The Latest Twist: Son Tung M-TP’s Company Ordered to Pay $250,000 in Damages

The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City is handling a case where M-TP Talent JSC has requested the cancellation of an arbitral award.

Specifically, M-TP Talent JSC has asked the court to annul the arbitral award in the dispute case no. 164/23 HCM issued by the Arbitration Council of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) – Ho Chi Minh City Branch.

The claimant, TAD Global Vietnam JSC (TAD), and the respondent, M-TP Talent JSC (M-TP Talent), are the parties involved.

Previously, the arbitral award accepted 80% of the claimant’s requests. As a result, M-TP Talent was required to reimburse TAD for 80% of the value of the unfulfilled services, amounting to nearly VND 5 billion, along with 8% VAT and 80% of the arbitration fees.

Additionally, the respondent was subject to an 8% penalty on the value of the services that should have been paid on time.

In total, M-TP Talent was ordered to pay TAD nearly VND 6 billion.

Believing that the arbitral award violated fundamental legal principles, M-TP Talent filed a request with the court to have it annulled.

According to the case details, on March 31, 2022, TAD signed a contract for service provision and image rights with M-TP Talent, along with five appendices. The total value of the contract exceeded VND 25 billion, and it was to be executed within one year from April 1, 2022.

Sơn Tùng M-TP, a popular Vietnamese singer, was involved in producing digital content and utilizing it on the RACA virtual universe platform. TAD was responsible for creating Sơn Tùng M-TP’s virtual land on the RACA platform, including virtual characters, avatars, and virtual items.

Following the contract signing, TAD made a full service payment. However, in May 2022, due to Sơn Tùng M-TP receiving an administrative fine for his music video “There’s No One at All,” TAD expressed reluctance to continue with the contracted work in the following period.

Meanwhile, M-TP Talent attributed the situation to TAD’s poor business performance and the underwhelming response to the RACA platform.

The uncompleted items included attendance at a recording performance, filming, and social media posts, with a total value of approximately VND 6.2 billion.

The parties engaged in discussions to address the pending tasks and agreed to extend the contract, which was initially set to expire on April 30, 2023.

However, in June 2023, as the parties were preparing to execute the remaining tasks to close out the contract, M-TP Talent abruptly refused to proceed, citing the expiration of the contract.

Subsequently, TAD initiated arbitration proceedings against M-TP Talent at VIAC.

Regarding M-TP Talent’s background, the company was previously known as M-TP Talent LLC, established in October 2017. Its head office is located at 25/25 Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

After several changes, as of June 25, 2020, M-TP Talent JSC had a charter capital of VND 30 billion, with the following shareholders: M-TP Entertainment LLC holding 90% of the shares, Mr. Le Ngoc Chau owning 7%, and Mr. Dang Tran Trung and Mr. Nguyen Tran Duong holding 2% and 1% of the shares, respectively.

As of the most recent change in November 2022, the legal representative and director of M-TP Talent JSC is Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, also known as singer Sơn Tùng M-TP.

Mr. Tung is also the legal representative and owner of M-TP Entertainment, which was established in November 2016. The company is headquartered at 25/25 Nguyen Bỉnh Khiêm, Bến Nghé Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, with a charter capital of VND 3 billion. Its primary business activity is organizing professional art performances.