Fans of BLACKPINK and TREASURE might be pissed at YG, but this agency actually treats its former artists super well
YG Entertain is probably the agency with the best treatment towards their former idols.
Entertainment agencies mistreating Kpop idols is such a common occurrence in the industry that fans will never stop talking about it. YG Entertainment is no exception, and has stumbled into quite the number of controversies for their treatment towards current artists, namely TREASURE and BLACKPINK.
In particular, the agency often leaves their idols inactive, unfairly pushes some members over others, and most recently, suddenly delayed the promotions for TREASURE’s hit “DARARI”.
However, YG’s treatment towards its former artists is on a whole different league. PSY, Lee Hi, 2NE1, and others may not have anything to do with YG anymore, but they are still treated kindly by the company.
Allowing 2NE1’s reunion without taking legal actions
2NE1 recently became a hot topic after their surprise reunion at the 2022 Coachella. The group prepared their special stage in full secrecy, leading to suspicions that this was due to legal issues, seeing that all four members have left YG to join other entertainment companies.
In particular, netizens believed that to perform 2NE1 songs, the group needed to get YG’s permission, or have YG transferred the rights to their songs and the 2NE1 trademark. Legally speaking, 2NE1 will also face copyright conflicts with YG should they release new songs or promote under the 2NE1 brand.
However, in response to 2NE1’s possible comeback and use of the group name, YG only said: “We have no opinion regarding this issue. There will be no legal actions on our behalf.”
Lee Hi got her YouTube channels, defended YG over lack of comebacks
YG is also different from other entertainment agencies in that it publishes each artist’s MVs on separate channels. For example, all YG artists, including former ones like PSY, SE7EN, 2NE1, Lee Hi, and current ones like BIGBANG, WINNER, iKON, BLACKPINK, TREASURE… have their own artist channels with their full contents, instead of having everything published on one mutual channel.
According to Lee Hi, YG gladly allowed her the rights to her YouTube channel after leaving. And she was not the only one either, with CL, PSY, EPIK HIGH, SE7EN, and many more all getting their channels back from YG with full rights.
“I wanted to continue growing my channel, so I asked and YG gladly gave me my official channel”, Lee Hi said.
Even after leaving YG for AOMG, the singer did not hesitate to defend her old agency when fans complained about her lack of comeback. According to her, unlike assumptions, she was not forgotten nor mistreated at YG.
“New artists will receive a lot of attention, investment, and projects. I was once that new artist too. I don’t think of myself as a victim, so I’d rather you guys not assume that either”, Lee Hi said.
Despite leaving the company, the artists still have a good relationship
Korean entertainment companies often don’t allow their idols to interact with former artists on social media due to a variety of issues. However, even after leaving YG, the artists still regularly come to the company and meet their juniors.
Most recently, Dara and Seunghoon (WINNER) also took on the challenge “I Love You” on Tiktok, delighting fans.
YG has angered fans on several occasions, yet the way they treat the former artists still satisfies them.
Source: K14
