(Seoul) The very popular South Korean group, NewJeans, caused shock waves in the world of K-pop by announcing on Thursday that they were leaving their record label ADOR, accusing it of “mistreatment”.
Posted at 6:58 a.m.
Here are five things to know about the group’s decision, its impact on the ultra-lucrative K-pop industry, and what it bodes for the group’s future.
Who are they?
Made up entirely of women, NewJeans debuted on the K-pop scene in 2022. It has five members, all under the age of 20: Haerin, Danielle, Hanni, Minji, and Hyein.
They are part, with the boyband BTS, of the successful K-pop groups of the South Korean agency HYBE, parent company of NewJeans’ record company, ADOR.
The group topped the world charts, including the American Billboard 200. Since last year, they have been the K-pop group that has quickly passed 1 billion streams on Spotify, according to Guinness World Records.
Their producer is Min Hee-jin, one of the best known in the K-pop scene.
What happened?
The NewJeans soap opera began in April when ADOR’s parent company, HYBE, tried to push Mme Min, at the time director of the ADOR subsidiary, towards the exit.
HYBE accused her of breach of trust, sparking a legal and media battle. Mme Min in turn accused HYBE of copying his model of launching K-pop stars to promote a competing group.
After being removed from her role as CEO in August, Mme Min resigned from ADOR’s board last week, vowing to sue HYBE.
In solidarity with Mme Min, the group sent an ultimatum to HYBE, telling it that it would terminate its contract unless certain demands were met, such as the immediate reinstatement of their producer.
The group’s demands to HYBE also included an apology for a comment made by one of the company’s managers, who NewJeans accused of harassment.
During a press conference Thursday evening, the group announced that it was terminating its agreement with ADOR.
The record company, however, told AFP that its exclusive agreement with the members of NewJeans “remains in full force” and, therefore, has “respectfully requested that the group continue its collaboration with ADOR for future activities, such as this has been the practice up to now.”
Is this a unique case in K-pop?
“Historically, contractual relationships between agencies and group members have always posed problems over time,” analyzes Lee Dong-yeon, professor at the Korea National University of the Arts in Seoul.
In 2009, the famous boyband TVXQ created a surprise by suing its record company to which it was linked by a 13-year contract, described by the group as a “slave contract”. The cause is excessive working hours and an unfair distribution of profits, according to TVXQ.
More recently, in 2023, members of the group FIFTY FIFTY suspended their contract with their record company, deploring a lack of financial transparency.
PHOTO ANTHONY WALLACE, ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The NewJeans group’s decision did not have an immediate impact on this ultra-lucrative industry but could “lead to changes in the way activities related to K-pop are managed”, estimates Kim Jin-gak, professor at Sungshin University in Seoul.
What next?
The legal battle will continue and “the procedure should take a long time”, estimates lawyer Kim Tae-yeon who predicts an outcome within two to three years if the case is brought before the courts.
Experts say NewJeans members may have to pay a contractual penalty of 620 billion won ($622 million).
“If the court finds that the company is at fault, as NewJeans claims, and that NewJeans did nothing wrong, they could defend themselves against any penalty,” Kim said.
HYBE’s share price was down 5% as of Friday morning.
What impact in the short term?
The group members indicated that they would continue to honor their contractual obligations, but noted that they may no longer be able to use the NewJeans name.
But Danielle, one of the band members, said they will continue to fight to be able to continue making music together.
“Whatever we name, remember that NewJeans never dies,” she noted.
