Singer Baek Yerin has taken to Instagram and accused Ha Sung Woon of plagiarism. The song in question is his track for the Love Next Door OST called “What Are We“, released back in September, while her song is “0310” from Every Letter I Sent You back in 2019.
Her message on Instagram was clear (enough)…
…while she also reposted a fan asking, “Is it ok to sell a remake song (ㅋㅋ) without letting the original singer know?“
There hasn’t been a response yet as far as I’m aware.
Apparently it’s mostly about the loop with the guitar, which does indeed sound similar, but one could say the same thing about elements in a lot of tracks. I’m not sure if it’s actionable or not, but the call-out might be as far as it goes unless there’s more to it.
I dunno, my stance on these things is pretty consistent that unless it’s just the same song, I don’t really care much. Like I would bet my bottom dollar you can find a bunch of songs with similar guitar use that came before her song if you care enough.
Regardless, she certainly proved how vocals like hers can enhance an otherwise simple and uninteresting instrumental compared to him, so that’s a win.
Update
Big Planet Made has responded and basically just said Ha Sung Woon only sang what he was told and didn’t do shit!
Regarding the plagiarism allegations raised by Baek Yerin on SNS today (October 4) concerning the OST ‘What are we’ from the drama ‘Love Next Door’ sung by Ha Sung Woon, we would like to clarify that Ha Sung Woon has no involvement in this plagiarism matter.
Both Ha Sung Woon and Big Planet Made Entertainment participated solely as a vocalist for the OST at the request of the drama’s production company and had no involvement in the songwriting, composition, or arrangement of ‘What are we.’
Update Again
The composer of “What Are We” has disputed the allegations, providing an analysis of the chords and melody for both songs, and citing other similarities with songs before hers.
Baek Yerin’s agency People Like People, released a statement later, continuing to say it is plagarized and that they will seek resolution. However, also apologizing to Ha Sung Woon.
Our artist, who coincidentally came across the song’ What Are We,’ felt similar and posted a YouTube link with the song credits to express her disappointment.
Even if we exclude the song’s melody, song form, chord progression, syncopation development, technique in the chorus, timing of the instruments, fill-ins, bridge section, etc, the song is so similar that it’s impossible to say it was created by chance.
However, the response from the OST composer, which only focused on certain parts of the melody and chords, still left many parts unconvincing.
Although they cited songs that used the same chord progressions as examples, which is acceptable, there are still other musical elements that make it hard to believe that they were simply borrowing a common chord progression.
The standards for plagiarism may differ, but the songs are so similar that we are taking the time to analyze them with experts and will also give updates on the matter.
This is a matter of creative work that deserves credit when due, so we will handle this matter carefully.
We would like to also make it clear that this matter is not about the singer but about the composition and arrangement of the song. As both artists are targets of hate comments, we ask fans from both sides to refrain from mentioning other artists.
We would like to discuss this with the composer and receive acknowledgment and an apology. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we will resolve this matter as soon as we can. Thank you.
