The 7th year is an important turning point in the career of an idol group because it’s when their exclusive contract ends
The fact that many groups became scattered or disbanded after celebrating the 7th anniversary has led to the thing called “the 7-year jinx”. Despite that, some groups have succeeded in renewing contracts as a whole group or reunited and maintained group activities even after members moved to different companies.
As a result, the public is paying attention to how idol groups that debuted in 2016 and celebrated their 7th anniversary this year have dealt with the “7-year jinx”.
ASTRO debuted in February 2016 and reorganized the group after Rocky’s withdrawal. Fantagio announced that all members had renewed their contracts in December last year, except Rocky and MJ, who would discuss the contract issue after his military discharge. Rocky eventually left the group in March after his contract expired and ASTRO members have been focusing on individual activities since then.
Also making their debut in February 2016, WJSN announced a new start as an 8-member group after Luda and Dawon left Starship. Although WJSN failed to renew their contracts with full members, they will continue doing group promotions with a newly organized team.
MOMOLAND debuted with the mini album “Welcome to MOMOLAND” in 2016 and released various hit songs, such as “Bboom Bboom”, “BAAM” and “Thumbs Up”. However, the members did not extend their contracts with MLD and the group officially disbanded in January this year. Despite that, the members shared, “Although six of us are scattered, we are a team forever and be with our fans as MOMOLAND”.
VICTON is almost disbanded as members Choi Byung-chan, Do Han-se, and Jung Soo-bin ended their exclusive contracts with IST Entertainment in April. Han Seung-woo, Kang Seung-sik and Lim Se-joon remained in the agency as their exclusive contract period had been changed due to their military enlistment and also began carrying out individual activities.
SF9 was recently reorganized into an 8-member group with Rowoon’s departure. While all members decided to renew their contracts with FNC, Rowoon decided to withdraw from the group to focus on his personal activities, especially his acting career. Explaining his decision, Rowoon said he wanted to take on new challenges.
5 of 9 PENTAGON members have left CUBE Entertainment. As fans expressed concerns over the group disbandment after CUBE announced Yeo One, Yan An, Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok’s exclusive contract expiry, the members reassured fans, saying they are not leaving the group or disbanding.
In addition, BLACKPINK is still discussing the renewal of their contracts after celebrating the group’s 7th anniversary in August. Since the end of last year, various rumors regarding BLACKPINK’s contract issues have been spreading, from members not extending contracts to establishing one-man agencies. However, YG still maintains only one position, saying “nothing has been confirmed regarding BLACKPINK’s contract renewal and future activities”.
Source: Daum
