Amidst the chaos that has ensued after TVXQ members YoungWoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun and Xiah Junsu filed a lawsuit against their agency, the rift between the two sides is getting deeper as SM Entertainment revealed it's rebuttal.

There is a lot of talk about SM's official statement and many are skeptical about SM's statement that the amount given to TVXQ was 'a substantial income division.'



On the 3rd, SM released that, "TVXQ, till now (July 2009), have received 11 billion Won (9.2 billion Won given during the activities+1.77 billion Won given beforehand) and have also been given luxury foreign cars (bonuses that don't have any connection to the contract)." SM also said that, "The other side has focused solely on album sales even though TVXQ receive their fair share through events, CFs and other performances."

However, since the exact amount of TVXQ's income till now has not been revealed by SME, SME's statement has been met with skepticism and doubt.

Fans stated, "Even if SM did give TVXQ 11 billion Won, that is still less than 400 million Won per person each year," and "It is not plausible to say that this is enough when the group's immense popularity or influence is calculated," to show their reluctance to accept SM's statement.

In fact,TVXQ's album sales started off with their debut single 'HUG' selling around 195K copies and after eight singles and four albums, they have sold a total of 2,68 million copies in Korea alone.

In Japan, they have released 27 singles and four albums and sold a total of 2.34 million copies. According to the Japanese Record Committee, eight albums, 'Summer Dream', 'T', 'Beautiful You/Thousand Year Love Song', 'Why Did I come to like you? (Doushite)', 'Spell-MIROTIC-', 'Survivor', 'Bolero', and 'Share the World' have received the Gold Ranking (100K or more) and 'The Secret Code' has received the Platinum Ranking (250K or more).

Even when China, Thailand and Hong Kong is not considered, TVXQ has sold more than 5 million copies in Korea and Japan alone. Oricon Magazine, the official album chart for Japan, stated that in the first half of this year, TVXQ took eighth place in total album sales that earned them a total of 2.5 billion Yen (approximately 33 billion Won).

TVXQ's concerts also boast the best ticketing power and the income their live concerts bring in is probably a massive amount. Around 390K people attended TVXQ's Asia Tours, 530K attended their Japanese Tours and 120K attended their showcases. In their concerts alone, they attracted over 1 million fans around the world.

One fan wrote on their blog, "The most recent concert was their Japan Tour that ended at the Tokyo Dome which attracted 300K people. Even when using the average seat cost of 8000 yen (1 yen=1300 Won), that is still 2.4 billion Yen, in Won that would be 31.2 billion Won."

They also stated, "This is only taking the ticket fee into consideration. When you add up all the souvenirs sold during the concert and add this to the ticket cost, they must have earned at least 50 billion won."

After the Tokyo Dome concert, many Japanese news agencies estimated that, "If you add up all the money TVXQ earns in China, Southern Eastern countries, Korea, etc, TVXQ must earn around 100 billion Won every year."

There are other sources of income such as musical income sources of streaming, background music for homepages, downloads and ringtones, and commercials, performances, DVDs and photobooks, as well as a cartoon character venture, the amount that TVXQ has earned till now is almost out of this world. That is why SM's statement regarding money has become an issue.

In reference to SM's statement that "From their debut till now, we have paid TVXQ 11 billion Won," many fans are saying that, "It's not about the actual amount of money given to them, but the percentage of total income given to them," and "SM is putting forth a large number of 11 billion Won to make it look like they have been giving the members proper treatment pay-wise."

Fans also stated, "If the agency is so convinced that they are being fair and just, why is it that they aren't revealing the exact income of TVXQ? There are too many unclear parts in this contract that even the members did not know the contents of." They also criticized SM Entertainment by stating, "Because of SM's poor attempts at making TVXQ the scapegoat, more questions are arising and they are causing confusion."




-NOTE- 11 billion WON is approximately 9 million US dollars. A quick calculation, the members each made approximately USD 360 000 since their debut according to SM Entertainment.

For comparison, the annual income for top Hollywood stars range from everything between USD 10 million to USD 200 million. -NOTE end-

The problem is not how much was given, but how the income was divided... And can only be solved if SM reveals TVXQ's exact income.



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oh my news + DNBN]
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