[Sportschosun Kim Jun-seok] SeeYa confessed that, despite being widely loved for its hit songs during its peak, the group has never received any royalties.
On the 16th, the YouTube channel Studio Suje released a video titled, "Royalties? None. The legendary girl group SeeYa, which once took over mini-homepage BGM charts, opens up."
On the show "Ganjeolhanip," SeeYa members Nam Gyu-ri, Kim Yeon-ji and Lee Bo-ram appeared together for the first time in 15 years to mark the group's 20th debut anniversary. MC Kim Ji-yu visited the scene as SeeYa took the stage at a college festival for the first time in 17 years, joining them for both the performance and a meal.
Ahead of the performance, SeeYa could not hide their nerves about returning to a college festival after so long. The members said, "It's been 17 years since we last did a college event. It's been so long that we're worried people will even recognize us."
They also spoke about their recently packed schedule, saying, "At most, we sleep five hours. Sometimes we only get two hours of sleep," and added, "It feels like we've gone back in time, but our bodies are not what they were in our 20s."
Despite their worries, the response to the stage was enthusiastic. SeeYa performed hit songs including "Scent of a Woman," "Love's Greeting," and "Crazy Love Song," and the audience sang along loudly.
After the performance, the members said, "We don't even know how long it's been since we heard a singalong like that. It was moving to realize that people still remember our songs."
SeeYa then headed to a pork backbone stew restaurant that Nam Gyu-ri has frequented for 10 years. While eating aged kimchi pork backbone stew and fried rice, they also shared behind-the-scenes stories from their earlier career days.
When the topic of royalties came up, SeeYa surprised viewers with an unexpected answer. When MC Kim Ji-yu asked which song earned the most royalties, the members replied, "We don't get royalties. We've never received any."
They added, "Even now, no matter how much people listen to our songs, nothing comes to us," and explained, "The contracts themselves were not like today's digital music agreements."
Because SeeYa had so many hits that once dominated mini-homepage BGM playlists, their confession drew even more sympathy.
They also revealed the strict rules imposed by their agency during their peak years. Lee Bo-ram said, "If we had a schedule in Busan today, another in Busan tomorrow, and another the day after, it would have been nice to just stay there and work, but we couldn't."
"We always had to come back to Seoul. By the time we got to Seoul, it was morning. We would wash up and head back down to Busan," she recalled. "They said female entertainers could not sleep outside. Senior artists from the same company, SG Wannabe, could stay overnight, but we were told no because we were women."
They also shared how the reunion after 15 years came together. Marking their 20th debut anniversary, SeeYa said, "This time, we felt we absolutely had to do it," and added, "We each have our own companies, but we set up a separate company for SeeYa activities. We created SeeYa Entertainment."
The members said they have been busy taking on tasks that were once handled by the company. They explained, "We edit the MR ourselves, decide the song order, and receive and check the songs we sang on broadcast. Work does not end when the activity ends."
Finally, when asked what the team means to them, SeeYa said, "It feels like home," "It feels like family," and "It is love."
They also expressed gratitude to fans, saying, "We didn't promote for 15 years, but the fact that people still remember us is nothing short of a miracle."
For their 20th anniversary activities, SeeYa chose a No. 1 hit as their goal. The members said honestly, "We hope our 20th anniversary gift will be a No. 1 song. We really want it. Please help us."
narusi@sportschosun.com
