News ADOR has filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of their exclusive contracts with NewJeans. (1 Viewer)

[LoveYooShaSha]

뉴스 : 네이버 엔터

m.entertain.naver.com

ADOR has filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of their exclusive contracts with NewJeans.

"Hello, this is Adore.

On December 3, we filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of our exclusive contract with our artist, New Jeans, at the Seoul Central District Court in order to receive legal confirmation that our exclusive contract remains valid. We

did not want the issue with our artist to be resolved through legal judgment, but we made the inevitable decision because we felt it was necessary to confirm to the artist and other stakeholders that the exclusive contract between the company and the artist is not something that can be lightly terminated based on a one-sided claim. Above all, we want to clearly seek a judgment from the court to protect the foundation of the K-pop industry, which has grown based on a healthy relationship of trust between artists and the company, and further, the Korean popular culture industry.

It is with a heavy heart to tell you this news, but it is to prevent artists from misunderstanding that their exclusive contracts have been legally terminated and engaging in entertainment activities in violation of their current exclusive contracts, or to prevent unexpected damage and confusion to industry insiders at home and abroad due to this.

Today’s K-pop has developed through the synergy of the artist’s talent and continuous effort, and the company’s full investment and trust with its know-how. In uncertain circumstances where success or failure is difficult to predict in advance, it is essential to have the company’s support for a long period of time. The company’s prior support is based on the expectation and belief that the company and the artist can grow together for a certain period of time, and the exclusive contract is an agreement made based on this premise.

If this basic agreement is not kept, the company’s efforts to endure uncertainty for a long time and send complete trust in the name of investment will become ineffective and cannot be compensated for anywhere. In other words, we will no longer be able to expect systematic support, investment, or system advancement in this industry, and we are most concerned that the virtuous cycle of growth of the K-pop industry, which has developed rapidly through the sweat and dreams of many people, will be broken.

Adore’s position to work with New Jeans remains unchanged. Separate from seeking the court’s judgment on the validity of the exclusive contract, we believe that sufficient and sincere discussions with the artists are absolutely necessary. Despite the repeated earnest requests from Adore staff, we have not yet had the opportunity to communicate with the artists, but we will continue to work hard to resolve any unnecessary misunderstandings that have built up between the artists and our company. We will do our best to repay those who love New Jeans’ music with better activities. We ask for your continued support and encouragement so that Adore and New Jeans members can wisely overcome the current situation."

Go read at link above, I'm too lazy to copypasta it rn. Decided to minimally paste Google Chrome translation.

 

[LoveYooShaSha]

This is puzzling to me: is it double standard when company can just terminate contracts(with members agreements but wat choice do they actually hv-remain stuck in dungeon or leave the company usually as nugu) like cignature, CLC n others(maybe not big4) but when successful the original terms when they're pre-debut trainees still valid as if the terms were favorable/fair to both sides n not one-sided favoring the company! Rant/query/personal opinion end.

 

[Selfmate]

interesting

new name for the group

Schrodinger's Jeans

 

[Selfmate]

This is puzzling to me: is it double standard when company can just terminate contracts(with members agreements but wat choice do they actually hv-remain stuck in dungeon or leave the company usually as nugu) like cignature, CLC n others(maybe not big4) but when successful the original terms when they're pre-debut trainees still valid as if the terms were favorable/fair to both sides n not one-sided favoring the company! Rant/query/personal opinion end.

the problem is always money
less successful and nugu groups can't earn money and remember kpop is the ultimate gig industry - you only get paid so much by what you bring in to the company. If the group isn't earning enough to cover all the expenses - sure fire way to disbandment

if you aren't profitable then obviously the company will try to terminate your contract since they can't be bleeding money thus termination by agreement or dungeoning

if you are successful then hopefully you can leverage that success for a better contract during renegotiations

 

[LoveYooShaSha]

the problem is always money
less successful and nugu groups can't earn money and remember kpop is the ultimate gig industry - you only get paid so much by what you bring in to the company. If the group isn't earning enough to cover all the expenses - sure fire way to disbandment

if you aren't profitable then obviously the company will try to terminate your contract since they can't be bleeding money thus termination by agreement or dungeoning

if you are successful then hopefully you can leverage that success for a better contract during renegotiations

i also forgot abt trainee debt.

LSM did such a shitty precedent setting one sided contract provision before it was overturned - 10 or watever number of yrs contract + immovable remunerations during tat initial contract. Maybe its time to shorten the time to 5 years for kpop artist or even less(or hv a rolling remuneration according to success! No more 70/30 split for cost vs. 50/50 split for profit? Or at least 50/50 cost goes partly towards debt?). Sucks for fans of ex. GIDLE but maybe fewer nugu grps will debut n the kpop market wont be so oversaturated. Probably wont happen/still ~200 grps debut, so i aint holding my breath.

 

[Abeamus]

I don't see a NewJeans win here being a good thing for anyone but them since it will eliminate success stories like Gfriend entirely as Gfriend CEO risked everything even selling his house to debut them.

What it will do is make artists a riskier investment and that will pretty much make it exclusive to companies who can afford to take that hit which is a very small pool of companies.

There are already other laws set in place to protect artists from mistreatment but that comes down to money and not everyone can afford to take them to court which we have seen those that can usually win like Loona all being able to get out of theirs.

If Hybe wins the status quo will just stay as it is but if Hybe loses then it will just make Kpop a riskier investment and companies like Hybe won't be the one to lose out as they can afford it since ones like BTS aren't going to leave when they have it good under Hybe anyway.

 

[Selfmate]

i also forgot abt trainee debt.

LSM did such a shitty precedent setting one sided contract provision before it was overturned - 10 or watever number of yrs contract + immovable remunerations during tat initial contract. Maybe its time to shorten the time to 5 years for kpop artist or even less(or hv a rolling remuneration according to success! No more 70/30 split for cost vs. 50/50 split for profit? Or at least 50/50 cost goes partly towards debt?). Sucks for fans of ex. GIDLE but maybe fewer nugu grps will debut n the kpop market wont be so oversaturated. Probably wont happen/still ~200 grps debut, so i aint holding my breath.

yeah no way any newly debuted group is getting better than 50/50



this is from Somi's interview with chaeyoung (timestamped at around 5.25)

based Somi's signals and chaeyoung's answer I guestimate that the post contract renewal split is around 2/3 to the artist and 1/3 company?

 

[LoveYooShaSha]

I don't see a NewJeans win here being a good thing for anyone but them since it will eliminate success stories like Gfriend entirely as Gfriend CEO risked everything even selling his house to debut them.

What it will do is make artists a riskier investment and that will pretty much make it exclusive to companies who can afford to take that hit which is a very small pool of companies.

There are already other laws set in place to protect artists from mistreatment but that comes down to money and not everyone can afford to take them to court which we have seen those that can usually win like Loona all being able to get out of theirs.

If Hybe wins the status quo will just stay as it is but if Hybe loses then it will just make Kpop a riskier investment and companies like Hybe won't be the one to lose out as they can afford it since ones like BTS aren't going to leave when they have it good under Hybe anyway.

I don't think i rlly care if NJ win or lose, either way. But if it changes things for future artists/idols signed with big4(not sure how likely it is) wat do u/others think of a shorter contract length/scaled remuneration terms depending on success? Not the same terms CBX/SM couldn't come to an agreement on after 10 years of exclusivity.

If NJ is bound to their exclusive contract with HYBE, then artists would be more aware of the intractability of contracts signed when they are trainees predebut, but for it to last 7 yrs without remuneration reflecting success is kinda one sided. I mean YGE has fairer compensation terms reportedly, why not a contractually negotiated remuneration in 1st yr and so forth if an artist(s) are as profitable as NJ is reportedly. I mean Taylor signed her original contract for X yrs n still couldnt buy her master copies/rights of her self composed songs WTF?

The risk is taken by companies but artists shdnt hv to be responsible for companies' investment strategies too.

not saying I think things will change, but everyone thought Shinhwa, Jyj, exo(4 guys from china), beast, n others(?) shd hv stayed with their original companies too. N if they all had, slave contracts would still be ard, n gotten worse maybe(?)

 

[Abeamus]

I don't think i rlly care if NJ win or lose, either way. But if it changes things for future artists/idols signed with big4(not sure how likely it is) wat do u/others think of a shorter contract length/scaled remuneration terms depending on success? Not the same terms CBX/SM couldn't come to an agreement on after 10 years of exclusivity.

If NJ is bound to their exclusive contract with HYBE, then artists would be more aware of the intractability of contracts signed when they are trainees predebut, but for it to last 7 yrs without remuneration reflecting success is kinda one sided. I mean YGE has fairer compensation terms reportedly, why not a contractually negotiated remuneration in 1st yr and so forth if an artist(s) are as profitable as NJ is reportedly. I mean Taylor signed her original contract for X yrs n still couldnt buy her master copies/rights of her self composed songs WTF?

The risk is taken by companies but artists shdnt hv to be responsible for companies' investment strategies too.

not saying I think things will change, but everyone thought Shinhwa, Jyj, exo(4 guys from china), beast, n others(?) shd hv stayed with their original companies too. N if they all had, slave contracts would still be ard, n gotten worse maybe(?)

I'd be fine with shorter contract lengths but I don't think it's a total fix as there are other reasons Kpop artists struggle to get leverage and that is down to a pretty much dead free agency market because big companies won't touch other companies creations.

This loses a ton of leverage especially on pay because imagine if say BTS contract expired and to keep them Hybe had to beat out SM, JYP and YG just because of who they are then BTS has even more leverage to get a favourable contract but reality is if BTS contracts expire tomorrow it'd be Hybe and a bunch of lower companies interested which gives them hardly any more leverage.

The 7 year contract wouldn't be a bad thing if it was common to negotiate for better deals if the artists sees popularity but take Gfriend they paid off their debt in 2 years and that contract lasted until they disbanded so while they might have been doing well because of their success however they could have been doing a lot better had they negotiated for a better split halfway through to reflect their success.

This all loops around to how the companies view artists though that it kills any kind of free agent market for established idols and that hurts their leverage against companies since competition in the free agent market is better for artists.

 

[LoveYooShaSha]

yeah no way any newly debuted group is getting better than 50/50



this is from Somi's interview with chaeyoung (timestamped at around 5.25)

based Somi's signals and chaeyoung's answer I guestimate that the post contract renewal split is around 2/3 to the artist and 1/3 company?

Hvnt watched the video. YGE reportedly has favorable/best split amongst all(or almost all) kpop agencies. After renewal, Twice, GIDLE shdnt be too bad either(see Abe above, my reply above abt renewal). The worst aspect might be how Yang Hyun Suk/YGE dungeoned 2NE1/members' solos before 7 yr contract ended. Hope Babymonster is monster success(no idea rn abt YGE hv or don't hv trainee debt)

I'd be fine with shorter contract lengths but I don't think it's a total fix as there are other reasons Kpop artists struggle to get leverage and that is down to a pretty much dead free agency market because big companies won't touch other companies creations.

This loses a ton of leverage especially on pay because imagine if say BTS contract expired and to keep them Hybe had to beat out SM, JYP and YG just because of who they are then BTS has even more leverage to get a favourable contract but reality is if BTS contracts expire tomorrow it'd be Hybe and a bunch of lower companies interested which gives them hardly any more leverage.

The 7 year contract wouldn't be a bad thing if it was common to negotiate for better deals if the artists sees popularity but take Gfriend they paid off their debt in 2 years and that contract lasted until they disbanded so while they might have been doing well because of their success however they could have been doing a lot better had they negotiated for a better split halfway through to reflect their success.

This all loops around to how the companies view artists though that it kills any kind of free agent market for established idols and that hurts their leverage against companies since competition in the free agent market is better for artists.

Yeah the manufactured kpop idol grp is reminiscent of 90s boy bands/Spice Girls, slightly ~close to 1D but not exactly maybe.

I used to listen mistly to indie 80s/90s women singer/songwriters & some others until 2010s when most of 'em disappeared or no new artists appeared tat i knew of/wanted to listen to. Or I just grew out of it/the new artists made music too unlike wat I liked in the 2000s onwards, except a very few. Or they were mostly pop not so much indie vibe tat I preferred.

Even the k-bands/artists like NELL, Onewe, n.flying n baek yerin I don't rlly follow n I prefer the ggs in my sig. It is wat it is, n I think contracts used to be shorter in 1st gen: SES, HOT, fin.kl, n others(not sure abt all of them) at some point tat changed, maybe shinhwa(?), tvxq n now we hv current environment.

no idea wats next.

 

[Abeamus]

Hvnt watched the video. YGE reportedly has favorable/best split amongst all(or almost all) kpop agencies. After renewal, Twice, GIDLE shdnt be too bad either(see Abe above, my reply above abt renewal). The worst aspect might be how Yang Hyun Suk/YGE dungeoned 2NE1/members' solos before 7 yr contract ended. Hope Babymonster is monster success(no idea rn abt YGE hv or don't hv trainee debt)



Yeah the manufactured kpop idol grp is reminiscent of 90s boy bands/Spice Girls, slightly ~close to 1D but not exactly maybe.

I used to listen mistly to indie 80s/90s women singer/songwriters & some others until 2010s when most of 'em disappeared or no new artists appeared tat i knew of/wanted to listen to. Or I just grew out of it/the new artists made music too unlike wat I liked in the 2000s onwards, except a very few. Or they were mostly pop not so much indie vibe tat I preferred.

Even the k-bands/artists like NELL, Onewe, n.flying n baek yerin I don't rlly follow n I prefer the ggs in my sig. It is wat it is, n I think contracts used to be shorter in 1st gen: SES, HOT, fin.kl, n others(not sure abt all of them) at some point tat changed, maybe shinhwa(?), tvxq n now we hv current environment.

no idea wats next.

Have to see how this case turns out as I see a NewJeans win just making contracts worse because if you think the companies won't retaliate to protect their investment then you're dead wrong and with it potentially scaring new competitors away then the companies that stick around will have a huge pool of people to choose from with a limited choice of companies to go to that will leave them able to call their shot even more.

 

[LoveYooShaSha]

Have to see how this case turns out as I see a NewJeans win just making contracts worse because if you think the companies won't retaliate to protect their investment then you're dead wrong and with it potentially scaring new competitors away then the companies that stick around will have a huge pool of people to choose from with a limited choice of companies to go to that will leave them able to call their shot even more.

i think I hv completely(before this I had no opinion/neutral) turned to the law is on ADOR/HYBE's side contractually(i couldbe completely wrong ofc). Not sure how long Shinhwa, jyj, exo, beast were affected by their situations-so no idea if NJ will just capitulate n meekly return to ADOR or be dungeoned either by their will or by ADOR under HYBE's orders or wat will happen next. I now wait n see(unless I think i hv sthg else to say)

 

[SnowWhite]

New Suits would also be a nice name for the amount of lawsuits against and done by this group or the management involved with them

 

[Selfmate]

Hvnt watched the video. YGE reportedly has favorable/best split amongst all(or almost all) kpop agencies. After renewal, Twice, GIDLE shdnt be too bad either(see Abe above, my reply above abt renewal). The worst aspect might be how Yang Hyun Suk/YGE dungeoned 2NE1/members' solos before 7 yr contract ended. Hope Babymonster is monster success(no idea rn abt YGE hv or don't hv trainee debt)

they can do that since they can afford it
groups from the big4 (and some of the mid tier companies) are built on the shoulders and heads of their seniors
smaller companies can't do that and still have trainee debt which is why regardless of how certain fans perceive the big4 the lack of trainee debt is very advantagous

 

[Abeamus]

i think I hv completely(before this I had no opinion/neutral) turned to the law is on ADOR/HYBE's side contractually(i couldbe completely wrong ofc). Not sure how long Shinhwa, jyj, exo, beast were affected by their situations-so no idea if NJ will just capitulate n meekly return to ADOR or be dungeoned either by their will or by ADOR under HYBE's orders or wat will happen next. I now wait n see(unless I think i hv sthg else to say)

Well NewJeans put out a statement today calling being forced to finish the remaining 5 years of their contract "inhumane" which I would agree except that isn't what is happening since they can get out of the contract however they have to be prepared to pay penalties for the loss of revenue Hybe would have gotten from them for the remainder of the contract. KEPA also put out a statement asking basically to strengthen Kpop contracts to protect the company from something like this so it's possible this situation not only doesn't help artists contracts but in turn makes them worse.

 

[Selfmate]

Well NewJeans put out a statement today calling being forced to finish the remaining 5 years of their contract "inhumane" which I would agree except that isn't what is happening since they can get out of the contract however they have to be prepared to pay penalties for the loss of revenue Hybe would have gotten from them for the remainder of the contract. KEPA also put out a statement asking basically to strengthen Kpop contracts to protect the company from something like this so it's possible this situation not only doesn't help artists contracts but in turn makes them worse.

regardless of who ultimately wins this is going to shift the pendulum of future (initial) kpop contracts far more towards the slave contract side of things as companies sure up their contracts

 

[Abeamus]

regardless of who ultimately wins this is going to shift the pendulum of future (initial) kpop contracts far more towards the slave contract side of things as companies sure up their contracts

Can only hope the court sides with Hybe in this scenario so that maybe contract alterations can be avoided especially since NewJeans is royally messing up now and just defended an employee trying to get a brand deal for them without Ador being involved.