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A recent online community post on a Korean online forum, Instiz, about "Sajaegi" went viral on February 22, 2024, since the user disclosed real information regarding album sales statistics while claiming to work for a record label.
The anonymous poster claimed to work for a record label and promised to provide a detailed summary of the issues facing the record industry right now, comparing it to sajaegi.
For the unversed, the term "Sajaegi" in the South Korean music business describes the unethical or unlawful practice of manipulating chart rankings. It is generally accepted that sajaegi is typical in the field, and often top-charting musicians are compensated handsomely to play as the main acts at concerts and music festivals.
Record company employer explains how some K-pop agencies manipulate album sales via pre-order
The employee revealed that before a comeback album by a K-pop group is launched, the entertainment agency contacts the record label or the people they are in charge of selling albums. The record label requests permission to have a special pre-order sale, fan signing, etc.
Following many rounds of negotiations, the business is coerced into purchasing terms that are more advantageous to the entertainment agency. After that, they are asked by the entertainment agency to update the chart with the sales as of the release date.
In this manner, they buy x00,000 copies, use barcode scanning to designate them as sold, and then resale the records to the fans. When people purchase the albums, they already have chart positions. Although 99.9% of businesses and idol groups engage in this, some may argue that it is a problem unique to their firm. Low-profile idols, on the other hand, just want the money raised at events.
Hence, the record company employer shared that the albums included during an event (fan calls, lucky draw events, etc.) are the ones that have already been sold.
The anonymous employee further explained that this situation presents a challenge since the sales figures contain quantities that haven't been sold yet. It is not illegal since, like with streaming music, the record labels have already paid for the content. Furthermore, fan sales are not seen as deceptive.
The employee continued that according to this line of reasoning, "album purchasing is not Sajaegi" is equivalent to "streaming is not Sajaegi," since both parties had to pay for the record's streaming, whether it was done by agency employees or outside contractors. Several companies hire streaming farms to illegally stream songs and albums to rank them higher on music charts.
Inventory management is another problem with this approach. Disposal expenses apply as there are tens of thousands of leftover copies. Of the tens to hundreds of millions of albums produced, only 50–60% are really sold. Meanwhile, the remainder of the albums are thrown away, which is expensive and environmentally harmful.
It is becoming worse even if only ten enterprises engage in this strategy—that is, tens of thousands of albums.
SM Entertainment was accused of "Sajaegi" by inflating rookie group RIIZE's debut album sales
Previously, the rookie K-pop boy band RIIZE from SM Entertainment was accused of sajaegi. The group's first song, Get A Guitar, which debuted in September 2023, became a "Million-Seller" after moving over 1.01 million copies in only its first week of release.
The overall sales reached 1,039,600 copies at the end of September, however, the monthly album sales chart for December showed a tiny decline to 1,038,084 copies. This information is based on Circle Chart's monthly album sales chart.
Given that RIIZE has held around 60 events, including in-person fan signings, fan calls, and lucky draw events where fans are required to purchase their records, this mathematical equation left netizens perplexed.
The record company employee mentioned in his post that "Sajaegi" culture has existed in the K-pop industry for some time and has tempted small entertainment agencies to take the bait. However, these "desperate" methods are only used by idols and agencies that "are not popular."
