Pursuing the K-Pop Dream – At What Cost? (Part III)
In Parts I and II of this article series, we looked at some of the two harsh realities that confront youths who wish to pursue their dreams as K-Pop stars. In Part III, we explore the unfair contract arrangements that plague the industry.
“Slave” Contracts
In an article written by BBC’s Lucy Williamson, some of K-Pop’s biggest popstars were built on the backs of “slave” contracts which tie trainees into long exclusive deals, with not much control or financial reward. In 2014, the group B.A.P pressed a lawsuit against their company, TS Entertainment, citing unfair agreements and slave contracts. ZE:A’s member Moon Junyoung also revealed the group’s problems with their company, Star Empire, over problems with payment.
Given the popularity and success of these groups at home and abroad, one would never imagine that the artistes would be under-paid or have their pay withheld. Eatyourimchi, a production company that was become very popular for making videos that delve into issues commonly left out by travel guides and government organizations, discussed the unfair and exploitative contracts agencies sign with new artistes in one of their videos.
In the video, Simon and Martina Stawski, the creators of Eatyourkimchi, explained the phenomenon of many K-Pop artistes being unpaid for months because their companies cite the reason that the money they make had to be used to fulfill the BEP (Break Even Point) first.
The BEP works along these lines: when an artiste is signed by a company, the company commits to spending a certain amount of money into training, feeding, housing and grooming the artiste, etc. When the artiste debuts and starts earning money, the money goes into paying off the BEP instead of going to the artiste. While one would assume that once the initial BEP is fulfilled, the artiste would then be free from the financial burden and start making money for himself, in many cases, a large chunk of the money that the artiste earns does not go directly into paying off the BEP. Instead, it goes back to the company as fees and pays the salaries of the executives and staff. In some cases, about 40 % of what an artiste earns goes into the payment of the BEP while the other 60 % goes back to the company as fees and salaries.
The insidious thing about the BEP is that, it is not a fixed amount and is subjected to changes. If a company decides that the artiste should receive a make-over, get a new look, learn new skills, take additional classes, etc., those expenses will be added to the BEP. Coupled with the fact that the company decides who to engage to provide training to the artistes and how much the training would cost, the artiste gets deeper and deeper in debt. This means that while the artiste may be making more and more money, his debt to the company also grows as BEP keeps stacking up. In many cases, the BEPs and the artiste’s earnings are also not transparent and the artiste has no idea how much he still owes the company, how much the company is spending on things such as makeovers and trainings and how much he is actually earning for the company through the work he has put in. Hence some of these K-Pop contracts are extremely unfair because the artistes are kept in the dark about how much he/she is earning exactly and how much of it is going into the payment of the BEP.
Pursuing the K-Pop dream, is it worth it?
At the end of the day, this remains a subjective question which no can answer confidently. As with many potentially life-changing decisions that has been made, it is always important to approach the issue as rationally as possible and from several angles. Thorough research is also required in order to delve into the issue in greater depth before arriving at a decision.
If your pre-teen or teen declares that he or she would like to hit Seoul and be a K-Pop star, do not shoot down his/her dream immediately. Instead, practise good decision-making processes with your child. Do some research with your child to help him/her understand the business practices of the K-Pop industry, highlight to your child that K-Pop is more of a business model than a platform for artistic and creative expression, point out the difference in culture, the potential challenges, the financial outlay the family has to bear and ask your child to weigh the opportunity costs of going ahead or not going ahead with the plan. With sensible decision-making processes and thorough research, you and your child should be able to make the best decision.
LearnOwly is a Singapore-based platform which helps parents find that perfect tutor. Designed by a team passionate about the education industry, LearnOwly allows both parents and tutors to make an informed decision before jumping into the tuition sessions.
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