ATTRAKT Invests $6 Million to Boost FIFTY FIFTY’s Popularity: A Significant Amount Spent to Make “Cupid” Viral 

It was recently revealed that ATTRAKT CEO Jun Hong Joon initially invested 8 billion KRW (6.1 million USD) to kickstart the journey of FIFTY FIFTY. This revelation has sparked curiosity about how such a large sum of money was allocated in the effort to promote the group.

According to music industry insiders, the 8 billion KRW was used by ATTRAKT to hire an external music production team, and a significant portion of this amount was used to make FIFTY FIFTY’s songs go viral on social media.

Twitter user Havaqquq-303, a member of the Korean media company Young Gifted & Wack, recently shared an intriguing email they received. 

No information was provided about the location and method of receiving the email, but it is believed to shed light on some insider activities in the music industry, particularly regarding promotional fees and advertising aimed at generating viral buzz for a song.

The attached screenshot of the alleged email contains advertising content explaining that if content creators use a specific musical piece in their YouTube Shorts, they will be paid a collaboration fee. 

The email sent to a content creator reads: “Currently, our company is organizing a promotion for YouTube Shorts audio sources. We would like to ask if you, XXX, can participate this time. If you use our company’s audio source (from 100 BGM songs) in YouTube Shorts, we will pay you an advertising collaboration fee based on the number of posts. As of now, dozens of YouTubers are participating and earning stable incomes ranging from 1.5 million to 6 million KRW (1,138 to 4,555 USD) per month.“

Havaqquq-303’s tweets hinted that ATTRAKT has deployed a significant portion of their resources to increase the popularity of “Cupid” on TikTok, allegedly by paying TikTok content creators to feature the song in their videos. 

This indicates that the success of FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid” may not have been natural, causing divided opinions among netizens, with some expressing disappointment, while others were not surprised.

Netizens commented: 

• “Almost all artists nowadays pay to advertise their songs in some way” 
• “Feels like the first time I discovered ‘backdoor’ advertising deals that YouTubers get” 
• “Knew it all along” 
• “Now you can even buy fame” 
• “Even if you spend money, the song has to be really good to go viral” 
• “Sometimes even those Dance Challenges are paid” 
• “Wow, they invested 8 billion won just to make that song go viral.”