Update on 02/17/17 — SM Entertainment, the entertainment label and agency in which EXO is currently formed under and signed to, agrees that the songs on the OST of Kannayya plagiarizes two of EXO’s songs . According to AllKpop , a spokesperson representing them provided a statement on the matter for the press.
“The controversial songs by the Indian artist are clearly plagiarized. We’re planning to take action after discussion with the composer and the publisher.”
We will keep K-pop fans, especially those who are EXO-L (official fan club of EXO), up to date when more information is made available. Right now, EXO-L can celebrate in the fact their aggressive support for their bias EXO has protected them from plagiarism, an issue that is starting to just be dealt with in K-pop in general.
https://youtu.be/xtrbH7ze4zQ
Original Article on 02/16/17 — Ever since they made their debut back in 2012, EXO has dominated the K-pop scene. The popular SM Entertainment boy band, which originally started out with 12 members, half of them Korean and the other half of them Chinese, was the entertainment label and agency’s attempt to lock in the Korean and Chinese music markets. Apparently, their tactic worked as EXO has become the most popular K-pop boy band in the industry’s history though BTS is coming up really fast.
Unfortunately for many years, especially before 2015, K-pop was treated as a niche genre in music worldwide. Many other music industries would either scoff at K-pop or not even recognize the music produced by said industry, often plagiarizing their content and getting away with it. Things have changed as the K-pop fandom has grown so exponentially that music industries are finding themselves in trouble, especially when it comes to EXO’s fan club, EXO-L.
With that in mind, EXO-L has protected their biases again as they are now calling out Indian movie Kannayya . The original soundtrack (OST) for the movie is being accused of blatantly plagiarizing two of EXO’s songs.
Most likely, Indian or specifically Teluga K-pop fans who identify as EXO-L were the first to hear the similarities between Kannayya ‘s OST and two of EXO’s songs . According to AllKpop , the two songs on said OST in question are track two and five, “Dhamki Maar” and “Baby Kanipinchav” respectively. The former is claimed to plagiarize EXO’s “Growl” while the latter is claimed to plagiarize EXO’s “Baby Don’t Cry.”
Of course Indian and/or Teluga EXO-L were quick to spread among other EXO-L members what they call blatant plagiarism. As a result, many of them are demanding the makers of Kannayya , specifically Poppin Entertainment and Mango Music, to apologize and remove the allegedly plagiarized tracks from the OST.
Apparently, the Kannayya OST is allegedly guilty of plagiarizing more than just EXO. According to Koreaboo , other songs in the OST have plagiarized other musical acts . The first song “Mama Iragadheei” supposedly plagiarizes LC9’s “Mama Beat” while “Endhuke Ila” supposedly plagiarizes Jason Derulo’s “It Girl.”
Presently, both SM Entertainment and Poppin Films have yet to comment on the plagiarism accusations. Though EXO-L is on top of things catching when EXO’s songs are plagiarized, it is possible that a deal or some kind of communication was made between SM Entertainment and Poppin Films. It is also possible the musical beats used for the songs are public domain which can be bought by anyone and utilized for any reason, kind of like the Dem Bow beat used in reggaeton songs. Until said otherwise, it is just mere speculation.
Ultimately, the OST for Kannayya is suffering ever since it was accused of plagiarizing EXO. As of the publication of this article, there have been almost 150,000 views of the full OST uploaded by Mango Music on YouTube. Just a little over 7,100 of those viewers have disliked the video. Also, there are over 800 comments and growing with almost all of them being negative.
EXO’s last K-pop comeback was last year with the extension of their third full-length studio album EX’ACT known as LOTTO which featured a title track song of the same name. As for individual endeavors, Chanyeol was recently in the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) suspense K-drama Missing 9 while Kai is preparing to play the male lead in the upcoming Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) K-drama Andante .
[Featured Image by SM Entertainment/ EXO Official Daum Cafe ]