New Sajaegi Method? — An In-Depth Look Into ADOR Min Hee Jin’s Allegations Of HYBE Using Sajaegi For All Their Groups
During the first day of court between HYBE and ADOR‘s Min Hee Jin, Min dropped shocking news that her internal complaint letter to HYBE had included sajaegi allegations. Min Hee Jin claims that she had refused HYBE’s suggestion to bulk buy NewJeans’ albums, sparking conflict between them. Sajaegi is a term referring to bulk streams or bulk buys of albums by the company in order to raise numbers for charts.
According to reports, Min had declared, “NewJeans was able to surpass other group’s records without any sajaegi, but if HYBE had suggested sajaegi to such a successful group, just think about what they would have suggested to other groups.” She called for an investigation against the company, naming a common method for sajaegi to be when the company buys up bulk albums through deals with retailers, later refunding them after the numbers have already been recorded under the charts.
This is because first-week sales are often considered the most important part of charting. After the albums are refunded, they later strike deals with the retailers to host fansigns, so that the stocks will be sold to fans in bulk. Fans often purchase bulk albums to get slots for fansigns. However, fansigns are held later in the promotional cycle, rendering the numbers useless in first-week sales charts. The company’s method allows numbers to be better reflected in the charts, while using fansigns to clear stocks. Reports refer to this method as “advance buying sajaegi.” While pure sajaegi refers to outright faking numbers and is illegal, this “advance buying” method is a loophole that avoids the illegality of pure sajaegi.
Min Hee Jin’s explosive accusations will certainly call for investigations against HYBE after her feud with the ends. Read more about the first day of court below.
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