Clarifying B1A4′s sajaegi scandal: Lessons for K-pop fans

[turdferguson.livejournal.com]

ichigo-shortcake

There were 3 specific things that we abided by at that time [during our trainee days].

Firstly, to greet well (to whoever, sincerely).

Secondly, to be punctual.

Thirdly, to tell no lies.

No matter what happens, these are the 3 things that the members and company abide to, and it is also the promise between us members. It’s been a year and a half since debut and this promise still holds true. I believe that it would be the same in the future… The company once told us, “The road that you all have chosen… You will live by communicating with the public, receiving their love while meeting their expectations. If you cannot even keep a small promise to yourselves, how are you going to keep the many promises you make to the public?”

-B1A4′s Baro, Star Column interview, 2012

One of the perils of being a K-pop fan is the possibility of betrayal by people we trust. We come to know idols, and sometimes the staff behind them, through performances, interviews, and variety shows; the more time we spend with information about them, the more we believe we understand about their selves and their lived realities. Yet even as we cheer for our favorites, watching them soar to new heights of popularity and performance ability, we are aware of and occasionally confront the fact that the industry exists for one reason, and that reason is not the growth and wellbeing of the young people who are its face. The K-pop industry is fundamentally a capitalist enterprise, and it exists to generate profit. Our glimpses “behind the curtain” are often jarring, revealing an industry that does not love its idols the way we do, and that loves us only insofar as we buy the products (from their own albums to makeup, snapbacks, chicken, and more) that our faves advertise. We quickly learn that people in the industry will do whatever it takes to keep their idols relevant and moving products off the shelves.

It’s unusual, then, that in the context of an industry that values profit over people, WM Entertainment holds its idols – a 5-member boy group called B1A4 – to the expectations Baro outlines above, expectations that put humanity and trust at the center of every interaction. And it’s ironic, and perhaps a little sad, that the same company is now under fire, facing allegations of dishonest business practices while promoting the group’s second full album. Specifically, WM has been accused of sajaegi, that is, illegally buying back B1A4’s physical albums in order to increase the sales numbers that factor into music shows, where idol groups have the opportunity to win awards based on several criteria.

[...]

Given that it would be possible, though difficult, for WM to conduct sajaegi, what other evidence remains to suggest that sajaegi did in fact happen? Let’s turn now to the claims and counterclaims made by participants in the discourse.

Claim 1: B1A4 sold 67,000 albums in week 1, yet they had only 1,000 fans attend their fansign event.

Counterclaim: With six different album covers and a rumor that each album cover – a 144-page glossy magazine – had different contents, it is plausible and widely reported that fans bought more than one album (see, for example, Dispatch’s investigation). In addition, the fansign was lotteried, meaning that only 1,000 fans could attend, but many more may have bought multiple albums to increase their chances of being allowed in. B1A4 held three fansigns over the week of January 20th, with applications opening at the end of the previous week.

Claim 2: The random spike in sales (8,000 or 14,000) reported after business hours on Sunday, January 19th, is highly suspicious.

Counterclaims:

a. Hanteo updates itself every half-hour, but this does not reflect when sales are actually made. It is possible that retail staff waited until the end of the day to convey their data to Hanteo. Hanteo and WM stated that much of these sales are accounted for by overseas fans’ purchases at an offline store (something like the bulk-buy planned by these Japanese fans; a wholesaler bulk-buying from a Hanteo retailer, or late-in-the-day aggregate reporting). According to Hanteo’s representative, speaking to OSEN News (clarification on translation by dragonfly0915), online sales of this nature would be suspicious, but offline sales are not.

b. TVXQ, whose album was released the week prior to B1A4’s, saw similar spikes during their first week. The sales pattern – a bulge at the end of the day Sunday as well as other days – is the same as B1A4’s, suggesting that retailer reporting is similar across the board and reflects increased purchases due to fansigns.


Dispatch's investigation proves that B1A4's sales patterns are similar to other boy groups (Source)


Claim 3: B1A4 sold 67,000 albums in week 1, putting them on par with the top sellers in K-pop such as Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, and Big Bang. It’s a huge jump compared to their previous release, a mini album that sold only 22,000 copies in its first week. This is unrealistic for a group that is relatively unknown.

Counterclaims:

a. In fact, B1A4’s sales put them in the top-middle of the pack of first-week sellers (14th place), on par with Infinite, who are their seniors by one year. Between their 164,000+ registered fancafe users, 500,000+ followers per member on Twitter, and 364,000+ followers on Google +, it seems reasonable to expect that after an eight-month absence, B1A4 would be able to sell at least 67,000 of their full albums. (That’s just 13% of their Twitter followership.) Moreover, B1A4 is enjoying increased visibility with the general public thanks to Baro’s role in the hit drama Reply 1994 (which achieved ratings up to 11.5%), and Sandeul’s stint as a soloist on Immortal Song 2; the fancafe grew by over 2,000 members in the month of January. Some netizens commented that B1A4 could barely sell 5,000 seats at a concert, but both of their solo concerts have sold out – a total of 10,000 seats each in under five minutes. It would only take those dedicated fans buying approximately one of each album cover to account for the first week’s sales.


‘Who Am I’ comes in 6 different 144 page magazine-style editions making them very collectable (Source)

b. In addition, the unique packaging provided an incentive to purchase more than one album at a time. This could be a significant reason why album sales tripled. Participants point out that Super Junior has also released multiple covers, with no impact to sales; however, the groups’ contexts and fandoms are completely different, and there were likely no rumors at the time of SuJu’s album release that there would be different contents within each album cover.

c. Some SM fandoms work together to space out album sales over the course of the promotional period, thus increasing their faves’ chances at winning multiple times, but also artificially lowering their own sales numbers (again, here). Thus, B1A4 is not really selling at their level.

d. B1A4 is not the only group to make a huge gain in album sales recently; EXO, VIXX, and Infinite have seen similar jumps in the last year. In all cases, the fandoms are growing in numbers, which could account for the ballooning sales.

Claim 4: A suspicious 3,600 albums were sold in Daegu in week 1.

Counterclaim: Maybe B1A4 has a lot of fans in Daegu. Maybe “3,600” reflects international fans’ purchases through kpoptown, which is located in Daegu. We don’t know, and we can’t know because of the aggregated reporting, but there are possibilities other than sajaegi.

Claim 5: Hanteo said there’s nothing suspicious about B1A4’s sales pattern – but it’s in their interest to lie to protect their own credibility, and no one believes them anyway because they only know the aggregated sales numbers, not what goes on before the numbers are reported to them.

Counterclaims:

a. It’s in Hanteo’s interest to tell the story that aligns with the money. If there were anything suspicious, Hanteo would do better to call for an independent investigation and put blame on WM, a small company in comparison to most of the agencies whose artists’ albums are reported by Hanteo. If Hanteo felt that standing with WM would threaten their credibility with larger companies, they would likely not do so.

b. If Hanteo is not to be trusted, then its reporting of sales, including the suspicious spikes, is also not to be trusted, and its charts cannot be the basis for the controversy at hand.

c. Hanteo and Gaon reiterated their position that there were no irregularities in B1A4’s sales, and Gaon’s monthly chart numbers indicated that the number of albums distributed was greater than the number of albums sold, as would be expected. Sales continue to hold steady, both digitally and physically (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), along with Youtube views and Twitter mentions, leading the group to a total of eight music show wins.

Claim 6: WM is a sketchy company – they manipulated Youtube views on B1A4’s debut music video, then took it down before there was much of an outcry.


B1A4′s Baro as ‘Binggeure’, a popular character in tvN’s hit drama ‘Reply 1994′

Counterclaim: Manipulating Youtube views is far easier, less expensive, and less risky than sajaegi would be. This is the only example provided of WM’s “sketchiness,” and past guilt has no causal relation to the present.

In the midst of the discourse, one element has been notably absent: motive. For WM to conduct a risky and illegal business move, they would need a strong incentive to do so. Dispatch suggests that the motivation is publicity – higher album sales attract more sponsors. Yet, as mentioned, B1A4 has reached new heights of popularity thanks to Baro’s drama and Sandeul’s solo work (along with an attention-grabbing performance at the Gayo Daejejun); we would go as far as to argue that most of the promotional work for Who Am I was completed before 2014 even began.

If WM were to conduct sajaegi, it would be redundant – and with more eyes on them, the company faces more scrutiny and has more to lose than ever before. In addition, sajaegi sends a strong negative message – “we don’t actually believe your work can sell this album” – to WM’s partners who contributed to the album, including their producers, graphic designers, featured artists (such as Harim, Park Shinwon), and the B1A4 members who contributed their creative abilities to eight of the twelve songs on the album.

[...]


Beyond Hallyu (there's more of this article there~)

Comments

[strangelykatie.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to see this! these bbs work so hard and I hope their success proves that it was worth letting the kids do their own thing and have more creative control.

[anconeous.livejournal.com]

The issue will only end when WM Entertainment releases receipts or proof of purchases. That's it. No one is saying they can't sell that much. They've been getting decent sales since last year or even the year before that. And they have gotten popularity surges so selling more this time around makes sense. It's just strange that their company still hasn't shown any receipts to quiet down the issue.

[curioustaiyo.livejournal.com]

right? like if there was nothing shady going on they could just release that and it would have ended then and there. the bottom line for me is the fact that they let the issue grow to this size and have a negative affect on their group's image. why? there must be a reason. especially when, assuming they did nothing wrong, the resolution is right there. i like b1a4 and this "scandal" doesn't really have an affect on that or my opinion of them but i do think WM did it, a lot of companies do including some of my faves.

[mya13.livejournal.com]

"No one is saying they can't sell that much." what?? you haven't read much of what people were saying then. all the comments i've read mentioned how they couldn't sell that much due to their previous ignition album sales (which came out 2 years ago so what an irrelevant argument). I honestly think that one of the reasons WM didn't say anything was because it would just add more fuel to the fire. no matter what proof they put out i'm sure cray fans would find a way to rebuttal those proofs.

[turdferguson.livejournal.com]

yep

Had to do my annual log in to say yep, yep & thanks for posting this.

[lushontop.livejournal.com]

Love these noona killers to bits and will support them til I'm old & jamming w/ my walker.

[fabledlamb.livejournal.com]

"What participants may not realize is that there is no way for WM to “produce the receipts” if they did not conduct sajaegi, because the receipts are located with anyone purchasing from the distributors. The only receipts WM has – and the only receipts they should have – are those for the transaction between themselves and the distributors." (Quoted from the full article at the source.)

[inori88.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that information. I was confused at how the whole thing about receipts work.
Is it commun that people demand said receipts (like this time)? Anyone knows?

[fabledlamb.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure but I don't remember a case where people were actually doubtful or even hysterical enough to demand receipts from a company. Even in CNBlue's case people waited and compared the Hanteo numbers with the ones by Gaon and then the case was settled.

This is what charts are there for after all, especially with Hanteo and Gaon. They aren't just there to measure popularity but real actual sales numbers. This is their function for the industry and the media and anyone else interested in those raw pure facts. The numbers of albums shipped or sold are reported to them in a way that has to be transparent and reliable. And that's why the whole controversy should've stopped when both Hanteo and Gaon reported there weren't any irregularities for B1A4's album, imo.

The bottom line for me is that this was such a disgusting and hypocritical witch hunt for the most part, it was very difficult for me to keep my faith in the fans of a certain group/company. (Pun intended.)

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

Fandom Who Must Not Be Named is still under the believe that hanteo/gaon lied to make themselves look credible despite the higher gaon numbers so I don't think this issue will ever be done with. I literally have no time to be sitting around stewing with hate and feelings of injustice so why can't other fandoms move on. A few music show losses don't hurt. Quit pretending this was done to make the ~music industry a fair place~ by reporting the 'truth'

[sam tafridj (from livejournal.com)]

I have a serious question, tho. are there any other fandoms speaking up against B1A4?
or really it's just cassies not handling competition well?
BANAs (well, those I follow on tumblr) are like super chill and we're just so so happy for B1A4 <3

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

It's mostly just them but I've seen Sones (here is where I wish I bookmarked/took screen shots for evidence) talking about this as well and I'm just like ??? your fandom did this to cn blue as well and were proven wrong.

I'm glad banas have calmed down - there was a youtube troll who kept coming back to leave hateful comments on their mv and everyone's just like yay more views and comments lol

[dysphoriia.livejournal.com]

iirc their company was the one who said in the beginning that they'll produce receipts once they've figured everyone out. so, they asked for it.

[lushontop.livejournal.com]

The crays breed quicker than fleas and are just as nasty.

Some of these proof demands are redundant. I equate them to say a few of my dieting friends sharing they ate carrots & tofu for breakfast and me saying prove it, show me...like throw it up and give me actual proof because I know EVERYTHING and am always right and I don't believe you.

[turdferguson.livejournal.com]

Claim 2: The random spike in sales (8,000 or 14,000) reported after business hours on Sunday, January 19th, is highly suspicious.

Counterclaims:

a. Hanteo updates itself every half-hour, but this does not reflect when sales are actually made. It is possible that retail staff waited until the end of the day to convey their data to Hanteo. Hanteo and WM stated that much of these sales are accounted for by overseas fans’ purchases at an offline store (something like the bulk-buy planned by these Japanese fans; a wholesaler bulk-buying from a Hanteo retailer, or late-in-the-day aggregate reporting). According to Hanteo’s representative, speaking to OSEN News (clarification on translation by dragonfly0915), online sales of this nature would be suspicious, but offline sales are not.

b. TVXQ, whose album was released the week prior to B1A4’s, saw similar spikes during their first week. The sales pattern – a bulge at the end of the day Sunday as well as other days – is the same as B1A4’s, suggesting that retailer reporting is similar across the board and reflects increased purchases due to fansigns.

Read more at Omona They Didnt: http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/12666693.html#comments#comments#ixzz2syMSFmrU

as well as claims 4 and 5

[countingcr0ws.livejournal.com]

Oh. I really liked the intro. :/

[inori88.livejournal.com]

isn't someone innocent until proven guilty?
I havent seen any real evidence about the so called sajaegi and as this article shows, there are different interpretation of those accusations made by fans (or was it the media?)
I guess that doesnt apply to public opnion, many people with judge without any real evidence and then no evidence may be enough to make people change their mind.
That being said, if the company has any way to prove their innocence, i dont see a logical reason why not to do it.
I will admit I do not know how the whole "releases receipts" works, but is it easy? can it be done in no time? or is it complicated and will take some time?
All that being said, may I add that some fans are quite hypocrits? The manipulation of the charts is done by fans most of the times if not all of the times. Most of the big groups have fanclubs who always manipulate the charts in a different fashion that Im sure its not illegal but still
bulk purchases is a known practice.And korean fans organize their bulk purchases so they can, for example, keep their idol on top as much as they can, or get them more chances at the music shows etc.
We all have seen those fans who purchase like 100 albums and I wish I was exagerating.
that is something Im pretty sure all fandoms have done

[suxaholic.livejournal.com]

only if they are part of SM

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

roundofapplause.gif

A+ gif choice OP

[turdferguson.livejournal.com]

(btw before anyone asks i could only post half of the article as per the request of the authors)

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

I was shocked to see my gif lol Their star column interview is one of my favourites ;_;

I held back from posting this for the longest time so thanks for posting it ^^ I read the backlash the article received and just went back to feeling sorry for the boys really. From claims that this was being mistranslated (based on previous fan translations) to pander to Banas, or that Dispatch was being paid to do this.

And to anybody saying WM should just release the receipts - you know damn well that won't change anything. Next will be claims that the receipts were fabricated or something.

[turdferguson.livejournal.com]

that's your tumblr? i'm gonna follow you now haha

And to anybody saying WM should just release the receipts - you know damn well that won't change anything. Next will be claims that the receipts were fabricated or something.

pretty much

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

What's your tumblr? I'll follow you back

[turdferguson.livejournal.com]

http://revlovejoy.tumblr.com
http://vero-unnie.tumblr.com is my sideblog kpop

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

Followed you on both :)

[pepper.livejournal.com]

Hopefully, this will shut Cassies up.
Though knowing the fandom, they're probably going to keep whining and denying the facts till the end of time.

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

not that I believe in any of those accusations but it's good to know they have lots of information to prove them wrong

[uguukawaii.livejournal.com]

B1a4 are like one of the few groups that seem so sweet and chill I hate that this is happening to them, I'm glad to read this

[vikihpnerd.livejournal.com]

I alone bought 6 copies of this album...one for each member plus the group version...it's not surprising that other more hardcore BANAs out there bought multiple versions of this album.

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

Claim #1 is absolutely true. Personally I only buy 1 album for fan sign lotteries, but I know a girl that once bought over 20 on one occasion to get into one. Plus fans go to multiple events. So if the same fan, say, attends 3 events in a week and buys several copies just to try and get in than that's a lot right there.

[suxaholic.livejournal.com]

i bought 6 copies and happy I did. this is one of many reasons I am not a cassie anymore

[pimpmysneaks.livejournal.com]

My copy just arrived and I will gladly post a picture, my receipt, and my credit card statement for anyone who wants proof.

[ah-mui.livejournal.com]

I thought I saw a post about someone compiling receipts from the fans? On tumblr I think. Which is good, because of course the customers would have receipts (and the actual physical albums) not WM. If all the BANAs and casual fans just banded together, post a photo of their receipt and albums, I'm sure all 67K can be accounted for.

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

According to the bana collecting the receipts most people still believe in the sajaegi rumour :\

[hurtmybones.livejournal.com]

cassies really learned nothing from the embarrassing stunt sones pulled last year. was it worth it tho? to look this ridiculous and pressed over a music show win?

[xredada.livejournal.com]

great read, i still can't believe ppl came for b1a4 like that

[hitsujiga.livejournal.com]

glad the fandom isn't taking cassies bs here. boys are popular no matter what you think~

[aaalove.livejournal.com]

Can we all agree that it's not their fault and they don't deserve misdirected hatred from so many!!! I don't get it, people need to realize companies do it, not the idols! The idols aren't going to tell their company or bosses not to do something.

[gigabytexx.livejournal.com]

As a regular fangirl who doesn't have that much money and liking multiple groups, I would rather spend my money to buy albums from a group (even if I don't like them that much) who give out interesting bonuses OR amazing photoshoots in their booklet. If B1A4 provides album with magazines like that I would so buy them even if I like the other groups more (with bonuses only photocards, or booklet)
Surely there are dedicated fans who only buy groups they stan, but just y'all know nowadays there are many young people who like multiple groups as well and it's really possible that these people have the same thought as me, buy whoever provides the best bonus \o/