Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Block B recently sued their company, Stardom Entertainment, and as expected, their company distributed a press release that set their side of the story.
Hello, This is Stardom.
We are sorry to greet you with this kind of situation during the beginning of the New Year. We wanted to offer an explanation as a part of what has been reported is false.
- On the issue of not being paid
Stardom Entertainment has calculated all the earnings of our agency artist Block B and have paid them. Regarding the calculations, we have fulfilled all the calculated payments.
In the contract, when there is an earning, the pay was supposed to be made on the 25th of every month. However, starting from April of 2011 to October of the same year, there was not a single earning during those 6 months, and thus, during then we could not pay out every month.
We want to make clear at this point that although the pay was scheduled to be issued out every month in the original contract, when the members’ parents visited in March of 2012, we settled to change the pay schedule from every month to every three months.
- On the issue of the agency CEO swindling money for promotions and such received from the parents of the members
Mr. Lee, who was first hired as a manager, falsely used the name of ‘CEO’ by forging documentation and it is true that he swindled money from some of the members.
Mr. Lee deceived the agency as well as the parents of the members and met separately with the parents and disappeared with the money of the agency and the parents.
The agency belatedly learned of this, and at the the time, the members’ parents decided to hold off on pursuing legal action as they were concerned about bringing harm to Block B.
Another victim of Mr. Lee has filed against him and the police are looking for him, we at Stardom are hoping that Mr. Lee will be caught soon.
The individuals who helped Mr. Lee during his fraudulent deeds are no longer with the agency and are putting the blame on the agency who is managing the Block B members. Regarding this we will be taking legal action [against the individuals].
- On the issue of the lack of broadcast appearances
After much preparation by Stardom, in February of 2012 Block B made a comeback; however, while in the midst of active domestic promotions, due to incident that happened at the Thailand interview, [the members] had to go through an eight month reflection period. Because the members weren’t able to make as many broadcast appearances after then, it seems the members of Block B are holding a grudge against the agency.
Stardom has also experienced difficulty during that period, and after working hard so that Block B could promote again, we were able to have them return to broadcast.
- On the existence of individuals behind Block B
We cannot help but lament as we have confirmed that there exist individuals who are encouraging and controlling the members behind this situation of requesting for the nullification of their exclusive contract when we have tried our best to provide even the smallest earnings to our agency artists, and cannot help but lament.
The individuals have purposely used the issue of pay to block the communication between the agency and the members and their parents, and have created mistrust towards Stardom; and we were able to learn from conversing with the members and their family recently that these individuals, who have done wrong while they were working within Stardom, have put all the blame on the agency.
- On our future course of action
To communicate with the Block B members, we sent over documents to their homes during the end of the year, and while preparing to meet them this afternoon, we learned of the lawsuit requesting for the nullification of their exclusive contract through articles on the internet. Despite that, Stardom promises to try our best to resolve the misunderstanding between the agency and Block B.
We will try our best so that we can greet you with better news. Thank you.
Unfortunately, there’s not much to say here. I have no working knowledge of the situation, and chances are good that neither do you. As such, all these things did was set the stage for the coming court battle, which could be long and drawn-out if neither side wants to settle.
I did notice that the company is already trying to go with the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy, which could get messy for obvious reasons.
well fuck.
I’d be willing to bet that for every group like Block B or Kara (who had the balls to do this sort of thing), there are 10 other idol groups in a similar situation but are unwilling to rock the boat.
I’m not talking about the manager stealing money – I would treat that as a separate issue in this case. I’m talking about the issue of idols not being paid according to their contracts. Not to mention that even if they were being paid according to their contracts, it would probably amount to peanuts.
A lot of that press release sounds like BS. However, I don’t doubt that the company probably hasn’t turned a profit on Block B during the last year.
I sometimes wonder how any of these smaller companies make money at all. They don’t make shit from selling music (in Korea digital music sells for pennies). So, where is the money coming from if they don’t have endorsements, concerts, and side-gigs, etc? I don’t think appearance money amounts to much at all.
They don’t but devoted fans bring in physical profits since physical sales are actually significant. Without endorsement or other gigs, you can see why so many companies are flopping right now.
Oh absolutely there are other groups out there who are getting shafted.
Hard to speak out when you have no leverage though.
Reason #682 why the “reflection periods” babyish netizens insist on are nonsense. Block B should have just done a T-ara and kept going. Their fans would have thanked them, their haters would have hated them anyway, and they might have even made more than $14 in the process.
I don’t think this is so much about the label not adhering to the contract, as much as the label stitching up Block B into a shitty contract to begin with. That’s the way it usually works in the business. I don’t really know any more than anyone else about this specific situation, but I’ve seen the same thing happen with artists that I know personally. Any money that’s used for promotion comes out of the group’s earnings so if a band has, say, and expensive music video, and a ton of posters, and advertising, etc etc, they won’t see any profits until their music sales are enough to pay for all that stuff… and when they finally are, by then the label has spent money on a bunch MORE videos and ads… so the artist never gets back in the black. It’s like the greyhound chasing the mechanical bunny on the dog track. I’ve had a PR manager actually say to my face “if my band makes money, I’m not doing my job”.
The typical way around this situation for groups who negotiate smart is to have clauses in the contract where spending on promotions can be controlled to a certain value or vetoed by the artist. Sadly most realise it too late.
Seems like the only K-pop stars making any real money (with a few exceptions) are the ones who have moved on from their initial contract/agency.
I agree, and there’s a good reason for it. When you’re a rookie, you basically had to compete with other trainees to be in the group at all, so you’re not negotiating from a position of power – if you get selected to debut and you insist on terms management doesn’t like, they’ll boot your ass out and just hire whoever was in the #2 spot. (It’s the same reason why people who win a record deal on western idol TV shows also get repeatedly stiffed contractually.) On the other hand, once you’ve got a proven track record of success and am existing fanbase, those are bargaining chips you can use to negotiate a better contract. If Block B survive this storm and sign another deal with Stardom or someone else, they will be able to do so with better terms. (It’s the same reason why SM’s 13 year contracts were/are a problem – artists should get the chance to renegotiate if their “worth” as an industry entity improves.)
Yeah – and I’ll bet a lot of idol-wannabes probably know this ahead of time. They just put up with the dorm living, hard work, and low pay with the hope that any fame and success gained during the initial contract period will pay off later.
That said, it does seem like Korea’s contracts are much more one-sided and restrictive than in the west.
Western artists have similar situations financially. What’s different in the west is the enforced work ethic isn’t the same. A friend of mine is in a band that had a #1 hit in my country, with a cover song (similar to a k-pop group in the sense that they will get no songwriting royalties). They are known faces here on TV and you can hear their hit many years later in shopping malls, etc. I asked her how much money her group makes, she told me “we haven’t seen a cent from music sales – the label keeps all of that. We get paid a living expenses wage from the label, just for food and petrol, it’s about enough to keep us in cigarettes and beer and keep the van running and that’s about all… we only make money off merch that we sell ourselves. Would you like a t-shirt?”. Her group eventually also sued their label for non-payment of income, then resigned to a better deal with another label. But at least they didn’t have to also train for 10 hours a day 7 days a week.
That’s because Kpop stars/idols are just mere performers. If they don’t write their own crap, compose or even make their own choreography then yeah… those album sales aren’t making them anything. Endorsements and concerts are the real money-makers for idols. And small agencies have smaller budgets and can really only do so much and if they don’t sell, then yeah……
Yes that’s also another factor. The artists who actually make big money off local sales in Korea are usually also songwriters. Once again that may also come down to contract, as the outsourcing of songs may be a contract stipulation.
I remember Whitney Houston bitching about how Dolly Parton made all the money off I Will Always Love You (because Dolly wrote it).
Maybe that’s why SM shelved that Dancing Queen song 4 years ago. At that time Girls Generation was becoming popular and they probably decided to go with some other original song, since they wouldn’t make as much money off of a cover.
Well that’s the thing, Block B do write their own shit though. Well, Zico does, which is why I’m sure he was especially pissed.
I’m not sure what percentage of songwriting in Block B is Zico’s but even if it’s high, if contract terms stipulate that royalty money must pay off debts before the artists get their cut it’s no surprise that he wound up with nothing.
Yeah, agree.
I get the feeling that only superstars in the K-pop industry are really rolling in it, yeah.
I don’t think Block B would have been able to keep going like T-ara though. T-ara was an already established group with at least 2 years(??) of experience, a popular song and successful in Japan. Their company also seems rich and able to control a media source.
why is this different from omonatheydidn’t? some stuff are not translated the same. And their source is blockbintl not all kpop so who is right ?
Certain words may be changed due to translation+ the articles, the original ones in korea could have been lifted from different sources (Newsen, Dispatch etc.)
Have the sasaengs go after Lee, they’d find him in no time.
how many Lee they have in south korea ?
Well I certainly do hope something happens to this “Lee” dude since he falsely represented himself, forged documents and embezzled. But I don’t have much to say about these dudes…. I really dunno much about them so….. yeah. I’ll sit back and see what happens…
Omo poor Stardom oppar, so this Mr. Lee stole their money and those greepy pigs of Block B are giving them a hard time STARDOM OPPAR FIGHTING!!!!!!
lol
hahahahha. you crazy bitch.
Going solely off both Block B’s statement and now the agency’s I don’t believe that Block B has a strong enough case to get their contract nullified , as obviously Artists contracts tend to favor the agency . However If in court they can prove that the agency was aware and or did nothing to rectify the whole Mr lee issue ( sue, request charges brought against ) then they have a strong enough case to get a buyout at a reasonable price… Interesting case , to bad cases like this take forever to resolve.
http://www.allkpop.com/2013/01/block-b-releases-official-position-against-stardom-entertainment
What do they mean when they talk about “individuals behind the group”? Kinda sounds spooky…
I assume they’re just talking about whoever is advising/representing Block B in this fight.
Their parents?
According to the AKP article, they have a law firm representing them. And they also made a statement basically saying the Stardom press release is bullshit, anyways:
http://www.allkpop.com/2013/01/block-b-releases-official-position-against-stardom-entertainment
Round 1… Fight!
This will be interesting. Especially since I give a fuck about Block B.
I was kinda expecting this situation to occur sooner or later…
Stardom basically relies entirely on Block B in order to make any decent profit, it’s their main money maker.
Of course, contract abuse and other situations will occur when you rely on one band to get the money.
I also don’t trust Stardom in any way when they say they are trying their best to fix the misunderstanding, they are just prepping the cards for the court.
I suddenly feel like cassies felt. Especially with the dividing thing.
Stardom you shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you, eh.
I have the feeling this isn’t going to have a happy ending.
I’m sad about all this situation. Even though I’m not their biggest appreciator, I don’t want them to disband. they’re a bunch of talented kids :/
I’m really worried about Evol. I absolutely love them! In my opinion they’ve one of the best debut albums of last year and the members are talented as well (but no one seems to care, even the own company).
All kpop performers can get from a contract is 5% for performer fees. Unless they have written and compose their own music as well sound engineer than it may bump up to 20%. If they do not sign over copy rights in order to earn these royalties. Terms and condition of those vary from album, to digital, to CF usage etc…
I don’t know how the Korean courts would work this out of Stardom proves to be just as much of a victim as BB. In the case of Stardom, fake CEO Lee could have stole the equivalent of the dollar value worth of BB back pay. In the eyes of the law Stardom is obligated to pay employees regardless of the situation. BB doesn’t work on commission and sign a 3 month salary base earning with Stardom. Dumb move on stardom instead of having advances and base it upon actual earn income not expected. Stardom wasn’t paying attention to their finances and was surviving on promotions by promotions. You can’t do that unless you hustle your groups so hard for CFs, paid concert events, or simply pimp them out to old pedo Korean business men. Your income will always be unpredictable and dry. poor way to do business.
Block B says the “fake CEO Lee” excuse is bullshit. Whether or not he officially held the title, the guy was the de-facto CEO.
Either way this shit doesn’t add up, Stardom can claim what ever but what happen to their accountant? Courts will pull their books to show fraudulent behavior on their behalf.
The shit these idols go through in Korea music industry is straight bull. Granted America can be just as shady but artists know you need to lawyer for you sign on those dotted lines. K-pop idols and future trainees along with their parents to seem to get that until shit like this happen. They risk not getting a dime back, sometimes it is good to be all business and no friendship.
Isn’t this CHO PD label?