I took this from a person who shared this note at Facebook.Cassies... be strong!
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Ok so finally the moment arrives for me to spill out my thoughts that have been bottled up for the past months. I have previously mentioned that my purpose is to talk about DBSK. Now, since 2009 around July, 3 out of the 5 members (Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochu) filed a lawsuit against their company SME. When I first saw the news I was like WTF ARE YOU GUYS DOING!!!??? because SME is one of the most powerful company in Korea and when I say powerful I mean it. They develop some of the most well known artists such as Shinhwa, H.O.T, BOA and yet there are several cases where artists and bands have tried to leave SME. WHY???? because SME have "slave" contracts, don't pay their artists, work them endlessly without giving them breaks or holidays. In other words, they don't treat their employees as humans but rather, profit earning machines.
REASONS FOR LAWSUIT: (I will explain these terms in detail later on but this is an outline for now)
1) Slave contract- 13 years (plus another 2 years for military service)
2) Overworking yet underpaid. SME only pays them 20% of their earnings so the 5 will have to divide it amongst themselves= 4% each
3) Overworking artists. 5 days of rest in 2006, 1 day of rest in 2007, 10 days of rest in 2008+2009. Endless working hours....(please take note of this as I shall be mentioning this in extreme detail later)
In the beginning DBSK tried to negotiate and talk to SME about the contracts but SME just ignored them so they had no choice but to file a lawsuit. This finally got SME's attention and their battle has started ever since. Unfortunately, the worst thing atm is that the other 2 members (Yunho the leader and Changmin the youngest) didn't partipate in the lawsuit with the other 3 and decided to remain in SM (reasons unkown but I shall analyse this later). Thus, SM has separated the group and won't let them have any contact whatsoever. Originally, the trio would continue their activities with SME only of SME showed them their financial booklet and information about their income, etc, but SME refused (what's there got to hide???) In April this year 2010, SME also filed a suit against the trio and the battle continues till today. Not surprisingly, they aren't the first group to defy SME....
In 2001, H.O.T was forced to disband by SME. At that time their contracts were ending. They were probably wanting to leave because they thought that their payment was too low (each member got 1 cent for every record sold). Out of no where, SME announced that HOT will be disbanded! O_O
You would have thought SME would be more careful from then on in the way they treated their bands? but NOOOO a few years later, Shinhwa(the next legendary boy band after H.O.T) finished their contract with SME and they also wanted to leave 2003. They signed up with another agency. Guess what happened? SME once again gave them a hard time. They tried to make Shinhwa renew their contract but Shinhwa refused. After going through lawsuits, Shinhwa ended up winning so SME had no rights to tie them down (not like they had any rights in the first place). One of the members, ERIC, who was pretty wealthy, forked out his own funds to buy the group's way out from SME. But from then on, SME still tried to make their lives hard. ><
Now comes DBSK. After 6 years together, they managed to conquer not only Korea but also Japan and the rest of Asia. They are probably the strongest group yet so far. They achieved a place in the Guinness World Record Book of 2008, for the BIGGEST fanclub of an artist! Cassiopeia(fans for DBSK) consist of over 800,000 OFFICIAL members when last counted. This is not even including the non-official members. With this, TVXQ has the biggest fanbase in the world!
But they face the same problem as the previous 2 groups. Would they disband like H.O.T or leave SME for another agency? The court said at the end of last year that SME aren't allowed to interfere with the trio's activities and their contract is suspended (still exists but suspended) so the trio have formed a "UNIT" called JYJ. Note this, the 3 members did not want to EVER break up with the other 2 and leave DBSK so they formed a unit not a group. They aren't allowed to call themselves DBSK any longer because it would cause more anger and trouble from SME. The 2 remaining members still continue their names and activities under DBSK in SME.
So the above is the outline of what is going on so far. It is only the beginning.
Why did Yunho and Changmin stay in SME instead of following the other 3?
What are the real problems behind closed doors that drove DBSK to file a lawsuit?
Are SME really that bad and abusive? Or are the trio just greedy and exaggerating the whole matter?
What are the feelings of all 5 members and what they are going through emotionally?
In the next entries, I will address these questions and issues one by one in detail according to what I think.
For now, I'm going to take a rest ^^" need some fresh air before I go mad at SME XD
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Why didn't HoMin participate in lawsuit?
Ok now that I'm satsified after dinner, I shall present my first formal "train of thought"
From the time of the DBSK lawsuit quest against SME, the question that has been at the back of my mind until now is
WHY DID HOMIN (Yunho and changmin) STAY IN SME?????
At first, I was really upset due to the fact that HoMin didn't join the other 3 in the lawsuit. If they joined wouldn't DBSK still be together? If they joined they would be all happy coz they can be together. If they joined, we as fans won't have to worry our brains out whether they will disband or not. IF IF IF...... Seriously, I think after half a year of pulling my hair out, crying until my eyes hurt, getting moody for no reason because I was always worrying about DBSK, I finally woke up from my narrow minded IFS. Well what IF there is a reason behind HoMin's decision? What IF HoMin stayed for DBSK's future in the long run? What IF there are things they can't tell us at the moment? I went back to watch their clips, interviews, shows again and realised how foolish I was. You know, sometimes you'll think that it's impossible to fool yourself but it turns out to be easiest thing of all!!!
Let's trace our mind back to the time when DBSK told us to not trust everything we hear but only trust what comes from their mouths. They said that there are things which they can't tell us now. The only things I've heard from their mouths are "let's wait" "keep the faith", etc Now after blabbing on for so long, I shall just get into the details.
For those of you who aren't clear about DBSK's relationship.....THEY ARE A FAMILY WHO SPENT 8 YEARS TOGETHER TRAINING, SLEEPING, EATING, LIVING TOGETHER!!!! THEY'VE HAD ARGUMENTS AND CONFLICTS YET THEY MANAGED TO REACH TO THIS POINT. DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT HOMIN LOVES SME'S OLD HAGS MORE THAN THEIR OWN BROTHERS??? (If you answered yes, then please, I have nothing more to say to you)
When I calmed down I also began to think, why is it Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochu stand up against SME, why is it not Yunho and Changmin??
Many people have said that it's coz of the cosmetic business, it's coz the other two are happy with the contract, but everyone...sit down and think long and hard.
Did the thought that it might be their plan from the start come across anyone's mind???
1) I've checked other people's journals, websites and forums and came up with a basic "strength"distribution analysis so please don't hit me if you don't agree completely...^^"
Yunho:
Strength- Compared to others, his dancing is superb. Once in an interview for Mirotic dance moves, interviewer asked "who's the best dancer?" Everyone in the group instantly pointed to Yunho XD
Weakness- Compared to others, his singing probably needs the most improvement.
Changmin:
Strength- Beautiful and powerful vocal range especially for reaching high notes.
Weakness- Dancing compared to others and some other overall aspects need to be improved.
Yoochun:
Strength- He's basically the composer of the group. Powerful musicianship in composing.
Weakness- Singing and dancing is "Ok"
JaeJoong:
Singing is WOW...awesome "rainbow voice" dancing is alright.
Junsu:
Pro at both singing and dancing!!!
By Looking at these strengths and weaknesses of each member, we can conclude that it would be a little difficult for SME to produce a powerful independent group just out of HoMin. Whereas, on JYJ's side, it would be more possible for the trio to stand up alone. Thus, the strength distribution can be said to be planned out quite well XD.
2) Why is it Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochu who stood out?
The 3 are involved with the cosmetic business where as HoMin aren't. Thus, it would make more sense as the cosmetic incident gives them more of an excuse instead of HoMin who aren't involved. Also, If the trio succeeded in the lawsuit case against SME, it would be easier to help HoMin out but if they don't succeed, because the remaining 2 members are in SME still, SME wouldn't do anything drastic to harm DBSK's existence.
3) Yunho is the leader of DBSK.
For him to step out, there would be a stronger impact, a stronger call or appeal. Therefore, he can't easily just make any move because if they succeeded then it would be great, but if theyfailed, the first person SME would aim an attack on would be Yunho. If Yunho collapses, the continuation of DBSK would be at risk. He is basically the pole of DBSK so he needs to calculate his every move carefully. So after discussing this, all 5 members probaby agree that it's not a good idea for Yunho to step out. As everyone already know, Changmin is the youngest and they all said before that they don't want to hurt him the most. In order to protect Changmin, the safest bet would be to leave him with Yunho. Thus, it explains why Yunho and Changmin remained. (Isn't this logic enough? So stop bashing on two of them already! If I heard anyone saying bad words about them again that person gonna get from me.)
4) So many people are complaining that SME is focusing all their energy on destroying JYJ rather than paying attention to HoMin.
HRMMMMM I wonder WHY???? Judging from SME's money greed, we would expect them to use HoMin instantly to fill up the spots of the other 3 and earn the money. Until now, Changmin is involved in one drama, Yunho is involved in a musical. Apart from that they aren't making grand concerts, comebacks? why aren't they as busy compared to JYJ?They still have time to play basketball, go see concerts? It seems that they don't have as many promotions....isn't it strange? One explanation would be that SME can't fully trust in HoMin. Why? because HoMin's relationship with JYJ has not changed and SME knows that although HoMin are under SME, their hearts are with JYJ.
5) Why does JYJ hold concerts such as the Thanksgiving in Tokyo Dome and try to expand overseas to America and such? You can say that they need money, but more importantly SME aren't supporting them anymore.
Their initial apartment, food, cars have been confiscated. Are they going to just wait until the lawsuit's over to perform. By then, their name would probably have gradually faded and replaced by a new wave of band and artists. Also, they want to tell us fans that they are still fighting. They are trying their best and they can reach fame WITHOUT SME. This is all to comfort us. HoMin can't do this because 1) they probably don't want to promote SME and cause competition with JYJ 2) Under SME, they can't do whatever they want because they don't have the amount of freedom as JYJ. They can't cause big comotion because right now, SME's attitude towards HoMin is one of distrust which is proven by the lack of activities. This means, that the 5 are still together at heart!
The money bit is also important. Notice that JYJ not only earns money from these albums and concerts, but also demanded compensation from SME. The money is important for the future of DBSK. If by a certain time HoMin also leaves, DBSK would have to be stable financially. Look at the example of Shinwha. Eric was rich so he could buy his group out of SME. What about DBSK? They have to start from scratch. In order to stand up alone and independently, the trio must be able to have funds. If they aren't stable, SME will attack them any time.
6) Why hasn't SME striken the last blow yet? I always have this uneasy feeling that underneath all this, they have a bigger plan.
Simple. They are "cooking" us through time. SME is waiting for Cassie to become impatient, to start splitting and dividing between JYJ and HoMin. They are waiting for us to start cursing and fighting each other, creating choas. Be mindful, the first person to strike is the loser. So for our DBSK, we have to be patient and wait. I know it's hard to stay patient coz I'm an impatient person but we have to try and avoid SME's trap...It could be said that once we collapse, the hope for the 5 members will be gone.DBSK's hope lies in their talent + support from fans. SME's money source doesn't come from DBSK but from US!!!
7) Why did Yunho mention Yoosu in Goong's conference? "I heard that Yoosu hadbeen successful in his drama.
I want to be successful like him" I didn't understand at the start. Why all of a sudden? he could have just said that he wanted to be successful so why go to all the trouble to mention Yoosu specifically. This is actually very clever of our leader Yunho XD Yunho always thinks before he says something so he isn't the type of person who would say something without any intention or thoughts. This is the only opportunity for him to mention the trio without getting into trouble by SME who forbids any contact between JYJ and HoMIn. He wants to tell us that their relationship is fine and for us to not worry. But he can't say it specifically because he would be in real trouble. So he took this opportunity which wouldn't cause suspicion from SME to hint to us and hoping that we would get his suggestion.
8) Yunho and Changmin still introduces themselves as DBSK's members.
They want to tell us that DBSK still exists and they are there to keep it alive. This is the best they can do, if they say or do anymore then SME would become suspicious. Everyone must have noticed how little HoMin have stated about the lawsuit issue. Even when SME published that document in their name accusing the other 3 they didn't say anything. If they really did write those harsh comments, why weren't they present when SME published it at the conference?? The signatures were totally different from their normal ones (Yunho's signature had a star?? and Changmin signed in Chinese???) I mean seriously, it's either that SME forged their signatures or Yunho and Changmin were forced to sign those papers. The other 3 didn't say anything about this issue either because they're smart enough to figure out that those typed up papers are FAKE = =" Under SME, HoMin can't have any personal attachement so it explains their coldness and silence. JYJ formed this name coz they aren't allowed to use DBSK as it would cause even more trouble from SME so they created a "UNIT" NOT " a "group"
Think about it guys, would all the years together be wiped out by money or lies? The 5 members are stronger than we think so we should worry about ourselves. We don't need to be scared about SME. Why do you think SME are so desparate to get JYJ back and scared of their rising fame? It's because if they don't have DBSK, their income would drop by 40-60% Essentially, a certain amount of control lies in our hands. Lastly, who buys DBSK's album, goes to their concert, supports them, makes them popular? it's USSSSS. To put it bluntly, if no one supported DBSK, they wouldn't be popular right? Therefore, DBSK's future does not base on SME's decision but our decision. SME's existence is based on us, if we don't buy their products, how do they get the money?
All 5 members want us to wait, they said they don't want to disband, they said they want to stay together so why can't we stay together and believe them for once?? "Keep the faith" is the tattoo on Jaejoong and Yoosu's bodies but we don't need those tattoos coz we can carve it into our hearts. CASSIE FIGHTING!!!!
credit : http://emiieee-chan.xanga.com/
