Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin Seek Settlement for Alleged Breach of Agreement

Courtesy of INB100

Three members of the popular K-pop group EXO, namely Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin, announced on Friday their intention to file a lawsuit against their management agency, SM Entertainment. The legal action aims to address issues related to the settlement of accounts, further intensifying a conflict between the artists and the agency.

The announcement follows a lawsuit filed by SM Entertainment on Wednesday to enforce an agreement with the three EXO members. The dispute resurfaced after a press conference on Monday, where the trio indicated their dissatisfaction with SM’s adherence to a previous agreement. This agreement, established last year to resolve a similar conflict, required the EXO members to pay 10 percent of their individual revenue to SM Entertainment as a royalty. The agreement also stipulated a reduced commission rate of 5.5 percent for albums and music distributed through Kakao Entertainment, a subsidiary of Kakao, SM's parent company.
 

▲ Courtesy of INB100Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin have accused SM Entertainment of not honoring the reduced commission rate and of only demanding the 10 percent royalty. During the press conference, they proposed a compromise to pay for the use of SM’s music and the EXO brand name, instead of the fixed percentage of their revenue. According to the trio, SM Entertainment did not respond to this proposal.

The EXO members had renewed their contracts with SM Entertainment but later expressed their intention to terminate these contracts in June of the previous year. They cited the agency’s failure to provide proper accounting data as one of the reasons. Subsequently, the members filed an antitrust complaint against SM with the Fair Trade Commission.

The dispute was temporarily resolved when both parties agreed to maintain the exclusive contracts, allowing the members to pursue solo careers under INB100, an independent label founded by Baekhyun. However, the disagreement resurfaced following Monday's press conference. SM Entertainment maintains that the members should adhere to the original terms of the agreement, which permitted them to pursue individual careers while still honoring their commitments to the group.

Sayart 

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