Gangnam Style Creator, PSY, Threatened With Sanctions From South Korean Regulators Due To NFT Tickets

JAKARTA - K-pop singer PSY, known for the song "Gangnam Style," and his entertainment agency, P Nation, has the potential to face sanctions from competition regulators in South Korea for selling concert tickets in the form of NFT (non-fungible tokens).

NFT is a digital asset that is unique and cannot be exchanged for other assets. NFT is usually used to authenticate ownership and authenticity of digital assets such as art, music, videos, or books. NFT is recorded in the blockchain, a secure and transparent decentralized data recording system.

According to local media report Biz World, P Nation has launched a PSY concert ticket pre-sale project supported by NFT in 2023. The project involved the launch of a PSY fan community called SOPSYety, which offers various exclusive benefits for its members, including an NFT series called PSYger.

P Nation claims that PSYger's NFT owners will have the opportunity to buy tickets early for a PSY concert titled Summer Swag and All Night Stand, which is scheduled to take place in 2023.

However, this policy appears to pose legal problems for PSY and P Nation, as the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly considering investigating the sale of the NFT ticket. The FTC is the authority responsible for overseeing and regulating market competition in South Korea.

The FTC suspects that PSY's NFT ticket sales violate the Platform Competition Act, which prohibits discriminatory or unfair practices by online platforms against consumers or business partners.

In addition, the FTC is also considering investigating ticket sales for the Major League Baseball (MLB) match which will be held in Seoul in March 2024. MLB is the highest professional baseball league in the United States and Canada. The match will feature two popular teams, namely Los Angeleswas and San Diego Padres.

The FTC is suspicious that MLB's main partner, the Coupang Wow division of e-commerce company Coupang, provides special treatment to its members who subscribe to paid services, such as providing access to exclusive tickets or discounts.

If the FTC finds evidence of a violation, PSY, P Nation, Coupang, and MLB could be subject to administrative sanctions or fines by the FTC. The FTC's decision could also affect other NFT projects being developed by the K-pop industry, which plans to use NFT and cryptocurrencies to provide fans with new experiences, such as exclusive prizes, early ticket sales, or fan meeting events.

PSY is a singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer from South Korea who debuted in 1999. He is known domestically and internationally for his humorous and energetic videos and stage performances. The songs that became global hits include "Daddy," "Gentleman," and "Gangnam Style."

This last song set the record as the first video to reach one billion viewers on YouTube in 2012, and currently has more than 5 billion viewers. PSY founded P Nation in 2019 as an entertainment agency that houses several other K-pop artists, such as Jessi, HyunA, Dawn, Heize, and D.Ark.