In January, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) initially announced its major business promotion plan, which includes conducting investigations on K-pop agencies regarding unfair market practices with idol goods.
FTC Conducts Investigation on K-pop Agencies for 'Unfair' Tying of Idol Goods
On August 2, the Korean media reported about the recent move of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) of launching an investigation on K-pop agencies over the "illegal" tying of K-pop idol goods.
On this day, it was confirmed that FTC recently sent investigators to major entertainment agencies, such as SM Entertainment (July 31), JYP Entertainment (August 1) and YG Entertainment (August 2), to conduct on-site investigations.
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It aims to look into whether the aforementioned agencies are unfairly selling idol-related products by "tying" or "inserting" items (such as photo cards) in another tied good (such as albums).
Usually, when you purchase an album of an idol group, photo cards of members of the group are randomly included. Due to this, fans buy dozens of the same albums to get pictures of their bias or preferred member.
As a response to this, there is criticism that K-pop companies are utilizing this marketing tactic that uses K-pop fans' "hearts" by producing too many types of photo cards.
According to the Fair Trade Act, if unrelated products are being tied and sold, it could be violating the law and the company may face some legal sanctions.
When the media asked FTC for further details regarding the case, an official refused to say additional information and said:
"We cannot comment on whether or not the details of the case are investigated."
Meanwhile, the FTC is also separately investigating whether large agencies, such as HYBE, SM Entertainment, and YG Entertainment, violated subcontracting laws against outsourcing companies in the process of producing albums and goods.
The Fair Trade Commission is also looking into whether there is an unfair contract between its celebrities and agencies.
FTC Responds To Public Opinions Regarding 'Severe' Selling of Photo Cards
Apparently, FTC's recent move is a response to the recent increase in consumer complaints that the "buying and selling of photocard" culture in the K-pop industry is already "excessive" and "severe."
For instance, NCT which is currently comprised of 20 members has nearly 50 types of photo cards that have been released and everything can be collected by purchasing more albums.
Among extreme fans, it is considered a "national rule" to purchase dozens to hundreds of albums to get the photo cards they want.
The reason why fans are so invested in collecting a photo card was because it was made with an idol's selfie which has not been released online and some even have their autographs and personal messages.
As a result, K-pop fandoms created a Buy-and-sell (BNS) community on Twitter and Karrot market where idol fans make money by selling photo cards until they get photo cards of the members they want.
The market price of the photo card varies widely, but the rarer it is, the more valuable it is.
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