM Japan does.

Interscope and Universal seem to think so.

False. It was always on the cards. Interscope’s approach was just a catalyst.

I think I said that SNSD’s international and national promotions are too much for SM to handle on its own without someone as big as Universal to hold their hand.

SM is growing. Fast. At least on paper and in money terms.
Their infrastructure and manpower is still just as restricted.

The international spread of K-Pop, as ever, relies on the success of those that come first. Before, the common target was known and singular; we’re in an odd situation here where there are multiple targets and multiple points of attacking the international market.

And K-Pop group doing well in the international scene is good for the entire industry. There will be other labels interested in 2NE1 since they are considered to be the closest running mates to SNSD at the moment and SNSD has already be signed up by Interscope… and they will be watching Interscope and the performance of K-Pop in the american market very closely before making a move.

They approached them quite late, enough for the album to be delayed for weeks. Pop song lyrics have never been much for great messages… as Oasis once said: “It ain’t about the words, it’s about the tunes”

It’s true and I’m the one who provided that information.

Distributor and promoter is probably the closest thing but remember that contracts are as diverse as the people who design them and the kinds of relationships will differ according to the contract. It’s difficult to put a label on a lot of things.

I’m quite sure that while SM USA is in charge of most things, Interscope and their associates will be dabbling in operations and using connections to influence certain people to mention them etc.

Doubt it. Interscope will have had their people tagging along and would know better than anyone else.

…

I imagine that any physical release will be a strictly limited number, the value of which will also probably be strictly limited knowledge unless they manage to sell out all of them (though if the initial press was a paltry number, we never hear it at all). Selling the entirety of the initial stock would be a good start and those attending SM Town NYC will have a part to play, since SM should be stocking those for the concert goodies.

The rest of the things you list are very big goals. Some of which seem impossible to me, at the time of writing:

• A Top-40 hit is perhaps a little too much to ask. Outdoing the Wonder Girls’ efforts on Billboard would probably be counted as a very encouraging start, given the context.
• I’m quite sure that Interscope have the influence to force at least some mainstream radio airplay but ultimately, they can’t force Americans to want to hear it.
• Late-night talk show and performance would be great, but only with a top talk show and not just any that will take you. It would have to be an invitation, which is why I think this to be unlikely.
• Sell-out concert is impossible. SNSD are tied down in Korea until early 2012 and there is literally nothing short of an extraordinary invitation that can convince SM to stage a solo concert in the short-to-medium term. I doubt there would even be demand for a big one outside the Asian-American hotspots.

If we do see further English-language albums through Interscope in 2012, that speaks positively for their debut album exceeding expectations, as well as future prospects.

Or at least meeting expectations. It would show that Interscope think that there is potential for further development, and they know the market far better than any of us on tumblr.

Unless there are any announcements, Interscope and SM’s future actions will be the only yardstick that we can feasibly rely on. Their partnership in itself was very cloak-and-dagger, with only SM executives being involved in the decision.

We can only look at their actions during and following the experiment to interpolate, in a manner similar to backwards induction, to see what the results are.

The approaches are totally different.

The Wonder Girls had a killer hand which they had already revealed to the whole world pre-debut (in the form of a popular hook song, Nobody) and went all-in at the draw.
SNSD have yet to reveal their hand and have called after having seen the flop (no pun intended) and will be watching the turn and river very carefully.

JYP took the girls out of their home turf in Asia and made them rebuild everything. SM are keeping the girls at home, not just in Asia but in Korea, dipping a toe into the water to see the reaction before proceeding.

At this exact moment in time, SM have just announced that they will be dipping their toe. Interscope will be providing a possible water-heating facility and are definitely bringing a towel along, too. As ridiculous as this metaphor sounds, it seems to make sense in my head.

(1) Perhaps. Teddy’s been going on about a “master plan” for a while now, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he approached them to approach SM himself. For him, if his “expansion into Asia” makes a hit in Asia and rebounds into the first success in America by an Asian artist worth writing home about, that’s one hell of a feather in his cap.
The motivation and the capability for this scenario all falls into place, making it quite probable.

(2) This is my understanding. While SM were playing around with the idea of pushing artists to go to America, they were approached by Interscope and given that it was Interscope of all people, it would have been foolish not to take the offer, even if it meant changing everything at the last minute. The executives at SM over-ruled everything above everyone else’s heads, which was the reason for all the confusion a few days back. 

But is 2ne1 signed with Interscope?
Is Interscope the company making a move on 2ne1 or is it just Will.i.am, the artist who was signed by Interscope for different reasons, just working on the production of a 2ne1 debut? 

The answers to those questions are what make the difference.

You could say the same thing about Universal, their label in Japan.

I was told by a very reliable source several days ago, that Interscope approached SM at the last minute; SM didn’t go to Interscope. That is huge.

Sure, SM changed their long-term plans and readjusted schedules for Interscope, but the point is that Interscope wanted to be first in to release SNSD in America. There were no immediate plans for an American foray, but a large American record label asked SM, uninvited, to be the ones to make it happen. Again, that is huge.

We basically have a premier American record label trying to convince SM that SNSD will work in America and that they want the rights. Once more, that is huge. Whether they were being serious or whether they just wanted to be the first to tap into the K-Pop phenomenon is a different story altogether.

SNSD’s supposed value in the American market is likely to be a small fraction of their power in Asia but rest assured, they will be taking one further step forward in building a bridge to America for future K-Pop acts.