Contract Disputes, Forced Repeat Purchases by Fans, and Idol Abuse: Deepening Structural Crises in the K-pop Industry

The K-pop industry is facing severe challenges due to multiple structural issues. From contract disputes to exploitation of fans, crises spreading across the sector have prompted experts at home and abroad to call for systemic reforms. The most prominent case is the contract dispute between the girl group NewJeans and their agency ADOR. In January 2025, NewJeans reiterated their criticism of ADOR over their ongoing exclusive contract conflict and even launched a campaign to find a new group name. According to the members, their contract terminated at midnight on November 29, 2024. A representative from the Korean Music Content Association expressed concern, stating that NewJeans “cannot even distinguish between debt performance contracts and investment agreements.” While noting that anyone with basic business knowledge would find NewJeans’ claims unfounded, the representative added, “We worry that their continuous statements may have a negative impact on young people who lack real-world experience.” The fact that the members are directly involved in this dispute increases the likelihood that all legal responsibilities will fall on them. An expert observed, “If the members take matters into their own hands, it might be perceived by some as attempting to manipulate public opinion, and the person who should stop this is none other than Min Hee-jin, former CEO of ADOR.” A greater concern is the dampening of investment confidence in the industry. The Korean Music Content Association warned, “If contracts can be terminated merely through notification, who will invest in the K-pop market? In the long term, no investor will be willing to put money into an industry with such extreme instability.” The concept of “tempering” — contract violation — itself remains ambiguous. Although a relative of a NewJeans member named A and Min Hee-jin met with B, the actual owner of Doborink, and that B asked them for ways to bring NewJeans out, proving tempering is difficult under current laws since both A and Min Hee-jin claim they were already acquainted. The Korean Music Content Association declared in December last year that it would withhold ranking data from artists involved in tempering allegations, but this has been deemed an inadequate solution. Practices of exploiting fans have also been exposed clearly. Ayame Kato, a 21-year-old Japanese woman, purchased 30 albums of a certain K-pop boy group for around 1 million won last August. A university student working three part-time jobs to save money, she said she made this decision to obtain tickets for a fan signing event. She added that she plans to buy a similar number of albums next month. There are mainly three methods used by the K-pop industry to encourage fans to make repeat purchases. First is the “random photo card,” which randomly includes individual member cards, with 2 to 3 per album, forcing fans to keep buying albums until they collect all member cards. Second is releasing multiple albums with only different covers to stimulate fans’ desire to collect them. Third is keeping the rules for winning fan signing events secret, prompting fans to purchase more albums. The financial burden on foreign fans is even greater. Nuhu Izzatunisa, a 28-year-old Indonesian activist from the environmental group K-pop Planet, which is composed of K-pop fans, reported that there were cases of someone purchasing 150 albums to participate in a video call fan signing event. Purchasing 150 albums costs around 2.85 million won, and an Indonesian newcomer earning the minimum wage would need to work 8 hours a day for over 10 months to earn this amount. Posts from foreign fans claiming they have purchased hundreds of albums appear frequently on X (formerly Twitter). A Chinese fan revealed that they had bought 8,377 albums, sharing proof of purchase and photos of stacked album boxes. Amid these circumstances, middlemen have emerged. They place orders on behalf of foreign fans, buy the albums, deliver only the random photo cards, and discard the actual albums. The problem is that this practice is spreading globally. In a June article, Billboard criticized Korea, stating that “many fans there do not own CD players, yet they purchase CDs due to ‘lottery-style’ marketing strategies.” Even more concerning is that foreign artists are beginning to imitate this practice. Megan The Stalion, a famous American rapper, included random photo cards in her new album after collaborating with a Korean girl group, leading fans to sarcastically criticize it as “K-pop tactics exported overseas.” Kurt Langer, executive director of the music advocacy group Music Sustainability Alliance, said at a parliamentary forum in November last year, “In the first half of 2025, Billboard’s ‘Top 10’ albums were released in an average of 22 versions, a practice that originated in K-pop during the 2010s. As K-pop’s marketing tactics have become commercially successful, the music industry is heading in a completely wrong direction.” Allegations of idol abuse have also surfaced. Shin Dong-ho, former member of U-KISS, is facing charges of infidelity, abuse, and coercion into prostitution from his ex-wife, A. A posted screenshots of text messages raising these suspicions on social media, but no formal police report or lawsuit has been filed yet. Shin Dong-ho denied all allegations through his own social media accounts, leaving the matter confined to online discussions. Experts say fundamental solutions are needed. They emphasize the urgent need to improve chart calculation methods, such as giving disadvantages to albums containing “random components” when ranking them using reputable charts. Popular culture critic Ha Jae-geun warned, “Deceptive marketing will ultimately harm K-pop, and companies must make efforts to correct themselves.”