The conflict between EXO-CBX (Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin) and SM Entertainment has reignited after a year. The issue at hand is the “10% of personal activity revenue.” Recently, HYBE also faced a conflict with Ador’s CEO Min Hee-jin, claiming that the core issue was “the scale of compensation.” What is the reason behind the continuous discord in the music industry?
On the afternoon of the 10th, INBYBACK, the agency representing EXO-CBX, announced an urgent press conference to expose SM’s “deceptive agreement.” The conference will be attended by Cha Ga-won, chairman of the parent company of INBYBACK, CEO Kim Dong-joon, and lawyer Lee Jae-hak.
INBYBACK stated, “SM is demanding ‘10% of the artists’ personal activity revenue’ from INBYBACK, ignoring the negotiation content that was the premise of the agreement. INBYBACK sent a content certification regarding the unfairness, but SM has not responded for over two months.”
Last June, Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen notified SM of their intention to terminate their exclusive contracts. They claimed that SM repeatedly engaged in unfair practices, such as not providing copies of settlement data and insisting on long contract durations. SM denied all allegations related to settlements and exclusive contracts, mentioning the existence of “external forces making unreasonable proposals.”
These external forces were identified as Big Planet Made and its internal director, MC Mong. Although both denied involvement, Baekhyun established INBYBACK, which recently joined as a subsidiary of OneHundred. OneHundred was co-founded by Cha Ga-won, chairman of PIAK Group, and MC Mong, a singer-songwriter. It is the parent company of Big Planet Made Entertainment and Million Market.
In the previous dispute, the issue was “settlement,” and in this dispute, it is “10% of personal activity revenue.” The new conflict arising from the previously settled dispute appears to be monetary. However, the exact details of the agreement between CBX and SM are unknown. Speculations continue as they acknowledged and maintained their contractual relationship last year through some negotiations and revisions to continue EXO activities.
Similarly, the conflict between HYBE, the largest entertainment agency in Korea, and Min Hee-jin, CEO of its subsidiary label Ador, also involves financial issues. In an urgent press conference last April, Min Hee-jin refuted all allegations of management rights infringement and breach of trust by HYBE. The next day, HYBE claimed that the core issue prompting the discussions was “the scale of compensation,” despite Min Hee-jin stating she had no interest in money.
Min Hee-jin addressed various issues, including conflicts during NewJeans’ debut, criticisms of HYBE’s multi-label system, and album “pushing.” However, HYBE emphasized “the scale of compensation” as the core issue. They have significant differences regarding the non-compete clause in their shareholder agreement. Although HYBE initially deemed Min Hee-jin’s response unworthy of an answer, they highlighted it the following day.
The conflicts involving CBX and HYBE did not initially start due to financial issues. CBX claimed SM engaged in unfair practices such as insisting on long contracts. HYBE announced that Min Hee-jin had plans to usurp management rights, supported by concrete evidence. Min Hee-jin initially stated that the cultural achievements of Ador and NewJeans were ironically most seriously violated by HYBE.
As the music industry continues to face ongoing noise, it seems unlikely that the conflicts involving CBX or HYBE and Min Hee-jin will be easily resolved. This prolonged conflict raises curiosity about its reasons. Is it about principles or money? What will be the outcome, and what was important to those involved? The future developments will be closely watched.
