"Fan Club Membership Fee a Staggering 450,000 Won"... Trio Band Lowers Heads Amid Controversy

3-Person Band 'Nell' Launches Fan Club Exclusive App
Controversy Over 450,000 Won High Membership Fee
Eventually Issues Public Apology and Promises Full Refund

The three-member band Nell faced controversy after charging up to 450,000 KRW annually for fan club membership fees, leading to a public apology and a promise to fully refund the fees.

3-member band 'Nell' [Captured from Nell Instagram]

On the 23rd, Nell's agency Space Bohemian announced via Nell's official Instagram, "After reviewing the feedback you sent, we compiled it and conveyed it to the artist," adding, "'NELL’s ROOM' app will temporarily switch to beta service, and all paid memberships will be fully refunded later." Recently, Nell launched a paid application exclusively for their fan club 'Uju Yulangdan' called 'NELL’s ROOM.' Membership benefits included full video viewing, free access to online listening sessions, pre-order benefits for MD merchandise, private messenger functions with Nell members, priority ticket purchase rights for concerts (80% of domestic concert seats), and a meet-and-greet lottery (three times a year).

However, the excessively high price sparked debate. The premium membership, which grants all the above benefits, was priced at 418,000 KRW annually. The basic membership, which excludes the meet-and-greet lottery benefit, was priced at 38,000 KRW per month, meaning if a basic membership is paid monthly without fail, the annual cost would be 456,000 KRW.

Upon learning this, netizens criticized the membership fees as outrageously expensive compared to the benefits. Comments included, "Are fans being taken advantage of?", "Nell fans are mostly longtime fans, this is too much," "I thought it included concert tickets," and "It's just a priority ticket purchase, not actual concert tickets, so it's too expensive." As the controversy spread, Nell members apologized during a live broadcast on the 23rd. They said, "We thought if we set the price too low, we wouldn't be able to control premium transactions," and added, "There were many things we didn't know and some parts we took lightly. We are sorry." Nell's agency also announced that, along with refunding the membership fees, pre-produced content?excluding some content requiring copyright protection?would be made available for free.

Previously, from July 2022 to early March this year, Nell operated a paid YouTube official membership channel called 'Uju Yulangdan' before suspending it to transition to the application service. Nell is a three-member modern rock band that debuted in 2001, with representative songs including "The Time Walking on Memory," "Stay," and "Losing My Mind."