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| ▲그룹 피프티 피프티 멤버 시오(왼쪽부터), 새나, 아란, 키나가 4월 13일 오후 서울 강남구 일지아트홀에서 열린 기자간담회에서 포즈를 취하고 있다. (뉴시스) |
The battle over the fate of the group Fifty Fifty is heating up.
Their current agency, Attract, is claiming that there are outside forces trying to recruit the members illegally, while Dougiebus, an outsourcing company, and Warner Music Korea, the overseas distributor of Fifty Fifty's hit song "Cupid," are responding with "false facts.
Here, the members of Fifty Fifty are on opposite sides of the fence with their agency. "On June 19, we filed an application for a preliminary injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the exclusive contract (against the agency) at the Seoul Central District Court," the members said through their legal representatives, adding, "This is in response to the agency's breach of contract and destruction of trust."
When a conflict arises between an agency and an idol group over an exclusive contract, the two sides are clearly at odds. The group claims that the contract is unfair, while the agency tries to explain it with various materials or blame the group. The public's reaction is often mixed due to the different voices.
However, in the case of Fifty Fifty, many people feel sorry for the agency, and some people are expressing doubts about the group's position. The new group, which was called the "miracle of medium-sized stones," is attracting attention because it seems to be facing cold public opinion.
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It's no longer a "miracle" when a South Korean idol group makes it onto the U.S. Billboard charts, but Fifty Fifty's rise has been unexpected.
Fifty Fifty is a four-member rookie group that debuted last November. Not long after their debut, they broke onto the Billboard charts with their February release "Cupid," which has remained on the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart ever since, making them the only K-pop girl group to spend more than 10 weeks on the Hot 100.
While performing well overseas, "Cupid" went viral and appeared on the Korean music charts, continuing the trend - a literal "reverse import".
The success of "Cupid" was largely due to the power of the music. "Cupid" continued the synth-pop trend that had been blowing up in Korea and abroad for several years. It is characterized by easy listening with a common chord progression and a refreshing synthesizer sound, and analysts say that it targeted the "easy listening" market. While many K-pop groups' hits quickly reach the top of the charts thanks to the firepower of their fans, "Cupid" appeared on the charts through word of mouth and gradually rose in the rankings.
The development of social media also contributed to the "Cupid" craze. One TikTok user took the English version of the song's pre-chorus (the short passage just before the chorus), sped it up, and posted it with the caption, "Best pre-chorus of 2023." It was an instant hit. Later, posts of the Sped Up version of "Cupid" played in the background went viral, and it became a choreographed challenge, which became a huge hit in North America. This trend led to chart success on Billboard, Spotify, and more.
In a music industry dominated by idols from large agencies such as Hive, SM, JYP, and YG, Fifty Fifty's success was dubbed the "miracle of the medium-sized stone" and seemed to turn them into an icon of growth and hope.
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| ▲그룹 피프티 피프티 멤버 아란(왼쪽부터), 새나, 시오, 키나가 13일 오후 서울 강남구 일지아트홀에서 열린 기자간담회에서 타이틀곡 큐피드(cupid)를 선보이고 있다. (뉴시스) |
After achieving such an impressive feat for a rookie, it was expected that Fifty Fifty would be active in the United States.
However, the group's lack of activity since then has raised questions. Broadcasters began to speculate about the members' health, which turned out to be true in early May when their agency, Attract, announced that the group would be suspending their activities for the time being due to a doctor's opinion that Aran had undergone surgery and needed to recover. However, on March 23, Attract shocked the public by announcing through an official statement that "external forces have been identified that are approaching our artists and enticing them to violate their exclusive contracts with us." "We will fight to the end without any compromise with the external forces and take legal responsibility."
On the 27th of last month, Attract announced that it had filed a police complaint against Ahn Ahn-il, the producer who created 'Cupid' and produced the album, on suspicion of being an external force and interfering with business. Attract CEO Jeon Hong-jun had signed an outsourcing contract with Ahn's company, Dougiebus, and had entrusted them with the production work. "Dougiebus committed interference by deleting the company's email account and project-related materials in the process of taking over the work," he said, adding, "In the process of purchasing 'Cupid' from an overseas composer, the copyright was transferred to them without the knowledge of Attract."
In response, DougieBus countered, "We started the project in June 2021 and ended the project on May 31, 2023, and are currently only in charge of global promotion and publicity with Warner Records at the request of Attract," adding that "'Cupid' was a song that we owned even before the Fifty Fifty project." They continued, "The reasons for Attract's complaint are different from the facts, and we will take legal action against the act of spreading false facts."
The controversy escalated when it was later revealed that the members of Fifty Fifty had filed a court application for a temporary restraining order against Attract on March 19. Fifty Fifty made the announcement through their legal representatives on March 28, claiming that they were "raising issues about a number of situations where Attractions did not fulfill their contractual obligations, including non-transparent settlements and unilateral attempts to force them to perform (activities) despite disclosing their health conditions that made it difficult for them to perform."
In particular, the members said, "We were very disappointed and frustrated to see that Attract was not listening to the members' voices, calling it an 'extortion attempt by external forces' while failing to clearly explain the breach of contract, and arbitrarily disclosing the reason for the member's surgery without consulting the parties," emphasizing that the four members made their own decisions with one mind without any external intervention.
However, after Fifty Fifty broke their silence, public opinion quickly turned cold. Typically, idol groups begin receiving payments after their third year of debut. Depending on the size of the company, it costs upwards of 2 billion won to produce a girl group, so it's not uncommon for them to not receive payment until their first year or two. Even if they're in the spotlight from the start, their expenses are often much higher than their earnings.
One example of an idol group that received a settlement quickly is NUJINS, who attracted attention when they revealed that they received a settlement just two months after their debut. However, this was due to their unprecedented popularity, as they topped both domestic and international music charts, record sales, and advertisements. The members of NUJINS are now all working as ambassadors for luxury brands, and their personal recognition is also high.
As very few idol groups have received a settlement less than a year after their debut, Fifty Fifty's claim of a "non-transparent settlement of attractions" left many questions unanswered. Aside from appearing on music programs, Fifty Fifty has done very little in the way of advertising or content, and royalties from overseas take at least three to six months to arrive in Korea, so there's nothing to make a profit from. As a result, it's been pointed out that Fifty Fifty was "frivolous" to raise the issue of settlement.
The issue of Fifty Fifty's residence, which initially emerged as a confrontation between the agency and external forces, seems to have turned into a conflict between the agency and Fifty Fifty, as the members stated that "the four members made their own decisions with one mind."
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Fifty Fifty's controversial signing to the label has led to some "sympathy" for the group.
In May, the former representative drew attention when he revealed in an interview with a media outlet that he had sold his personal watch and car to fund the release of Fifty Fifty's physical album.
On the 30th of last month, after the exclusive contract dispute surfaced, he said, "I spent 90 million won, which my mother Koo Soon had saved all her life, on production costs," and added, "At the end, there was nothing I could do but pray to my late father." The public's view of Fifty Fifty became even colder when it became known that the group's support came late.
Three days later, Attack released a partial transcript of a May 9 call between Jeon and Warner Music Korea's Mo Yoon to the media, alleging that DougieBus was unilaterally pursuing a 20 billion won deal with Warner Music Korea. In the transcript, Yoon told Jeon, "We have a 20 billion offer for Ahn to do a buyout before." Based on the transcript, Attack claimed that Ahn was unilaterally pursuing the buyout without Jeon's approval.
DougieBus responded by saying that Warner Music Korea had suggested a "label deal" structure, and that they were only acting as a conduit to discuss the matter with Jeon. Despite these conflicting statements, it's clear that public opinion has shifted in favor of Attract, not Fifty Fifty or DougieBus.
The first hearing for the temporary restraining order filed by the members of Fifty Fifty against Attractions is scheduled for the 5th. The members are expected to continue their legal battle with their agency for the time being, instead of embarking on active overseas activities. Regardless of which way the case goes, it is pointed out that the agency, members, and producers will all suffer at the end of the long battle.
As a result, some in the music industry are saying that Fifty Cent's decision to file a lawsuit over their exclusive contract is "self-serving. Fifty Fifty's fans, both in Korea and abroad, are worried that the group's career will end as a 'one-hit wonder' (a big success with one song). It's true that the awareness of the group itself is somewhat lower than that of their hit song 'Cupid', so it doesn't seem unreasonable.
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