BOL4's company has revealed that they have communicated with Kim Geun Tae, a member of the People's Party, and has verified with him that the label and its musician are not complicit in manipulating music charts.
Kim Geun Tae gave a press conference on April 8, in which he accused Creativer, a marketing firm, of unlawfully obtaining and mismanaging and misusing online accounts of ordinary people to influence music charts. The conference cited the identities of ten artists like BOL4, and their companies refuted the allegations of their artists' involvement in sajaegi, while others said they would pursue legal action.
On April 16, Shofar Music, BOL4's label, released an official statement in which they stated that the agency had never known of Creativer, and requested more details and direct facts from Kim Geun Tae about his claims.
"Please give us the evidence for at least one song so that we, Shofar Music, can directly check whether we were involved in the production and promotion of the song. If it turns out to be an OST, then please ask the OST production company for the truth about chart manipulation," said the agency.
Shofar Music called for Kim Geun Tae's reply to the queries they presented in their full statement and specific evidence of his allegations. They also sought an official apology and a written statement admitting that he had issued erroneous information if he can not produce evidence.
Shofar Music then issued an official statement on April 21, stating that after speaking with Kim Geun Tae, they concluded that the distortion of the chart he referred to was for an OST that only BOL4 sang. Therefore, they had no association with the song's promotion, and the copyright and benefit privileges all belonged to the OST production company and not with the musician.
Below is the company's statement:
"Hello, this is the Shofar Music label.
We spoke with People's Party nominee Kim Geun Tae yesterday (April 20).
Our singer took participation in this OST after getting a casting proposal, and so both our agency and our performer have completely no surrounding permission [musicians' rights to earn compensation for the broadcast/performance of their recordings], master's possession, or promotional or advertising rights to the album.
Hence we have specifically agreed unanimously that our agency has no connection to manipulating the music list.
Candidate Kim then expressed disappointment at the manner in which his press briefing, which was meant to reveal the fraud perpetrated by the under-marketing firm, was wrongly portrayed in the media as if the performer's side were liable for the exploitation.
Once again we declare forthrightly that not only have our agency and singers never pursued or demanded any kind of music chart manipulation, we have never encountered or approached a business that conducts deception of music chart, and that we are not at all associated with them.
We no further intend to take legal action towards Candidate Kim through civil and criminal cases. Given this official response as well, for the sake of the safety of our musician, we will take extreme legal proceedings against tactless negative comments and libelous statements by keeping surveillance and collecting tips.
Thank you."
