K-Pop’s Hot Topic

Several K-pop artists have been criticized and even sued for allegedly stealing songs and ideas from Western performers. The worm seems to have turned, according to some K-pop fans accusing the American apparel retail chain Hot Topic of pirating K-pop music.

The AllKPop fansite itemizes some of the glaring inconsistencies in Hot Topic’s marketing of certain K-pop recordings.

Hot Topic sells “licensed music” as CDs and downloads, and has started offering K-pop music that may not be legitimate or even authentic. The names of several acts are misspelled on the Hot Topic website, and the albums to which their names are attached either don’t exist in Korea or have different artwork.

One K-pop compilation album contains “mixes” by artists whose names and pictures don’t match. For instance, a song by the group SHIN HEE is offered with a photo of the group TVXQ.

Some of the covers of the albums appear to be fan-made wallpapers, which are then matched to the wrong artists.
Consequently, fans are wondering if Hot Topic properly paid for the rights to these songs. AllKPop says it has contacted Hot Topic for clarification.