NewJeans Announces End to Exclusive Contract with ADOR, Exposing Structural Issues in K-Pop Industry

K-pop group NewJeans declared the termination of its exclusive contract with agency ADOR, exposing deep structural problems within South Korea’s music industry. Once hailed as the future of K-pop after winning Group of the Year at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards, the group had achieved remarkable success since its Debut. In August 2022, their debut song reached a record-breaking sales figure of 1 million copies and went viral online thanks to its unique Y2K-style music. They were also the first Korean singers to exceed 1 billion Spotify streams in just 219 days and became the first K-pop female group to perform on the Coachella stage. In November 2024, NewJeans announced through a press conference their intention to end the exclusive contract with ADOR. The group alleged that ADOR lacked sincerity in music creation and focused solely on making money. Members felt the company no longer cared about their personal well-being or their growth as artists, with distrust growing especially after Minhee Jin, ADOR’s CEO and producer who had played a key role in NewJeans’ success, was dismissed two months prior. The members demanded Minhee Jin’s reinstatement and refused to cooperate with the company. In response, ADOR claimed it had not violated any contract terms and that the exclusive contract remained valid, filing a lawsuit in December at the Seoul Central District Court to confirm its validity. This marked the beginning of a legal dispute that lasted over a year and led to a prolonged hiatus in NewJeans’ release of new music. As the legal battle gained public attention, all members—Mizzi, Hani, Danielle, Hyein, and Haerin—actively participated. They made statements about exploitation and workplace harassment both in court and online, accusing HYBE of secretly tracking them, defaming them, and spreading false information through media outlets. Their demand to reinstate Minhee Jin as ADOR’s CEO was ignored. On December 15, 2024, NewJeans created personal Instagram accounts (@jeanzforfree, later renamed @njz_official) to continuously inform the public about ADOR’s actions and defend themselves. However, after the court ruled against NewJeans, the account name was changed to @mhdhh_friends and all related posts were deleted. In February 2025, NewJeans attempted to rebrand as “NJZ,” announcing their own performances and the release of new songs. But in March, a Seoul court ruled that NewJeans could not pursue independent activities under the name NewJeans or NJZ due to the still-valid exclusive contract. If they operated as a band without ADOR’s explicit permission, each member would have to pay 1 billion won (approximately $700,000) per violation.