Today, ‘The Straits Times’, the most widely read newspaper in Singapore, reported on the Outrage over ‘slave contracts’ for Korean stars.
(I’ll be only posting the main points therefore I skipped some parts)
The Straits Times reported:
SEOUL – BEHIND all the glitter and glamour of the Korean Wave, or hallyu, many popular girl and boy groups here are struggling to assert their rights against powerful talent management companies.
Many of these celebrities and wannabes are bound by long-term contracts – some lasting over a decade – that also force them to put in long hours on punishing schedules. Some women are said to be forced to offer sex services to sponsors.
Several cases of such ‘slave contracts’ have made headlines, threatening to put a dent in South Korea’s reputation as its pop groups and drama shows continue to rack up successes around the world.
They have prompted the country’s government to launch a strong crackdown on the industry, with Parliament seeking to enact new laws next month to force all entertainment agencies to register. The authorities have also been clamping down on agencies, as part of efforts to uncover and remedy the “slave contracts”.
Last year, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said more than half of teenage celebrities were not being schooled properly, and were being forced to wear revealing clothing or to work more than 40hours a week.
Things may get better. Almost 700 entertainers have been allowed to rewrite their contracts with the top 30 agencies. S.M Entertainment, which said it revised most of its contracts to cut the duration and mitigate penalties for terminating them, was let off with a severe warning.
Some celebrities, however, say that such cases are a minority. Singer BoA and singer Choi Si Won of group Super Junior have said they were never treated badly.
Added the Korea Entertainment Producers Association: “Hallyu was not the brainchild of slave contracts, and we wish for the music industry not to be slandered by a few cases of contracts gone awry.”
Prominent cases
Source: THE STRAITS TIMES, Saturday, January 22 2011.
Written by: Kim Ji Hyun, For The Straits Times
Shared by: Liz@dkpnews
Tagged: Hangeng, JYJ, Singapore Newspaper, Slave Contracts, SM, The Straits Times, Wonder Girls
Added the Korea Entertainment Producers Association: “Hallyu was not the brainchild of slave contracts, and we wish for the music industry not to be slandered by a few cases of contracts gone awry.”
MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is good to know there are more people who believe the contracts are unfair…Thanks for sharing 😉
Korea Entertainment Producers Association, just legally prove it that you have done nothing wrong.
Since when was “almost 700 entertainers” just “a few cases gone awry”???????
I think “Parliament seeking to enact new laws next month to force all entertainment agencies to register” should go a lot farther than this! How about addressing basic human rights, working conditions (like maybe the right to sleep and have a vacation…or even the right to say NO on occasion?!), copyrights to their own compositions and works, and ROYALTIES to be paid to the artists for all the re-packaged, compilations, best of cd/dvds that are released when they get nothing from the sales of these items.
Anyway, I could go on, but everyone here understands since we have hearts that work and are filled with compassion unlike some entertainment companies I can think of!
WORD!!!! I’m definitely feeling the royalties thing, I’d been wondering if artist did get compensated for previous work.
Of course Boa and Shiwon was never treated badly. Boa was one of the share holders of Sm and Shiwon’s parent were so rich they could buy SM
Well how would we know if she wasn’t treated badly…? SHe was left alone all by herself in Japan. And was not allowed to talk to one of her friends after a scandal broke out. BoA was never a shareholder until about 2004-2005. Read my post below about my thoughts V And please don’t go saying I’m some anti-jyj fan. I’m more of a JYJ fan than a BoA fan (particularly after what she said but that’s not the major reason.) I’m just getting tired of fans claiming some SM artists never experienced certain things just because they’re this or that. It’s just like how some anti-s are assuming that Jaejoong must’ve influenced Nicole. That’s utter bullshit. Let’s be a POSITIVE AND LOVING fandom 🙂 I refuse to be clumped in as ssimply “crazy obsessive JYJ fans who bash anyone that crosses there way”. We’re better than that. We love and support JYJ.
Why is wondergirls on the cover.
?
I’m glad this slave contract thing is getting contact from other countries. Its an embarassment to S. Korea and the entertainment companies there have no one to blame but themselves for thinking that an artist would never complain about such a thing. =/ a damn shame but this was a great article.
yes, agree with you…now other countries known about that hope this case can make them are treating their artist better than before.
we don’t have the same case happen with other countries too.
If ppl listen to Boa (tht no good person) or Siwon or anyone from the SMEnt on this matter are STUPID. They well say anything protect their company.
to think I used to be Boa fan arrrrgghhh, I can’t believe myself….
Me 2 T.T
I totally deleted every song I had of her on my itunes.
I can’t even look at her the same now.
I don’t think you should really delete all her music or stuff like that. I mean, I love BoA too and I was really disappointed/hurt/pissed off she said what she said but then I thought to myself….honestly….everyone has their own perspective of how the company treats them.
And, if you think about it, BoA did have a five year contract, not a 13 year contract. Also, she started out in that company at age 11 and was out in the world at 13. I think she’s just under the belief that SM is family and etcetc. She was all by herself and only had her staff around her :S
That made me feel better. I stopped keeping updated with stuff at like BoAjjang and stuff after that happened. Especially after seeing some of the things that some of the members said. It made my blood boil and made me ultimately leave that community. I stick to the soompi thread now LOL.I couldn’t deal with the new members that joined.
I personally think that the fact that she has shares is a stupid reason to justify. I mean, she had the ability to leave and if she really hated the company treatment, she would have left especially since so many other companies would have been more than happy to take her in. I just think, she had different contract terms and probably had different experiences than JYJ did with SM. I realize one can’t really condemn her for her thoughts.
But, don’t get me wrong, I am honestly a little bit less obsessive after her words. But It’s not like I’m going to dump out my BoA collection and delete all her songs. I ultimately liked her for her music, not because I thought she was someone that would move just as I wanted her to move 🙂
just food for thought ^_^
@eightone i agree with you. I like Boa for her music BUT i dont knw i just cant hear her voice anymore. O.O
@eighttone: personally I also like Boa music but she is an adult now, she can judge what is right and wrong, just or unjust, I bet she has already experience what other artists have been through but she chose to support the same old system/management. There is another thing, I notice about this sk entertainment system, they consider the artists are old once they reach 30, seriously, that is not old at all. True that if Boa wants to leave sm, other company may take her in but aren’t you agree that all entertainment company in SK is almost all the same. So, I bet she doesn’t want to risk it and leave SM. I know I’m just babbling stuffs but I think as a senior in the music industry, she should stand out and fight for her juniors to have a better system in the future.
@JYJ_fan “they consider the artists are old once they reach 30, seriously, that is not old at all.”
Thank you! I never want to say this myself because it would sound really…defensive. 🙂
Re BoA: I actually feel really sorry for her. She’s almost 25 and SME has no idea what to do with women. The only career she has left with the company is as an SME executive.
@Eliza: so I guess, Boa will be their “slave” forever but you ‘ll never know, she may earn more being their executive than being the artist herself.
but then what if she thinks the current system is fine? If she thinks the current system is fine, than I doubt she would fight. We can’t say that she didn’t go through the same treatment but we can’t say that she did either. We don’t know if SM necessarily pulled the same tricks with her nor do we know how her contract looks like. And considering how popular she was when her contract expired, I think she would have had the ability to get a contract that would attain better profit divisions etc. from another company. I doubt SM would have had a bitch fit considering FTTS left w/o any hassle (or so it seems considering they appeared on music shows just fine after leaving SM)
She can most definitely make her own decisions but, once again, she might think that if you sign the contract then yeah and I also wonder if her thinking might be warped by SM considering, yet again, she was with them since 2000 (in terms of debut, including training would be …1998) But it is a theory.
You know what I really hate about the fact that SM artists are interfering…? The fact that their fans will probably support their opinion just because. That’s what I hate the most. 😦
good, now the public will have more awareness of how aweful the music industry in S.K, to think that they are one of the leading country to have the best singers is actually treat their artists really bad. We need Bill Clinton to come to SK and talk about human rights with SK president.
Point of reference, you might want to re-think about using Bill Clinton as your expert on Human Rights. Rawanda happened under Bill Clinton’s watch. Human rights issues don’t get much deeper than that.
A+
we need an aung suu kyi
not a clinton
@Juno Aung Suu Kyi she’s stuck in Burma ATM >.<
I Know (are you from burma btw) but i love the way she fights
she reminds me of my president who previously was also a political dissident who got locked up and an amnesty international prisoner of conscience
Yeah I am from Burma.
I know she’s really inspirational.
be proud 🙂
you guys got a gem
lool thnx ^^
KOREAN MINISTRY OF EVERYTHING! this is a bad IMAGE for u guys! first slave contract, not being paid properly, sexual favor forced upon women singer and actresses, the number of suicide is still high in korea…do i still need to say anything more?! STOP GIVING EXCUSES! AND START PICKING YOUR BUTT AND DO SOMETHING!
With more countries reporting news like that, I hope the Korean Government will do something about it.
Granted they prehaps need those big entertainment companies to bring in the cash, but I hope they do realise that those companies are the ones spoilting the image of Korea.
“Hallyu was not the brainchild of slave contracts, and we wish for the music industry not to be slandered by a few cases of contracts gone awry.”
KEPA, KFC whoever….fuck off.
Thanks and good night.
imagine the pretty girls of snsd being f*cked by ugly old bastards…
WHy would you say something so Horrible >:|
Thats way out of line!
get out!