In a surprising turn of events, the lawsuit brought forth by the girl group FIFTY FIFTY against their agency, Attract, which calls into question the agency's handling of royalties and exclusive contract obligations, seems destined to lose its relevance.

Interpark, who made an advance payment contract with Star Crew Entertainment, made clear their stance that "the investment contract in question is not for FIFTY FIFTY and the members have no obligation to repay it."

Previously, the legal representative of FIFTY FIFTY raised questions about Attract's CEO Jeon Hong-jun having signed a 9 billion Won advance payment distribution contract from Interpark Music to his personal company, Star Crew Entertainment, after the first trial regarding the suspension of the exclusive contract, held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 5th.

At that time, the attorney claimed that 6 billion out of the 9 billion Won was used for FIFTY FIFTY's album investment, and the revenue from the album was paid to Star Crew Entertainment, stating, "Why make a contract with an irrelevant company? Normally, a 9 billion Won advance payment distribution contract should have been signed between Interpark and Attract. The company burdened with the debt is Star Crew, but it's structured for FIFTY FIFTY to pay it off."

However, it's explained that this claim reflects a significant misunderstanding of the advance investment contract process in the entertainment industry.

A representative from Interpark Music, which led the prepayment contract of about 9 billion Won for Star Crew Entertainment, established by CEO Jeon Hong-jun in 2020, clarified in an interview with Sports Seoul on the 9th that, "The reason for the advance payment contract at the time was mainly due to the successful cases of Star Crew's Ha Sung-woon and the skills, experience, and drive of CEO Jeon Hong-jun. Interpark Music confirmed that Star Crew Entertainment was willing to produce a girl group. The team name FIFTY FIFTY was not yet decided, and Ahn Seong-il, the head of outsourcing company The Giveus, had not joined yet."

Advance contracts for album and music distribution are one of the most common ways for smaller agencies to raise funds for artist production. After promising the release of music and albums to the record company, they receive funding in advance to invest in production.

Most small and medium-sized agencies receive such advance investments to secure cash for production costs. The advance payment is used for artist album production and company operating costs. Advance payments and artist settlements are unrelated. If the artist's sales are unexpectedly high and they still have to repay the advance payment, the agencies must find other ways to raise cash to pay the artist's settlement.

The same representative also mentioned that, "As far as I know, part of the 9 billion Won invested in Star Crew ENT was used for FIFTY FIFTY. At the time, as the debut of FIFTY FIFTY was approaching, Star Crew ENT created a new corporation called Attract. We considered transferring the contract of Star Crew ENT to Attract, but the 9 billion Won of investment money was not entirely for FIFTY FIFTY. It was an investment for other artists, including Ha Sung-woon, so the transfer to Attract was put on hold."

Therefore, the assertion by the members' legal representative that an advance contract should be made with Attract is inconsistent. Traditionally, for non-major agencies, it's extremely rare for a music distribution company to invest billions of Won in a girl group that has not even debuted. According to the music industry, Attract invested up to 5 billion Won just before FIFTY FIFTY's debut.

A significant portion of this amount, as revealed through the exclusive report by Sports Seoul, is personal savings gathered by CEO Jeon Hong-jun and Attract officials, including cars, watches, and even 90 million won from Jeon's mother. A related person said, "The former CEO decided to use his personal savings, judging that it would be easier to receive investments if the company's debt was reduced after FIFTY FIFTY succeeded." Another added that the claim by the members that they couldn't receive settlements due to excessive advance investment is baseless.

A representative from Interpark Music added, "In the case of music distribution, settlement data is provided to the planning company three months after the release date in Korea and four months for overseas." They pointed out that "the members claimed that the album and music revenue from last December to this April was zero, but the song 'Cupid' released last February received more attention overseas, so it's difficult to get a settlement immediately separate from the advance payment."

FIFTY FIFTY, which debuted in November last year, has been receiving attention as a "miracle of a mid-small idol group" with their hit song 'Cupid' entering the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks as of the 1st. However, the members filed a lawsuit against the agency, and Attract is also in conflict, filing a lawsuit against The Giveus, an outsourced service company that co-produced 'Cupid'. This deepens the conflict between the two parties.

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