Is A2O the Target of a Smear Campaign?: From Chinese Funding Rumors to Streaming Manipulation Claims

Rookie group A2O LITE is holding the No. 1 spot on Melon's main Top 100 chart with its debut song, "NEON." At the same time, rumors and allegations involving one of its members and the group's agency, A2O Entertainment, are spreading rapidly online. Some in the Korean music industry suspect a possible "reverse viral" campaign.

Unlike traditional viral marketing, which aims to generate positive attention, "reverse viral" refers to spreading negative claims to turn public opinion against an artist or group.

The controversy began with claims involving a member's family. On Oct. 20, allegations of unpaid wages tied to the parents of member Aijing began circulating on Chinese social media. Some users went as far as calling for her to leave the group. Aijing is 13 years old.

The issue first came up on Oct. 13, the day after A2O LITE held its debut showcase. Posts claimed that employees at a Beijing education company run by Aijing's mother had not been paid for about two years.

On Oct. 14, Aijing's mother acknowledged that she was facing debt problems due to business difficulties and apologized. She also stressed that her daughter had nothing to do with the business or the dispute. Then, on Oct. 18, a former employee made another claim. The former employee said that they had requested their unpaid wages to cover their father's funeral expenses but received only 1,000 yuan (about 200,000 won).

The timing drew attention. The claims first appeared in China, and Korean online communities then found them and spread them even further. Because the posts surfaced right after the showcase, some began to question whether it was part of a coordinated campaign. A2O Entertainment has reportedly started an internal investigation to examine that possibility.

There has also been considerable pushback against the backlash. Critics of the backlash argue that a 13-year-old should not be asked to give up her dream over her parents' mistakes. In their view, the people responsible for the business dispute should resolve the workers' wage claims, not their underage child. Some have compared the calls for her departure to guilt by association, pointing out that even adult celebrities have struggled with their parents' debts.

A second rumor targeted the agency itself. Some online users claimed that Chinese money had flowed into A2O Entertainment. They pointed to several facts. A2O key producer Lee Soo-man launched A2O MAY, a girl group made up of Chinese members. Nine members of A2O SOUL and A2O LITE, both of which recently debuted in Korea, hold Chinese citizenship. In June, a report also said A2O had sought investment in the Chinese market before expanding its search to Korean financial investors. The amount mentioned at the time was 30 billion to 40 billion won.

A2O Entertainment denied the claim on Oct. 19. "We have never received investment from Chinese capital," the agency told the Korean outlet Tenasia.

Industry observers believe A2O was founded with approximately 430 billion won in funding that Lee secured by selling his shares in SM Entertainment to HYBE. That means the company's early funding, including the cost of training its trainees, came without outside investment. Launching groups with Chinese members in the Chinese market does not mean Chinese investors control the company.

The type of investor A2O was reportedly seeking also matters. The company reportedly sought financial investors in South Korea and abroad. Financial investors generally want a return through dividends or by selling their stake later. Strategic investors are different. They usually invest to advance their own business interests and may seek a more active role in a company's operations.

Concerns about Chinese money in K-POP often center on regulation. China's government has strong power to review and restrict online music and video content. Last year, Tencent Music Entertainment, the third-largest shareholder of SM Entertainment, said in its annual report (Form 20-F) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Chinese regulators had asked it to remove or restrict deemed inappropriate or sensitive.

Tencent Music Entertainment's stake in SM Entertainment is an example of the role a strategic investment can play. The company does more than hold shares. It also has an executive involved in major business decisions. According to a large-holdings report filed with South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service last year, Tencent Music Entertainment listed its purpose for holding SM Entertainment shares as "influence over management." By contrast, ordinary financial investors usually list "simple investment" or "general investment."

A third claim questioned the song's success. Some users accused A2O LITE of inflating the streaming numbers for "NEON." Their main evidence was Spotify's daily "Top 50 - South Korea" playlist. "NEON" ranked No. 1, with about 3.9 times as many streams as the No. 2 song.

The playlist Spotify updated on Oct. 19 ranks the 50 most-played songs in South Korea on Oct, 18, based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). "NEON" logged 249,738 streams. RESCENE's "LOVE ATTACK," at No. 2, logged 70,109.

However, the ranking is not limited to streams generated by listening through the playlist itself. It also includes streams from users who search for a song directly or listen to it on other playlists, as long as those plays meet Spotify's chart eligibility criteria. A big gap between No. 1 and No. 2 can come from real listener interest and repeat plays. On its own, the gap does not prove that streaming figures were manipulated.

Spotify also operates a system that detects abnormal streaming activity, such as plays generated by automated programs, and removes them from its charts and public statistics. The platform does not pay royalties for streams confirmed as fake. Depending on the case, it can also remove songs from playlists. However, the system cannot detect every fake stream in real time. Even so, a large gap on a chart based on the previous day's streams does not prove an organized effort to manipulate the numbers.

Spotify-related data obtained by Korean media also does not support the manipulation claim. On Spotify's country charts, "NEON" reached No. 1 in Taiwan, No. 2 in Hong Kong, No. 4 in Singapore and No. 23 in Japan. It is also No. 1 on Apple Music in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. Industry insiders say no one currently has the tools to fake numbers across that many platforms in that many countries at once. On YouTube, the 60 most-viewed Shorts featuring A2O LITE had accumulated approximately 100 million total views, with the videos coming from 39 different channels.

With three separate allegations surfacing one after another, alongside the false report about Chinese funding, questions about who might be behind the negative attention are growing. "Given the timing and the speed, there appears to be a possibility of 'reverse viral' activity through a company that specializes in spreading negative issues," said a key industry insider. A2O Entertainment has reportedly identified signs and is tracking the matter, according to reporting.

For a group only weeks into its career, the episode shows how quickly a hit can become a target. In today's K-POP market, a group's debut is fought on two fronts at once: the charts and the online conversation around them.