C-JeS Calls Loen a Tyrant

[aleash1989.livejournal.com]

[TRANS] 130709 [C-JeS] A Letter Of Plea Regarding Loen Entertainment’s Unlawful Tyranny

Hello.

This is C-JeS Entertainment.

C-JeS Entertainment (henceforth known as C-JeS) has received a sudden and unilateral notification from Loen Entertainment (henceforth known as Loen), the online and offline distributor of XIA (Junsu)’s second solo album that is scheduled to be released on the 15th of July. We would like to notify the fans and the public of the current unlawful situation.

C-JeS and Loen came to a verbal decision on the online and offline distribution contract for XIA (Junsu)’s second album, and came to an agreement to work together.

Afterwards, the representatives in charge met over five times and exchanged over 50 e-mails to work on the distribution of XIA (Junsu)’s second album. Ahead of the album’s release on the 15th, C-JeS rand Loen came to a final decision last week on the following promotional marketing strategies. (1. Showcase for Melon users, and the broadcast of the even live on MelonTV 2. Participation in a Melon Special Video 3. Promotional marketing strategies for the distribution of music to 5 online music sites.)

However, we were sent a unilateral notification by Loen last night that overturned all of the previous agreements that had been made. Loen stated, “Though we will be distributing XIA (Junsu)’s music both online and offline. We have decided to nullify all other promotional marketing strategies.” Loen continued to state, “Please be understanding of this as it is a decision made within the company. Although the Melon users’ showcase will be aired live on LoenTV, it will be impossible to disclose the event on Melon.”

However, the idea of the showcase was first brought up by Loen. Through offline meetings and exchanged e-mails in June, Loen stated, “If C-JeS Entertainment holds a showcase with Loen, this will bring in more publicity for the album as it will be advertised on Melon and Melon’s mobile application,” and presented the offer of holding a showcase event. We accepted their explanation and came to the final decision to hold the showcase event with Loen, instead of a major portal site. Before sending an official announcement regarding the showcase to the press on the 3rd of July, we shared the content of the announcement with Loen and at the time, Loen stated, “We would like for information about LoenTV and MelonTV to be included.” We accepted this and implemented their suggestion before releasing the information. However, notifying us that it is impossible to disclose of the event on Melon, and that the event will be aired on Loen TV due to decisions made by those within the company, six days before the actual event itself, is in our opinion, tyranny by a super power.

Also, Loen’s statement that they will nullify all promotional marketing strategies while distributing the album online and offline, which comes a mere six days before the release date, is like saying that they will gain the profits from XIA (Junsu)’s fans but will not take on the responsibilities of the distributor of XIA (Junsu)’s second solo album.

For the past two months, Loen has had hands-on staff working on the distribution of XIA (Junsu)’s second album, and in the case of ’11 o’clock’ from XIA (Junsu)’s second album, they created a special clip and pre-released the track, also providing distribution services on iTunes. Although these actions were not laid out in a contract, they were agreed upon in an ‘actions first, contract later’ form, which can be proved through the countless e-mails, text messages and phone conversations between the two parties.

However, after the pre-release on the 2nd, the promotional banner for the showcase that was agreed upon through various e-mails and meetings has disappeared from the main page of both the PC and mobile version of Melon from the 4th of July. Although the teaser of XIA (Junsu)’s music video was released yesterday (8th), no banners or any other forms of promotion have been seen for it. Banners for other artistes working with Loen who released songs in a similar time period as XIA (Junsu) can be seen on Melon’s website and mobile application, but only XIA (Junsu)’s contents have disappeared from all main Melon pages since the 4th.

After receiving the notification from Loen last night, C-JeS’ album production team sent Loen an official document expressing their strong opposition to Loen’s actions, outlining that Loen’s plans of distributing the album without promoting or marketing is like killing the contents of the album, and that sending a notification 6 days before the release date of the album is an act of tyranny that stops us from creating a contract with better conditions. However, Loen’s answer has not changed since their initial notification.

What we can say for sure is that we have been suffering from the unseen and relentless external pressure placed upon JYJ till now, and we will not work with a super power who acts in a tyrannical nature. We will be filing a civil complaint to the Fair Trade Commission and the Ombudsman of Korea in order to bring justice to the current situation of Loen attempting to unilaterally terminate the agreements between two companies by abusing their advantaged position as a distribution company.

Also, if Loen does not reaffirm their promise to air the showcase live on MelonTV by today, we will terminate our decision with Loen to open the showcase to Melon
users, and instead open seats up to a first-come-first-serve basis and air the event live through C-JeS’ official YouTube channel. We would like to apologize to the fans for such unfortunate news, and we promise to do our best to make the work behind the showcase and music distribution as smooth as possible.

Sources: [C-JeS Official Homepage], Translated & Shared by: dongbangdata.net

Who else thinks that SM had something to do with this? Idk. That's my first thought. This is just such a load of crap for Junsu. I know many people on Omona thought the whole Loen colab meant really good things were now coming to JYJ. *sigh* When will things like this end? (No Loen tag?)

Edit: So I may have been to rash to say it's SM's fault since there has been no indication of SM doing anything. There is a lot of history with JYJ/SM making it easy for SM to be my first thought, and I think this is a complex issue all together.

Comments

[11th-dance.livejournal.com]

idgi. so one minute loen's saying that they'll be helping junsu and the other minute they're pulling out?? this shit is as confusing as fuq.

[suhbangshinki.livejournal.com]

well damn. it was too good to be true.

S

[lynei.livejournal.com]

#facepalm
srly SM need to stop
leave JYJ alone

[dorkiilove.livejournal.com]

Who else thinks that SM had something to do with this? Idk. That's my first thought

well u tried it, if i remember correctly loen and sm/yg/jyp hate each other, thats why sm/yg/jyp started their own distribution service instead of staying on with loen

[aleash1989.livejournal.com]

Well that's something I didn't know.

[dysphoriia.livejournal.com]

we all know the culprit. can't believe they have that much power. i find it hard to believe loen simply changed their mind. i feel so bad for the boys.

[jaejoong.livejournal.com]

Another day in JYJland

At this point, I don't even know what sort of reaction I'm supposed to have.

[aleash1989.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm sort of just like, "This sort of thing again?"

[baboboy.livejournal.com]

C-JeS and Loen came to a verbal decision

[rinn1e.livejournal.com]

LOL. That was the funniest part.

[fffireburns.livejournal.com]

gdi why wont they let Junsu be great? This is such bs.

[huile7.livejournal.com]

"Verbal decision" lol

[baboboy.livejournal.com]

can we please not blame SM this time and focus on how they didn't SIGN A FUCKING CONTRACT....

[hearttaek.livejournal.com]

Mte.
how irresponsible for businessmen to rely on just verbal agreement.

[allegsiseu.livejournal.com]

well this is a non surprise

[yuukihitohira.livejournal.com]

idk where even to start.

C-Jes is at fault for not getting an actually written contract. Like seriously. Having emails means jack shit without a contract tbh.

Loen is at fault for being jerks and pulling out like this and basically taking advantage of C-Jes and Junsu (even though it's technically C-Jes's fault for NOT GETTING A CONTRACT)

I just...idek

[nortonamo.livejournal.com]

Well if they didn't pinky promise on it...

[soft-daisy.livejournal.com]

wtf, when will these kind of things stop? i feel it's the music industry itself trying to punish jyj and setting an example of what happens if you act like them--but then again, it seems like it only happens to jyj. idgi and it's been years.

although, at this point, i would have though cjes would know better to do a contract-first agreement

either way, poor boys :(

[des-akazim.livejournal.com]

the only reason it seems like only jyj is bc they're one of the few who publically attempt to comeback. Most cases wait quite a long time, or otherwise go to China or some other market.

some others Jay Park (sort of), MC Mong (didn't attempt large-scale comeback yet), Yoo SeungJun (one of the most notable examples of a scandal ruining any career in Korea, although his dealt w/ citizenship and military service), and quite a few others that are escaping my mind.

not trying to discount your thoughts, just saying the korean public opinion is really fickle about things like this (the dissolution of the group dynamic). just look at t-ara- it's arguable that if they had taken some time to 'reflect' or whatever, the public wouldn't have slammed them so hard. as it is, they're almost ridiculously hated.

[donttakethebait.livejournal.com]

poor junsu =( but you need to be a special kind of stupid to think not having everything in writing, in an actual legally binding contract isnt necessary. thats not even taking into consideration the issues anyone from jyj has had with being dropped like ide understand why they didnt do it this is like business 101 lmao.

[crazyxcami.livejournal.com]

LOEN is big, and runs Melon, so that DOES suck...but at the same time verbal decision means shit! always gotta get that contracts signed!


isn't CJ-ES part of the many subs of CJ GROUP? CJ Group also runs MNET Media & CGV Theaters. So why bother with Loen? I know MNET also sucks SM's dick but if its just online promotions and stuff it shouldn't be that much of a treachery to SM (lol being naive rn). Utilize those who are actually somewhat connected with your company. /Unless they're not then okay nvm my last statement lol

[baboboy.livejournal.com]

no they're not ):

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

It's funny how people think SM can tell Loen what to do. It's like Microsoft telling Apple not to sell iphones.

[anconeous.livejournal.com]

IKR?!

[rosetta16.livejournal.com]

LOEN doesnt need anything from SM so it makes no sense to blam SM, like really LOEN is in charge of distributing music for TONS of artist so no SM has nothibg to do
CJeS r u noobs r what that u dont sing a contract for somethings so important? Like really didnt they teach you this in bussines 101 ? Like really befor announing anything and planning it you need to sing a contract to make sure no one will back off ñadt minute.
Is totally CJeS fault since tey should have pressure for a sing contract

[nounou24.livejournal.com]

uggggh whhhhhy again. why cant anything go right for jyj :(

[alleybetwixt.livejournal.com]

Case #934087256837679569453 of JYJ getting screwed over by the industry giants.

It was all so promising too. The contract sounds great. Both sides would have benefited hugely from promotion/distribution. And looks like it was in the works for a long time.

What's especially shitty is that it was LOEN's idea to have a live broadcast of the showcase on Melon and asked CJeS to include that in an announcement to the press. Then BAM, 6 days before the release date, LOEN decides they won't be fulfilling the promotions part of the contract and the showcase won't be on Melon. WTF. IT WAS THEIR IDEA!

A+ to CJeS for upholding transparency and letting us know what's going on.
I applaud them for drawing the line to either confirm that the promotional stuff and showcase will happen or FUCK YOU, WE'LL DO IT OUR WAY, YOU ASSHOLES!

The drama never ends.
I'd put a popcorn gif if I wasn't so disheartened.

Junsu's still gonna make everyone bow down, regardless of this shite.

[soft-daisy.livejournal.com]

A+ to CJeS for upholding transparency and letting us know what's going on.


Junsu's still gonna make everyone bow down, regardless of this shite.


haha, I know there's another thread out on this matter already, but A+ to everything you said here. ^^

[anathema-switch.livejournal.com]

I haven't finished reading yet but verbal decision? Is this why they're not suing, etc but putting LEON on blast? What did they expect?

Edit: However this was a shitty move by LEON and I don't see how they benefit from this? Also I wonder if C-JeS is burning more bridges in the industry by doing this.

[aleash1989.livejournal.com]

From what little law I do know of US law, verbal agreements with emails to back them up can hold up in cases. How that translates in Korea I don't know.

[nyx06.livejournal.com]

I should be used to this, really. But it's been a while so, it's like I'm shocked... well not exactly shocked, but taken aback... then I remember, that it's one of the JYJ members and 'Of Course' something was going to happen. Something always does. /sigh

If C-jes was a person, I'd punch them in the neck for being so damn stupid. This is JYJ we're talking about here, be that ornery, stick-up-your-ass business entity, and have everything documented and signed! You'd think they'd learn!! OMG...

Unless of course, they have to take such risks, like a verbal nonbinding contract, to be able to work with people... but I'm having a hard time imagining the necessity of this...

[footballfina.livejournal.com]

The whole thing confuses me, why would Loen even talk about or consider a deal in the first place if they were only going to back out eventually? What (or who) would make them do that?? It ain't SM b/c they have literally zero control over Loen, so why?!?! WAE?!?!?!?

CJeS has always felt.... idk like a little on the noob side when it comes to things like this :/ And it PISSES me off because the song sound fucking PERFECT!!! UGHHHH

[alleybetwixt.livejournal.com]

Sorry, footballfina... I was writing two comments and switched them. Lol.

Just wanted to say I agree with everything you said.

[aleash1989.livejournal.com]

I did indicate it was my first thought. First thoughts on a subject aren't always right, and I know that. With so much history between SM and JYJ, it's easy for that to happen.

[alleybetwixt.livejournal.com]

A lot of you guys are reacting as if there was no written contract at all. But there is. The initial contract for the distribution and videos was official.

But it was LOEN's idea to add on the Melon showcase, so they continued to plan the events and extra promotional material together over the last month. Looks like they were finalizing those ideas and adding to the contract when LOEN came out of nowhere, saying they weren't going to do any of that.

Even if it was a simple miscommunication or money issue, it was still deceptive of LOEN to inspire confidence of their plans to CJeS and then back out in the 11th hour. It has probably prevented CJeS from getting deals with other companies or working on it alone.

Contracts don't just magically appear. They have to be talked about first. The crucial contract was a done deal. No problem. But it's on LOEN for presenting a bunch of stuff in addition that they couldn't follow through on.

News is saying LOEN is in an emergency meeting now.

(I doubt it has anything to do with SM. But CJeS has enough experience with industry bullshit--largely SM--to have no qualms about calling it out right away when it happens.)

[angela-derp-otp.livejournal.com]

People saying SME has no power to manipulate things and make LOEN take a step back with Junsu's promotions is really naive. SME is not JUST SME ENTERTAINMENT, is a huge conglomerate of companies related to the entertainment industry in Korea, and don't even get me started in the never ending list of business partners, from hotels to airlines, is just crazy.

EDIT: I want to say I agree with all you wrote, I was just making a commenting on the SME/JYJ situation from another perspective, I'm not trying to start beef or anything, and I think it reads a little too sudden now that I read it again and I didn't mean it like that OTL.