The management agency Attract and music distributor Interpark of the K-pop group FIFTY FIFTY (comprising members Saena, Aran, Keena, and Sio) have remained tight-lipped about the band's digital earnings and their subsequent settlement.

On July 11th, Interpark announced to Newsen that it was "difficult to confirm" whether FIFTY FIFTY would be settling earnings in excess of 3 billion won ($2.6 million) from various music sites including Spotify by the end of July. Attrakt, FIFTY FIFTY's label, also kept their response concise, claiming they "didn't know" and requested Newsen to verify with Interpark.

FIFTY FIFTY's digital single "Cupid", released in February, gained popularity as background music among TikTok users in North America and various other countries, showing a good performance on overseas charts. "Cupid" entered the American Billboard main single chart 'Hot 100' at the 100th position in March, and has consistently risen since, breaking Blackpink's K-pop girl group's longest-entry record and Newkidds' record for the shortest time to chart after debut.

The group also set the record for the highest entry by a K-pop female group on the UK Official Singles Chart Top 100 for 13 consecutive weeks. Amidst ongoing conflict with their label, they ranked 24th on the 'Hot 100' chart as of July 8th.

FIFTY FIFTY's earnings settlement has become a major issue in the ongoing dispute between the group members and Attrakt over their exclusive contract.

FIFTY FIFTY applied for an injunction to suspend the effects of their exclusive contract on June 19th, seven months after their debut. They maintain that Attract has not properly fulfilled its contractual obligations, including transparent settlement. The first trial took place on July 5th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

The law firm Barun, representing the members, claims that Attract has not provided honest accounting documents, including omissions of FIFTY FIFTY's revenue items. In particular, they pointed out that CEO Jeon Hong-jun of Attract, during the process of signing a prepayment contract worth 9 billion won for music and album distribution with Interpark, did not receive the payment under Attract's name but under the name of Starcrew ENT (a company established and operated by the current CEO of Attract before the establishment of Attrakt).

FIFTY FIFTY members argue, "Starcrew ENT is a company where contracts with trainees and existing creditors were established and then the exclusive contract was terminated and became part of Attract. 9 billion won went from Interpark to Starcrew ENT. We don't know if the claim that over 6 billion won was used for FIFTY FIFTY is correct. They should have signed a new contract with us regarding the prepayment distribution, but they did not."

They added, "We never agreed to the prepayment structure between Interpark and Starcrew ENT. It's the duty of the entertainment agency to explain about the contract in advance. They did not inform us about this at all," leading to the breakdown of the trust relationship with their agency.

On the contrary, CEO Jeon Hong-jun of Attrakt refutes this, arguing that the members have a serious misunderstanding or intentional distortion regarding the transaction structure between Starcrew ENT and Attract. Attract's legal representative, law firm Seojeong, explained, "As the members already know, they originally signed an exclusive contract with Starcrew ENT. As stated in the response document, a new company called Attrakt was established and a new exclusive contract was signed with the members. They all agreed to the business transfer contract. We will provide separate evidence for this part."

According to music industry insiders, Interpark highly valued CEO Jeon's production capabilities, who led the debut and success of singers like Ha Sung-woon, who were originally under Starcrew ENT, and paid a prepayment of 9 billion won. As it's known that the prepayment was not exclusively for the production and distribution of FIFTY FIFTY's albums, some have questioned the persuasiveness of the members' arguments about prepayment at the first trial.

Interpark commented on this matter, "This issue is a matter between the agency and the artist, please direct inquiries to the agency," thus remaining reticent.

The second trial date has yet to be confirmed. After reviewing the additional data on the business transfer contract and the settlement statement that both parties are expected to submit later, the court is expected to make a judgment.

Copyright © 2023 Kpop Reporter. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.