[Instiz] Primadonnas call out FNC's bias


Instiz: A company showing bias with their own artists (beware of getting angry once you read)

F.T. Island is currently under FNC Entertainment and is the first group created by the company. Since then, the company has released CNBLUE, Juniel, and AOA with their growth. Many don't seem to be aware of the extreme bias the company has against F.T. Island, so as a fan, I feel the need to lay it all out here.

1. FNC sent always sends F.T. Island back to Japan before they even reach three weeks of Korean promotions.

2. They released a Japanese song translated into Korean in Japan.

3. CNBLUE's $1 million USD stage was built using the money F.T. Island made from their Budokan concert. The actual stage setup used by CNBLUE was the one suggested by Minhwan's parents for F.T. Island several years ago.

4. FNC does not media play for their artists aside from CNBLUE (although recently, they've been putting out articles for Juniel and AOA). Because FNC didn't put out any PR for 'Like the Birds' and 'Severely', Primas had to resort to running street ads for them.

5. When CNBLUE was on the chopping block for allegedly throwing away a friend group's CD, FNC was quick to react with dozens of explanation articles and threats of defamation. However, when F.T. Island was on the chopping block for a car used in their music video, FNC let F.T. Island take all the heat despite there being substantial evidence that the car owner was releasing distorted truths to the public. In the end, the movie director and Hongki had to explain everything themselves (but even then, the situation had already grown too big to the point where their explanation didn't catch attention).

6. At the 2010 Gayo Daejun, F.T. Island performed one track while CNBLUE performed three including collaborations.

7. Right before CNBLUE's debut, FNC suddenly released a bunch of F.T. Island merchandise from glasses, DVDs, old records... Fans, without knowing, bought all of them up. A couple months later, CNBLUE made their debut.

8. Hongki's admitted to F.T. Island being the lab rats for CNBLUE.

9. FNC did not release any PR for all of the grand achievements F.T. Island has made in Japan. They only released three articles about selling out Budokan tickets in two minutes... but dozens upon dozens of articles of CNBLUE making their major debut.

10. Oh Won Bin's final concert before his leave was held in Japan (one of the cases that made the fans most angry).

11. There was an article released that lied about how "2NE1 is the first Korean artist to rank #1 on the daily Oricon chart for their official Japanese debut album"... Primas asked for the article to be fixed but FNC did nothing about it. Because of that, F.T. Island's record was buried and forgotten. F.T. Island is actually the first Korean artist to hit #1 on the daily Oricon chart with a Japanese debut album.

12. FNC never updates F.T. Island's official homepage. Schedules haven't been updated in a while so fans resort to checking each broadcast show's schedule to see if F.T. Island is on a show or not.

13. When B2UTIES plagiarized the Pentastick, FNC, once again, did nothing about it. Primas eventually had to go around to B2ST concerts and ask every fan to refrain from using the Pentastick.

14. A notice giving CNBLUE official fans a 30% discount at the FNC store came up. It wasn't until Primas complained that they released another 30% discount notice for F.T. Island's official fans.

15. During F.T. Island's 'Wish' promotions, they didn't have any fan signings until fans called FNC and made several dozen requests. They finally complied and held ONE fan meeting. CNBLUE, however, had a fan signing scheduled a week after their comeback.

16. FNC still hasn't given an explanation for why F.T. Island's shrimp chips CF was dropped.

17. FNC never explained the bullying rumors surrounding Oh Won Bin. Oh Won Bin had to eventually go to every interview and explain what had actually happened himself. Because of that, the public still thinks that he left the group because of those rumors.

18. Hongki was originally supposed to be the MC for the 2009 year-end Gayo Daejun but FNC passed it over to Yonghwa. Yonghwa, who had no experience at the time, earned the title of 'nuisance MC' and was embarrassed to the public. FNC is completely at fault for this. A notice for the MC change had not even been put up, and Primas did not find out until the show aired.

19. FNC tries to keep a difference in music style between CNBLUE and F.T. Island. They thus force F.T. Island into one music style.

20. Songs written and composed by F.T. Island are only released in Japan (even if they're written and composed in Korean). CNBLUE has had their songs included since their first album.

21. F.T. Island's comeback stages are always pitiful. They sing one song with a screen in the back showing their album jacket picture. This is what happens when you don't PR for your artists. It's also been three years since F.T. Island hasn't had any follow-up promotions.

22. Hongki was sick during the 2008 Gayo Daejun to the point where he was eventually rushed to the emergency room after his stage. Han Sung Ho (CEO) started nagging Hongki despite him laying there sick until Hongki started crying. He then sent him back to Japan.

23. At the 2008 Gayo Daejun, Hongki got a lot of criticisms about his vocal talent because his voice cracked a lot. FNC never shielded him despite the fact that he was sick, he had performed at several concerts up until the day leading to the Gayo Daejun, and was suffering from vocal cord nodules. F.T. Island also had to deal with a sound system accident but FNC did nothing about it. Primas and Hongki had to eventually step up and explain everything.

24. When Minhwan was filming his drama, FNC still scheduled Japanese activities for him (for the money). Minhwan eventually fainted from fatigue and was rushed to the emergency room.

25. During their 'I Wish' promotions, F.T. Island got into a car accident. Despite it being a light accident, the members were still injured. FNC did not release one article about it. Even some fans don't know that that accident had even occurred.

26. CNBLUE made their comeback with a self-composed album (I'm Sorry). Primas begged FNC to let F.T. Island release their own self-composed album. FNC finally agreed and let them put in 6 self-composed songs in their 4th album but still forced them to use another composer's song for the title track.

27. CNBLUE had their 'I'm Sorry' comeback stage as all live. Because Korean music programs force bands to hand sync, it's been something F.T. Island and Primas have wanted for a long time.. but CNBLUE got the honor of being able to do it first. (CNBLUE says they did it out of their own pocket but you can't deny that the company helped them out)

28. During comebacks, F.T. Island is rarely on any TV shows. What's the point if all you do is perform on music shows... They've never been on variety shows  as a group. CNBLUE, however, have been cast into variety shows as a group with top media play and PR as soon as they make their comebacks.

29. Ultimately, the members themselves feel this bias. They often talk about their issues with their agency on broadcast and on Twitter.

30. Primas, after being shocked with the 'I Wish' album, started a petition asking for a REAL self-composed album, not one with just a few self-composed tracks thrown in. There is now finally talks of their comeback this year being a self-composed album (but must fans have to go this far just to get things done?)

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F.T. Island is not only FNC's 'first artist', but the artists that helped them make the money they are making now. They even signed on again after their contracts expired, so how does such treatment make sense?

A Prima even called FNC once and asked them to pay more attention to F.T., to which the employee said, "We've already taken our hands off of F.T." Then the fan asked if they intend to ignore their own artist like that, and they replied back, "Promote them on your own as you wish. We will only help them minimally."

How can an agency think of saying something like this?

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"Hul...."

"I recognize a few of the points, but the bias is incredible... I'm not even a fan and I'm thinking this is too much."

"My friend's a Prima and the situation really isn't a joke... They even make them share/rotate stage outfits.."

"F.T. Island really needs to find a new agency..."

"YG is just as bad with bias and favoritism."
- "Why?"
- "Park Bom's song was given to Lee Hi instead.."
- "Big Bang fans had to save their money to promote Big Bang in Hongdae... YG then copied the promotion idea for Lee Hi."
- "Big Bang fans also suggested a headband design for Big Bang's support merchandise but YG rejected it... They then used the design for 2NE1."

"Anger meter is going up."

"You don't even have to lay it all out like this, you can just tell on first glance that the company treats CNBLUE and F.T. Island differently."

"I read the title of this post and thought of F.T. Island before even reading the content."

"Even as a Boice, I recognize the extreme bias going on with FNC... Whenever posts like this come up, I always feel so apologetic and nervous ㅠㅠㅠ"

"Not even a fan and this makes me sick."

"I think the worst has to be when Soyoung left After School so they just put her up on her last stage without any hair and make up because they stopped caring."

"As a CNBLUE fan, I feel apologetic... I, too, hope that FNC will step it up."

"From an outsider, it looks like they view F.T. as money making robots."

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