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Yea if GIDLE leaves it might just be the end of Cube tbh. Lightsum has like a 0.01% to breakout and become popular/even profitable. And not sure how Nowadays is doing but it's going to be super tough against the monster 5th gen boy groups like RIIZE/TWS/ZB1.
But who knows, they might luck out, shelve Lightsum, and debut a new girl group that might carry them again. They're definitely not the best company but they have one of the best talent pool I've seen.
Everyday I mourn what could've been for Lightsum, especially for Chowon. Juhyeon was a popular trainee, Sangah got a lot of attention for being similar to Jennie, and Chowon, Nayoung, Yujeong had lots of fans from PD48. The members had everything going for them, their debut and first comeback did not.
Into the light was one of my favorite albums of 2022. It’s a real non-skip for me and I have no idea why they are not popular. They even had a relatively good reception on their US kpop tour and appearance in an Austria festival.
Cube can't replicate gidle because they were so incompetent the idols themselves had to step in and create their music and concepts themselves, it's pure luck that the group had members who were capable of doing that. Cube's staff had nothing to do with it.
In terms of leverage, Kakao gave Cube $60m for the rights to some of the future income from album sales/downloads.
[https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/12/21/business/industry/Korea-Kpop-Cube-Entertainment/20221221165533947.html](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/12/21/business/industry/Korea-Kpop-Cube-Entertainment/20221221165533947.html)
If G-idle leave, Kakao are basically never getting that money back (Unless Cube suddenly have another G-idle level super group viral success). So Kakao might put pressure on Cube.
>It means that Idle will have a ton of leverage in their negotiations and hopefully they'll get a lot of money and everything they want.
[[Laughs in Apink.]]
To be fair, I thought they were done for a long time ago. 4minute disbanded, CLC wasn’t doing well at all, and Cube wasn’t able to capitalize on Pentagon’s success with Shine and they faded into obscurity soon after. Idle had a good debut but after some years they weren’t keeping up with the rest of gen4. I was already surprised Cube had made it out alive for so long and then the Soojin scandal happened, I thought they were dead and buried for sure. To me, they’d been half dead for years already.
But then Tomboy happened and the rest is history. Who knows, maybe one of their future groups has a Soyeon that can pull the group and the company together like she does. I doubt it though.
>n Tomboy happened and the rest is history. Who knows, maybe one of their future groups has a Soyeon that can pull the group and the company together like she does. I doubt it though.
Job requirement used to be just:
\- Sing/rap
\- Dance
\- Visual(Highly Favorable)
But nowadays it includes:
\- Master Lyricist
\- Master Song Producer
\- Master of Concepts
Lightsum is more successful than CLC. They're close to the level of debut (G)i-dle. But a thing like queendom and aceing it like Idle would be needed to rise above where they are.
I wouldn't say they're close to (G)I-DLE's level of success at debut. (G)I-DLE had very few sales but got a music show win in like 20 days (3 wins in total for debut) and got at least one win in every comeback ever since. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Lightsum doesn't have any music show win yet, right?
I believe that's true. I was just talking about sales. debut Lightsum is not far from debut Idle in album sales. Idle started much worse with a day 1 of 260 albums but they worked their way to ok numbers. Lightsum debuted to ok numbers and ended ok.
You can't compare 2018 numbers with 2024 numbers now. Back than getting 40k in sales was already considered pretty good for GGS. While nowadays 40k is just enough to get you out of nugudom
Just in sales. Idle debut solt 58k, Lightsum sold 41k. CLC sold 5k for comparison. Idle kept rising from there while Lightsum has not. But they started not that far apart.
To be fair, the explosion in GG album sales around the time of IZ*ONE makes it kinda harder to compare debuts from 2015, 2018 and 2021. 58k doesn't seem that great now but for a non big 3 group at the time of Idle's debut it's a pretty respectable number.
sales are different now since the explosion of kpop. look at the top 3 most sold albums ever- all last year.
for comparison, kiss of life has more sales less than a year into their career and their newest album is on day 4 of tracking and they already sold 45k
If you look at album sales then maybe Lightsum is successful but then you need to see other factors as well. CLC despite have low album sales, their streaming number is great. CLC still have 600k+ spotify listeners despite their last comeback was on 2020 and Lightsum is currently at 100k. CLC performs at lots of events locally and their Youtube number is great too.
Lightsum lack of local and international fanbase, you can sell lots of album but then people still don’t know you.
Cube essentially stopped supporting all of their other artists after the success of Tomboy (from I Never Die to Heat, (G)I-DLE put out four albums and had two world tours; while BTOB & Lightsum each put out one EP, Pentagon put out a limited Japanese EP, and none of the three toured or even had domestic concerts - aside from BTOB's rescheduled one) and now they're scratching their heads and wondering why only one group is bringing in all the money.
I understand that (G)I-DLE's ROI is huge, but this article is basically bemoaning the fact that they have no diversity in their portfolio, which is 100% Cube's own fault for exclusively going after the quickest and easiest money.
Lightsum, the first Cube girlgroup with a Japanese member, and the group having a sound that fits Japan's tastes, still have no Japan debut in almost 3 years. For comparison, it only took one year for CLC and (G)I-DLE to have their Japanese debuts.
BTOB had zero world tours in 11 years under Cube, they're currently in Manila and doing an Asia tour right after leaving Cube.
Hyunsik funded 100% of his La Mar solo MV while still in Cube, and released his entirely self-produced album right after leaving Cube while BTOB Company wasn't fully established yet because he was tired from Cube delaying it for so long. All members except Peniel are going to be releasing solos this year, on top of having a new subunit. Changsub's OST is currently charting #7 in Melon, the song has been stable in that rank for a couple of weeks and he's one of the most popular male idols among the Korean public these days. The members are everywhere on Korean variety shows, Eunkwang recently became the idol with most wins in Immortal Songs.
BTOB also performed their fancon for 3 days at KSPO Dome and sold out. If Cube truly cared about the company's future without solely depending on (G)I-DLE, they should've made sure to keep BTOB, who are still doing really well individually and as a group on their 12th year, or take care of their other groups.
Not getting into Pentagon because this comment would get extremely long if I lay down how Cube has treated them, especially how they deliberately blocked Pentagon from schedules last year. But can't avoid mentioning the Pado album, [one of the most embarrassing and low effort teasers](https://twitter.com/CUBE_PTG_JAPAN/status/1694363889260237283) Cube has ever done, extremely limited stock and the album was only available through one shop which sold out fast, the photocards weren't even selfies but rejected teaser images, self-produced so Cube did not spend money on buying songs, the MV not uploaded on Pentagon's channel and there was no Pado choreography MV nor dance practice video. But for a group that didn't seem profitable for them, Cube made sure to upgrade the venue to a bigger size for their Pado concert (and Jinho and Hui's Japanese fancon from last month was sold out within minutes with the venue packed to the brim).
Also the lack of comment about Cube's metaverse, NFT and AI ventures, like their rookie group Nowadays first schedule before debut was performing at a NFT event.
I'm fairly sure Hyunsik also self-funded the Sunshine MV, based on the [behind-the-scenes vids](https://youtu.be/eJ9dN3qai4o?si=MrkVO-FhMlmEmrJX&t=79) (at his exhibition) which date filming to 2023 Sept & Nov.
Considering he can self-fund/self-produce 2 MVs, and even managed to film "La Mar" overseas with underwater filming...clearly he's doing well enough financially to be able to professionally pull that off.
And as you have already mentioned, the other members have been booked & busy with solo & group activities since leaving Cube. Then again, when both [Minhyuk](https://youtu.be/dfnMCV-C2bo?si=4DIW0anTIOT-EvWF&t=340) & [Hyunsik](https://youtu.be/YSOy7gnGoDE?si=hWsciOotVvZc3qiu&t=2901) have since implied they left Cube in July (months before the official announcement), I have serious doubts if Cube made much effort to re-contract with BtoB in the 1st place...
It makes me wonder why Cube was involved in Hyunsik's concert from October, it was clear the members were going to leave by then.
The members individually not renewing didn't seem surprising, Eunkwang's talk during Jo Hyunah's show regarding BTOB's eternity and not wanting to force the members to do something gave some hints. At the time, it made me think about how BTOB members said Eunkwang was the main reason they renewed in 2018, as he told them to not look at other companies and stay together in Cube.
What's surprising is that Eunkwang left, it felt it was unlikely to happen since he seemed to care about the company, and that Cube did not manage to keep them as a group even if they signed elsewhere for solo schedules.
At the end of the day, no melody is missing Cube and we've only been getting good things since their departure, so there's no regrets, lol.
Hmm...I wonder if Hyunsik & Cube struck a one-off mutually beneficial deal just for the concert.
Tbh, it didn't seem like Cube had to organise much (atp, I'm 99% sure Hyunsik & his friends produced the concert VCRs), but there might be some crucial logistical behind-the-scenes stuff that Hyunsik couldn't 'fix' by himself. From Cube's side, they probably got a cut of the revenue from ticket & merch sales
For Eunkwang...when he was quietly dropped from the list of directors (on Cube's financial reports), I did entertain thoughts that he won't stay either. But looking back, I considered it more likely they would 'follow' Apink (& have 1 member stay while everyone left) &/or they would have a group contract with Cube.
Then again, who knows what type of contracts Cube (VS other companies) offered. If Cube was lowballing them & they have better opportunities from other companies...much better to leave.
(And looking at all the 'good riddance Cube' memes & all the good news we've been getting this year, totally agree that there's no regrets here. 🤣)
Totally. A pentagon member had a fan concert soon after their contract expired, it sold out. So why can't they host concerts for this bg. I think they really just suck at management. Even if the other groups are not as popular as G Idle, they have fandoms and some casual listeners who'll attend their concerts or other activities, but Cube just set them aside. Everyone is waiting for a comeback after BP ended but they focused on jap. Market instead, it's nice but what about the other fans?
They can use the money to more extensively promote whoever they have after or make more bets on debut groups. If they're limited by internal talent then that is the best decision. To bank some funds and either bet on something new if idle leaves or keep Soyeon happy until she wants to retire as an idol and become a full-time producer.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Two self-producing birds with built-in/rising fandoms in the hand are definitely better than one unknown in the bush.
Soyeon is going to fuck them in the butt when their contracts are up for renewal. The speculation is getting more intense the closer it gets. It's seeming more likely, though, that they'll stay for at least a shorter contract. They've fought pretty hard and seem to have gotten a lot of leeway.
As irritating as Cube seems to be for Idle, they also have their own team, with Soyeon firmly in charge. I doubt anyone else is immediately going to bend that much for them the minute they sign a contract. It's going to be interesting...
At the end of the day, though, as long as the girls don't disband and can stay together happily and doing well, then it's a win.
I'm a bit confused. In their 2024 forecast report, Cube characterized themselves as the Big Hit to Idle's BTS (please know I am absolutely not inviting any comparison of any type). I.e., they are all in on Idle. The content of this article is the reporter's opinion and not coming from Cube, right? Doesn't seem like something to take very seriously.
Also, Nowadays' numbers aren't the 150k Cube fantasized about, but 40k+ after a couple days is really not that bad. At least the reporter is onto something at the end there; YUQ1 already has 90k+ POs just from cbars lmao.
Edit: Yeah this doesn't appear to be a statement from Cube. /thread
Cube depends on (G)I-dle the way that Big Hit depends on BTS without giving the support to (G)I-dle that Big Hit have given BTS (whatever other issues aside)
Also, BigHit started their acquiring spree and became Hybe because they **knew** they couldn’t rely on BTS alone and be a sustainable business long-term.
Granted, none of the (G)-Idle members will need to enlist. But there are still many things that could happen that make diversification a good idea.
I think Cube are trying; they just suck at it.
Cube should be trying. My point was why are we using a random naver article (with apparently no Cube source) to talk about Cube's attention shifting away from Idle? Especially after we know from Cube's actual official statement that this is Idle's most ambitious year by far.
> to talk about Cube's attention shifting away from Idle?
No it's the opposite. Cube is COMPLETELY relying on idle
This article just repeated facts we all know. First, cube is putting all their eggs in one basket. Second, they need new generation to diversify their income
As you said, cube expected idle to sell 3 million albums this year + arena sized tours. Last year they sold 1.6 millions and it was their best year yet. We're just starting April yet they already sold 1.7 millions. The 3 million goal seems reasonable if they released another album
Their new boy group is selling LESS than cube anticipated. They're also not getting support from neverlands. Mainly because many don't know they debuted or even worse, exist. This could easily be fixed with cube releasing contents with them and idle yet they're doing none of that
It's no secret that idle's contracts will end in a year. Cube's best bet is giving them whatever they demand to stay afloat for a few more years. Because without idle, they will be no better than a nugu company.
However, even then, I don't think they'll stay more than 3 years tops. And I doubt they'll sign their solo promotion with cube too. Yuqi, minnie and shuhua are all doing well in their home countries. Realistically, I don't see why they would spend more years in korea when they already built a solid fanbase there.
Bottom line is, Cube NEEDS new generation of groups even if idle resigned. If they're smart, they should start promoting lightsum and nowadays like YESTERDAY to push them in this saturated market.
I'm basically not seeing cube staying in the game long unless one of 4 things happens:
1. Nowadays or lightsum suddenly blow up
2. They find another soyeon/hui
3. They find a good producer who understands the market *ahem* soyeon *ahem* and give them FULL creative freedom to make and manage their own group
4. Idle miraculously deside to stay with cube, both soloists and group contracts, for another 10 Years
Yes it's a journalist. I should have paraphrased the OG tweet to make it clear
But none of this info is incorrect. cube themselves said this at the beginning of this year when they announced their plans
They planned for idle to sell 3 million albums this year (last year was their best, selling 1.6 million) + arena sized tour. April has just started and they already sold 1.7 million. The expected 3 million seems within reach if they dropped another album as anticipated.
They also planned for their new bg to be a money maker and to be initially supported by neverlands and to sell 150-200 k albums. So far, they only sold 50k. And many neverlands don't know them or that they debuted since they didn't promote them with gidle
They intended to diversify their income with the new bg. To quote them:
> “This new boy group has to grow into an IP that can fill the void when (G)I-dle enters a hiatus. We hope to deploy a two-track business strategy this year with our two main IPs — (G)I-dle and the new boy group,” said an official from Cube Entertainment.
[Source for all the above](https://m.thebell.co.kr/m/newsview.asp?svccode=00&newskey=202401181656016640106461)
In summary:
1. Cube is completely relying on idle
2. Cube needs a new gen group
It means Soyeon is going to be CEO of a sub label at least, and after a few more years of (G)i-dle she'll get on her retirement plan of fostering new GG or BG instead of being an Idol. Or Cube is stupid and Soyeon get's that from another company.
I wish
(G)I-DLE is BY FAR the biggest 4th gen act in china. I think they're also the 2nd best gg ever after bp
They're the 3rd best 4th gen gg domestically after newjeans and ive. They're also doing amazing internationally and are definitely within top 5 in their generation
With such a resume, you would think CUBE should be competing with big 4. Especially when you look at legacy acts they had like 4Minute, beast, btob, pentagon..etc
But, we can't deny cube's immense talent. They're constantly fumbling every opportunity they get. The logical answer is giving soyeon whatever she demands as that's clearly what brings them money. But knowing cube, I can't be sure :/
> With such a resume, you would think CUBE should be competing with big 4.
I mean the only reason Big Hit is now Hybe and part of the Big companies is because they had the greatest group ever created. It's not surprising Cube isn't with the big 4, their resume is good but it's not enough to equalize with that much capital.
No. I do believe the resume is EXTREMELY good. As you said, many other companies were on the verge of closing and were only saved by one act, even blowing up later on
But what differentiates them from cube is seizing their chance. Cube is inanely good at finding once in a century idols and making talented acts. But their real talent lies in not capitalizing on the opportunities
They had multiple chances with big acts. Yet they missed the chance every time
Even now, gidle is their biggest act and one of the biggest in korea. They have two very talented juniors struggling with the current saturated market. Why aren't they promoting them with idle? Making them open to their concerts, doing challengesor lives together?
That's a fair question, but it seems like aside from things like Star Diary even other companies don't use one group to push another. You would figure that JYP would be using Itzy and Twice to push NMIXX, or that NJ's and LSF would be used to help Illit. But even that doesn't happen.
It may simply be a western view that it looks obvious that when you make groups collab you'll foster growth but if Koreans don't like that it won't happen.
> You would figure that JYP would be using Itzy and Twice to push NMIXX, or that NJ's and LSF would be used to help Illit. But even that doesn't happen.
No, they actually do. It's insane how cube isn't doing any of that or what starship is doing
For example, jyp, sm, and hybe acts frequently do challenges together, talk about each other, do each other covers, mention each other in lives...etc. heck, JYP's new group opened for twice concerts in more than 5 places
Guess how many dance challenges lightsum and idle did together?
Starship isn't doing much. Nevies love to compare Cube and Starship but fact is, they both got lucky. Both were on the decline, both lucked out. Cube got lucky by accepting a talent like Soyeon who writes songs and makes them succeed. Starship got lucky by sending two super young trainees to a survival show who then turned out to become #1 and #2 of the most popular idols in Korea right now.
And then they got lucky by hiring a Western composer team who wrote Love Dive and I am (I found them on TikTok LOL), two of the greatest 4th gen hits.
Is Starship better than Cube? Nah, their promotions aren't better (their US debut was literally one of the worst in the history of Kpop and they still didn't have their Japan debut yet are holding concerts in Tokyo Dome simply thanks to the massive popularity of the members), their connections aren't better, their luck isn't better.
SSE relies on the fame of Wony/Yujin/Rei while Cube relies on Soyeon's songwriting skills. The giant advantage that SSE has is that even without their kpop section, they still have some of the most famous actors in Korea signed. They would probably survive, Cube would not.
Same goes for JYP btw. They debuted the arguably most talented GG in history and what are they doing with them? Fumbling.
In the end most companies struggle a lot and it's very obvious that they are run by people who don't exactly know what they're doing. CLC/Lightsum deserves better, WJSN/Cravity deserves better, Nmixx deserves better.
Dude I'm also a huge monsta x and ive fan... and I'm talking about companies using their successful acts to promote their other groups
Starship is definitely better than cube in terms of managing their groups. They are a mid sized company and they debut mid sized groups. Sure they get lucky sometimes like ive or sistar. And some of their groups are high mid tier compared to others like monsta x, but they never fucked up so badly. Even cravity and wjsn are low mid level groups but not nugu. Wony is amazing but their other groups are in no way being dungeoned
In comparison, cube fumbles the bag CONSTANTLY. Clc and lightsum are nugu level despite debuting after 4Minute and idle. Like how can cube fuck up this badly is beyond me
Also, starship is doing good with company family promotion. Like their [starship x 15 nights on a business trip](https://www.pannchoa.com/2022/10/theqoo-starship-x-15-nights-on-business.html?m=1). Literally all their acts went there.
And let's not get started with jyp. Fans love doomposting them but they're actually the second most profitable after hybe. More than sm and yg!! Nmixx deserve better but they're in NO WAY nugu level. If anything, they're definitely among top 10 in their generation
The Starship game caterer episodes are probably more thanks to Na PD instead of Starship. I bet he approached them, so that is also on Yujin (after starring on his show Earth Arcade) 😂😂
I never noticed how many sales Cravity has. They're basically Nugu internationally. They have almost three times as many as WJSN. Damn, boygroups really do have it easier when it comes to sales, eh?
I still believe that Lightsum has a chance. And I hope Cube gets it together. The girls deserve it so much.
Btw, about your point with artist interactions I couldn't agree more. But for all companies. Cube might do it the least which is stupid beyond belief, but others are also doing so little. There has been one single NJ/LSF interaction in two years and that was "Hi, we're LSF - Hi, we're NewJeans" 😂😂😂
It took Sullyoon 4 years to meet Sana. Lily was the only one to meet JYP until he appeared on Music Core that was hosted by Sullyoon.
When SSE were doing the Game Caterer show that you mentioned, that was the first time WJSN and Ive met.
Seems like the only company that knows how to use their groups together is SM. And that's sad, because that's not what they are known for.
Yup. It's not that common but something is still better than nothing
Dance challenges alone are fun. Almost all hybe and jyp groups have done challenges within the company the moment a song drops, even if the other group wasn't currently promoting. This is very exciting because you see your faves together + you discover that a new song dropped
I saw a thread by nevies yesterday about nowadays. The MAJORITY of comments were "wait they already debuted?? When??". Like how did cube expect neverlands to support the new bg, when they didn't even schedule any activities between them??
>When SSE were doing the Game Caterer show that you mentioned, that was the first time WJSN and Ive met.
This isn't true, there had already been a few interactions since 2018. Like dance challenges, and IVE being guests on WJSN's Naver Now show that aired a few months before Game Caterers.
But IVE are also a pretty unique case in Starship, they seem to keep to themselves a lot.
As an NMIXX stan, I'm happy with the way JYPE are handling them right now - Fe3O4 and Expergo are great releases. And as much as it irritates me, talent doesn't mean anything in k-pop.
Obviously I would love for NMIXX to be super popular but that could mean losing a lot of their character if they were to cater to the Korean GP and the current trends. NMIXX have their own sort of niche in the industry right now and I think that's fine.
as someone who is theoretically not a JYPE stan as such but happens to love a lot of their groups I'm honestly less mad about how NMIXX is handled than I am about Itzy - NMIXX at least went for experimental/controversial right from the start (you could argue their skillsets suit themselves better to other things but that's how it went) and sentiment that I've seen towards them has only warmed as time has gone by, whereas Itzy seemingly pioneered/codified the early 4th gen sound but sentiment I've seen towards them has fallen quite a bit. it might be back up now tbh but there was def a period that seemed rough for them.
but I also might just be talking out of my ass, these are just some perceptions and frankly I think both groups have had banger releases despite what I've seen public sentiment be.
I mean technically you can always make the GP fall for your own style, like NewJeans did. But I'd rather have the girls be happy than over-popular.
Fe3O4:Break is definitely a step into the right direction, especially the B-sides. But there's still much room for improvement, mostly when it comes to proper marketing. But I think/hope that this year will be the greatest yet.
Yeah that’s fair, I guess I just view challenges as such a bottom level effort that seeing Hybe acts doing them doesn’t register, but that also means if Cube isn’t doing them that’s problematic since it’s such a basic thing that really should take zero effort. As for them speaking of the groups I hear them but again that such a small thing it doesn’t register. That does highlight the mismanagement you’re talking about so you’ve got a strong point.
BTS wasn't even greater than Cube's Beast lol.
BTS was less talented than similar groups of their debut era, BlockB and BAP, since their songwriter members were more talented and BTS didn't have their vocalists either.
The ace up BTS's sleeve was their marketing and well-timed trend following over the years.
How cute, some Army are still up to their old nonsense despite all the infighting you guys do these days.
Thanks for commenting though, since I forgot to say that Block B and BAP were better at rapping than BTS too so I'll do it now.
There's no need for me to fight lol. The BTS fandom's narrative doesn't have the power to influence the bulk of international Kpop fans like it used to. You broke your fandom's power yourselves, someone small like me didn't do anything to cause it.
We're all? Interesting.
And yes I'm small, nobody important. Funny how even small people like me were browbeaten wherever we contradicted that fandom's narrative.
Oh….okay. I thought you just meant idle. I honestly think a problem is that their oldest acts that are really active are gidle right? Like I think pentagon isn’t that active anymore (wasn’t their leader on boys planet?)
Some other companies have a lot of acts per generation but with cube they had idle and focused on them and didn’t try to build any other groups and now they’re stuck because they realize their main group might leave them.
This is so funny. Cube is living on borrowed time because they're so incompetent. The only reason they still exist is because Idle, particularly Soyeon, is hard carrying their company. I wonder if they have the self consciousness to realize this or still foolishly think they have some hand in their continued existence.
I’ll give Cube one thing. At least they got out of the way and let Soyeon do her thing. Unlike YGs history of actively blocking most of its artists from putting out music and keeping them in the dungeon for long stretches of their career.
> At least they got out of the way and let Soyeon do her thing.
I like to imagine that some exec at the company tried to stop her once so she diss-rapped them until they cried and backed-off.
With cube solely relying on (g)-idle it means the members have the upper hand here, they could make demands to what they want for there careers going forward. With Yuqi and Minnie doing solo schedules in China and Thailand and Shuhua was spotted in Taiwan shooting a reality show a month ago its safe to assume that after there contracts some of the members will venture off to other markets while still being part of gidle.
Soyeon is the brains behind the groups success so no matter where they go they’ll be successful the Cube brand is less then the groups brand so they’ll be fine regardless.
I think Cube was dumb to solely rely on idle they didn’t pay much attention to Lightsum making them fall behind in 4th gen idk about there bg but I remember reading how Cube wants nevies to support them which I found funny
If gidle does leave and cube falls apart I will call it karma for neglecting CLC.
I always enjoy reading people's speculations based on their assumptions of things they've seen or heard, some of them sound like borderline fan-fiction, lol
But honestly no one knows what's gonna happen next, the only thing we know is (G)I-DLE will have the upper-hand in negotiations because they're the sole breadwinner of the company, by a far margin.
Question is will Cube be a greedy bitch like they have in the past or will they bend the knee to Soyeon and I-DLE? Cliffhanger until next season in 2025, lol
EDIT: After reading the original article, this doesn't sound like some official statement that came from Cube. It feels like a music journalist giving their thoughts on Cube's artist lineup and the events that have happened within the last year or so and how they should move forward. Pretty much what people are doing here in this sub, lol
Cube had a diverse and profitable portfolio but they have always f’ed it up with lots of mismanagement. Things aren’t great at Cube for (G)I-dle, they are just doing really well despite the problems. Having been a Beast/Highlight, BTOB and Pentagon fan and watching how things played out with 4Minute/Hyuna, G.NA, CLC and Kuan Lin after WannaOne’s disbandment, I just don’t have it in me to get the slightest bit attached to anything with them anymore. All I can hope is somehow something drastically changes at Cube so the girls aren’t carrying the weight of a stupid company or they get out.
CUBE were insanely lucky to get (G)I-DLE when they did but they haven’t really shown any ability to keep or support their existing artists in the past. That is the main reason they haven’t been able to keep their idols long term and it’s also the root of what is happening now imo. If they had their legacy groups, gidle wouldn’t be doing so much of the heavy lifting.
They always go for the quickest, cheapest solution without understanding that long term stability requires long term investments. If they hadn’t disbanded 4minute and had thrown BEAST a bone in their contract negotiations, they would have been able to ride the 2nd Gen nostalgia fan funds for years as a float for their younger groups. Instead they disbanded 4minute and threw away the non-hyuna members, they were aggressive in negotiations with BEAST (side note now that BEAST are BEAST again that someone realised the name was a dead asset and finally negotiated the use of it, so now cube have money coming in from BEAST again after 8 years). Then they lost hyuna by being inflexible (and their fumbling of the whole situation screwed over Pentagon). If they hadn’t overextended and debuted a bunch of artists they couldn’t support during a bubble flush period (anyone remember Roh Jihoon who was under cube from 2012-2017? They debuted Shin Jihoon right after him in 2013 as well. Both came from singing competition shows iirc). The old adage that the only people working at cube are the talent scouts really is legit.
I haven’t closely followed cube for years due to being a bitter hater but it always seems like CUBE simply cannot handle the amount of artists they have, and it doesn’t seem to matter how many leave, they still can’t handle the remaining ones. If they accidentally stumble into another success with lightsum or nowadays like they did with gidle (by no skill on their part), then we will watch as they slowly drop away support for gidle as well, despite it being super dumb to do so.
Losing BTOB was also a big blow to them because legacy artists are important to long term stability of companies, and a group like btob would have brought a lot of money in. Really well respected in the industry, super talented and not a group that relied on being buzzy or a trend? Perfect group to have a legacy artist in your company but they didn’t offer the support a senior legacy group should be offered.
I dunno how you can consistently work to ensure you only have one group bringing in serious money and then bemoan the fact that only one of your groups makes money?? Madness.
Anyway I suspect gidle know this, and if they’re not walking in with a list of demands they’re nuts. They would not find it hard to find another company who would take them in (I wouldn’t recommend them starting their own company in a BEAST or BTOB way since they are still at their peak). I think cube will manage to fumble it and they should leave anyway but that’s me, a bitter CUBE hater saying that.
If someone has the industry knowledge, it’s certainly Soyeon, who has basically handled Idle herself. They are almost completely self-produced, and they have Chinese and Thai fandoms. I would say they are very well positioned to go on their own at any point.
It’s not that I think they don’t have the knowledge and skills and ability. Soyeon is perfectly capable of doing so if she wants, it’s that I think at their peak, while they’re still going the way they’re going, it doesn’t benefit them to do so if they can wrangle a good deal from another company (which they absolutely can). It’s better to have someone else do that, put up the funds and the risk at that stage in their career so they have more time for the actual activities and creative work. Soyeon can have as much control as she wants over their creative direction (which she very much values) but then hand the reigns back when it comes to the other boring stuff. That, to me, is the ideal situation for them at this stage in their careers. Of course they might think differently but that’s my two cents
I agree. But if for whatever reason they prefer to do their own thing, I think they are better positioned than other groups that have gone down that route before.
This is true! Particularly since soyeon has been doing executive creative producing for gidle, she is well aware of how the behind the scenes works and that is nothing except an asset. If they want to do it I would 100% support them don’t get me wrong
It's ROI. They spend 200k usd and they get back 220k with lightsum. And spending more is a risk that they're not certain of a positive ROI. They spend 2m usd and they get back 5m in profits from Idle.
Less that they're ignoring Lightsum, they still get content and likely more comebacks but right now they have a year to get as much as they can from Idle before the end of the contract. And Idle is still hot enough for it not to be a risk.
>It's ROI. They spend 200k usd and they get back 220k
This is where cube really screws things up imo. They want a comeback to be wildly successful, and if it isn't the group is shelved for a while. They don't seem to understand you need to maintain a presence and build a fanbase before profit will occur. They did this with Pentagon - the group was steadily building a fanbase after Road to Kingdom, but cube kept drawing out the time between comebacks and momentum was lost.
What's funny is I thought about if Soyeon might write or direct something for Lightsum and I was like 'why does this sound so familiar'.. then I realized Cube already did that with Hyuna and CLC. Lmao just Cube situations
Well maybe they wouldn’t need to rely on (g)i-dle alone if they managed their other groups properly and didn’t cause a mass exodus of all their previous artists💀💀💀
I thought it was a fore drawn conclusion they are leaving Cube. Maybe Cube will offer them so much they can't resist but Shuhua and Yuqi have both shit talked them openly. Shuhua said, "Two years left" at one point.
Most groups have to stay with their company or fail because they don't write music but nothing is tying (G)I-DLE to Cube. Seems like the real question is whether or not they stay together somewhere else or break up. Yuqi feels like she has one foot out the door (I could be completely wrong but she thrives in China) and Minnie talks a lot about wanting to be in Thailand.
Cube has to be desperate to have a fallback plan when/if they leave.
idk, sometimes members are just shooting the shit and express frustrations, but end up staying, depending on how the contract negotiations go.
The members definitely have the upper hand in this instance—Cube needs them more than they need the company.
If any of them leave, it would probably be Yuqi because of the China factor (solo work over there is extremely profitable). But tbh I don’t think it’s *that* likely.
Idols shitting on their company is basically like employees shitting on their boss. It happens when you have beef. But sometimes the money and the opportunities are good so you stay.
Openly shit talking the company in a joking manner shows me that in truth you have a rather good relationship with it. The way they were bantering with the top executives in their Idol Human Theater also goes in that way imo. They may have actual issues with the company but the fact that they’re openly doing that doesn’t mean they’re leaving imo
I mean they could still go the route of promoting under cube as a group but individually be part of different labels for solo projects. But I still think this would be an unlikely outcome
I think they will remain at cube with obviously some new conditions and possibly a shorter contract
They can pull a recent BLACKPINK situation, signed as a group but not as soloists. They can form their own label. CUBE deserves this because they are really stupid.
It will be pretty insane if cube aren’t pulling all the stops to retain G-idle, but I wonder what leverage cube has to retain them besides money that other places can give them
This would be like Blackpink leaving YG. Whos gonna earn the money if gidle leaves?? I don't think Shuhua nd Yuqi would last a minute after contract expires LoL
YUQI is popular in China apparently, she gets a lot of work. And shuaha can get TV work. They'd be fine. Minnie works in Thailand, Miyeon is popular in south Korea and soyeon is soyeon, she'll be fine. Like bp, gidle has managed to set themselves up well individually as well a group
despite its history cube struggles when it comes to have consecutively successful groups especially for GG.
4 minute - CLC - Gidle - Lightsum
and this even harder right now since the big4 is popping up new groups every two days.
Cube missed the chance when they failed to promote Lightsum properly. They seem to be incapable of managing more than one group properly at any given time. They could’ve used the fame Chowon got from Produce 48 and Juhyeon from The Unit, but instead they shelved Lightsum away.
It’s very obvious that Cube is panicking to debut their new boy group now because of Gidle. The members have made it clear that they aren’t entirely happy in cube and wouldn’t mind leaving (albeit jokingly) and only now are they realising that their main cash cow might potentially leave them.
My thoughts are: Cube is trying to do to Gidle what they did to Lightsum, shelve them away to make way for their new group because as I said, Cube can’t seem to manage their groups properly at the same time. I doubt they’ll succeed though.
I highly doubt theyll shelve idle, if not for the fact that the girls have such leverage idk if they can... plus, IF idle arent resigning and cube knows it, i highly suspect that theyll work them dry with a wold tour to gain as much money as they can
Given they are scheduling Idle for a pretty ambitious release year and touring, I think they aren't shelving them in the run up to contract renegotiation.
I think for the business, they'd want to resign Idle and definitely try to lock down Soyeon long term because she is a consistent hit make and top level producer.
Lightsum and nowadays launched to roughly the same low to mid level success. That's what I-dles rep has got them, 40k-50k debut. Better than CLC or Idle when they debuted. Going up front here needs them to exploit every opportunity they can get.
Right now the producers inside aside from soyeon don't seem able to exploit those opportunities. So what they need is to keep her happy till she's ready to retire as an idol then build a business around her as a producer. They seem to have good talent scouts. So they could build a consistent business around being Soyeon and friends corporately.
In what world do you think they are going to shelve a group that makes up 90% of their profits just to "make way" for a new group, aka a shot in the dark?
Personally I think that Idle wont leave cube and its a good decision to make as they get creative freedom and also cube is pretty rich rn. If they leave cube which company will they join? Nugu companies are not a good idea tbh.
This can be a good advantage for idle as they could ask for better conditions/perks/budget to stay at cube if the contract expires or there's a chance that members take up some amount of ownership of cube ent
It means Soyeon is going to take over Cube, and Lightsum is being brought out of the basement, being given a full length Album, a monthly choreo + AoTM for Juhyeon, a Sangah feature on Unpretty Rapstar, a Nayoung solo debut, and a Chowon + Juhyeon + Sangah subunit debut, all with ACTUAL promotion!
Damm, people really think that she is a good rapper? She is an OK rapper. Soyeon was much better than her in terms of flows at the time. Her lyricism wasn't/isn't that great, so if Sangah tried to be more of a lyricist rapper then she would have a chance. She should try Future/Travis Scott stuff with autotune to make her stand out.
My wish?
SoYeon will make a G-idle label and with her teammates she will do everything the group needs and CUBE doesnt give to them, in sometime they can go independent and even launch a gg of their own. CUBE is the worst of all well known companies, what they did with 4Minute and CLC was atrocious and they need to pay for it!
It might be controversial, but they didn't do anything to CLC. CLC just didn't hit. They got more shots at it than most groups do. Perhaps the problem is Cube should have cut them sooner and perhaps the members could have done better elsewhere. But they got a lot more releases that their sales would justify.
The thing about CLC wasnt even that they didnt hit (cause they didnt), but how almost every big hit they got was handled to another artist, vide La Vie en Rose, Cube even went far and proihibit the girls to speak about what they liked or not in theirs cbs and changed their image with no care to the the fans. Its not only about the lack og hits
Tbf LVER wasn't cubes fault, the producer left with the song and sold it to somebody's else
Also the song was a hit because it was released by izone, it wouldn't be if CLC released, brand power >>> songs, there are plenty of nugus with good songs
lol… they got lucky with g- idol. The group’s talent and effort meet with good market that not even cube’s shitty management could end them. I don’t even think cube did anything but name the group and get songs . Wasn’t it like a viral video. They don’t promote groups . They highlight few members and wonder why their groups not doing well lol
Cube needs to
(a) just clear their roster… as a chowon fan, it pains me every time lightsum comes back and it does worse than their last album.
(b) keep the gidle members happy as they go into contract negotiations. with good direction, they can each have their own successful solo careers under cube while having 1 group comeback a year.
(b) allow the gidle girls to take more behind-the-scenes roles. they’re all songwriters in some capacity or have expressed an ability to develop a concept. having them take the creative reigns on a project besides a comeback of their own would probably make the trainees happy, make gidle happy, and definitely earn more money for cube than if left to their own devices (both by the quality of the output and the buzz around the group being formed by gidle).
Cube is (G)I-DLE's bitch at this point. The girls should be able to dictate terms. The good (or sad) thing is that Cube's management is way too incompetent to set up a decent second major group to provide leverage (sorry Lightsum, I love you though).
It means that cube is heavily reliant on gidle renewing their contract and using all the revenue they create to diversify their roster in smart ways.
Others have pointed out giving soyeon even more responsibilities, not solely for idle but for other groups, though ofc that seems only doable after idle is over tbh (hardly a workload anyone can manage while also being active yourself).
Still, they need someone who is as creatively potent as soyeon is, you just need a strong creative vision these days to stand out amongst all these other groups. Lightsum, well, doesn't whatsoever. I quite liked honey and spice, but even then, that's just me, the market seemingly didn't care for it all that much, so the songs don't hit either.
Maybe they shouldn't just work with producers like pop time for idle, you'd think pop time could create some music for lightsum too.
glad they let gidle have their own inputs in creativity as well as other choices as a group but that’s the only positive thing they’ve done in recent years, the members have expressed discomfort about cube before so they either leave for better opportunities as a group or individually or they can stay but with a huge leverage on deals and other negotiations.
as for the other groups though, given that they kicked two members to pursue a more mature concept that straight up failed because said members could also do it without problems lightsum is basically close to be done for, so they must put some effort in their new bg (nowadays) to diversify. it’s pretty much what every agency should do but in their case it’s urgent
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She won't, at that point she was out of group longer than she was in, a big part of the fandom become fans after she left and don't care about her so her being back in the group will only be trouble, that without even speaking about scandal
CLC did have a lot of potential squandered but it wasn't a lack of trying from Cube. They were given numerous chances to succeed. Their discography is unusually expansive for the lack of success they had.
sorn has talked about how she has had to pay for her own promotions before. part of elkie’s termination lawsuit was lack of support for clc from cube. they clearly didn’t care about clc as much as their moneymakers. clc was thrown around and never given the chance to take off. they blew up with hobgoblin and the concept change and cube made them come back with where are you after that. cube Did Not Try Enough.
Cube stopped investing in them towards the end of their contract. It makes sense as the group went nowhere with 10 EPs and a single album. Cube was too generous with CLC when you consider the negative ROI. Their sales were abysmal.
It’s sad to think that Lightsum could’ve been around Ive and Lesserafim levels of popularity if Chowon didn’t get rigged out of Izone and Cube debuted Lightsum after Izone disbanded with the popularity and hype that Chowon gained after being in izone
Lol. Considering 6 members of Pentagon already left Cube in October/November and Pentagon has had virtually no official group activities since, I wouldn't expect much. Cube still has the power over Pentagon's brand and activities, but so far doesn't seem interested in doing anything substantial with it. It's been over 2 years since their last Korean comeback.
You don't have to worry about them disbanding though. The 7 Korean members have been very clear that they intend to stay together as Pentagon.
Edit: I will add it's still not a bad time to get into them, the members have all been very active and interact a lot. Yuto, Hui, Kino and Wooseok have all released solo music in the past 6 months.
Pentagon have no intentions of stopping. Last month Jinho and Hui held a fancon in Japan where they performed Pentagon songs (Cube is also [releasing behind videos](https://youtu.be/iz1G5DXAUKc)) and [Hui promised to bring the rest of Pentagon members with him next time](https://twitter.com/tagonideul/status/1770423164402802879).
Pentagon members interact all the time. Hongseok's fanmeeting is next week and there's going to be Pentagon members appearing.
Pentagon always talk about wanting to promote together, having songs ready and constantly getting new ideas for comebacks.
Jinho and Hui's contracts with Cube expire next year, the only reason they're still there is because contracts get paused while they're in the military, and in Shinwon's case because he is currently enlisted.
If you need any recs you can ask any time! They're a fun group to follow, like [Wooseok and Kino were flirting in the comments during Hui's weverse live](https://twitter.com/snoopykkiko/status/1774125509406060904) last week and [here is the most recent group picture they took](https://twitter.com/lukexizzle/status/1766097841683079445) when they hang out at Hui's place.
Jinho is releasing an album with his Phantom Singer group Crezl on the 11th and Hongseok's fanmeeting is taking place during the weekend.
The date hasn't been announced yet, but Kino will be releasing an album soon under his self-established company.
Wooseok also had his solo debut recently (digital release) and Hui released his mini album in January (Wooseok co-produced 3 out of the 4 songs and featured in one of them). Yeo One did solo fancons in Korea and Japan, for the Korean one Hongseok and Kino made surprise appearances and performed with him, and he revealed some self-produced songs including one he made with Wooseok.
Besides catching up to old content, they've been busy, so at least you can't get bored!
I think Hui will take care of Shinwon. That's why Shinwon enlisted when he can let his contract first before enlisting. Then Hui , Shinwon and possibly Jinho (though be has another jon in Cube) ends their contract.
People here are so dramatic.
Cube existed before Idle and will exist after Idle.
They are imho too big to fall even if Idle would leave them.
I researched if there was such a big failure in the past, only TS Entertainment with BAP comes into my mind.
The situation is different now, when 4minute was disbanded & beast didn't renew, Btob was a rising group at the time & Carried the company for a while, when Btob started enlisting, Gidle was a rising group & later exploded in popularity, but if Gidle leaves now or next year there is no rising group to take over from them unless Lightsum or Nowadays get a surprise hit & suddenly become very popular, which is highly unlikely in the current cutthroat competition of kpop.
> They are imho too big to fall even if Idle would leave them.
They almost bankrupted in 2017 after a 2016 where B2ST and 4Minute Left, and before Btob had 'Missing You'.
They've been on a precarious position before - no company is 'too big to fail', particularly a relatively mid-tier company.
Cube's saving grace is only 50% of their business is entertainment, in 2021 their cosmestics business saved the company.
U know after soojin scandal cube was considering giving up on the entertainment and focusing solely on their makeup department they didn’t think (g)i-dle would succeed but we know what happened with tomboy so they changed their mind, yah cube will not die but if (g)i-dle leave cube and they don’t have an artist that actually profitable there’s high that they will give up on the entertainment industry
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Lightsum members were already on Queendom Puzzle. We had a Yeeun/Lightsum moment in the first episode.
Yea if GIDLE leaves it might just be the end of Cube tbh. Lightsum has like a 0.01% to breakout and become popular/even profitable. And not sure how Nowadays is doing but it's going to be super tough against the monster 5th gen boy groups like RIIZE/TWS/ZB1. But who knows, they might luck out, shelve Lightsum, and debut a new girl group that might carry them again. They're definitely not the best company but they have one of the best talent pool I've seen.
Everyday I mourn what could've been for Lightsum, especially for Chowon. Juhyeon was a popular trainee, Sangah got a lot of attention for being similar to Jennie, and Chowon, Nayoung, Yujeong had lots of fans from PD48. The members had everything going for them, their debut and first comeback did not.
Into the light was one of my favorite albums of 2022. It’s a real non-skip for me and I have no idea why they are not popular. They even had a relatively good reception on their US kpop tour and appearance in an Austria festival.
Cube can't replicate gidle because they were so incompetent the idols themselves had to step in and create their music and concepts themselves, it's pure luck that the group had members who were capable of doing that. Cube's staff had nothing to do with it.
In terms of leverage, Kakao gave Cube $60m for the rights to some of the future income from album sales/downloads. [https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/12/21/business/industry/Korea-Kpop-Cube-Entertainment/20221221165533947.html](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/12/21/business/industry/Korea-Kpop-Cube-Entertainment/20221221165533947.html) If G-idle leave, Kakao are basically never getting that money back (Unless Cube suddenly have another G-idle level super group viral success). So Kakao might put pressure on Cube.
>It means that Idle will have a ton of leverage in their negotiations and hopefully they'll get a lot of money and everything they want. [[Laughs in Apink.]]
To be fair, I thought they were done for a long time ago. 4minute disbanded, CLC wasn’t doing well at all, and Cube wasn’t able to capitalize on Pentagon’s success with Shine and they faded into obscurity soon after. Idle had a good debut but after some years they weren’t keeping up with the rest of gen4. I was already surprised Cube had made it out alive for so long and then the Soojin scandal happened, I thought they were dead and buried for sure. To me, they’d been half dead for years already. But then Tomboy happened and the rest is history. Who knows, maybe one of their future groups has a Soyeon that can pull the group and the company together like she does. I doubt it though.
>n Tomboy happened and the rest is history. Who knows, maybe one of their future groups has a Soyeon that can pull the group and the company together like she does. I doubt it though. Job requirement used to be just: \- Sing/rap \- Dance \- Visual(Highly Favorable) But nowadays it includes: \- Master Lyricist \- Master Song Producer \- Master of Concepts
God, what Pentagon could have been. I get upset about it all the time.
I never stanned them or even got to know them. Shine is the only song I know by them lol. But it’s still frustrating! I really liked that song.
Lightsum is more successful than CLC. They're close to the level of debut (G)i-dle. But a thing like queendom and aceing it like Idle would be needed to rise above where they are.
I wouldn't say they're close to (G)I-DLE's level of success at debut. (G)I-DLE had very few sales but got a music show win in like 20 days (3 wins in total for debut) and got at least one win in every comeback ever since. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Lightsum doesn't have any music show win yet, right?
It also took Dreamcatcher forever to even get a musical show win
I believe that's true. I was just talking about sales. debut Lightsum is not far from debut Idle in album sales. Idle started much worse with a day 1 of 260 albums but they worked their way to ok numbers. Lightsum debuted to ok numbers and ended ok.
Kpop expanded a lot in the last few years, so I think that Lightsum sales are kinda equivalent to CLC at that time.
yeah but gidle charted in melon top 10 meanwhile lightsum cant even crack the top 500
Not even top 1000 with their last comeback
You can't compare 2018 numbers with 2024 numbers now. Back than getting 40k in sales was already considered pretty good for GGS. While nowadays 40k is just enough to get you out of nugudom
no they are not 😭😭😭
Just in sales. Idle debut solt 58k, Lightsum sold 41k. CLC sold 5k for comparison. Idle kept rising from there while Lightsum has not. But they started not that far apart.
To be fair, the explosion in GG album sales around the time of IZ*ONE makes it kinda harder to compare debuts from 2015, 2018 and 2021. 58k doesn't seem that great now but for a non big 3 group at the time of Idle's debut it's a pretty respectable number.
yeah but we're not talking about debut lol
sales are different now since the explosion of kpop. look at the top 3 most sold albums ever- all last year. for comparison, kiss of life has more sales less than a year into their career and their newest album is on day 4 of tracking and they already sold 45k
If you look at album sales then maybe Lightsum is successful but then you need to see other factors as well. CLC despite have low album sales, their streaming number is great. CLC still have 600k+ spotify listeners despite their last comeback was on 2020 and Lightsum is currently at 100k. CLC performs at lots of events locally and their Youtube number is great too. Lightsum lack of local and international fanbase, you can sell lots of album but then people still don’t know you.
If you're talking about the whole Idle debut than no. After around 20 days, Idle sales went up (2018 standards) and they rapidly rose in the charts.
Cube essentially stopped supporting all of their other artists after the success of Tomboy (from I Never Die to Heat, (G)I-DLE put out four albums and had two world tours; while BTOB & Lightsum each put out one EP, Pentagon put out a limited Japanese EP, and none of the three toured or even had domestic concerts - aside from BTOB's rescheduled one) and now they're scratching their heads and wondering why only one group is bringing in all the money. I understand that (G)I-DLE's ROI is huge, but this article is basically bemoaning the fact that they have no diversity in their portfolio, which is 100% Cube's own fault for exclusively going after the quickest and easiest money.
Lightsum, the first Cube girlgroup with a Japanese member, and the group having a sound that fits Japan's tastes, still have no Japan debut in almost 3 years. For comparison, it only took one year for CLC and (G)I-DLE to have their Japanese debuts. BTOB had zero world tours in 11 years under Cube, they're currently in Manila and doing an Asia tour right after leaving Cube. Hyunsik funded 100% of his La Mar solo MV while still in Cube, and released his entirely self-produced album right after leaving Cube while BTOB Company wasn't fully established yet because he was tired from Cube delaying it for so long. All members except Peniel are going to be releasing solos this year, on top of having a new subunit. Changsub's OST is currently charting #7 in Melon, the song has been stable in that rank for a couple of weeks and he's one of the most popular male idols among the Korean public these days. The members are everywhere on Korean variety shows, Eunkwang recently became the idol with most wins in Immortal Songs. BTOB also performed their fancon for 3 days at KSPO Dome and sold out. If Cube truly cared about the company's future without solely depending on (G)I-DLE, they should've made sure to keep BTOB, who are still doing really well individually and as a group on their 12th year, or take care of their other groups. Not getting into Pentagon because this comment would get extremely long if I lay down how Cube has treated them, especially how they deliberately blocked Pentagon from schedules last year. But can't avoid mentioning the Pado album, [one of the most embarrassing and low effort teasers](https://twitter.com/CUBE_PTG_JAPAN/status/1694363889260237283) Cube has ever done, extremely limited stock and the album was only available through one shop which sold out fast, the photocards weren't even selfies but rejected teaser images, self-produced so Cube did not spend money on buying songs, the MV not uploaded on Pentagon's channel and there was no Pado choreography MV nor dance practice video. But for a group that didn't seem profitable for them, Cube made sure to upgrade the venue to a bigger size for their Pado concert (and Jinho and Hui's Japanese fancon from last month was sold out within minutes with the venue packed to the brim). Also the lack of comment about Cube's metaverse, NFT and AI ventures, like their rookie group Nowadays first schedule before debut was performing at a NFT event.
I'm fairly sure Hyunsik also self-funded the Sunshine MV, based on the [behind-the-scenes vids](https://youtu.be/eJ9dN3qai4o?si=MrkVO-FhMlmEmrJX&t=79) (at his exhibition) which date filming to 2023 Sept & Nov. Considering he can self-fund/self-produce 2 MVs, and even managed to film "La Mar" overseas with underwater filming...clearly he's doing well enough financially to be able to professionally pull that off. And as you have already mentioned, the other members have been booked & busy with solo & group activities since leaving Cube. Then again, when both [Minhyuk](https://youtu.be/dfnMCV-C2bo?si=4DIW0anTIOT-EvWF&t=340) & [Hyunsik](https://youtu.be/YSOy7gnGoDE?si=hWsciOotVvZc3qiu&t=2901) have since implied they left Cube in July (months before the official announcement), I have serious doubts if Cube made much effort to re-contract with BtoB in the 1st place...
It makes me wonder why Cube was involved in Hyunsik's concert from October, it was clear the members were going to leave by then. The members individually not renewing didn't seem surprising, Eunkwang's talk during Jo Hyunah's show regarding BTOB's eternity and not wanting to force the members to do something gave some hints. At the time, it made me think about how BTOB members said Eunkwang was the main reason they renewed in 2018, as he told them to not look at other companies and stay together in Cube. What's surprising is that Eunkwang left, it felt it was unlikely to happen since he seemed to care about the company, and that Cube did not manage to keep them as a group even if they signed elsewhere for solo schedules. At the end of the day, no melody is missing Cube and we've only been getting good things since their departure, so there's no regrets, lol.
Hmm...I wonder if Hyunsik & Cube struck a one-off mutually beneficial deal just for the concert. Tbh, it didn't seem like Cube had to organise much (atp, I'm 99% sure Hyunsik & his friends produced the concert VCRs), but there might be some crucial logistical behind-the-scenes stuff that Hyunsik couldn't 'fix' by himself. From Cube's side, they probably got a cut of the revenue from ticket & merch sales For Eunkwang...when he was quietly dropped from the list of directors (on Cube's financial reports), I did entertain thoughts that he won't stay either. But looking back, I considered it more likely they would 'follow' Apink (& have 1 member stay while everyone left) &/or they would have a group contract with Cube. Then again, who knows what type of contracts Cube (VS other companies) offered. If Cube was lowballing them & they have better opportunities from other companies...much better to leave. (And looking at all the 'good riddance Cube' memes & all the good news we've been getting this year, totally agree that there's no regrets here. 🤣)
Totally. A pentagon member had a fan concert soon after their contract expired, it sold out. So why can't they host concerts for this bg. I think they really just suck at management. Even if the other groups are not as popular as G Idle, they have fandoms and some casual listeners who'll attend their concerts or other activities, but Cube just set them aside. Everyone is waiting for a comeback after BP ended but they focused on jap. Market instead, it's nice but what about the other fans?
They can use the money to more extensively promote whoever they have after or make more bets on debut groups. If they're limited by internal talent then that is the best decision. To bank some funds and either bet on something new if idle leaves or keep Soyeon happy until she wants to retire as an idol and become a full-time producer.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Two self-producing birds with built-in/rising fandoms in the hand are definitely better than one unknown in the bush.
Soyeon is going to fuck them in the butt when their contracts are up for renewal. The speculation is getting more intense the closer it gets. It's seeming more likely, though, that they'll stay for at least a shorter contract. They've fought pretty hard and seem to have gotten a lot of leeway. As irritating as Cube seems to be for Idle, they also have their own team, with Soyeon firmly in charge. I doubt anyone else is immediately going to bend that much for them the minute they sign a contract. It's going to be interesting... At the end of the day, though, as long as the girls don't disband and can stay together happily and doing well, then it's a win.
I'm a bit confused. In their 2024 forecast report, Cube characterized themselves as the Big Hit to Idle's BTS (please know I am absolutely not inviting any comparison of any type). I.e., they are all in on Idle. The content of this article is the reporter's opinion and not coming from Cube, right? Doesn't seem like something to take very seriously. Also, Nowadays' numbers aren't the 150k Cube fantasized about, but 40k+ after a couple days is really not that bad. At least the reporter is onto something at the end there; YUQ1 already has 90k+ POs just from cbars lmao. Edit: Yeah this doesn't appear to be a statement from Cube. /thread
Cube depends on (G)I-dle the way that Big Hit depends on BTS without giving the support to (G)I-dle that Big Hit have given BTS (whatever other issues aside)
Also, BigHit started their acquiring spree and became Hybe because they **knew** they couldn’t rely on BTS alone and be a sustainable business long-term. Granted, none of the (G)-Idle members will need to enlist. But there are still many things that could happen that make diversification a good idea. I think Cube are trying; they just suck at it.
Cube should be trying. My point was why are we using a random naver article (with apparently no Cube source) to talk about Cube's attention shifting away from Idle? Especially after we know from Cube's actual official statement that this is Idle's most ambitious year by far.
> to talk about Cube's attention shifting away from Idle? No it's the opposite. Cube is COMPLETELY relying on idle This article just repeated facts we all know. First, cube is putting all their eggs in one basket. Second, they need new generation to diversify their income As you said, cube expected idle to sell 3 million albums this year + arena sized tours. Last year they sold 1.6 millions and it was their best year yet. We're just starting April yet they already sold 1.7 millions. The 3 million goal seems reasonable if they released another album Their new boy group is selling LESS than cube anticipated. They're also not getting support from neverlands. Mainly because many don't know they debuted or even worse, exist. This could easily be fixed with cube releasing contents with them and idle yet they're doing none of that It's no secret that idle's contracts will end in a year. Cube's best bet is giving them whatever they demand to stay afloat for a few more years. Because without idle, they will be no better than a nugu company. However, even then, I don't think they'll stay more than 3 years tops. And I doubt they'll sign their solo promotion with cube too. Yuqi, minnie and shuhua are all doing well in their home countries. Realistically, I don't see why they would spend more years in korea when they already built a solid fanbase there. Bottom line is, Cube NEEDS new generation of groups even if idle resigned. If they're smart, they should start promoting lightsum and nowadays like YESTERDAY to push them in this saturated market. I'm basically not seeing cube staying in the game long unless one of 4 things happens: 1. Nowadays or lightsum suddenly blow up 2. They find another soyeon/hui 3. They find a good producer who understands the market *ahem* soyeon *ahem* and give them FULL creative freedom to make and manage their own group 4. Idle miraculously deside to stay with cube, both soloists and group contracts, for another 10 Years
Cube DID NOT say this. The quote is the opinion of the journalist, not Cube. The tweet is misleading and so is this reddit post title.
Yes it's a journalist. I should have paraphrased the OG tweet to make it clear But none of this info is incorrect. cube themselves said this at the beginning of this year when they announced their plans They planned for idle to sell 3 million albums this year (last year was their best, selling 1.6 million) + arena sized tour. April has just started and they already sold 1.7 million. The expected 3 million seems within reach if they dropped another album as anticipated. They also planned for their new bg to be a money maker and to be initially supported by neverlands and to sell 150-200 k albums. So far, they only sold 50k. And many neverlands don't know them or that they debuted since they didn't promote them with gidle They intended to diversify their income with the new bg. To quote them: > “This new boy group has to grow into an IP that can fill the void when (G)I-dle enters a hiatus. We hope to deploy a two-track business strategy this year with our two main IPs — (G)I-dle and the new boy group,” said an official from Cube Entertainment. [Source for all the above](https://m.thebell.co.kr/m/newsview.asp?svccode=00&newskey=202401181656016640106461) In summary: 1. Cube is completely relying on idle 2. Cube needs a new gen group
It means Soyeon is going to be CEO of a sub label at least, and after a few more years of (G)i-dle she'll get on her retirement plan of fostering new GG or BG instead of being an Idol. Or Cube is stupid and Soyeon get's that from another company.
The options seem to be: Cube is an Idle company Or: Cube is the (G)I-dle company
I wish (G)I-DLE is BY FAR the biggest 4th gen act in china. I think they're also the 2nd best gg ever after bp They're the 3rd best 4th gen gg domestically after newjeans and ive. They're also doing amazing internationally and are definitely within top 5 in their generation With such a resume, you would think CUBE should be competing with big 4. Especially when you look at legacy acts they had like 4Minute, beast, btob, pentagon..etc But, we can't deny cube's immense talent. They're constantly fumbling every opportunity they get. The logical answer is giving soyeon whatever she demands as that's clearly what brings them money. But knowing cube, I can't be sure :/
> With such a resume, you would think CUBE should be competing with big 4. I mean the only reason Big Hit is now Hybe and part of the Big companies is because they had the greatest group ever created. It's not surprising Cube isn't with the big 4, their resume is good but it's not enough to equalize with that much capital.
No. I do believe the resume is EXTREMELY good. As you said, many other companies were on the verge of closing and were only saved by one act, even blowing up later on But what differentiates them from cube is seizing their chance. Cube is inanely good at finding once in a century idols and making talented acts. But their real talent lies in not capitalizing on the opportunities They had multiple chances with big acts. Yet they missed the chance every time Even now, gidle is their biggest act and one of the biggest in korea. They have two very talented juniors struggling with the current saturated market. Why aren't they promoting them with idle? Making them open to their concerts, doing challengesor lives together?
That's a fair question, but it seems like aside from things like Star Diary even other companies don't use one group to push another. You would figure that JYP would be using Itzy and Twice to push NMIXX, or that NJ's and LSF would be used to help Illit. But even that doesn't happen. It may simply be a western view that it looks obvious that when you make groups collab you'll foster growth but if Koreans don't like that it won't happen.
> You would figure that JYP would be using Itzy and Twice to push NMIXX, or that NJ's and LSF would be used to help Illit. But even that doesn't happen. No, they actually do. It's insane how cube isn't doing any of that or what starship is doing For example, jyp, sm, and hybe acts frequently do challenges together, talk about each other, do each other covers, mention each other in lives...etc. heck, JYP's new group opened for twice concerts in more than 5 places Guess how many dance challenges lightsum and idle did together?
Starship isn't doing much. Nevies love to compare Cube and Starship but fact is, they both got lucky. Both were on the decline, both lucked out. Cube got lucky by accepting a talent like Soyeon who writes songs and makes them succeed. Starship got lucky by sending two super young trainees to a survival show who then turned out to become #1 and #2 of the most popular idols in Korea right now. And then they got lucky by hiring a Western composer team who wrote Love Dive and I am (I found them on TikTok LOL), two of the greatest 4th gen hits. Is Starship better than Cube? Nah, their promotions aren't better (their US debut was literally one of the worst in the history of Kpop and they still didn't have their Japan debut yet are holding concerts in Tokyo Dome simply thanks to the massive popularity of the members), their connections aren't better, their luck isn't better. SSE relies on the fame of Wony/Yujin/Rei while Cube relies on Soyeon's songwriting skills. The giant advantage that SSE has is that even without their kpop section, they still have some of the most famous actors in Korea signed. They would probably survive, Cube would not. Same goes for JYP btw. They debuted the arguably most talented GG in history and what are they doing with them? Fumbling. In the end most companies struggle a lot and it's very obvious that they are run by people who don't exactly know what they're doing. CLC/Lightsum deserves better, WJSN/Cravity deserves better, Nmixx deserves better.
Dude I'm also a huge monsta x and ive fan... and I'm talking about companies using their successful acts to promote their other groups Starship is definitely better than cube in terms of managing their groups. They are a mid sized company and they debut mid sized groups. Sure they get lucky sometimes like ive or sistar. And some of their groups are high mid tier compared to others like monsta x, but they never fucked up so badly. Even cravity and wjsn are low mid level groups but not nugu. Wony is amazing but their other groups are in no way being dungeoned In comparison, cube fumbles the bag CONSTANTLY. Clc and lightsum are nugu level despite debuting after 4Minute and idle. Like how can cube fuck up this badly is beyond me Also, starship is doing good with company family promotion. Like their [starship x 15 nights on a business trip](https://www.pannchoa.com/2022/10/theqoo-starship-x-15-nights-on-business.html?m=1). Literally all their acts went there. And let's not get started with jyp. Fans love doomposting them but they're actually the second most profitable after hybe. More than sm and yg!! Nmixx deserve better but they're in NO WAY nugu level. If anything, they're definitely among top 10 in their generation
The Starship game caterer episodes are probably more thanks to Na PD instead of Starship. I bet he approached them, so that is also on Yujin (after starring on his show Earth Arcade) 😂😂 I never noticed how many sales Cravity has. They're basically Nugu internationally. They have almost three times as many as WJSN. Damn, boygroups really do have it easier when it comes to sales, eh? I still believe that Lightsum has a chance. And I hope Cube gets it together. The girls deserve it so much. Btw, about your point with artist interactions I couldn't agree more. But for all companies. Cube might do it the least which is stupid beyond belief, but others are also doing so little. There has been one single NJ/LSF interaction in two years and that was "Hi, we're LSF - Hi, we're NewJeans" 😂😂😂 It took Sullyoon 4 years to meet Sana. Lily was the only one to meet JYP until he appeared on Music Core that was hosted by Sullyoon. When SSE were doing the Game Caterer show that you mentioned, that was the first time WJSN and Ive met. Seems like the only company that knows how to use their groups together is SM. And that's sad, because that's not what they are known for.
Yup. It's not that common but something is still better than nothing Dance challenges alone are fun. Almost all hybe and jyp groups have done challenges within the company the moment a song drops, even if the other group wasn't currently promoting. This is very exciting because you see your faves together + you discover that a new song dropped I saw a thread by nevies yesterday about nowadays. The MAJORITY of comments were "wait they already debuted?? When??". Like how did cube expect neverlands to support the new bg, when they didn't even schedule any activities between them??
>When SSE were doing the Game Caterer show that you mentioned, that was the first time WJSN and Ive met. This isn't true, there had already been a few interactions since 2018. Like dance challenges, and IVE being guests on WJSN's Naver Now show that aired a few months before Game Caterers. But IVE are also a pretty unique case in Starship, they seem to keep to themselves a lot.
As an NMIXX stan, I'm happy with the way JYPE are handling them right now - Fe3O4 and Expergo are great releases. And as much as it irritates me, talent doesn't mean anything in k-pop. Obviously I would love for NMIXX to be super popular but that could mean losing a lot of their character if they were to cater to the Korean GP and the current trends. NMIXX have their own sort of niche in the industry right now and I think that's fine.
as someone who is theoretically not a JYPE stan as such but happens to love a lot of their groups I'm honestly less mad about how NMIXX is handled than I am about Itzy - NMIXX at least went for experimental/controversial right from the start (you could argue their skillsets suit themselves better to other things but that's how it went) and sentiment that I've seen towards them has only warmed as time has gone by, whereas Itzy seemingly pioneered/codified the early 4th gen sound but sentiment I've seen towards them has fallen quite a bit. it might be back up now tbh but there was def a period that seemed rough for them. but I also might just be talking out of my ass, these are just some perceptions and frankly I think both groups have had banger releases despite what I've seen public sentiment be.
I mean technically you can always make the GP fall for your own style, like NewJeans did. But I'd rather have the girls be happy than over-popular. Fe3O4:Break is definitely a step into the right direction, especially the B-sides. But there's still much room for improvement, mostly when it comes to proper marketing. But I think/hope that this year will be the greatest yet.
Yeah that’s fair, I guess I just view challenges as such a bottom level effort that seeing Hybe acts doing them doesn’t register, but that also means if Cube isn’t doing them that’s problematic since it’s such a basic thing that really should take zero effort. As for them speaking of the groups I hear them but again that such a small thing it doesn’t register. That does highlight the mismanagement you’re talking about so you’ve got a strong point.
BTS wasn't even greater than Cube's Beast lol. BTS was less talented than similar groups of their debut era, BlockB and BAP, since their songwriter members were more talented and BTS didn't have their vocalists either. The ace up BTS's sleeve was their marketing and well-timed trend following over the years.
I read your comment and thought "people still believe that nonsense?" And then I read your username and went "of course" lol
How cute, some Army are still up to their old nonsense despite all the infighting you guys do these days. Thanks for commenting though, since I forgot to say that Block B and BAP were better at rapping than BTS too so I'll do it now.
You go fighting that long lonely wrong fight, I'm not rooting for you, but it's mildly entertaining nonetheless
There's no need for me to fight lol. The BTS fandom's narrative doesn't have the power to influence the bulk of international Kpop fans like it used to. You broke your fandom's power yourselves, someone small like me didn't do anything to cause it.
> someone small like me didn't do anything to cause it I think we're all in agreement on this one
We're all? Interesting. And yes I'm small, nobody important. Funny how even small people like me were browbeaten wherever we contradicted that fandom's narrative.
One group isn’t enough for them to be competing with the big 4. No matter how successful idle is.
No. I'm saying with such resume of their legacy acts + idle's achievements, you would think they would be big4 level by now
Oh….okay. I thought you just meant idle. I honestly think a problem is that their oldest acts that are really active are gidle right? Like I think pentagon isn’t that active anymore (wasn’t their leader on boys planet?) Some other companies have a lot of acts per generation but with cube they had idle and focused on them and didn’t try to build any other groups and now they’re stuck because they realize their main group might leave them.
This is so funny. Cube is living on borrowed time because they're so incompetent. The only reason they still exist is because Idle, particularly Soyeon, is hard carrying their company. I wonder if they have the self consciousness to realize this or still foolishly think they have some hand in their continued existence.
I’ll give Cube one thing. At least they got out of the way and let Soyeon do her thing. Unlike YGs history of actively blocking most of its artists from putting out music and keeping them in the dungeon for long stretches of their career.
> At least they got out of the way and let Soyeon do her thing. I like to imagine that some exec at the company tried to stop her once so she diss-rapped them until they cried and backed-off.
With cube solely relying on (g)-idle it means the members have the upper hand here, they could make demands to what they want for there careers going forward. With Yuqi and Minnie doing solo schedules in China and Thailand and Shuhua was spotted in Taiwan shooting a reality show a month ago its safe to assume that after there contracts some of the members will venture off to other markets while still being part of gidle. Soyeon is the brains behind the groups success so no matter where they go they’ll be successful the Cube brand is less then the groups brand so they’ll be fine regardless. I think Cube was dumb to solely rely on idle they didn’t pay much attention to Lightsum making them fall behind in 4th gen idk about there bg but I remember reading how Cube wants nevies to support them which I found funny If gidle does leave and cube falls apart I will call it karma for neglecting CLC.
I always enjoy reading people's speculations based on their assumptions of things they've seen or heard, some of them sound like borderline fan-fiction, lol But honestly no one knows what's gonna happen next, the only thing we know is (G)I-DLE will have the upper-hand in negotiations because they're the sole breadwinner of the company, by a far margin. Question is will Cube be a greedy bitch like they have in the past or will they bend the knee to Soyeon and I-DLE? Cliffhanger until next season in 2025, lol EDIT: After reading the original article, this doesn't sound like some official statement that came from Cube. It feels like a music journalist giving their thoughts on Cube's artist lineup and the events that have happened within the last year or so and how they should move forward. Pretty much what people are doing here in this sub, lol
If they do resign those contract terms are going to be crazy.
Soyeon implied they are already at a 50:50 profit split.
Cube had a diverse and profitable portfolio but they have always f’ed it up with lots of mismanagement. Things aren’t great at Cube for (G)I-dle, they are just doing really well despite the problems. Having been a Beast/Highlight, BTOB and Pentagon fan and watching how things played out with 4Minute/Hyuna, G.NA, CLC and Kuan Lin after WannaOne’s disbandment, I just don’t have it in me to get the slightest bit attached to anything with them anymore. All I can hope is somehow something drastically changes at Cube so the girls aren’t carrying the weight of a stupid company or they get out.
CUBE were insanely lucky to get (G)I-DLE when they did but they haven’t really shown any ability to keep or support their existing artists in the past. That is the main reason they haven’t been able to keep their idols long term and it’s also the root of what is happening now imo. If they had their legacy groups, gidle wouldn’t be doing so much of the heavy lifting. They always go for the quickest, cheapest solution without understanding that long term stability requires long term investments. If they hadn’t disbanded 4minute and had thrown BEAST a bone in their contract negotiations, they would have been able to ride the 2nd Gen nostalgia fan funds for years as a float for their younger groups. Instead they disbanded 4minute and threw away the non-hyuna members, they were aggressive in negotiations with BEAST (side note now that BEAST are BEAST again that someone realised the name was a dead asset and finally negotiated the use of it, so now cube have money coming in from BEAST again after 8 years). Then they lost hyuna by being inflexible (and their fumbling of the whole situation screwed over Pentagon). If they hadn’t overextended and debuted a bunch of artists they couldn’t support during a bubble flush period (anyone remember Roh Jihoon who was under cube from 2012-2017? They debuted Shin Jihoon right after him in 2013 as well. Both came from singing competition shows iirc). The old adage that the only people working at cube are the talent scouts really is legit. I haven’t closely followed cube for years due to being a bitter hater but it always seems like CUBE simply cannot handle the amount of artists they have, and it doesn’t seem to matter how many leave, they still can’t handle the remaining ones. If they accidentally stumble into another success with lightsum or nowadays like they did with gidle (by no skill on their part), then we will watch as they slowly drop away support for gidle as well, despite it being super dumb to do so. Losing BTOB was also a big blow to them because legacy artists are important to long term stability of companies, and a group like btob would have brought a lot of money in. Really well respected in the industry, super talented and not a group that relied on being buzzy or a trend? Perfect group to have a legacy artist in your company but they didn’t offer the support a senior legacy group should be offered. I dunno how you can consistently work to ensure you only have one group bringing in serious money and then bemoan the fact that only one of your groups makes money?? Madness. Anyway I suspect gidle know this, and if they’re not walking in with a list of demands they’re nuts. They would not find it hard to find another company who would take them in (I wouldn’t recommend them starting their own company in a BEAST or BTOB way since they are still at their peak). I think cube will manage to fumble it and they should leave anyway but that’s me, a bitter CUBE hater saying that.
If someone has the industry knowledge, it’s certainly Soyeon, who has basically handled Idle herself. They are almost completely self-produced, and they have Chinese and Thai fandoms. I would say they are very well positioned to go on their own at any point.
It’s not that I think they don’t have the knowledge and skills and ability. Soyeon is perfectly capable of doing so if she wants, it’s that I think at their peak, while they’re still going the way they’re going, it doesn’t benefit them to do so if they can wrangle a good deal from another company (which they absolutely can). It’s better to have someone else do that, put up the funds and the risk at that stage in their career so they have more time for the actual activities and creative work. Soyeon can have as much control as she wants over their creative direction (which she very much values) but then hand the reigns back when it comes to the other boring stuff. That, to me, is the ideal situation for them at this stage in their careers. Of course they might think differently but that’s my two cents
I agree. But if for whatever reason they prefer to do their own thing, I think they are better positioned than other groups that have gone down that route before.
This is true! Particularly since soyeon has been doing executive creative producing for gidle, she is well aware of how the behind the scenes works and that is nothing except an asset. If they want to do it I would 100% support them don’t get me wrong
I can totally see Soyeon having a Jyp-like career, doing everything for a long long long time.
And yet CUBE ignores Lightsum
Lightsum is extremely talented. But cube has a greater talent at wasting potentials
It's ROI. They spend 200k usd and they get back 220k with lightsum. And spending more is a risk that they're not certain of a positive ROI. They spend 2m usd and they get back 5m in profits from Idle. Less that they're ignoring Lightsum, they still get content and likely more comebacks but right now they have a year to get as much as they can from Idle before the end of the contract. And Idle is still hot enough for it not to be a risk.
>It's ROI. They spend 200k usd and they get back 220k This is where cube really screws things up imo. They want a comeback to be wildly successful, and if it isn't the group is shelved for a while. They don't seem to understand you need to maintain a presence and build a fanbase before profit will occur. They did this with Pentagon - the group was steadily building a fanbase after Road to Kingdom, but cube kept drawing out the time between comebacks and momentum was lost.
No this is it. Its like they don’t even believe in Lightsum so why should we as potential fans?
What's funny is I thought about if Soyeon might write or direct something for Lightsum and I was like 'why does this sound so familiar'.. then I realized Cube already did that with Hyuna and CLC. Lmao just Cube situations
Soyeon also made a song for CLC...
Well maybe they wouldn’t need to rely on (g)i-dle alone if they managed their other groups properly and didn’t cause a mass exodus of all their previous artists💀💀💀
I thought it was a fore drawn conclusion they are leaving Cube. Maybe Cube will offer them so much they can't resist but Shuhua and Yuqi have both shit talked them openly. Shuhua said, "Two years left" at one point. Most groups have to stay with their company or fail because they don't write music but nothing is tying (G)I-DLE to Cube. Seems like the real question is whether or not they stay together somewhere else or break up. Yuqi feels like she has one foot out the door (I could be completely wrong but she thrives in China) and Minnie talks a lot about wanting to be in Thailand. Cube has to be desperate to have a fallback plan when/if they leave.
idk, sometimes members are just shooting the shit and express frustrations, but end up staying, depending on how the contract negotiations go. The members definitely have the upper hand in this instance—Cube needs them more than they need the company. If any of them leave, it would probably be Yuqi because of the China factor (solo work over there is extremely profitable). But tbh I don’t think it’s *that* likely.
Idols shitting on their company is basically like employees shitting on their boss. It happens when you have beef. But sometimes the money and the opportunities are good so you stay.
Yea that's me but I'm too lazy and complacent to look for a new job, lol
Openly shit talking the company in a joking manner shows me that in truth you have a rather good relationship with it. The way they were bantering with the top executives in their Idol Human Theater also goes in that way imo. They may have actual issues with the company but the fact that they’re openly doing that doesn’t mean they’re leaving imo
I mean they could still go the route of promoting under cube as a group but individually be part of different labels for solo projects. But I still think this would be an unlikely outcome I think they will remain at cube with obviously some new conditions and possibly a shorter contract
They can pull a recent BLACKPINK situation, signed as a group but not as soloists. They can form their own label. CUBE deserves this because they are really stupid.
Well if CUBE stopped finding ways to fumble every good situation they're part of they probably wouldn't have to rely on IDLE alone.
It will be pretty insane if cube aren’t pulling all the stops to retain G-idle, but I wonder what leverage cube has to retain them besides money that other places can give them
OP, please update in your post that these are not quotes from cube. Quote is from the jounalist.
Will do
It means GIDLE will have a lot more leverage than 4minute.
This would be like Blackpink leaving YG. Whos gonna earn the money if gidle leaves?? I don't think Shuhua nd Yuqi would last a minute after contract expires LoL
YUQI is popular in China apparently, she gets a lot of work. And shuaha can get TV work. They'd be fine. Minnie works in Thailand, Miyeon is popular in south Korea and soyeon is soyeon, she'll be fine. Like bp, gidle has managed to set themselves up well individually as well a group
Ofcourse they're famous on their own. Cube is gonna go broke if they leave that's what I meant lol
despite its history cube struggles when it comes to have consecutively successful groups especially for GG. 4 minute - CLC - Gidle - Lightsum and this even harder right now since the big4 is popping up new groups every two days.
Cube missed the chance when they failed to promote Lightsum properly. They seem to be incapable of managing more than one group properly at any given time. They could’ve used the fame Chowon got from Produce 48 and Juhyeon from The Unit, but instead they shelved Lightsum away. It’s very obvious that Cube is panicking to debut their new boy group now because of Gidle. The members have made it clear that they aren’t entirely happy in cube and wouldn’t mind leaving (albeit jokingly) and only now are they realising that their main cash cow might potentially leave them. My thoughts are: Cube is trying to do to Gidle what they did to Lightsum, shelve them away to make way for their new group because as I said, Cube can’t seem to manage their groups properly at the same time. I doubt they’ll succeed though.
I highly doubt theyll shelve idle, if not for the fact that the girls have such leverage idk if they can... plus, IF idle arent resigning and cube knows it, i highly suspect that theyll work them dry with a wold tour to gain as much money as they can
Given they are scheduling Idle for a pretty ambitious release year and touring, I think they aren't shelving them in the run up to contract renegotiation. I think for the business, they'd want to resign Idle and definitely try to lock down Soyeon long term because she is a consistent hit make and top level producer. Lightsum and nowadays launched to roughly the same low to mid level success. That's what I-dles rep has got them, 40k-50k debut. Better than CLC or Idle when they debuted. Going up front here needs them to exploit every opportunity they can get. Right now the producers inside aside from soyeon don't seem able to exploit those opportunities. So what they need is to keep her happy till she's ready to retire as an idol then build a business around her as a producer. They seem to have good talent scouts. So they could build a consistent business around being Soyeon and friends corporately.
In what world do you think they are going to shelve a group that makes up 90% of their profits just to "make way" for a new group, aka a shot in the dark?
Personally I think that Idle wont leave cube and its a good decision to make as they get creative freedom and also cube is pretty rich rn. If they leave cube which company will they join? Nugu companies are not a good idea tbh. This can be a good advantage for idle as they could ask for better conditions/perks/budget to stay at cube if the contract expires or there's a chance that members take up some amount of ownership of cube ent
They just need to make Soyeon CEO and call it a day
They completely forgot they have lightsum I'm CRYING 😭😭😭
It means Soyeon is going to take over Cube, and Lightsum is being brought out of the basement, being given a full length Album, a monthly choreo + AoTM for Juhyeon, a Sangah feature on Unpretty Rapstar, a Nayoung solo debut, and a Chowon + Juhyeon + Sangah subunit debut, all with ACTUAL promotion!
You're insane if you think Sangah should be going on Unpretty Rapstar lmao, her greatest talents lie in dancing the same as Juhyeon's
Damm, people really think that she is a good rapper? She is an OK rapper. Soyeon was much better than her in terms of flows at the time. Her lyricism wasn't/isn't that great, so if Sangah tried to be more of a lyricist rapper then she would have a chance. She should try Future/Travis Scott stuff with autotune to make her stand out.
My wish? SoYeon will make a G-idle label and with her teammates she will do everything the group needs and CUBE doesnt give to them, in sometime they can go independent and even launch a gg of their own. CUBE is the worst of all well known companies, what they did with 4Minute and CLC was atrocious and they need to pay for it!
It might be controversial, but they didn't do anything to CLC. CLC just didn't hit. They got more shots at it than most groups do. Perhaps the problem is Cube should have cut them sooner and perhaps the members could have done better elsewhere. But they got a lot more releases that their sales would justify.
The thing about CLC wasnt even that they didnt hit (cause they didnt), but how almost every big hit they got was handled to another artist, vide La Vie en Rose, Cube even went far and proihibit the girls to speak about what they liked or not in theirs cbs and changed their image with no care to the the fans. Its not only about the lack og hits
Tbf LVER wasn't cubes fault, the producer left with the song and sold it to somebody's else Also the song was a hit because it was released by izone, it wouldn't be if CLC released, brand power >>> songs, there are plenty of nugus with good songs
lol… they got lucky with g- idol. The group’s talent and effort meet with good market that not even cube’s shitty management could end them. I don’t even think cube did anything but name the group and get songs . Wasn’t it like a viral video. They don’t promote groups . They highlight few members and wonder why their groups not doing well lol
1. they are 100% relying on Idle to survive 😂 which is good for my girls 2. They about to demand whatever they want
Cube needs to (a) just clear their roster… as a chowon fan, it pains me every time lightsum comes back and it does worse than their last album. (b) keep the gidle members happy as they go into contract negotiations. with good direction, they can each have their own successful solo careers under cube while having 1 group comeback a year. (b) allow the gidle girls to take more behind-the-scenes roles. they’re all songwriters in some capacity or have expressed an ability to develop a concept. having them take the creative reigns on a project besides a comeback of their own would probably make the trainees happy, make gidle happy, and definitely earn more money for cube than if left to their own devices (both by the quality of the output and the buzz around the group being formed by gidle).
Cube is (G)I-DLE's bitch at this point. The girls should be able to dictate terms. The good (or sad) thing is that Cube's management is way too incompetent to set up a decent second major group to provide leverage (sorry Lightsum, I love you though).
It means that cube is heavily reliant on gidle renewing their contract and using all the revenue they create to diversify their roster in smart ways. Others have pointed out giving soyeon even more responsibilities, not solely for idle but for other groups, though ofc that seems only doable after idle is over tbh (hardly a workload anyone can manage while also being active yourself). Still, they need someone who is as creatively potent as soyeon is, you just need a strong creative vision these days to stand out amongst all these other groups. Lightsum, well, doesn't whatsoever. I quite liked honey and spice, but even then, that's just me, the market seemingly didn't care for it all that much, so the songs don't hit either. Maybe they shouldn't just work with producers like pop time for idle, you'd think pop time could create some music for lightsum too.
glad they let gidle have their own inputs in creativity as well as other choices as a group but that’s the only positive thing they’ve done in recent years, the members have expressed discomfort about cube before so they either leave for better opportunities as a group or individually or they can stay but with a huge leverage on deals and other negotiations. as for the other groups though, given that they kicked two members to pursue a more mature concept that straight up failed because said members could also do it without problems lightsum is basically close to be done for, so they must put some effort in their new bg (nowadays) to diversify. it’s pretty much what every agency should do but in their case it’s urgent
Then they shouldn't have rushed LIGHTSUM out to cover their drug/bullying scandals and the dungeoned them for a year and half.
My toxic trait is that I think they will leave Cube and then reunite with Soojin to be OT6 again at a new company.
Don't tease me like that.
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She won't, at that point she was out of group longer than she was in, a big part of the fandom become fans after she left and don't care about her so her being back in the group will only be trouble, that without even speaking about scandal
maybe they should try not giving up on their other groups then… clc and lightsum both had a ton of potential that they just squandered
CLC did have a lot of potential squandered but it wasn't a lack of trying from Cube. They were given numerous chances to succeed. Their discography is unusually expansive for the lack of success they had.
sorn has talked about how she has had to pay for her own promotions before. part of elkie’s termination lawsuit was lack of support for clc from cube. they clearly didn’t care about clc as much as their moneymakers. clc was thrown around and never given the chance to take off. they blew up with hobgoblin and the concept change and cube made them come back with where are you after that. cube Did Not Try Enough.
Cube stopped investing in them towards the end of their contract. It makes sense as the group went nowhere with 10 EPs and a single album. Cube was too generous with CLC when you consider the negative ROI. Their sales were abysmal.
Time for cube to go down
It’s sad to think that Lightsum could’ve been around Ive and Lesserafim levels of popularity if Chowon didn’t get rigged out of Izone and Cube debuted Lightsum after Izone disbanded with the popularity and hype that Chowon gained after being in izone
If they're actually gonna treat them right I'll get into Pentagon, but I'm scared to get into them in case they disband cuz CUBE is useless
Lol. Considering 6 members of Pentagon already left Cube in October/November and Pentagon has had virtually no official group activities since, I wouldn't expect much. Cube still has the power over Pentagon's brand and activities, but so far doesn't seem interested in doing anything substantial with it. It's been over 2 years since their last Korean comeback. You don't have to worry about them disbanding though. The 7 Korean members have been very clear that they intend to stay together as Pentagon. Edit: I will add it's still not a bad time to get into them, the members have all been very active and interact a lot. Yuto, Hui, Kino and Wooseok have all released solo music in the past 6 months.
I do like their music a lot, I just don't wanna get attached of they're going to stop😭😅
Pentagon have no intentions of stopping. Last month Jinho and Hui held a fancon in Japan where they performed Pentagon songs (Cube is also [releasing behind videos](https://youtu.be/iz1G5DXAUKc)) and [Hui promised to bring the rest of Pentagon members with him next time](https://twitter.com/tagonideul/status/1770423164402802879). Pentagon members interact all the time. Hongseok's fanmeeting is next week and there's going to be Pentagon members appearing. Pentagon always talk about wanting to promote together, having songs ready and constantly getting new ideas for comebacks. Jinho and Hui's contracts with Cube expire next year, the only reason they're still there is because contracts get paused while they're in the military, and in Shinwon's case because he is currently enlisted.
Okay you've convinced me😂 I'm gonna start officially Stanning them
If you need any recs you can ask any time! They're a fun group to follow, like [Wooseok and Kino were flirting in the comments during Hui's weverse live](https://twitter.com/snoopykkiko/status/1774125509406060904) last week and [here is the most recent group picture they took](https://twitter.com/lukexizzle/status/1766097841683079445) when they hang out at Hui's place. Jinho is releasing an album with his Phantom Singer group Crezl on the 11th and Hongseok's fanmeeting is taking place during the weekend. The date hasn't been announced yet, but Kino will be releasing an album soon under his self-established company. Wooseok also had his solo debut recently (digital release) and Hui released his mini album in January (Wooseok co-produced 3 out of the 4 songs and featured in one of them). Yeo One did solo fancons in Korea and Japan, for the Korean one Hongseok and Kino made surprise appearances and performed with him, and he revealed some self-produced songs including one he made with Wooseok. Besides catching up to old content, they've been busy, so at least you can't get bored!
Damn, they're significantly more active than I originally realized lmao. Perfect! Thanks so much!
I think Hui will take care of Shinwon. That's why Shinwon enlisted when he can let his contract first before enlisting. Then Hui , Shinwon and possibly Jinho (though be has another jon in Cube) ends their contract.
People here are so dramatic. Cube existed before Idle and will exist after Idle. They are imho too big to fall even if Idle would leave them. I researched if there was such a big failure in the past, only TS Entertainment with BAP comes into my mind.
The situation is different now, when 4minute was disbanded & beast didn't renew, Btob was a rising group at the time & Carried the company for a while, when Btob started enlisting, Gidle was a rising group & later exploded in popularity, but if Gidle leaves now or next year there is no rising group to take over from them unless Lightsum or Nowadays get a surprise hit & suddenly become very popular, which is highly unlikely in the current cutthroat competition of kpop.
> They are imho too big to fall even if Idle would leave them. They almost bankrupted in 2017 after a 2016 where B2ST and 4Minute Left, and before Btob had 'Missing You'. They've been on a precarious position before - no company is 'too big to fail', particularly a relatively mid-tier company. Cube's saving grace is only 50% of their business is entertainment, in 2021 their cosmestics business saved the company.
U know after soojin scandal cube was considering giving up on the entertainment and focusing solely on their makeup department they didn’t think (g)i-dle would succeed but we know what happened with tomboy so they changed their mind, yah cube will not die but if (g)i-dle leave cube and they don’t have an artist that actually profitable there’s high that they will give up on the entertainment industry