All of the groups that debuted in 2016 now face contract renewals, and this includes NCT as well which had some members [depending on the units] debut in 2016, this raised concerns among fans as they should be in contract renewals this year.
On the 17th of July, an SM Entertainment representative stated, “When NCT members signed their contracts, factors such as military enlistment and overseas activities were considered, leading to different contract periods. Although there are differences among members, none of their contracts expire this year. They are set to expire after next year.”
Initially, concerns were raised that NCT members, including Taeyong, Taeil, Doyoung, Ten, Jaehyun, Mark (in April), Yuta, Winwin, Haechan (in July), and Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle, Jisung (in August), would have their contracts expire sequentially, potentially impacting SM Entertainment’s stock price.
According to the Fair-Trade Commission’s Standard Exclusive Contract for Public Culture and Arts Figures (Singers), exclusive contracts cannot exceed a maximum of 7 years to prevent unfair long-term contracts. However, there are provisions that allow for separate agreements for ▷long-term overseas activities and ▷extensions during military service, pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, and graduate school enrollment. SM Entertainment’s EXO, considering their overseas activities, previously signed a 10-year contract.
SM Entertainment, after being involved in the HYBE-Kakao acquisition battle earlier this year, has been in a precarious situation. The contract dispute with EXO’s Chenbaekxi (Baekhyun, Xiumin, Chen) had a negative impact on the company’s stock price. Furthermore, with the recent departure of Super Junior members Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Kyuhyun after 17 years, SM Entertainment is facing another crisis.
Meanwhile, NCT Dream is seen as the company’s most important pipeline, with their upcoming third full-length album receiving pre-orders of over 4 million copies.
Source: (A)
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