Juniel confirms that FNC doesn't pay artists until they break even

Article: Juniel, "FNC won't pay you until you hit the break even point"

Source: Newsen via Nate

How did you feel when you first got paid? Juniel: "I thought I was done for. Our agency FNC doesn't pay you unless you break even. I have no money. Just my debt continues to grow. I do think my income will slowly grow with my compositions."

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1. [+1,791, -48] I guess there's a reason Hongki's always hating on his agency

2. [+1,645, -45] Huh?? I think there's reason enough to hear her out... it sounds like something risky for her to just throw out there.

3. [+1,362, -53] That's so mean

4. [+171, -11] SM, YG, and JYP start paying their idols the minute they debut. Other smaller agencies don't have that kind of money so they have to wait for their investments to break even. FNC is always media playing about being a top 3 agency and how they bring in tons of income but they treat their artists like crap... The real top 3 agency CEOs would laugh at FNC's media play.

5. [+131, -11] I still don't understand why Yoo Jae Suk joined FNC... seriously, why?

6. [+120, -4] FNC kids always seem to talk about their pay every time they make a comeback. I think the agency has some issues.

7. [+103, -2] Sounds like she's just going to out everything since her contract with them expires soon ㅋㅋ

8. [+99, -1] Choa said something similar as well

9. [+75, -8] Imagine how frustrating it must be for her to say this on radio

10. [+68, -9] How did Yoo Jae Suk get involved with this trash agency... they're taking care of him, right? Please hurry out if they're not~;;

11. [+61, -17] Well she doesn't have to pay for her dorm, food, cosmetic maintenance, and gets free plastic surgery. She has no popularity so the company isn't turning a profit on her. Isn't it obvious why she hasn't been making money yet?

12. [+53, -6] I don't know if it's right or not but the majority of agencies operate this way... there are a lot of groups with 0 income even after debut.

13. [+45, -3] FNC's logic: "Hey, let's buy a lottery ticket together~! If the ticket doesn't end up winning, you pay the cost of it. If it does win, let's share the prize money fair and square, ok?!"

14. [+44, -3] FNC's CEO is a mess. Has no consideration for his artists, works them overseas... and now he has the celebrity disease.

15. [+43, -7] So if she hasn't hit the break even point for every album release and hasn't been paid yet, that means the debt just grows... her agency won't receive any income unless she hits daebak until her contract expires. Sounds like such a bleak future for a young kid since she's probably working without sleep. This isn't even some internship either....

16. [+39, -8] I'm a lawyer and rarely ever write internet comments but all this misinformation about contracts is frustrating me so here I go. Juniel is the one who signed the wrong contract in this situation. She signed a contract dividing net profit when she should've signed one that divided her sales.

A fair contract would be one where the company agrees to invest their money and the artist agrees to invest their talents together to create sales which are then divided between them. Agreeing to divide net profit instead means that the celebrity won't receive anything until the company is paid back on their investment.

Both sides need to account for their risks. The company needs to risk their monetary investment not being made back and the celebrity needs to risk the time they're spending using their talents and not turning a sale for it. Both sides share risks but by entering a contract that divides net profit, it's only the company that is minimizing their risk before the celebrity gets paid. In other words, she entered an unfair contract.

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