As a limited group, the popular girl group THE9 should have successfully held a graduation concert at the end of 2021, that is, the group disbanded the concert, and then developed independently.
However, due to the epidemic, THE9's concert was temporarily suspended, and the ensuing question emerged - how to deal with refunds.
Just a few days ago, fans of THE9-related support clubs exclusively broke the news to the first financial reporter that the above-mentioned concerts had been officially announced to be held in Suzhou and Guangzhou, but they were temporarily suspended due to the epidemic. Although the organizers claimed that they would be postponed, It has not been held so far, so a large number of fans have requested refunds. However, the organizers have delayed so far and have not fully refunded them, or involving thousands of refunds, the amount may be as high as millions of yuan.
Fans begging for refund
First of all, let's take a look at THE9. The group consists of 9 members: Liu Yuxin (C), Yu Shuxin, Xu Jiaqi, Yu Yan, Xie Keyin, An Qi (captain), Zhao Xiaotang, Kong Xueer, and Lu Keran.
On May 30, 2020, he officially debuted through the iQIYI youth inspirational variety show "Youth with You Season 2"; on July 10, he attended the "Limited Business Meeting" and announced his role as "Recommended by iQIYI." Official"; on August 10, the group's first music EP "Sphinx X Mystery" was released, and it was certified as a "Double Platinum Album"; on December 25, the group's first album "Virtual Reality X Realm" was released ; On December 31, he participated in the 2021 Jiangsu Satellite TV New Year's Eve Concert.
On May 22, 2021, the group's anniversary album "RefleXtion" will be released.
The first financial reporter learned that, similar to many talent groups, idol groups such as THE9 belong to the "limited group". The so-called "limited group" means that the group will disband after a period of time, usually 1-2 years later. After disbanding, they developed independently.
The meaning of the "limited group" is to let these artists debut, participate in various performing arts activities, accumulate fans, and reach a "high point" of the group when disbanding - to obtain a lot of commercial value conversion through the dissolution of concerts and other forms.
"The fans of the group are different from the fans of the individual idols. The group fans will be subdivided into fans who like the overall group and fans who like each member. For example, the 9 members of THE9 have their own fan clubs. There will be some friendly exchanges, but there will also be a little bit of competition, all to cheer for their idols. The respective support clubs will also organize support activities, etc. So this time THE9's graduation concert, we are the group purchases of the support clubs of each family. , we signed a group purchase ticket agreement with the organizer, so the number and amount involved are relatively large. According to the groups and information of our various support clubs, there are thousands of fans involved, and the overall ticket purchase amount reaches millions Yuan. The support club of the member I belonged to bought a group ticket of about 400,000 yuan, and 400,000 yuan is a relatively low amount, and many other support clubs are higher than this figure." Fang He Xiang Di A financial reporter revealed.
According to the group purchase ticket agreement provided by Fang He: The two parties agreed to purchase tickets for the December 18, 2021 THE9 Graduation Tour Concert-Guangzhou Station Tickets. Ticket prices are divided into 1799 yuan, 1399 yuan, 999 yuan and 699 yuan. and 399 yuan.
Party A who signed an agreement with fans is Beijing Guochao Culture and Tourism Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guochao Culture").
Interestingly, although the group purchase price is basically the same as the fare purchased by individual customers, there is not much discount, but the group purchase of the support club has a special right - priority selection of seats.
According to the agreement, the purchaser can make regional selections in order of the total amount.
"This priority also makes fans more willing to focus on group purchases, because the higher the overall amount of group purchases, the greater the advantage of choosing seats first. Therefore, Guochao Culture can get a large amount of ticketing revenue at once." Fang Holland told the first financial reporter.
However, due to the epidemic, both graduation performances were temporarily canceled, and the organizers said that they would be postponed to May.
But fans are apparently not so sure.
"Looking at the current situation, it should be difficult to hold concerts in the future, and according to the limited time of the group, in fact, THE9 group has been disbanded, and it is unknown whether they will be able to perform together in the future. Therefore, many of our fans asked for refunds. According to the agreement, the refund should be refunded within 7 working days. If it is an extension, it should be refunded within 14 working days. From January 7th to 14th, 2022, the organizer will refund about half of the money. However, as of now, the remaining funds of each support club have not been returned, and the date for refunds has passed. Guochao Culture has postponed the refund of funds for various reasons, and currently has not responded to the information. Now the number of fans involved in refunds is very high. Great, we haven't received a full refund since we bought tickets last year." Fang He angrily told Yicai.com reporters.
The embarrassment of refunding the ticket and the business behind it
The THE9 group debuted on the iQiyi platform. Regarding this matter, the first financial reporter called iQIYI. iQIYI said that the group THE9 has been disbanded, and the artists also have their own agents and studios. Currently, all THE9 members It has no direct relationship with iQIYI, so iQIYI cannot intervene in the above-mentioned concert matters.
According to the query on the Qichacha platform, the first financial reporter saw that Guochao Culture has 2 shareholders, Li Hailin and Gao Qingfang. After the reporter contacted Gao Qingfang, he said that the performance was affected by the epidemic, and refunds have been arranged, but the performance did not It was not cancelled, but was postponed to May this year.
As for the feedback from fans that they only got half of the refund, Gao Qingfang said that the remaining small part is being refunded and has informed the support club.
According to a statement issued by Guochao Culture in January this year, due to the cancellation of the two performances of THE9, the company’s investment costs suffered serious losses, and many of the prepayments were not paid back in time, so that they could not be returned to the fan group in full in time. For the ticket price, the research decided to refund 50% before the Spring Festival.
However, fans obviously don't buy the statement of Guochao culture. Some fans said that the organizer has been delaying again and again, and the deadline for refunds has long passed, and it is not "a small part", but half of the payment has not been received. arrive.
Yicai reporter also saw another THE9 concert co-organizer-Guangdong Xingze Culture Media Co., Ltd. in a notice of postponement of the performance.
The reporter called the relevant person in charge of the company, who said that he was only assisting the performance of the show, and all the ticketing revenue was from Guochao Culture, and he did not receive any money, so everything had to be subject to Guochao Culture.
Fans were very dissatisfied in the face of the claims from all parties. Fang He said that he and the members of the support club would continue to defend their rights through various means and recover the remaining half of the ticket price.
A reporter from China Business News learned that in recent years, too many talent shows have been released, and batches of idols have been cultivated. The fan economy has risen, the star-making movement has risen one after another, and the fan economy has also emerged. "Idol development" fan base, The talent show has a model - to create a group of new people, let the new people compete for talent, attract fans, and fans will vote to decide who can debut, who is the most popular C position, and even the ranking of subsequent performances, etc. This is Fans spend money to "bet".
After the food waste incident was exposed, the idol audition program was called off.
But for the idol groups that have already debuted, the enthusiasm of fans has not diminished.
Problems such as fundraising, gray industry chain, artist image management, and sky-high remuneration in the "fan circle" have gradually surfaced.
The General Office of the State Administration of Radio and Television previously issued the "Notice of the General Office of the State Administration of Radio and Television on Further Strengthening the Management of Cultural Programs and Their Personnel" to regulate the entertainment industry.
"It is precisely because there are a large number of fans that brokerage companies or performance agencies will commercialize idols and groups in various ways, and fans will not hesitate to pay, so they sell performance tickets at high prices, give priority to seats, etc. It will appear. This is also the basic business logic that companies like Guochao Culture were optimistic about the THE9 concert at first. Unexpectedly, the epidemic disrupted their rhythm of making money, and some early investment was difficult to recover, and the company suffered heavy losses, which also made it difficult for the organizers to make money. Quick refunds. So for fans, it is necessary to consume rationally, and for performers, investment needs to be cautious, and making quick money requires taking risks.” An analysis of a person who has been engaged in performing arts for a long time.