Warner Music Korea Responds To Allegations Made By FIFTY FIFTY’s Agency
soompi.com/article/1596416wpp/warner-music-ko...
soompi.comPosted Jun 26, 2023, 4:33 AM UTC
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soompi.comMan this situation is definitely not in the guidebook of what to do after creating such a viral hit
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Actually with kpop's track record of nugus that suddenly get a viral hit, company shenanigans seems to usually be the next play
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Now the next step is concept change. But that’s still a year away because they haven’t done a thing since going viral other than sitting on their ass. I feel so bad for the members.
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Tbf they were taking a break anyways while one of the members (Aran I believe) was recovering from surgery. Just sucks this is all going down too.
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I don't know, it seems like "attempt to take ownership of the group with the viral hit" is at least in the guidebook enough for this not to be the first time it's been attempted.
Not really sure what courses of actions the CEO has other than to let it get messy, if the allegations are true.
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Welp this a mess. Hopefully it resolves itself quickly and the resolution benefits the members.
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I couldn't care any less for the company drama but I'm wishing the best for the members. It would be really sad to see them get affected in something due to the greed of these dumb execs.
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Greed? Am i missing something?
edit: to clarify, fifty fifty's label has every right to defend their most valuable assets from a poaching attempt (if true). That's not greed, that's the most natural thing in the world.
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i think the poaching attempt is the part referred to as greedy...
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Idk, to me their comment (and a lot of the sentiments in this thread) seem to basically not care about that, but only care for "the members".
So if they get in some good position, that's all that matters for most people here.
I think that is a childlike pov, and reality is quite a bit more complex than "greedy execs".
So a comment like theirs seems to imply that it's all about the members, when they could even be at fault for some of it too (not saying they are or that there is reason to believe that yet, just that kpop stans are always a little naive in that regard).
So far all that happened is ATTRAKT making statements and warner denying them, if there is poaching, attract had any right in the world to try and get some public capital on their side (maybe not the best way to do it, that is arguable). It sounds like the poster doesn't care about the actual scenario though.
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One thing I know for sure - this is bad for the girls. They had their big hit song, upcoming Barbie movie soundtrack and that is exactly when the business people behind the scenes decided to start fighting for their share of the "prize"?
The only option I see rn is for them to really go through to WB (if it's possible of course) because Attrakt has burned all their bridges with WB at this point and considering that FIFTY FIFTY made a deal with WB USA... Yeah, this is disaster
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The Warner bridge, for sure damaged if not totally burnt. But it might even be worse if speculations are true and they lose their producer Siahn as well. Disaster is correct.
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I feel terrible for the girls, I really hope they can get through this :(
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But ff is screwed If attrakt is behind the quality of music, which is root of their success right now.
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The other CEO (who's working with WB) is responsible for the music and many are saying he's the one that tried to offer ff to wb and went behind the other CEO's back
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Man all of this just seems so messy and I really hope it doesn't hinder the group itself. Really want them to have a successful comeback because a lot of people seem to want to be proven right about them being one-hit wonders.
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I mean, they set the kind of record that not even BTS BP and TWICE were able to do so I’d imagine some of their fandoms probably want to see them fail.
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Lol, I don’t think people feel that strongly about wanting them to fail.
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You'd be surprised
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I’m not sure about all of the groups mentioned, but there have been plenty of posts on kpop subreddits here trying to discredit their achievements (from trying to say their song isn’t really popular to even things like arguing if they are really underdogs or if this was really organic success) from a few fandoms. The kind where you read it and go “even if your argument is true why does it matter” - and the answer seems to be bc they really do feel threatened about their own groups’ achievements.
That’s just what I’ve seen on moderated subreddits as a boy group fan who casually listens to girl groups too, so I don’t even want to know the kind of vitriol going their way on stan Twitter.
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They didn't set any record that not even BTS was able to do what are you talking about? Dynamite and Butter outdid in ever way be it global streams or hot100 charting or korean charting.
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What record ??
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https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/fifty-fifty-cupid-uk-history-books-1235323851/
In the United States, "Cupid" initially appeared on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at number 12 for the chart dated March 25, 2023, 123 days after their debut. This made Fifty Fifty the fastest K-pop girl group to appear on the chart, beating the previous record of 156 days held by NewJeans for their song "Ditto".[30] It charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 100 the following week, becoming the group's first entry on the chart.[31] They became the fastest Korean act to enter the chart and the sixth Korean group to do so after Wonder Girls, BTS, Blackpink, Twice, and NewJeans.[32] The song peaked at number 17 on the chart dated May 20, 2023 and it became the longest-charting K-pop girl group song on the Billboard Hot 100—a record previously held by Blackpink and Selena Gomez's song "Ice Cream", which appeared on the chart for eight weeks—after charting for ten consecutive weeks.[33][6][34] "Cupid" also debuted at number eight on Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart during the week of March 11, 2023, making "Cupid" the fastest song to appear on any Billboard chart after its group's debut.
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lol what an inconsequential "record". The current market isn't even close to what it was back then in 2017-2018. Entering then vs entering now is a whole other ballpark and groups do it way faster nowadays bcs of tiktok and how global kpop is now ( thank you bts) . Saying they set records not even bts bp twice were able to do is very disingenuous, it's barely a record bcs of how different the landscape is . Newjeans was the fastest to enter before 50 50 did too and there will be someone else in the future if they get a viral hit.
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at no point this mentioned setting a record bts didnt do? only bp and twice.
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there’s a new update to this fiasco every time i open this godforsaken app lmao
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Idk what to believe but I’m mostly just getting second hand embarrassment on behalf of the ATTRAKT CEO lol
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Is that the CEO who sold his car to finance Fifty Fifty or something like that?
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Yes. It was to cover production costs
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idk, really what else is he supposed to be doing?
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What is going onnnn 💀
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I wonder if this is related to what I just posted in the other post (aka why the CEO is now blaming this other person and not Warner):
The latest info also adds to the co-CEO being the one behind it. I tend to think this theory makes sense because the girls would probably trust him and not some other random industry person. He was the driving force of their success, I could see them trusting him and the other CEO being kept in the dark. (This is just a theory!)
TMIKpop
@tmikpop
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2h
CEO Jeon Hong-joon gives Star News an exclusive statement. Says he knows who is behind (the attempts to steal Fifty Fifty) and it's painful and disgraceful but clarifies that he is not referring to Warner Korea but the third party meeting with WK.
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yeah, it is not Warner. The co-CEO has another company, which would be the real poacher but he may have used his contacts under Warner to help him find the best course of action.
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But JHJ originally said that someone approached WMK about getting the girls. It would make sense if his co-ceo was the one who did the approaching for many reasons. But the original information JHJ put out names WMK which was probably a dumb move since it's now causing this mess. He really needs to hire a PR person.
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So it's internal forces, not external forces?
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Ambiguous forces. The co-CEO is also CEO of another company, and did production/concept/etc. for Fifty Fifty but did not finance them. People are speculating that he is trying to poach them to move to his own company (through WMK).
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At this rate, it's no surprise if we'll have a megathread about this fiasco very soon
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The only good thing going for them right now is that hopefully it's too late in the process to pull their Barbie OST. That deal was all because of them signing to Warner Music, so that relationship is not something they'd want to mess with.
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Man this is just sad to witness for all parties involved.
I am sure the CEO who put his blood sweat and tears into this group doesn’t wanna let it go especially after Cupid’s success but also there are costs and fees that are related to Cupid.
One point regarding the payments. Are they supposed to be rich now? I thought streaming pay is extremely shitty, how are their sales doing ? I don’t know how much money they are getting off streaming but did they tour?
I keep seeing people say, they can get another viral hit but we can’t force that shit. Look at how hard sm tried with superM and avengers of Kpop crap.
If it’s true that their producer is the one poaching them, why would the CEO be against it if he’s not compensated well? They are clearly trying kick him to the curb and move on to “bigger things”.
I remember BTS talked about how big companies approached bang to take them over and stuff.
This case is different as Cupid is bigger than the group at the moment. Will there be enough demand for a comeback? Will it generate the same buzz ? Or will this be another Momoland situation (Boom Boom was def bigger domestically).
But whatever their next move is. This is very messy for all parties involved. Greed is never a good thing and a company trying to force something isn’t a good thing.
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Well the original plan was to push US promotions after the Barbie soundtrack. And I think Bboom Bboom was massive domestically but specifically talking US and like the UK, Cupid is much bigger.
Who knows how this will affect all of that now tho.
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Aran is still recovering from her surgery and I just saw a tweet that said it’s supposed to be till July 14th.
Oh yeah agreed about Cupid but what I meant is atleast momoland might have been paid better for their domestic activities, not sure tho? Instead of streaming revenue.
Ah this so messy
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I think since momo were massive domestically and in like the Philippines and Vietnam they were able to do many tours/shows etc and sell albums back home.
Fifty Fifty in Korea is doing very poorly in those terms. I don't even know how they would make a lot of money in the US but I'm sure they had some plans to try. We don't exactly mass buy albums over here.
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Yeah my original comment is about people being surprised the girls haven’t gotten paid yet. There are trainees fees, production fees that they have to handle before getting to their profit from the song and what I meant is that international streams don’t pay as much as say Touring and album sales.
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momoland might have been paid better for their domestic activities, not sure tho?
I remember Yeonwoo going on the show Village Survival, The Eight, and talking about how the members hadn't made any money yet. Maybe they started getting paid after she was removed from the group.
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Am I the only one who thinks the members were already gone and jumped ship, the actions of this CEO just sounds like a last resort and out of desparation, his "pleas" for the members to come back(?) alluding they weren't contacting him doesn't help either. He really looks like he's helpless right now.
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I mean I'm lowkey hoping that's the case, but do they have the legal backing for that is the question.
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It’s Warner Music Korea, they got the backing
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Honestly I could see that but we just don’t know yet
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What a mess. I don’t know what is going on but honestly I could care less what company fifty fifty is under. As long as the members are treated well and keep dropping bangers I’ll follow them to a new company if that’s what they want to do
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As a rising star, but a still a nugu-group to Korean fans, If they move to a Korean company, which is an external force, they will be known as the betrayers who abandoned their original agency. It's still silly for them to be brainwashed by external forces convincing them to stay with the external forces.
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This brings to mind the proverb "too many cooks spoil the broth." May they come up with a peaceful resolution for all parties.
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im not one to blame ceos for everything, but this feels like a ceo to blame.
a comment i noticed in the article brings a good point, "scattering rumours after rumours about a company which can so easily cancel their deal with Attrakt and can make their only group's career jeopardized"
these poor girls. we still dont have all the details, but i dont know if i wanted to be association with him at moment.
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Probably doesn't help that they had "co-ceos." That always seemed like a mess waiting to happen to me. Especially with all the PR stories they were throwing out there about the company.
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So who is lying 💀
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Who knows. But logic says the CEO has no reason to publicly burn the bridge with Warner unless he had evidence that led him to be confident that Warner played a hand in something shady done against him. Now was it wise to do it so publicly? Probably not but it seems like he's working on pure emotions.
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But, S.M has embarrassed itself with "external party" before.
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Attrakt is about to kill the company before Fifty Fifty can have a comeback. MLD 2.0, all because Cupid was too successful for them to handle.
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Jeon Hong Joon is completely unprofessional. Releasing multiple cringe-worthy emotion driven "corporate" statements. Alluding to infighting between co-CEO SIAHN (The creative reason FIFTY FIFTY is successful in the first place) and now being called out by Warner Music Korea
Frankly, I'm heavily inclined to support SIAHN because the girls themselves look up to him and Jeon is embarrassing himself and tarnishing the reputation of FIFTY FIFTY and this is not okay.
They should be focusing on preparing for a comeback, not dealing with legal issues
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Yeah but sadly it's not going to come down to whose side fans support. It's going to come down to legal authority. And if Jeon retains full rights to the group and members, you can't support the group without indirectly supporting him. And if you don't support the group it'll hurt the girls too. And with them possibly losing support of major backers like Warner and creative talent like Siahn, it's going to be a disaster.
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If they lose SIAHN and Warner I'm sorry but the girls' careers are as good as gone. Which is why I'm praying they either resolve this amicably or SIAHN trumps Jeon
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level 3Sparkle-sama+2 · 13 min. agoCupid Got a Second Chance
creative talent like Siahn??? nnn never
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this feels very messy and i’m not sure if the best course of action is going public.
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Of course if someone at Warner Music Korea was trying to make some backdoor deal the agency as a whole would deny any allegations publicly regardless if it's true or not. But fact is, this most certainly destroys the relationship between them and Attrakt so this was going to be bad news either way.
He is an executive and consultant at Warner Korea. it's not just a connection, he is a part of Warner Music Group.
So that guy literally got everything except the members contract then.
He
iswas an executive and is now consultant at Warner Korea as far as i knowJeon Hongjoon/Oscar Chun was CEO of StarCrew/Ardor&Able/KO Sound (i.e. the label that completely mismanaged HOTSHOT and wasted all of Sungwoon and Taehyun’s post-P101/W1 potential) so I’m not surprised by him being so incompetent and with his track record I am frankly suprised that it took this long for shit to hit the fan. I hope the Fifty Fifty members end up in a stable well-managed label - I’ve seen too many groups get a hit out of nowhere and then lose all their popularity due to pure managerial incompetence.
Holy crap JHJ and Oscar are the same person? That explains so much now.