[theqoo] KPOP TRUCK PROTESTS SLOWLY CROSSING THE LINE, ARE FANS POWER TRIPPING?

(truck protesting against Straship for not suing Wonyoung's haters)

Recently, Jang Wonyoung and Taeyeon's fandom held a truck protest in front of the agencies' headquarters.

Music officials said "I understand the fandom's thoughts/feelings, but I feel regrettable about these truck protests"

The voice of the fandom, legitimate rights vs. need for a progressive communication method

Recently, Ive Jang Wonyoung's fandom held a truck protest against her agency, Starship Entertainment. The purpose is to protect the rights and interests of the artist. The protest lasted for about 8 hours.

The truck read, "We endured a lot of bystanding since 2021, we can't stand it anymore," "Cyberbullies, malicious rumors and hate comments, Starship can no longer stay silent", "Did Starship erase the video talking about her injury?" [...]

Even in the first half of this year, several fandom truck protests occurred. On the 12th, SNSD Taeyeon's fandom urged, through a statement, "Rent overseas concert venues that match the artist's popularity, increase the number of contents produced, and share the progress of your legal process against malicious comments." In addition, this truck protest was held in front of the SM Entertainment headquarters in Seongdong-gu until the beginning of this month.

Previously, in May, SHINee's fandom held a truck protest with dissatisfaction with the fan meeting location, and singer IU's fandom urged her company to share the progress of the rumor lawsuit. The Stray Kids fandom under JYP Entertainment also raised their voice about the artists' activities in Korea.

Truck protests became a mean for the fandom to directly present their complaints to entertainment agencies. The start of the truck protest happened in the game industry. In 2020, as face-to-face protests became difficult in the aftermath of COVID19, it became a trend among consumers.

In response to the fandom's criticism, the industry responded that they found it understandable. However, due to the nature of the entertainment industry, there is a burden to disclose information immediately. An official from the entertainment industry said, "We understand the fandom's feelings of holding truck protests for artists. But there are times when entertainment companies cannot accept the fandom's demands. For example, there are many cases where artists' requests or artist management are reluctantly accepted."

Another official said, "In the case of malicious comments against the artist, we are steadily and continuously taking legal action at the company level. However, I hope [fans] can understand that it is difficult to disclose the overall details of the case during the investigation stage."

On average, renting a truck for a day costs between 400,000 and 500,000 won (~350USD). It is clear that when the fandom pays themselves to increase the rights and interests of artists, it is not a problem. However, there is also a great concern that reckless truck protests have a negative impact on K-pop culture. If the entertainment company starts to shake due to individual subjective judgment and greed, it will cause confusion in the management. The fandom's legitimate demands and appropriate methods for entertainment companies, as well as the entertainment companies' attitude of listening to the voices of the fandom, are the key to growing K-pop culture. If the fandom is acting up too recklessly, they can start abusing their power.

source: https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/312/0000619353

original post: here

1. This is why I'm telling you I should've become a truck driverr

2. I need to buy a truck

3. Ah even though the market is already a red ocean, I should be buying a truck

4. Starship sure is releasing a lot of articles ㅋㅋㅋ Are you playing victim?

5. Entertainment companies are legendary for hating on fans, what "power trip? F*ck

6. Since when where entertainment companies treating fans well? They just treat us like money spending slaves

7. Those trucks are actually acting like gentlemen, they should be grateful they didn't get run over yet

8. But aren't truck protests considered peaceful protests?

9. It just looks like a waste of money, although I'm envious of truck driers

10. Then we'll change to slippers protest