Ministry of Culture intervenes after BTS is accused of fraud

BTS' management company under investigation

According to K-Selection, the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism confirmed that it has received a complaint requesting an investigation into allegations of music chart manipulation involving the group BTS.

"We have received a complaint about chart manipulation involving BTS, and after checking with the Korea Creative Content Agency, we will begin an investigation," a ministry official said.

BTS's digital music fraud scandal from 7 years ago was suddenly brought up again.

In the complaint, an individual (referred to as Mr. A) stated: "The Court's ruling in January 2017 was completely contrary to the views of Big Hit (a subsidiary of Hybe Group).

The court ruled that the blackmailer used chart manipulation to threaten the company, but at the same time acknowledged that Big Hit was involved in illegal promotions and chart manipulation.

South Korea's music industry promotion law states that any act of buying or causing others to buy recordings to falsely inflate sales figures is "sajaegi." The crime is punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won (about $16,600).

According to Mr. A, based on the content of the judgment, it can be seen that illegal marketing activities took place even during the period from February 23, 2016 to January 11, 2017 - the date of promulgation of the Law on Promotion of the Music Industry (amended). This includes provisions on "manipulating album rankings".

In addition, Mr. A also requested a re-investigation of the "Album of the Year" award that BTS won at the 2016 Melon Music Awards.

According to him, BTS's albums consistently ranked lower than EXO's. On the Gaon Chart, BTS's albums were only half of EXO's. EXO even surpassed BTS quite far in the voting round, but in the end, BTS was the winner.

BTS group.

Overview of the BTS scandal

According to Koreaboo, in 2017, a man (referred to as Mr. B) sent an email to BTS's management company, threatening to provide the media with documents related to BTS's illegal marketing and music chart manipulation. The song in question is "I need you".

Specifically, B was hired to carry out online marketing activities for BTS. Due to financial difficulties, B had to resort to blackmail.

At that time, B received a total of 57 million Won (more than 1 billion VND). After that, B was sentenced to one year in prison for extortion.

According to Korean media, the court recognized that digital music fraud actually occurred.

BTS's management company has denied all allegations of fraud, affirming that it only carried out normal marketing measures.

Big Hit representative said that the amount paid to B was the artist management's decision to protect BTS's image, not an admission of guilt.

However, the latest information from Korean media shows that the court has different conclusions.

Authorities stressed that the person hired to do the marketing violated business confidentiality. The subject was also fined for illegal marketing.

Legal experts admit that the verdict in question mentions "illegal marketing". This shows that digital music manipulation has actually occurred and has been confirmed by the authorities.

In response to this incident, Big Hit announced that it would take legal action against false information. "We have recently discovered some organized actions to defame and slander BTS. We have made an official statement in 2017 and nothing has changed," Big Hit's announcement said.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/bo-van-hoa-the-thao-va-du-lich-han-quoc-vao-cuoc-vu-bts-bi-to-gian-lan-192240504082840082.htm