STARTO” was stumped early on… Why they were supposed to concentrate on “compensation work” but continued “fan club management”?
On April 10, a live concert “WE ARE! Let’s get the party STARTO!!!” featuring artists from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT was held at the Tokyo Dome.
The mood is like a fresh start …… with a new company after overcoming the sex abuse issue of the late Mr. Janie Kitagawa, but there are some harsh criticisms on the Internet regarding the management of the fan club (FC).
Last fall, Johnny’s acknowledged the sexual assault by its founder, Mr. Johnny, and declared that it would become a company that would provide compensation and relief to the victims. The company announced that it would change its name to “SMILE-UP.” and establish a new company to manage talent. The company also announced that SMILE-UP. would “go out of business” as soon as the compensation work for the victims was completed.
In April of this year, the new company, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, finally got its start. On the other hand, there have been some doubts among fans about the Family Club, Johnny’s’s former franchise organization, for some time now. As of the end of March, an e-mail sent to FC members contained the words “(C) SMILE-UP.” They were puzzled as to whether SMILE-UP, which was supposed to concentrate on compensation work, was also in charge of FC management, as STARTO’s debut concert was scheduled for April 10. (Entertainment writer).
(entertainment writer). The purpose of the Family Club (Article 1), according to the membership agreement page, is “to support artists (individuals or groups, hereinafter referred to as ‘artists’) and junior artists, and is composed of members who support artists and junior artists, and SMILE-UP. The purpose of the Family Club is for members to support artists and junior artists. The Company, as the secretariat of the Family Club, will operate the Artists’ and Juniors’ Fan Club” (original text in Japanese, hereinafter the same).
Journalist Soichiro Matsutani, who has been pursuing a series of office issues, also took a tough stance on this point, commenting on an April 10 article in Nikkan Sports titled “Yoshihiko Inohara to be CMO, board composition, etc. announced at full-scale launch of STARTO ENTERTAINMENT” on Yahoo! In the comment section of the article titled “STARTO ENTERTAINMENT to announce executive structure, etc.,” Mr. Matsutani, an expert of Yahoo! In other words, the core of STARTO’s management/agent business is still in the hands of SMILE-UP. The declaration that SMILE-UP. will continue to exist only as a compensation company has also been reversed,” he explained.
(The same company).” While the SNS was also filled with puzzled voices, SMILE-UP. updated a notice on its official website on the 15th of the same month, “Regarding the future policy of handling copyrights of fan clubs and music masters, etc.”. According to this announcement, the 28 groups of 295 talents who belonged to the former Johnny’s have signed contracts with STARTO, and the transfer has been completed; SMILE-UP.’s policy of “specializing in compensation services and going out of business after the completion of the work” remains unchanged, and the company will not be involved in STARTO’s management.
In addition, Family Club announced that it “will spin off from our company and proceed with independence by the end of this summer. The company has considered closing the Family Club and launching a new franchise under STARTO, but “in that case, the membership numbers of our members who have supported us up to now will also be lost.
Considering the feelings of those who have been supporting our talents for a long time and are attached to their current membership numbers, we could not make that choice,” he said.
He added, “Since the Family Club and STARTO will be separate companies, the personal information of FC members will not be disclosed to STARTO. Fans who are attached to their current membership numbers are relieved that their FC and membership numbers are protected,” and “I was worried about how my personal information and membership number would be handled, but I am glad that my personal information is not given to STARTO, a separate company… …” (The same)
The aforementioned Mr. Matsutani wrote on X (old Twitter) dated the 15th, “Why didn’t they announce this before STARTO’s Tokyo Dome live concert? Why didn’t they announce this before STARTO’s Tokyo Dome live concert, ignoring me, Asahi Shimbun, and NHK? At this stage, no e-mail was sent to FC members, and some of them had learned of the situation through the SMILE-UP. website and TV news reports,
Have you all received an e-mail informing you that SMILE-UP. is spinning off its franchises? I found out on TV. ……
Why are you putting off explaining to the members about the franchise?
The management of the franchise is a matter that involves our membership fees and personal information. You should have explained that to us when you started STARTO.
He expressed his displeasure.
However, SMILE-UP. is moving cautiously, as it wrote in its official statement, “There are many challenges to overcome in closing down a company with a 59-year history, and it may inevitably take some time, but we are moving forward steadily and faithfully with compensation, step by step, while receiving advice from experts. Therefore, the report may have come too late. Fans will just have to keep a warm eye on the situation.
