A Response to Rumors and Assumptions
Warning: LONG POST ALERT. This post was written by both ohmangotango and dayounggie.
We’re sure everyone knows that there’s a post going around that has a lot of things to say about Woollim. As both of us actually like Woollim and do think they’re a pretty good company, we were taken aback and confused. We held our tongues the first time we saw this, but seeing it again, we knew we had to say something. Not because we’re diehard Woollim lovers (although we greatly greatly appreciate how Woollim treats its artists and their fans), but because a lot of the things stated in that post are simply not true. And although we do like Woollim, that doesn’t stop us from being rational and seeing flaws in the company. So first of all, we want to say that everyone is entitled to their own personal opinions and no one should feel attacked for what they think. However, we also wanna add that we shouldn’t make opinions and judgments based off of assumptions and rumors, as that does none of us any favors. We’re going to assume that that post was more of a personal rant, and even though we’re not trying to point fingers, we feel obligated to say something about some of the false statements, as they might be taken as facts to others.
I. Individual Activities, Bias, and Woohyun’s Solo
As for individual activities… Infinite’s May comeback was not delayed because of Sunggyu’s solo or Hoya’s acting (this was never stated as a fact)… There was an interview where Sunggyu even mentioned that his solo was also pushed back. Sunggyu was supposed to come out last year, but he ended up coming out this year, when the album preparation was finished (which was not up to Woollim; it was all up to Jongwan, the producer of his album). Not to mention, when has acting ever stopped Infinite from having a group comeback? Woohyun and Sungyeol started filming ‘Hi! School Love on’ in the middle of the ‘Last Romeo’ promotions, and throughout and after ‘Back’. Woohyun and Sungyeol, both or individually, had to miss some group activities (like 140603 After School Club and 140702 Weekly Idol, Woohyun was absent), but that didn’t stop Infinite from promoting ‘Last Romeo’ and ‘Back’.
The best guess as to why the comeback was pushed back is because Dongwoo and Woohyun had throat problems and needed to get surgery. Dongwoo’s throat was still in bad condition during the ‘Inspirit’s Shining Night’ live stream and that was in June. He hadn’t recorded his parts for all the songs yet. There were also fan accounts (K-Inspirits who talked to Woohyun’s mother at Muksam) of Woohyun being at the hospital to get his throat infection treated after the Dream Concert 2015. Like why would Woollim even say May during Fan Gathering 2 if they were just going to change it without a valid reason? And as for songs being recorded in January, lots of groups record songs months and even years in advance. Infinite have mentioned that they’ve recorded tons of songs already for albums to come (as of last year during ‘Season 2′, they mentioned thirty-something songs; there may be more now), and the company picks and chooses which songs they need according to the album concept. Also when it comes to promoting songs, there are a lot of other factors to take into consideration, like other artists’ promotions (especially for Woollim, since it’s their first time having an idol group other than Infinite), internal company affairs, artists’ wishes, song popularity, and so much more. You can’t just assume that it’s the company’s fault/bias that certain promotions last longer than others.
Moving on the the favoritism accusation, who knows; it could be true, but it could also be false. All we know is that we don’t know everything. What if none of the other members want to be on varieties? What if they don’t want to do certain things? (For example, Sunggyu said during a fan sign during ‘Bad’ promotion that he didn’t want to appear on ‘King of Mask Singer’ because he said it was too stressful.) You can’t assume that you know what the artists do or don’t want. and you can’t assume that it’s the company’s doing. It very well may be the company playing favorites but we will never know that!!!! And people claiming anything that is not fact just adds onto the rumor mill. We also have our personal opinions on favoritism within the company but there may be a lot of different factors as to why certain things happen and certain things don’t. Not to mention that depending on how schedules work out, Woollim might or might not reject certain schedules. But in general, both of us agree that all the Infinite members had something to do during the last 365 days, though they weren’t necessarily occupied the entire time.
As for Woohyun’s solo, it might be coming soon, since he revealed a song at the concert and mentioned in an interview that he’s working on his solo album, recording and sending songs to Woollim for approval (article, in Korean). Perhaps he is planning on filling the entire album with self-composed songs, which would take a longer time than asking other composers to write songs for them; who knows. Also, Woohyun chose to promote as Toheart, it was literally his idea. We think he could have asked for a solo instead, if that’s what he wanted to do. We believe that the company has proved time and time again that the artists do what they want to do (which is ultimately our main point in this whole post).
II. Promotions, Activities, and Concerts
As for the cf thing…yes, Infinite has less cfs now compared to before. But just like America, the hottest group or person at the moment gets the cfs. They haven’t been active as much as they used to, which also means less cfs. EXO is still pretty popular and they don’t have as many cfs pouring in anymore. With the rapid growth of the entertainment industry, only a few can be signed on at a time. It comes and it goes. It’s all business, it doesn’t mean there’s an actual link to their popularity. Just because a group doesn’t have many cfs doesn’t mean they’re not popular. TVXQ has no cfs anymore and they still have a hardcore fan base and they still have the largest fan cafe. They might not be gaining new fans but that doesn’t mean that they’re losing any. You also have to consider that most cfs are given to actors and actresses (SNSD’s Yoona and Miss A’s Suzy may be idols, but remember, they act; they have more individual cfs compared to the other members); there really aren’t a lot of cfs that idols, especially as groups, can take.
As for the part about constant promotions… in our personal opinions, we think it’s the opposite. Once a group attains a certain amount of popularity, they don’t need to promote constantly. The whole reason behind constant promotions is to gain a steady fan base… So if you already have one, then why put in all that exhausting work? Take BTS and Got7 for example (both groups whom we adore), when they first debuted they promoted non-stop. Now take Super Junior and Beast for example, two very popular, well-known groups with an established fan base; they promote yearly if that. Usually, a lot of groups focus on promoting individual members (so that they’re not jobless after group activities slow down in the future) after the group gains a solid, steady fan base. Infinite is just in that stage of their career, whether or not you agree if they are/were successful as a group. Plus, solos and units give the boys more freedom to make the kind of music they enjoy the most, which we are fully behind. We think it’s great that Infinite doesn’t have to promote as often. However, it’s a win-lose cause we want to see the boys, but domestic promotions are extremely tiring. So good for them that they don’t need to build their fan base even more. Plus, tours and concerts are where the money is at. That’s just our take on promotions and the entertainment industry.
As for the ‘lies’ about the concert selling out in 10 mins…yes, it was an exaggeration, a ‘lie’ if you must, but calling this a lie means that all the articles claiming that groups sold out in 10 minutes are all ‘lies’. Korean concert ticketing is very, very different from American ticketing or Ticketmaster (sorry we don’t have experience with any other country’s systems). Ticketmaster gives you its choice for best seats in the section that you want, but Korean ticketing systems make you choose the exact seat that you want. This leaves you scrambling around as everyone is going for the good seats. In fact, it took dayounggie about 20-30 minutes each time the tickets were released, to get a seat that wasn’t already taken. And after about 30 minutes, everything was gone, every last seat. Also, Korean systems allow the user to pay by wiring money to an account, which you can do within 24 hours. On top of that, you can be refunded your full ticket price within a week of purchase. So taking all of these into consideration, yes, at the time of release, there’s a feeding frenzy and all tickets go quick. This is what leads to articles about groups selling out in ___ minutes. But, a lot of tickets get released later because of a multitude of reasons (didn’t pay on time, refunded the ticket, etc.). There are also scalpers who purchase them in bulk and then sell them at the venue on the same day. The articles, while possibly exaggerating, might have been taking into account the number or IP addresses logging in to purchase tickets or reported the time it took for all tickets to be claimed (claimed as in moving towards payment, but not finalized, cause just like in American ticketing sites, you can claim something to make it unavailable to others but ultimately release them). All of this is very common in Korea, with all groups. In fact, dayounggie was able to score two seats next to each other for TVXQ’s last concert before they enlisted the day before the concert because tickets were released by others. So yes, there were some empty seats when dayounggie went to INFINITE EFFECT, but there wasn’t an overwhelming amount, no more than any other concert she has been to. She was in the upper level…it was definitely used. There are also other factors like seats given to friends/families/acquaintances of anyone involved in the concert (which will be left unoccupied if they choose to not come), seats given to reporters (who leave after taking some pictures and notes for their article), the MERS crisis, and ticket price. Not only were the ticket price more expensive than usual, all the seats – regardless of where you were, be it standing, second floor, or third floor – had the same price. So naturally, fans would want to see their artist up close for the same price and buy the tickets for standing instead of third floor seats.
III. Our Boys, Their Health, and Woollim
The next topic is pretty up in the air. As fans, yes, we think the boys should rest. Yes, their health is the most important. but once again, this could be their decision. All the boys mentioned again and again throughout various interviews that they don’t like being idle; they prefer being busy. Most of us also know of the story of Sungyeol when he had a bald spot from having nothing to do over a period of time. Secondly, it’s a known thing that popularity comes and goes and what are the chances of them still being as popular in their 30s? After 7 of them go and come back from their 2 year military service? Shinhwa is still killing it, but not in the same way as they were back in the early 2000s. The boys must know this (Woohyun especially mentions how things don’t last forever during concert ending ments), and they also know that money doesn’t last forever. If we were them, we’d work our butts off while we’re still young and able. This doesn’t necessarily mean they think the same way, but it could have crossed their minds.
As for the Woohyun thing, Sunggyu has said that Woohyun is suffering from enteritis. Woollim hasn’t said anything; maybe it’s cause he really is suffering from enteritis and there’s nothing else to be said. Who knows, maybe he’s not; in the end, the management company is not obligated to tell the fans about its artist’s personal problems. But people are blaming Woollim based off of assumptions once again. (Now that Woohyun is back, we’re sure that everyone feels somewhat better about this.)
In the end, we can’t definitively blame Woollim for everything. Looking at their track record and relationship with the boys, we don’t think Woollim would force them to do things they didn’t wanna do. and we also don’t think that the boys would allow themselves to be forced to do things they really didn’t wanna do (we’re sure there are exceptions to this, especially during their debut but we’re speaking on the generality of it all and large scale decisions). If their relationship was that terrible, would their CEO travel with them everywhere? Play doll claw machine games with them? Would Sunggyu be able to joke about leaving the company? Would the CEO let Woohyun make a fun project group with a member from an entirely different group and company? Would the CEO let himself get teased in H’s mvs? Would the boys make the effort to make up with him during the concert? (Which, by the way, the CEO declared that he wouldn’t go to, but he was hiding on 3rd floor where dayounggie was, not his usual place next to the consoles on second floor) Either way, we can’t put all the blame on the company. Yes, it is unfortunate that the boys are not in tip top shape, but what if they wanted to do this tour? Just food for thought.
About the new tour only existing to create money for Woollim… the boys have a pretty sweet contract. They make a lot more than the average idol in terms of company to members ratio. They take home a lot of that cash, and yes, tours rake in a lot of cash. But tours also let the boys see their fans. Are they feeding off our fangirl love? Yes…but we love them and want to support them, so it’s a necessary evil(?), we guess. The tour includes all of the songs from the new mini album and while it doesn’t include some songs from ‘Season 2′ (like ‘Sonagi’ and ‘Diamond’ which dayounggie really wanted to hear), it includes a lot of the famous title tracks. They said in an interview and radio appearances that we translated that they had a hard time deciding what to add because of all of their hit songs. Imagine if they left out ‘Be Mine’ or ‘The Chaser’, lots of fans – especially the fans who couldn’t be at OGS – would be pretty sad. So they’re working with what they can. We know the boys and we know how they feel about fans. And Woollim seems to be behind the idea about close artist/fan relationships as well. This tour is not all about the money…how can you discount the boys’ love for inspirits that much? They’re doing this for the international fans, going to the countries where K-Pop may not be mainstream, and yes, they’re (deservingly) making money as well.
We think everyone has every right to like any company they choose. Everyone is different after all, and some might find YG more appealing than SM and vice versa. Whatever floats your boat. What we can say about Woollim is that yes, their management of scandals and negative press is not very good…at all. Starting from Tablo and ending with Tasty, the bad press coming Woollim’s way could definitely, definitely be handled better. There’s no question about that. And Woollim isn’t the best at planning as well, but is it their fault venues are leaking info? We’re not going to make excuses about them posting late notices, but not everything is their fault. You have to remember that Woollim is still a growing company. Some people may not think so anymore, but you have to consider where they started from. They started with indie groups and had trainees living in the same house as the CEO… not to mention they only recently moved from an apartment to a building with recording studios and dance practice rooms in the same place as the actual office… So yeah, they’re not the smallest anymore, but we’d say they’re in puberty, not yet an adult, in human terms. There’s always room to grow.
Also, all cafes in Korea and especially in Seoul are overpriced. There’s nothing special about the prices at NIT Cafe compared to a Starbucks (which is pretty expensive compared to America). Jae Yoon the composer posted on Instagram and hashtagged NIT Kitchen 9 weeks ago but dayounggie was just there on the concert weekend and NIT Kitchen was not open. There were no obvious changes she could see, and trust, she’s been waiting for it to open. unless it has opened within the past few weeks, then we apologize. Maybe NIT Kitchen might just be open for the employees, either way we don’t know anything definitive. As for the fact that it’s cafeteria food, what’s wrong with that? Korean cafeteria food is a thousand times better than American cafeteria food. The food in the picture looked bomb to us. Plus, it could just be a concept. And as for NIT Shop… literally, none of those things are reprints from the ‘Reality’ album and they are old pics but not from before 2013… to give the original poster credit about the bears, it’s true, Sunggyu does have more bears. Why? Who knows. Favoritism? Maybe. Extra clothing they didn’t want to throw away? Maybe. But who knows. Also as for the fact that it’s called NIT Shop, in the window it does have items for other artists. What we suspect will happen is that once the Infibear Exhibition is over (which was the reason why NIT Shop opened up during this concert in the first place), the shop will sell items for all artists or go through cycles of different exhibitions. It’s a pretty tiny shop, so there is no way they could sell a lot of different items for all groups at the same time. But this is just our best guess, not a fact.
We don’t understand the statement regarding Woollim not trying anymore. They’re the first to use 360 VR in Korea. They recycled artists’ clothes to make something for fans. They created a safe and friendly place to house the fans while they wait around for artists at the Woollim Ent’s building. Yes, they’re making money off of it but at the same time, they opened themselves and the artists up to the fans. If they didn’t want fans around and thought of fans as a nuisance, they could’ve opened the cafe elsewhere, but it’s right across the street from the building entrance with a counter facing right outside. The CEO and artists themselves walk in and out pretty freely. Idk, we think it’s pretty welcoming.
Moving onto the SM thing, we personally have not seen anyone talking about the SM merger since it was a hot topic when it happened. Sure, some fans are still not happy about the merge, but we don’t see anyone blaming SM for anything. But that’s just what we see and perceive.
V. Conclusion
In the end, our point is that we can’t assume that just because the boys are injured they don’t want to perform. We can’t assume that just because the company makes some bad decisions sometimes that they’re the root of all evil. Just keep an open mind when you read posts online. Don’t believe everything you read please. Even this post, you don’t have to agree, we just wanted to provide a second voice to let people know that some things weren’t accurate in that post. That post practically condemned anyone who likes Woollim and that’s not okay. If you like them, great, props to you, but you don’t have to like Woollim after reading this; you’re entitled to whatever you think. Just try to make sure what you believe in isn’t based off of other people’s assumptions, no matter how right it seems.
Lastly, we hope that you put more trust in the boys; while they are still young, they are adults and have been working in the ‘real world’ ever since they were in their teens or early twenties. They know how the Korean industry works, how their health is, and where they’re at in terms of career right now, even more so than the fans. They haven’t given us any reason to not trust them and you can see how mature they’ve become if you have been keeping up with their interviews. They have been pretty honest with the fans, especially in the recent years, and all the speculations and rumors are going to hurt them. Trust in what you see and feel from their words and actions. Trust in their judgments. Don’t place your faith in what other people say. And please support them with your whole heart and strength if you want to see them in this industry for a long time; regardless of what companies they move to, they will need your support. Even though they seem like they’re up there and stable, our boys may be feeling just as insecure as before, since they constantly tell us to not leave them.
Thank you for reading this long post, and hopefully that clears up some confusion and misunderstanding.
-togetherinspirit7 (dayounggie & ohmangotango)
P.S. Aside from this, ‘Witch Hunt’ should be done by tomorrow at the latest! It took a week, but thank you so much for waiting for us patiently :)
