Blockberry Creative, which houses the girl group LOONA, was reported to be facing a financial crisis at the moment.
On Sept. 28, the Korean media outlet Sports World released an exclusive report that states the current financial situation LOONA's agency is dealing with at present. These difficulties are believed to affect the girl group's future activities.
Blockberry Creative, Home to LOONA, Reportedly Facing Extreme Financial Crisis
According to Sports World, multiple music industry representatives told them on Sept. 28 that Blockberry Creative has not been able to pay several external agencies that have worked with them. It is said that the unpaid fees are estimated to be a million to a hundred million won (between 100,000 USD to one million USD).
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The exclusive report added that these external companies have been unpaid by LOONA's agency for many months now, yet have kept on working for the record label.
Among them are the music production companies that assist in producing albums for the girl group. The news outlet said that these agencies find it difficult to team up with Blockberry Creative because of its unprofessional operation, and so it is hard for them to proceed with the album production.
Apart from them, the other people who are yet to receive their salaries are the hair, makeup, and stylists for LOONA.
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Sports World further stated that Blockberry Creative unilaterally ordered these external businesses to stop working recently.
This financial crisis Blockberry Creative is currently facing has been taking place for a few months now. The wages of the company's staff have been delayed for months.
The media outlet then said that LOONA's agency will make effort to improve the serious financial difficulties, which amount to billions of won and include non-payment of taxes, salaries, and external businesses.
Because of Blockberry Creative's current financial situation, the record label's future and its main artist, LOONA, is uncertain.
LOONA Latest Domestic Comeback with Their Fourth EP
In other news, while Blockberry Creative is facing a financial crisis, LOONA continues to release albums in the past months.
In June of this year, LOONA made a comeback in South Korea with their fourth mini-album "[&]" (read as "and"). This comeback marked the return of member Haseul, who took a break from group activities in early 2020 due to health issues.
Following its release, "[&]" became LOONA's fastest and best-selling album. This work recorded the group's highest sales on the first day and in the first week of release since their debut.
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LOONA's "[&]" sold 18,461 copies on the first day, and ultimately achieved a total of 76,293 copies in the first week. It becomes the group's first album to surpass 50,000 copies sold on the Hanteo Chart.
On the Gaon Chart, "[&]" has sold more than 130,000 copies so far. It also peaked at No. 4 on the weekly album chart and debuted at No. 5 on the monthly album chart for June 2021.
LOONA's fourth EP even landed on numerous Billboard charts. It peaked at no. 14 on World Albums, No. 24 on Heatseekers Albums, and No. 59 on Independent Albums.
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Written by Mhaliya Scott
