GOT7 to Terminate Contract with JYP Entertainment
GOT7 decided on Jan. 11 not to extend its contract with JYP Entertainment from Jan. 19. Then, the stock price of the entertainment company fell 4.23 percent. This year is the seventh year of the contract and GOT7, which sold more than 450,000 albums last year, has become another one of many K-pop idols that terminated their exclusive contracts in seven years, which is stipulated by the Korea Fair Trade Commission as the maximum period of such contracts.
At present, many idols representing major entertainment companies such as JYP, SM, YG and Big Hit are approaching or already reached the seventh year of their exclusive contracts. Much attention is being paid to their rookies under the circumstances and with the entertainment industry hit hard by COVID-19.
Those include NiziU of JYP, which debuted last month. The girl group passed a global joint audition of JYP and Sony Music. Every member of the group is Japanese and the training system is entirely Korean. NiziU is boosting its popularity in Japan. Its debut single Step and a Step, released on Dec. 2, topped the Oricon Singles Chart in the first week and on Jan. 6. More than 300,000 albums were sold in the first week.
SM Entertainment Aespa debuted in November last year. The girl group is the first one of its kind in that it consists of four human and four avatar members. SM’s business performance is likely to be greatly affected by Aespa in that Girls’ Generation, which led the growth of SM, is already split and Red Velvet is in its seventh year.
Aespa’s first music video Black Mamba reached one million YouTube views in 51 days and 12 hours on Jan. 8, the shortest among K-pop idol groups’ first music videos. In addition, it successfully joined the Billboard Global and Global 200 charts as well as the QQ Music Chart.
YG’s 12-member boy group Treasure debuted in August last year. It sold more than 700,000 albums in three months to boost the company’s stock price with its rookie girl group Black Pink. Treasure’s first regular album title My Treasure was released on Jan. 11 and immediately topped the AWA Rapid Rise Chart in Japan. Its first regular album topped the iTunes Chart in 18 countries.