Pirated Version Of Wang Leehom’s S$348 Virtual Singing Classes Offered Illegally For Just S$10
His management company is aware of the situation and has issued a statement in response.
His management company is aware of the situation and has issued a statement in response.
With the whole world being forced — or at least strongly encouraged — to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, celebs have had to find new ways of reaching out to their audiences and earning some income amidst the cancellations of events.
While live stream concerts have been a popular avenue for doing so, Mandopop star Wang Leehom, 44, decided to take a page from educational institutions and start teaching virtual singing classes on his own online learning app Yuexue.
Remember that insane trophy collection he casually showed off last year? Yup, we’d say the award-winning singer-songwriter is certainly more than qualified to impart his knowledge to the masses.
Course registration opened on January 22 and lessons will officially be launched on February 22. Each virtual classroom will have up to 20 students, and yes, there will be homework, which can be submitted through the app. Leehom will reportedly even select a few students to personally guide online.
If you think you’d have to be ready to shell out a small fortune to sign up, that’s surprisingly not the case — at 1,699 yuan (S$348), students will gain access to 30 days’ worth of pre-recorded content by Leehom.
That works out to be less than 66 yuan (S$13.50) per session, which is a lot cheaper than we were expecting, especially with such a famous tutor.
However, that wasn’t going to stop unscrupulous individuals from taking advantage of the situation to make a quick buck. According to Apple Daily, some crooks managed to get their hands on the pre-recorded material and are offering pirated copies under a different channel for just 50 yuan (S$10).
Which is completely illegal, obviously.
Fortunately, Leehom’s management company has caught wind of the crime.
“We have a dedicated person in charge of internet monitoring,” they shared in a statement. “If there are any illegal incidents, we will report them as soon as possible to eradicate piracy.”
They also emphasised that Leehom conducts interactive exercises and reviews the assignments himself on the official app, which you definitely won’t get with the bootleg version. “We believe most people won’t put up with having a bad experience on the pirated edition just to save a few hundred yuan.”
Photos: Wang Leehom/Weibo, Yuexue/Weibo, Apple Daily
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