NewJeans Contracts Show How K-Pop Keeps Control of its Stars - The New York Times
NewJeans shattered records. Behind the scenes were unusually restrictive contracts, signed when the girls were ages 14 to 17.
The Korean government has a K-pop contract template that guarantees the right to education and to physical and mental health. The NewJeans contracts stripped away that language. The contracts banned such behavior as having an “insincere attitude,” entering “inappropriate romantic relationships” or criticizing the record label. The agreements included steep exit clauses and allowed the label to sell NewJeans music after the end of the deal, while slashing payments to the band. And it gave the label the right to use A.I.-generated NewJeans voices indefinitely.
