CLC Sorn explains income inequality between foreign and Korean idols

[dynamite-state.livejournal.com]

From AsianJunkie:
So basically the Federation Of Korean Music Performers (FKMP) collects a royalty fee, but they do not pay it out until the country that the idol in question is from signs an agreement with them. That essentially ends up making the earnings loss for foreign idols permanent if the countries cannot come to an agreement. Thus, this is not on Cube Entertainment at all as it’s an industry problem, and Lisa of BLACKPINK, BamBam of GOT7, and other foreign idols (like Elkie) also deal with the same thing.

MAJOR MUSIC DISTRIBUTORS OWE OVER 17 BILLION WON IN ROYALTIES TO PRODUCERS AND ARTISTS

It has been discovered that four of Korea’s major digital music distributors owe a total of over 17.4 billion won (approximately $15.4 million) in royalties to copyright holders.

Cho Seung Rae of the Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee in Korea’s National Assembly recently made an announcement after examining documents from an inspection conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He stated, “The unpaid royalties and neighboring rights royalties owed to music creators and performers by the ‘Big Four Digital Music Distributors’ amounts to 17.4 billion won during the period from 2014 to the first quarter of 2017.”

In this context, “royalties” refers to money paid to music copyright holders such as composers and lyric writers, while “neighboring rights royalties” refers to money paid to singers and musicians, etc.

The largest Korean music site Melon, run by Loen Entertainment, owes over half of this amount, with 9.7 billion won (approximately $8.6 million) overdue in royalties and neighboring rights royalties. Genie owes 3.4 billion won (approximately $3 million), Bugs owes 2.3 billion won (approximately $2 million), and Mnet owes 2.1 billion won (approximately $1.9 million). The amount owed to copyright holders has been increasing every year.

Cho Seung Rae stated that this issue of unpaid royalties has been brought up continuously in the past, but that the government hasn’t been able to prepare countermeasures and that the companies have not put effort into solving the problem.

Melon has stated in response, “Digital music service companies are working with the government and copyright holders to find a solution.”

The company added that one of the ways they have been trying to reduce the occurrence of unpaid royalties is maintaining a database of information about copyright in partnership with associations such as the Korean Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; the Federation of Korean Music Performers; and the Recording Industry Association of Korea. They stated that they have also been taking part in discussions with the ministry for the improvement of laws and systems for the past few years.

source: 151092, asianjunkie, naver + news1 via soompi

Comments

[arysthaeniru.livejournal.com]

This is actually fucking huge. No wonder so many foreign idols want out if they get even less than the small amount their fellows get. Also all the foreign music producers aren't getting paid? there are a LOT of foreign music producers for songs. This is such a legit problem that the former SK Admin looked over because of their corruption.

But holy shit. that's worst clause.

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

Also all the foreign music producers aren't getting paid? there are a LOT of foreign music producers for songs.

I'd imagine they don't know/care about it. She mentioned she receives A royalties, but not B, C, or D. So, foreign producers are probably only shown A and told "this is what you'll get for the song." Sorn probably wouldn't have figured it out if she didn't have Korean members to compare her income to.

[bunnyfries.livejournal.com]

I'm curious about foreign producers. Isn't there a lot of Korean Americans working in Korea in music? Technically they don't have Korean citizenship so how does that work out. Teddy obviously manages to use his royalties considering how loaded he is. And YG invites foreign producers over all the time

[dynamite-state.livejournal.com]

It's a country-by-country basis, if I understood correctly. Perhaps the US has the necessary agreement with SKorea that Thailand (in this case) does not.

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

i admire how focused and determined and level-headed sorn is. she legit seemed ready to campaign for a new law to get her due. and i liked that she reached out to the other thai members.

but this legal issue and the way companies apparently handle it really shed some extra light on some of the messier exits of foreign members from kpop groups, not to mention the way companies seek out foreigners for international cred.

[bunnyfries.livejournal.com]

Yup. And I'm sure if a "lowly" idol like Sorn could bring light to this then why didn't big companies hiring foreigners try to push back on this law? With their clout and resources it'd be possible

Seems like the more logical path to protect their investments (kpop groups / foreign members) and prevent infighting but... apparently YG told Lisa to "not get jealous" about income inequality bc that's the way the law is, when she signed her contract?? Weird

[normanikordei.livejournal.com]

that's really fucked up re: yg and lisa

[destined2beboss.livejournal.com]

Yes her maturity and level headedness about the entire this is admirable.

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

Yiiiiiiikes. What a mess.

[mewaqua1.livejournal.com]

this defininitely clears up some things, no wonder foreign members rather leave often if they get so little, i'm very proud of sorn for not sitting back and just letting it happen, like she said it would be a hugh loss for a young idol like her (and lisa + bambam) to not do anything, i hope thailand and korea reach an agreement within a few years so she can still take all the unpaid money while on her cube contract

i'm really surprised by the way sorn talks about cube btw and surprised about cube for actually taking care of their artists (i mean i hear so often how bad cube is and i personally dislike the way 4minute ended but based on this and her previous livestreams, cube doesn't sound like the baddest of them all....yg tho...basically telling lisa to take it, less money or leave, that's how it sounds to me)

i'm mad this info doesn't go viral but not surprised with the way korea is :( hopefully sorn speaking up in public will make other foreigners also take action if possible

[myungung.livejournal.com]

I'm also impressed with how Sorn has handled and researched into this issue, kudos to her!

Echoing the comments re Cube, it seems that welfare and freedom wise they treat their artistes relatively well, with much free reign and how Sorn is able to continue vlogging too, even though their business decisions aren't always the best.

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

I've been a long time supporter of CUBE groups and it does seem eversince that CUBE gives more freedom to their artist not just in music but in other aspects as well.

i am so proud of Sorn and happy that she shared this. somehow, this explains why some foreign members left their group. im pretty sure its not the only reason but possibly one that has a big effect.

[haroobommi.livejournal.com]

this is such a shitty situation but Sorn is such a smart and strong person, I'm loving her more and more

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Yea I'm really proud of her speaking up about this! It really enlightened me on apart of the business I did not know about

[revedesnuages.livejournal.com]

If I recall properly, I think the previous law was that Chinese citizens weren't allowed to perform on every station (there were only a limited amount of tv stations where they can appear) and the company would be fined if they do, so Hangeng had to wear a facemask to hide his identity for a lot of broadcasts :/

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

I'm really impressed with Sorn. She has a good head on her shoulders. Also positively surprised at Cube letting her do this, not every company would (they really seem to be on a better track this year, even if there are still some weird business decisions).
Hopefully this will get some traction and the law will change, but I'm doubtful. Sorn is not the idol with the biggest following.
I wonder which countries have an agreement vs which doesn't. Unfair pay comes up in discussion about idols from China more often, and Thailand/Hong Kong in this case, but not so much with the US... What about other South-Asian countries? Somehow I doubt SK has agreement with them.

I can't imagine how much they could be owning to Nickhun :o

[vonnadarling.livejournal.com]

Thats really crazy. I know other Thai idols like BamBam and Nichkhun have a lot of song credits. I think Bamx2 has like 17 now and Nickhun probably has over 30. I dont know about Lisa though. I hope they solve this soon, thats a lot of money they're misding out on.

[22-taken.livejournal.com]

Bambam has 14 - all in Korean albums, Nichkhun wrote 2 songs according to song credits I've just checked.. it was Let it Rain and So Wonderful

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

Sorn really seems to have her head on straight. I appreciate her breaking it down like that.


Because idols are so young an eager to debut, they probably are willing to accept less (like Lisa) and the system seems just fine with that. It seems odd that certain royalties are guaranteed and others aren't...and that it differs by country. I like how committed she is to figuring out the problem and trying to solve it. Plus, she was looking out for other foreign members too. You go, Sorn!

[mortkero.livejournal.com]

Every time I see something about Sorn, I respect her more, I think she has the kind of attitude that means she could work longer term in the industry.

If the disparity is due to international agreements, then it isn't all South Korea's fault, just that the law hasn't caught up with changes in the industry. However the attitude of the companies leaves something to be desired.

[thosewhoknew.livejournal.com]

Good on Sorn for speaking up on this issue and shedding light for every kpop fan who spends money supporting their artists. I commend her for explaining the situation in such a clear manner!

It's wonderful that Cube set up bank accounts for each member to "directly" (I use this term loosely because i am sure there are pre-agency processing procedures happening before it ends up in member accounts anyway).

But how DIRTY could the agency be to not even discuss this kind of information with the artist during contract signing. I call absolute bullshit on the agency for "researching per Sorn's request" on why her royalty fees were not depositing on time/in the same amount as her korean native counterparts. I am sure income and financial details are discussed rigorously before these contracts are signed. Even if it's out of the agency's hands, why does it appear as if there was no prior discussion regarding this? How many foreign idols have to find out the hard way like Sorn did about the true nature of their income?

[petecarl.livejournal.com]

Damn, this is something really important. I hope her fans and other Thai and Hong Kong fans put pressure on their necessary administrations to sign with the Korean Federation so that they can get their $$$.

I also wonder why this system is a thing? I don't think the US has this type of system? I wonder why SK's system is set up so that foreign countries must sign an agreement for their artists to receive full compensation for their work? I wonder if the current system is even necessary any more. It would be interesting if a Korean lawyer or a reporter would do an investigative piece on this. Why was the system set up like this initially and why does it continue like this?

I think it's great that Sorn is speaking out about it and that she feels she has the support of her company, Cube. I know she said Lisa was accepting of it, but she didn't recount BamBam's position on it. I'm sure he isn't thrilled and just grudgingly accepted it. I wish I could do something, call someone to push for change on this, but unfortunately, I don't think anyone would listen to me since I'm not a part of the countries that are part of this dispute. (Unless America is? But somehow I think we're getting our money.) It would be interesting to ask the girl from Rania and other Americans who are no longer working in Korea.

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

Hate companies who don't pay their bills

[pseudo-shigure.livejournal.com]

so i still dont really get it. does thai kids get the royalty late or they only get for some songs and not for the others? the second one sounds really sucks tbh. if it's late, well AT LEAST they'd still get the money in the end.

and yeah, it's totally unfair, with how global kpop is, that sk has this kind of system.

[dynamite-state.livejournal.com]

they get royalties from legal streaming or from album purchases, they don't get royalties when their music is used anywhere else (in public spaces, for example). That's what I got from it.

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

good on sorn! i love how proactive she is. yg remains trash