Geffen Records Exec Triggers BTS Fans' Anger With Reaction to Jimin's Solo Album Release
By Indo
Posted on June 24, 2024
BTS's passionate fan community, known as ARMY, has lashed out at an American music industry executive over a bizarre response regarding Jimin's upcoming solo album release.
As suspense builds around Jimin's second solo album, MUSE, which is scheduled for release on July 19 and whose track "Smeraldo Garden Marching Band (with Loco)" will be released on the 28th, fans around the world have flocked to online platform X to call on Big Hit Music, Universal Music Group and Geffen Records to provide purchasing channels to support the album.
Ray Kurzeka, vice president and head of streaming at Geffen Records, the US distributor of HYBE's music, however left a comment on an X post asking for pre-order details of Jimin's album. Rather than responding to fans' requests, Kurzeka simply listed "song of the year" alongside a link to a Gracie Abrams song featuring Taylor Swift, sparking a wave of discontent among members of ARMY
For fans, Kurzeka's actions were not only disrespectful, but his focusing on an American artist while answering questions about Jimin's album release was also inappropriate and did not take their requests into account.
Having had to respond to fans' demands for an apology and feedback on shopping channels, Mr Kurzeka deleted the post, privatized his X account and deactivated all his personal social media accounts. Such an attitude of circumvention only intensified the reactions of ARMYs.
The lack of an official response from Geffen Records, Kurzeka himself, or even Jimin's agency, HYBE, has only increased the frustration of ARMY and some fans have even criticized HYBE for not having kept its commitments to protect its artists and actively support them in their projects.
