Singer 10CM (Kwon Jung-yeol) is taking steps to part ways with Magic Strawberry Sound. Amid this, allegations of tampering (pre-contact before contract expiration) involving the singer Davichi and the agency known as CAM With Us have emerged.
According to reports from Maeil Business Star Today on the 20th, 10CM, whose contract with Magic Strawberry Sound (hereafter referred to as MSS) is set to expire at the end of this month, is leaning towards not renewing the contract.
In this process, CAM (hereafter referred to as CAM) has emerged as a potential destination for 10CM. The industry, including MSS, views this as tampering by CAM. CAM is a company established in May of this year by a manager who previously worked at MSS, and it includes artists such as Silica Gel, Park Moon-chi, and Kim Soo-young, who were all under MSS. All of them drew attention by moving to CAM as soon as their contracts ended.
It has been confirmed that CAM has been in close contact with 10CM, who is nearing the end of their contract with MSS, attempting to recruit them. According to reports, a senior official at CAM has been telling key industry personnel since the beginning of this year that 10CM would be joining CAM. In particular, a representative from CAM mentioned their long-standing relationship with 10CM on their social media in January, hinting at a collaboration by stating, “If I give a spoiler, (10CM's concert) will be at the main stadium in 8 years.”
The signs of CAM's tampering regarding 10CM are evident in this year's activities. A manager from CAM, who previously worked at MSS, directly engaged in coordinating schedules for 10CM around this summer after leaving MSS. Additionally, it has been reported that while 10CM rejected all events that were confirmed and led by MSS, they reversed their decision to participate when the event was organized by a company closely associated with CAM. Notably, the on-site manager for 10CM informed MSS that they were communicating directly with the event company, rejecting direct involvement from the agency.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's standard exclusive contract, all entertainment activities of an artist must be conducted through their agency. If activities are carried out using the agency's resources without permission, there is a possibility of penalties for theft, embezzlement, or unauthorized use.
Furthermore, artists cannot negotiate appearances or provide public cultural and artistic services on their own or through a third party without prior approval from their agency during the contract period. Additionally, artists are prohibited from contacting other agencies to plan and proceed with work before the expiration of their contract with their current agency.
In this situation, it has been reported that Sunwoo Jung-a, a major artist from MSS alongside 10CM, is also expected to transfer to CAM after the expiration of their contract this year.
CAM has not disclosed its position regarding inquiries related to this matter.
Recently, the Korea Music Content Association (hereafter referred to as KMCA) expressed concerns about tampering and announced that it would take strong measures to eradicate it. KMCA stated, “If tampering continues, no agency will be able to recruit excellent producers as part of their agency or give autonomy to artists through outsourcing, allowing them to have contact with artists,” and added, “We will consider excluding the albums and sales figures of agencies and related artists involved in tampering allegations from our statistics.”
