Director Chan Ho Kim of Holistar Music Academy, an academy at Incheon educating various musical abilities to all ages, said that there should be a change in the current laws to prevent companies from exploiting musicians.

He commented on problems that musicians face relating to their legal rights to get paid well, suggesting that this is ultimately the reason behind their low social status in Korea. 

At first, Director Kim explained the problems musicians have in Korea compared to that of other countries.

Then he elaborated on the issue from various angles.

“From what I heard, musicians in foreign countries are respected even though they might play at parties, with relatively higher pay. 

This is because they have a better system which supports the musicians and their rights to proper wages, by enforcing such laws. 

But, in Korea, there is a trend of looking down on professional musicians.

This is because, in Korea, its musicians receive insufficient support from the judicial branch for their large idol groups”, Director Kim explained.

“For example, the inadequate law allows the agency (where the musicians belong) to take the majority of the total income, and the rest to be divided between the propaganda fees of the song, the songwriters, the managers, stylists, or drivers, and the circulation application like Melon or Youtube”.

 Finally, the remaining money has to be divided among the individual members of a band”, he explained.

“These steps on how the money is divided are making the musicians poor and subject to exploitation”, Director Kim said.

This is the reason why an alarming portion of South Korean musicians don’t get paid for their work.

Unfortunately, this mistreatment is commonplace. “Singers and songwriters often complain that the music industry has no law, no contract, and no average price. Labor exploitation is the norm”, according to Korea Exposé.

Another root of the problem points to the way in which Korean musicians group together as idol groups which reduces the rights and share of pay to each musician. 

This act of group bonding might be due to the fact that it is hard for musicians to appeal to the public by themselves, without a brand-name entertainment company supporting their backs. 

“To solve these issues, laws can be changed to prevent companies from exploiting musicians”. 

“This can be done by setting a certain limit to how much of a percentage the agency can take of the net income, and demanding the company to show it publicly transparent for everyone to see. This will make the musicians gain a more respectable standing in Korean culture”, the Director said.

Finally, Korea’s recognition of musicians can be changed by placing sufficient value on the specific traits of each musician, and not only as a company-backed group so that more musicians will be encouraged to express themselves individually. 

It will help them gain a higher level of rights than before, as it will cause direct attention to an individual musician.

In conclusion, the hopes are that the government can direct more attention to the fact that musicians are currently suffering from exploitation, and enforce laws that can prevent entertainment companies from violating the musician’s rights to earn an ethical salary.