SM Entertainment’s refutation, “They made 11b KRW after debut”

[recycledpeace.livejournal.com]

SM Entertainment, with which Dong Bang Shin Ki member Hero JaeJoong, Micky YooChun and Xiah JunSu has have a dispute with, came out to reveal their official stand.

SM Entertainment said on 3rd August, “Dong Bang Shin Ki has earn 11billion KRW from after their debut till 2009 July (dividend payout 9.2 billion KRW + beforehand provision 1.77 billion KRW). Also they also received many high-end foreign products in the process even though SM Entertainment was suffering from a business deficit in the 4 years after the group’s debut. And even though there is a distributive ratio, they would have raised it with proftis from their endorsement in CFs, doing events and also photoshoots.”

And about how the 3 members have said that they were given unjust treatment, SM Entertainment said, “About their health and schedule, we have discussed them before they were put through it.”

And about the cosmetic enterprise, SM said, “Looking at this case, this holds substantial reasons to it. It is evident since there is only 3 members involved in this case. They wanted to reduce the loss of image and harm to them as soon as possible with this plan as they will be used for the enterprise in terms of having their images used as part of marketing and also to participate in events for the enterprise.”

Also, “According to the Fair Trade commission, there is no provision saying that singers cannot be signed for beyond a period of 7 years, and there is no exceptional provision limiting the contract of singers promoting overseas. We did amendments to the exclusive rights clause for 5 times after the contract was contracted, 2 times were to address the compensation of loss, and after checking and confirmation by the Fair Trade Commission. The rest of the 3 times were to address the profits distribution ratio and for renewal – in 2004 January, then in 2007 February and 2009 February.”

SM “We will solve this case with the 3 members regarding the application for retractile in the contract and the lawsuit confrontation as soon as possible.”

K Bites

Unfortunately, Sookyeong hasn't listed the original Korean article. I've sent this through as most would agree she's a valid source, as she translates the articles herself.

Comments

[crisketch.livejournal.com]

11b KRW divided by 5 people and spread over 6 years isnt even that much.

DIAF LSM.

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

It's about $300,000 yearly profit for each member (when divided that way), which is a very nice sum, but not worth becoming a slave.

[labobo93.livejournal.com]

I want to scold SM for this ridiculousness, but maybe they should have read the contracts thoroughly before signing it. Just saying.

[aurait.livejournal.com]

Well, it's easy to say that, but they were practically kids when they signed. From my understanding (though I might be wrong), you sign when you enter as a trainee and the contract goes into effect once you debut. Because of their professionalism, it's easy to forget how young idols are and how young they are when they start. It's not even a question of understanding the legalese or whatever, but of really thinking through the impact and implications of what they were committing too. I mean, someone hands you a piece of paper and says they're going to fulfill your dreams, the response isn't typically going to be "well, 13 years is a long time . . . "

[joongified.livejournal.com]

Whichever article I read, I still find SM evil.

[jaejoongxyuno07.livejournal.com]

Wtf, SM?
Ughhh...
He is seriously in need of a reality check...

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

“About their health and schedule, we have discussed them before they were put through it.”
I'm sure they have conversed about those very amiably with threatening with violence and legal actions.

[rencode.livejournal.com]

...So fucking what? Besides 11b KRW is *not* that much divided by 5.

The point of all this is that they want to subject them to more mistreatment with that ridiculous ass, lifetime 13yr. contract.

Not to mention, I HIGHLY doubt their health was "discussed" prior to contracts being signed. What did SM tell them, "Oh your health is going to practically be shit and you'll only get but so much sleep. Yes, bags under your eye are included. The whole shebang."

(No srsly, wtf happened to Yoochun's hair in that picture?)

[aitotchideto.livejournal.com]

bullshit.

[miduhyo.livejournal.com]

i get that this is clearly going to garner more "sm is evil evil evil" comments, and i do feel that it's deserved, but tbh, there are generally at least two sides to any story, so i'm taking both stances with a grain of salt right now.

[-ochre.livejournal.com]

Same. I mean, I'm a DBSK fan. But good god, this is such a mess.

[inheritable.livejournal.com]

How dare a corporation want to make money out of their investment :T

[avieyal.livejournal.com]

nahahahahaha!

but I mean hey, you can only push humans so far.

[xinliyoushu.livejournal.com]

I just really feel sorry for them. =/

[slantgirl.livejournal.com]

the 11b krw... is this the amount that dbsk earned or lsm pocketed at least 80% of?

[maomaocong.livejournal.com]

if its the amt dbsk earned, then, woah, sm pockets 44b krw

[aici-rua.livejournal.com]

~be careful what you agree to~

[dandycat.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. When you're thirteen and living in a subway, you can afford to be choosy.

[xiaheart.livejournal.com]

i swear nothing is looking good in my eyes. sm just hired one of the top lawyers in korea to go against the boys. sm is so much bullshit.

[caughtmedead.livejournal.com]

Blasted SM!

[goldengutgirl.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's not as civil as it sounds.

So they earned 11b krw, but I don't think they ever knew this amount exactly, and like just exactly how much the company had earned because of them. I think that's what they wanted to know. I never properly read about them wanting more of the profit, but they wanted to know how large the profit was.

Plus, the bad treatment? Discussion? What does that involve exactly? "You 5, you're going to have a shitload of schedule and no time to sleep okay? This is for your own good because god if you fucking fail your career is going down the drain so you better follow the instructions and the schedule, or you should start looking for a part-time job, got it?"

Yeah okay. Change is good, compromise is good, giving a little is good. I don't see how a little amendment is going to hurt your fcking empire. This is all just ego.

[yourexsilly.livejournal.com]

I think SM got worried that if they learned how much money they made versus how much they actually got, that they'd demand more money. Also, you'd think SM would take better care of the guys, especially when they're making the money. If you're in bad health then you can't perform as much or as well, and you can't make as many appearances. Silly SM.

[aurait.livejournal.com]

Well, it looks like SM is ready to fight this, and they're dealing with the PR first.

What I find really worrisome about this article is that they seem ready to deal JaeChunSu a lot of negative PR spin and make them look like greedy primadonnas who are throwing a tantrum over not getting to do what they want with the cosmetic company. Not only does this suggest that SM is ready to fight hard and probably fight dirty, but more worrisome, it means they're not above tarnishing the guys' images. Which might mean . . . well, it's a little bit dramatic to suggest this absolutely, but let's put it this way: if SM were going into this with the intent of preserving DBSK, they'd want the members to come out of it with their images as clean as possible so to not compromise the group's image and popularity.

[dandycat.livejournal.com]

That would make SM pretty petty. And stupid.

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

Well damn SM, if you just let them know how much they were making in the first place maybe this wouldn't have happened...

[schizofragile.livejournal.com]

Lol of course SM has to defend himself. But I can see their point (from a very money-hungry corporation, that is). I wonder now how it's gonna be solved. SM doesn't look like it's gonna ~back down.

[djlancerock.livejournal.com]

“About their health and schedule, we have discussed them before they were put through it.”

oh, okay, so that makes it okay? Did they say "k guys you're gonna get sick, just deal"?

[-ochre.livejournal.com]

To be honest? I don't even know what to think. Both parties can say WHATEVER they want to say. We'll never know the truth cos yeah. I just want to know the result.

[leap4detonation.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. I wonder how long it will take before the end of this. :/

[samloves.livejournal.com]

JUST DIE SM. JUST DIE NOW.

[wildcosmos.livejournal.com]

the amount of excuses SM will pull out...

[ricey11.livejournal.com]

Jesus Christ this is such a goddamn mess.
This is gonna end badly I think, for both parties.

[xiaheart.livejournal.com]

this is negative thinking, but even if jaesuchun do win, I doubt things are going to the same again. if in the end sm gives in, internal relationships are going to be bloody bad. i dont even know if i make sense right now.

[octocoffee.livejournal.com]

I still don't see a justification for the "If you guys don't sell 500K, you get none of the profits, suckers" clause. It hasn't been denied either... I know it was revised later on, but it's still idiotic to have in the first place.

[missklutz16.livejournal.com]

that's how most music works actually (regardless of country). i don't know if it's an actual clause in the contract or not, but when you sign with a record label and make an album you get an advance. an advance is like a loan, and you have to pay back the loan to the record company with album sales. so when you sell albums, the percentage of the profits that you recieve from the album actually goes back into the company until you've paid back the costs to make the album 100%, and then you see the profits from the album. it's rare to make money with music, artists make most of their money from touring and promotional activites.

[under-an-oak.livejournal.com]

Okay, seriously, read Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers that highlights SKorean Air's once-worrying trend of a high number of crashes. The reason? Co-pilots who are usually younger than the main pilot, are dongsaengs and thus NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK UP AGAINST THEIR ELDERS, EVEN WHEN THE ELDER IS OBVIOUSLY WRONG AND ENDANGERING LIVES. It's the effing culture for god's sake.

And this is not a matter of LSM. This is the Board of Directors getting too effing greedy.

[shonen-key.livejournal.com]

Okay, seriously, read Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers that highlights SKorean Air's once-worrying trend of a high number of crashes. The reason? Co-pilots who are usually younger than the main pilot, are dongsaengs and thus NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK UP AGAINST THEIR ELDERS, EVEN WHEN THE ELDER IS OBVIOUSLY WRONG AND ENDANGERING LIVES.

Shit D: That's supposed to be the last thing on their mind when it come to that kind of situation.