As the legal battle between K-pop girl group FIFTY FIFTY and its agency ATTRAKT continues, the group’s fandom came in solidarity to support the “Cupid” singers amidst the controversy.
On Saturday, September 23, the FIFTY FIFTY’s fan union announced a boycott of all merchandise produced by the music label ATTRAKT as a protest against the label’s abuse of the girl group. Such boycott include the group’s physical and digital albums, social media accounts, and paid event tickets.
The FIFTY FIFTY Fan Union has decided to proceed with a boycott. Please read the document in full.#FIFTYFIFTY #피프티피프티 pic.twitter.com/gYKORADqNU
— fifi updates (fan account) (@updatesfifi) September 23, 2023
Moreover, the boycott was prompted after ATTRAKT released a compilation album K-Pop called The Beginning on September 22. Given the circumstances surrounding its release, fans were unhappy with it.
‘The Beginning’ album draws backlash from fans
Despite the immense support for the girl group and their music, the group’s fandom was greatly disappointed and enraged with the poor quality of The Beginning. Which led them to boycott the product yet again.
In a two-minute clip shared by a fan, multiple empty pages in the album were visibly noticed. With the lack of content, some fans stated that it was a waste of money.
Fifty fifty’s album is jokes wth waste of money💀
pic.twitter.com/F1CnImsK5r— 𝘓𝘪𝘺𝘢𝘩 🕷️ (@liyahyunnie) September 24, 2023
Another fan who purchased the album took her sentiments to social media. In a Twitter thread, she listed down all the details regarding the album’s poor quality. First, she pointed out that the photobook had 195 pages in total, and 123 pages of it are either blank, nearly blank, or have irrelevant designs.
photobook breakdown. out of 195 pages total:
14 pages are devoted to credits & lyrics,
58 pages are devoted to photos, and
123 pages are blank, nearly blank, OR irrelevant designs. this shit is worse than sm’s notorious blank pages.this album easily could’ve been 80 pages MAX.
— cam is arem’s style 🎸💎 (@trashb0rb) September 23, 2023
Additionally, the user also criticized the reused content with most photos already publicly released, and the repetitive design all throughout the album. Apart from that, the fan also showed pages with random designs that are far from the group’s concept, in an attempt to fill up more space.
Because of this, fans were quick to note that it’s just another way for ATTRAKT to squeeze money from FIFTY FIFTY fans. For them, the lack of thought and preparation for the compilation album is proof of the company’s negligence to the group.
One fan even harshly commented that The Beginning album might just be the worst K-Pop album in history.
This has to go down as the worst made kpop album in history. Actually could be the worst album in history in general. https://t.co/jQ9Lt6A1BB
— Aditya (@AdityaNWA) September 23, 2023
FIFTY FIFTY’s legal battle with ATTRAKT
In June 2023, all four members Aran, Sio, Keena, and Saena filed a preliminary injunction with the desire to suspend their exclusive contract with the agency. Moreover the group revealed that the agency lacked providing them fair treatment and proper income distribution.
On the other hand, ATTRAKT CEO Jun Hong Joon, stated that a third party named Ahn Sung Il attempted to poach the girl group. Ahn Sung Il is the CEO of The Givers who has the copyright of FIFTY FIFTY’s debut album registered under his name. Upon discovering Ahn’s anomalies, Jun Hong Joon filed a police report accusing Ahn of fraud, breach of trust, and other offenses.
Following the report, the court approved ATTRAKT’s request to put Ahn Sung Il’s copyright revenue on hold.
With all the contrasting arguments, the group’s heated dispute with the agency remains unresolved.
Featured image: FIFTY FIFTY poses for the concept photo of their song ‘Cupid.’ Credit: Twitter/FIFTY FIFTY