3 EXO members accuse SM of 'unfair' income demands, renewing dispute

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) — Three members of popular K-pop group EXO — Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin — said Monday that their agency SM Entertainment was making an “unfair” demand on their individual business income. , thus reigniting their conflict with the K-pop powerhouse after a year.

They alleged that the agency was unfairly demanding a 10 percent royalty on revenue from their individual activities without fulfilling its part of a behind-the-scenes deal reached to resolve the dispute in June last year.

At a press conference at a Seoul hotel, the trio’s lawyer, Lee Jae-hak, said SM was violating the terms of the agreement that guaranteed a 5.5 percent commission rate on sales of albums and music via INB100, the label representing their careers and solo activities. like EXO-CBX, a sub-unit of the boy group.

3 EXO members accuse SM of ‘unfair’ income demands, renewing dispute — **Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin, members of popular K-pop boy group EXO, are seen in this photo provided by SM Entertainment. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)**

“SM Entertainment fails to meet the 5.5 percent commission rate and instead demands 10 percent of artists’ income from their personal activities, albums, concerts and advertisements,” Lee said.

EXO members had renewed their contracts with SM but then informed the company of their intention to terminate the contracts last year. The reasons given included failure to provide appropriate accounting data. The trio then filed an antitrust complaint with the Fair Trade Commission against the agency.

The conflict was temporarily resolved when both parties agreed to maintain exclusive contracts with SM while allowing the members’ individual activities to be managed independently by INB100, the independent label founded by Baekhyun earlier this year.

Lee pointed out that SM A&R director Lee Sung-soo promised to get a 5.5 percent distribution commission from distributor Kakao for INB100 and that promise led to the deal signed last year.

The lawyer also revealed that a formal notice was sent to SM in April, highlighting the non-compliance with this promise, but that it received no response.

He asked SM to acknowledge its failure to maintain the 5.5 percent commission rate and to refrain from demanding 10 percent of his personal income.

“As the agreement no longer makes sense, we will consider either canceling it due to fraud or terminating it for non-compliance with obligations,” he said. The trio will also consider filing complaints with police and the state antitrust agency over the deal process, he warned.

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