ENTERTAINMENT
IU side abolishes secret royal inspector system and improves permanent expulsion
IU's agency, Edam Entertainment, said on the 9th, "We would like to express our sincere apologies to the fans who were harmed by our excessive explanation procedures."
He then announced, "If an explanation procedure occurs, we will improve it as follows instead of the existing excessive explanation process," and added, "We will not consider cases of ticket reservations without financial transactions as fraudulent transactions."
In addition, "For those who have difficulty verifying their identity with an ID card, we will take measures to ensure that they can receive a ticket after verifying their identity with a family relationship certificate and a copy of their resident registration to confirm that they are a direct ascendant. In the case of new passports, we will maintain that identity verification is possible without a passport certificate." He said.
In addition, he said, "As of the current time, the expulsion system within the official fan club will be operated as a 'penalty application (e.g., limit on membership by number of fan club members)' rather than a 'permanent expulsion'," and lifted all permanent expulsions for those subject to permanent expulsion from IU's official fan club. .
Lastly, “We once again apologize for causing great hurt to the fans and artists who may have felt inconvenienced due to our operating policy,” and added, “Our company, Melon Ticket, and the performance team are the parties who suffered damage during the ticket reservation process. “We will do our best to compensate the fans in the direction they want until the end,” he added.
Below is IU's full statement.
This is EDAM Entertainment.
First, we would like to express our sincere apologies to the fans who were harmed due to our excessive explanation procedures regarding ticket reservations for our artist IU's 2024 World Tour Seoul Exclusive Concert (hereinafter referred to as 'Seoul Exclusive Concert'). We deeply apologize for causing concern to the fans who always give great support to the artist. We also apologize to the artist himself, who must have been disappointed and hurt by our company due to this incident.
As of April 9, 2024 (hereinafter the same), we will listen to the opinions suggested by many fans and announce a reform plan. Please check below for details.
1) Abolition of the policy regarding fraudulent ticket transactions (secret inspector system) reward system
We will completely abolish the ‘reward system’ for ‘policy related to illegal ticket transactions (secret inspector system)’. We will further strengthen our internal monitoring team regarding illegal transactions and premium ticket reservations. In the event that an explanation procedure occurs, we will improve it as follows instead of the existing excessive explanation procedure.
- In the case of ticket reservation cases where there is no financial transaction (e.g., attempts to make reservations on behalf of family members or acquaintances), it will not be considered an illegal transaction.
- Before the opening of ticket reservations for future domestic performances, explanation procedures will be provided in the 'Illegal Ticket Transaction Policy Guide' announced through all official channels and ticket reservation sites.
- In accordance with the revised notice, we will not only simplify the explanation process, but also prevent fans from feeling burdened by requests for an inaccurate explanation period.
2) Identity verification procedure for ticket receipt
We are more aware than ever of the need for improvement in the identity verification process for children and young people, so we will pursue improvements by referring to the cases of other companies.
- For those who have difficulty verifying their identity with an ID, we will take steps to ensure that they can receive tickets after verifying their identity with a family relationship certificate and a copy of their resident registration to confirm that they are a direct ascendant.
- In the case of new passports, we will maintain identity verification without a passport certificate.
3) Improvement of the official fan club permanent expulsion system
We have been operating this system as a means to strongly prevent online and offline premium transactions and fraudulent tickets, but due to a series of recent issues, we feel our responsibility more deeply than ever. Therefore, we would like to improve the ‘IU Official Fan Club Permanent Expulsion System’. As of now, the expulsion system within the official fan club will be operated as 'penalty application (e.g., restriction on membership by fan club number)' rather than 'permanent expulsion'.
- Improvement of the premium transaction and illegal ticket transaction system As the standards for expulsion have changed due to the improvement of the premium and illegal ticket transaction system, from today, all permanent expulsions will be lifted for those subject to permanent expulsion from the existing IU Official Fan Club.
However, as per the 'Fan Etiquette Guide' announced on the official channel, cases of threatening the artist's personal life or violating the artist's privacy are not included in the permanent expulsion list. In particular, we would like to inform you that anyone who has done something impure within the fandom in the past and created an unpleasant social problem will be subject to 'permanent expulsion' without exception, even if it occurs in the future.
- In order to prevent even a single fan from being unfairly treated due to this system, we will look into the relevant details internally and carefully discuss and prepare the standards for application.
All of our executives and employees are more aware of the system reform and problems than ever before due to this issue. We will do our best to prevent recurrence, and we will continue to improve based on the opinions provided by our fans.
We would like to once again apologize for causing great pain to the fans and artists who may have felt inconvenienced due to our operating policy. We will continue to monitor and accept opinions to show progress. In addition to the above reform plan, we will tell you about additional areas that can be improved later. Subsequently, our company, Melon Ticket, and the performance team will do our best to compensate the fans who suffered damage during the ticket reservation process in the direction desired.
With this incident as an opportunity, we will become an agency that puts the opinions of fans and artists first. sorry.
Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr
