[PHoto: Girl group HITGS.]
From August 1-3 local time, CJ ENM hosted its global K-Pop festival 'KCON' at the Crypto.com Arena and the LA Convention Center in Los Angeles, California.
This year's festival featured the event's biggest lineup yet, with a total of 34 teams performing over the course of 3-days. 10 of these teams performed on the 'X STAGE', a stage aimed at introducing rising rookies to global K-Pop fans.
However, according to an industry official on August 8 KST, each label whose artist participated on the 'X STAGE' had to pay nearly 100 million KRW (~ $72,000 USD) for their moment in the spotlight.
One official who attended the event told MyDaily, "We knew that the label had to pay for the flight and the hotel. But once we got here, we learned that we were not going to be provided with meals either. We even had to pay additional rental fees."
The official then claimed that artists who performed on the main stage also had to bear extra costs without any pay. The only benefit provided by CJ ENM for the main stage artists was air fare and lodging; the label had to pay for the travels fees of the staff, fees for hair, makeup, styling, etc. According to the official, the entire event was nothing short of "exploitation".
In response to the accusations, a representative of CJ ENM commented, "It is still more than a gig where the artists perform for free. They are also given the opportunity to mingle with and promote themselves in front of affiliates from the American music industry who are invited to attend the event. Their performances, moreover, receive global exposure not only on-site, but through the online live stream. All the artists who participated knew of these facts and still chose to make it an opportunity to promote themselves."
Another rep remarked, "There are many teams who were not able to secure a spot on this stage despite their willingness to pay. Not everyone can seize such high-exposure opportunities."
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