Paul Thomson Lecture: Isa B. and Lukas M.

K-pop is known for its usage of multiple producers in making singles, mini albums, and albums. More often than not, a group will use a multitude of producers throughout their career. However many companies also have in-house producers that they use to help keep costs of producing albums down. S.M. Entertainment is no exception, having added a publishing wing within the last couple of years. We had the honor of having Paul Thompson, one of the first in-house producers of S.M. Entertainment, as a guest speaker. Having started producing freelance in L.A., he managed to land a job with JYP Entertainment. This in turn eventually led him to find his current job at S.M. Entertainment under his own company Marz Music. This is an especially extraordinary feat as he is the first non-asian in-house producer to work for a large Korean Entertainment Company, also having to have charted all 7 title tracks he has written to date.

Paul Thompson covered a plethora of topics during his lecture, however there were a few that stood out. The first topic that comes to mind, is his experience working for JYP Entertainment as supposed to S.M. Entertainment. His answer to this was convoluted and diplomatic. He expressed how his time at JYP allowed him to be closer with the idols, but was also more frustrating as his attempts to bring something new to the table of kpop were often met with rejection. On the other hand, however, S.M. Entertainment does give him more freedom to experiment with his music but he does not feel as connected to the idols. Overall, he said he “doesn't prefer one over the other. They are just different” (Thompson). The next topic pertains to both inspiration and his working with the groups. He explained that often when writing music for specific groups he needs to keep their original concept in mind. A prime example of this is EXO, and their debut concepts of superpowers. He mentioned that when he writes music for their albums he needs to keep their individual powers in mind to create the illusion of continuity throughout their releases. Other than those two main points, the rest of the lecture was breaking down his personal experiences at songwriting camps, his time working for JYP Entertainment, and his time prior to coming to Korea. He also “hinted” at an f(x) comeback and told us about the extensive plans for multiple NCT units. So let’s look forward to those! The lecture was extremely interesting, and also very detailed in his specific experiences.