Former Agency CEO of Youngtak Accused of Music Chart Manipulation Sentenced to 8 Months in Prison in First Trial

Recruiting Participants for Music Chart Manipulation Through Business Brokers
"Concerns Over Distorting the Order of a Healthy Music Market"

Those involved in a so-called 'music streaming manipulation' scheme, where the number of music streams is artificially inflated to boost rankings, including entertainment agencies and PR firms, were sentenced to prison in the first trial.

On the 4th, Judge Park Byung-gon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 5 sentenced Lee Jae-gyu, CEO of Milagro, the former agency of singer Youngtak, to eight months in prison and ordered his immediate detention on charges of obstructing business using computers and other means.

Nine other officials from various agencies and PR firms involved in the music streaming manipulation were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to two years or received suspended sentences.

The court ruled that music rankings are a crucial factor influencing consumers' choices of what music to listen to, stating, "'Music streaming manipulation' provides distorted information to consumers and risks undermining the sound distribution order of the music market." It added, "It also results in reduced business profits for legitimate operators and decreases income for other creators who did not engage in manipulation."

The court further noted, "The defendants' actions should be severely punished as they cause significant psychological distress to trainees who are working hard, sweating to debut as singers or actors."

Lee and others were indicted last May on charges of manipulating the rankings of 15 songs by streaming them 1,727,985 times on major domestic music sites from December 2018 to December 2019. They recruited participants for the ranking manipulation through business brokers. Investigations revealed that they committed the crimes using about 500 virtual PCs, a large number of purchased IP addresses, and 1,627 illegally obtained personal information records.

Lee is accused of requesting a marketing agent to manipulate the chart ranking of Youngtak's 2019 song "Niga Wae Geogi Seo Nawa" (Why Are You Coming Out There?). Earlier, the prosecution cleared singer Youngtak of any charges.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.