Should We Let Lee Hyo-lee Off The Hook?

[mystylle.livejournal.com]

Can pop stars be forgiven practically any offense? That is a question on many lips after the revelation that singer Lee Hyo-lee's latest album "h.logic" contains no fewer than six plagiarized songs. Lee admitted to the wrongdoing and vowed to refrain from promoting the album. Yet she appeared on a recent SBS program.

The producers say Lee was not directly responsible for the plagiarism, but the public sees things differently. They feel it is unseemly for Lee to make out that she is a victim herself, and that the producers of TV shows should not sweep the problem under the carpet.

Unlike other artists accused of plagiarism, who deny their wrongdoings to the end, Lee owned up. But the fact that half of an artist's album consisted of songs that had been stolen from foreign artists leaves an indelible stain on Korean pop music as a whole. Lee in a statement issued by her management agency Mnet Media said she had "no reason to be suspicious" since she was given the songs by the agency. She claims her rookie songwriter, a person by the name of Bahnus, lied to her.

It was after all not the first time that Lee has been accused of plagiarism. And given that she had been promoting herself as a consummate professional while producing her latest album, these comments seem rather pathetic. In an earlier interview she claimed the album contains songs that were strictly screened from 1,000 songs submitted by a wide range of composers. "We even checked to see if any of those songs were similar to other tunes out there using the iPhone application 'SoundHound'." The comments have lost all credibility.

Accusations of plagiarism surfaced on the Internet shortly after the album was released in mid-April, but she continued to market the songs until the end of May on various TV and radio programs. Bahnus had apparently left Mnet Media on May 10 "taking all responsibility" for the accusations of plagiarism. That means Lee and Mnet Media had about 40 days to recognize the suspicions, making it difficult for Lee and Mnet Media to escape criticism that they fooled the public.

The larger problem is how frequent such are. Many if not most singers releasing new albums these days are accused of plagiarism. This is because singers have become cash cows rather than artists who are able to communicate with the public. Singers who present original songs about their own emotions are an endangered species, while a handful of composers contracted by powerful management companies dominate the tunes that top the charts. This increases the risk of plagiarism as each one of these composing machines churns out more than 50 songs a year.

Lee's biggest mistake was in fact her failure to take charge of her songs and her album, contrary to what she has been saying in public. If a 13-year veteran of the entertainment industry and Korea's reigning queen of pop is in such bad shape, things must be even worse for the younger singers who are being groomed by their agencies. Veteran rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Shin Jung-hyun said in a recent interview, "There is no real music on Korea's pop music scene these days. There is only greed". Gone are the days when singers made their own music and conquered the stage with powerful voices and honest pride.

Source: hancinema.net

Comments

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

Hm..

[whisperedtimes.livejournal.com]

no comment on hyori's issues, but the criticism on kpop culture and music is so undeniably true. things change so fast. four years in kpop and the last two years have seen a tremendous decline in basic, good music. autotune really does make the singer nowadays, aside from a handful of course -__-

[sglitzys.livejournal.com]

IKR autotune ruins everything and even a terrible performer can be label a singer.

[rikayla.livejournal.com]

Forgive but never forget.

But I agree to the entirety of the last paragraph. A+

[unreal.livejournal.com]

The article brought up good points.

And given that she had been promoting herself as a consummate professional while producing her latest album
If you are producing your own album then it's not fair to blame it all on other people. It's your responsibility to make sure the people you are working with are okay.

[alex-haruko.livejournal.com]

THIS! I mean, shouldn't you verify if their songs are original or something?

[maisoui.livejournal.com]

Lee in a statement issued by her management agency Mnet Media said she had "no reason to be suspicious" since she was given the songs by the agency. She claims her rookie songwriter, a person by the name of Bahnus, lied to her.
IDK. Even if that is actually true, and she really did use that SoundHound thing (which obviously didn't work), she wouldn't still be out and promoting her album if she honestly cared about all that plagiarism.

[kawaiiairbender.livejournal.com]

ot but who is in your icon? they're really pretty

[mo-chan-tf.livejournal.com]

Singers who present original songs about their own emotions are an endangered species, while a handful of composers contracted by powerful management companies dominate the tunes that top the charts.

This sfm.

[xcherryblossomx.livejournal.com]

This article explains why I no longer respect or love Hyori as a singer... just as a model and sexy woman.

She is a veteran and she claimed to work super hard on this album for years. She kept delaying it because she wanted it to be perfect and she was supposedly working on it... and it was all a lie.

Really sad

[ethereal-limbo.livejournal.com]

lol, most artists or whoever says that whenever is just being lazy.

There are exceptions of course.

[baboboy.livejournal.com]

reason why I stay away from kpop these days /:

[ssehun.livejournal.com]

Same, bb same.

*icu lolz*

[akaich0u.livejournal.com]

Yes, we should hold Hyori more responsible, especially when she's praised for being so in control of her career and such. An iPhone application is a pretty amateur excuse for not catching the plagiarism...you'd think she would be more careful given that she's been in this situation before.

However...while the K-pop industry deserves criticism, and while singers writing their own songs is very admirable...some of the most renowned folk songs are not written by the singers that made them famous, who just as much takes it to heart as the songwriter does. That piece of criticism is stepping on some cultural toes there.

[patentpending.livejournal.com]

"There is no real music on Korea's pop music scene these days. There is only greed"

As much as I enjoy k-pop, it's true. From the companies mass producing artists like candy and pigeon holing them creatively, to not even letting "bands" play their own instruments. It's mostly about image and creating hit after hit to rake in the cash. While I am not ignorant to giant companies greed and marketing strategies, it's just not a very friendly environment for the artists in general when literally everything is completely controlled by the companies.

[reddiish.livejournal.com]

It's not the first time that we have plagiarism and scandals. Welcome in the K-pop land, the land where music is not fresh and real (:

[honeyfunnybunny.livejournal.com]

I just think that she's the last person to speak words of wisdom or the person to give advice to the younger generation from now on. She used to do that a lot, and it's all cool and shit, but the only reason why I actually liked Hyori was because of her variety personality(FO). Not as a singer, her singing is pretty .. idk.. average as well as her dancing, and stage presence has been nowhere to be found.

+ They need to get themselves a new iphone application.

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

well I know a lot of people are saying musicians should write their own music but it isn't that easy. How do we know she didn't submit songs but MNET rejected them? These companies want complete control and not everyone is good at song writing.

I think people are expecting too much from her.

[unreal.livejournal.com]

She doesn't have to write her own songs. But I don't think we are expecting to musch since the article says while producing her latest album and Lee's biggest mistake was in fact her failure to take charge of her songs and her album, contrary to what she has been saying in public.

If she is in charge of her album then It's her job to make sure the people you are working with are okay. And she obvious FAILED on that part.

[yunhalove.livejournal.com]

Ugh. So true about the music industry. What sucks is that the Korean music industry has a lot of unknown good unknown singers and so much potential besides. You see korean artists struggling to make a living releasing music in their respective genres- like rock, jazz, acoustic, etc- while a lot of people who are sick of the typical k-pop dance track or ballad think that's all the korean music industry has to offer/are unaware that these people do indeed exist.

Imagine if bands like The Black Skirts were popular, omg.

[rosepetalwinds.livejournal.com]

THIS.

Although I don't know who The Black Skirts are. I found a band called TV Yellow recently and some other group called Creamchou and I LOVE them, but they would NEVER get chart-ranking success.

I'm mostly disappointed with Kpop recently, but still listen to what I like. I think BEG are the perfect example. They were popularish I guess...but didn't get CRAZY HUGE til they sold out entirely and did Abracadabra, which showcased none of their legit talent (but I do still love).

[nlovers.livejournal.com]

kpop sounds so generic and autotune dominates...but as long as fangirls still exist, it will be a long way to see improvement in kpop music scene.

[bluebandit77.livejournal.com]

umm o.k?

[love-keiko.livejournal.com]

sorry i kno ppl love their idols but they're r one of the biggest issues with kpop to date. all want to claim themselves as artists yet they r "groomed" from the second they set foot in whatever label their signed to. such a shame

yes, hyori should be held accountable.

if kpop doesn't get it's shit together the hallyu wave will literally destroy itself from the inside out

[teliaia.livejournal.com]

Biggest THIS! of the year

[michababy.livejournal.com]

Mehh...I never really took Hyori all that seriously as a singer/dancer. She's pretty average in that respect. I only really liked her because of Family Outing.
As for the plagarism, it's getting to be a pretty huge problem in Kpop. I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling like Kpop has been kind of disappointing these days. If it's not autotuned, it's plagiarised. If it's autotuned AND plagiarised then...[/runs out of cool things to say]

[gunsandsmoke.livejournal.com]

i agree a lot w/ the article and it really does bring up a lot of spot-on points (lol i love hancinema but wat random source), but it sounds like the public, rather than just wanting to see hyori be "held accountable" (and she definitely should, and perhaps take a lengthy hiatus after this year and make one of those madonna-like RISE LIKE A PHOENIX FROM THA ASHESSS comebacks), want to see her be put to the stocks for public humiliation and whipping scorn, like they love to see for most all female celebrities. which is gross eww and no one should just give netizens what they want, like they do the other 90% of the time.

i personally believe in hyori in that she says she's a victim, but that's maybe because she's built up such a variety image over the years as a tough ~cool~ woman who can take any insults you throw at her, because she's had so many. i would think if she knew this was her fault, she would let and maybe even encourage PDs to write in lines about the plagiarism as comedy bits. she takes all the cracks at her age, looks, weight, talent, and laughs at herself freely. and ok yeah i have such stan-colored glasses on right now I'M SORRY OK I LOVE YOU HYORI UNNI FAMILY OUTING JJANG

[poppytea.livejournal.com]

she takes all the cracks at her age, looks, weight, talent
lol because she's so old, ugly & fat?

[ari-meh.livejournal.com]

lol, ikr.
i love it when people go all srsbznz on idols.

[honeebs.livejournal.com]

Kpop is what it is. Those that want more work really hard to keep it respectable place to grow and make a career in. Yes there is good music in kpop with mazing singers, songwriters.
I can agree for the most part but I still listen. At this point new idols coming in are mute, they have no control no matter what they say in interviews. Another thing the listeners are lazy they don't want to search. If it's on the popular fan forums/music shows/variety that's who they stan point blank. This fight needs to be taken to the company. Why would they bother, they give and masses take, so why fix what isn't broken "to them as in bank accounts". This is starting to hurt their bottom line, so now it's a problem.
-----------------
13yr vet and the rookie crap that's pulled with her knowing or not. It's still her business "anyting that has her name on it".
Who puts their 3-4 year comeback entirely in the hands of a rookie composer, in charge of getting all the songs. Mnet didn't care nor did Hyori by association.. Who puts song copywrite checks in the hands of a Iphone App?
--
Answer the title question HELL to the NO.

[booksandsarcasm.livejournal.com]

"they have no control no matter what they say in interviews"

...hm~ I don't' really agree. I think they do, but in the circumstance just doing what your company says > standing up for yourself and your public and fan image + possibly (if you are a newbie) losing your job and getting into debt.

[renai21.livejournal.com]

I don't know. If I was singer buying songs how on the earth I could possible check out all the world's song to be sure I'm not getting plagiarized shit?

At the same time, why this isn't happenning all the time to others then? IMO Mnet went cheap and instead of paying some decent and well-known producer with a good reputation, got some rookie with nothing to lose. Was Hyori aware or not of this? Does she really have the power to change it? IDK

However it's her name which is getting jeopardize. Of course she still have lots of fans, but I wonder how many of them she loose everytime this happens to her :/ It's her reputation in stake and a Queen should know better

[rhosyn-du.livejournal.com]

If I was singer buying songs how on the earth I could possible check out all the world's song to be sure I'm not getting plagiarized shit?

This. I see all these people saying she should have checked to make sure the songs were original, but I can't for the life of me figure out how she was supposed to do that.

[alex-haruko.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's what people are complaining about here, I mean, she's supposed to be a kpop veteran with years of experience and she comes and does shit like this saying that she had no idea they were plagiariazed, mmhmm I don't believe it for a second, especially because it's not only one song, but six and she kept on promoting them, so :/

[iheartomntd.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of friends who do work in the music industry and the one thing I can say with honest certainty... it's an ugly industry no matter what country you're in. Most newcomers to be honest have no control over anything that has to do with the album other than singing. However as time goes by and popularity increase most "artists" do gain some moderate control over their album and how it's prepared. For Lee Hyori as a 12 year music veteran, she should hold accountability over what happened. She's not new at this and holds enough sway with her record company to have more say in what goes in her album. She shouldn't have relied practically on just one producer for so many records. Most artist will work with two or more producers just one one track. Even if they give you all of these demos, using an iPhone application as a precaution was just lazy. It's very important for "artists" who are recording an album to work with as many people as possible and use their own creativity to avoid these situations, especially as this wasn't the first time it happened to her.

Just because she was duped by one producer doesn't mean she should get off the hook. When you put something out there in your name and your image, you need to be smarter about it.

Long story short, everyone who had anything to do with this album should be held accountable to some degree.

[taylorrenee-ily.livejournal.com]

this.

[cinho.livejournal.com]

I haven't been following this issue as much as I want to but this article does bring up good points, especially when they deem Hyori the "Queen of Kpop" Which is an embarrassing even further for her. She has a lot of pressure on her shoulders, I do--in a way--feel bad for her.

[cinho.livejournal.com]

Also, I don't think there should be any leniency on the issue, she has been in the industry for a long time, i'm certain she has control over her own music and should be held accountable to some degree.