IZONE News and Discussion Thread

this debat won't get us nowhere, just let it be for what that could be happen in futures, any path they choose, stay or disbanded, too obvious that they'll earn something but yet losing something at the same time, just give them a full supports atm, who knows it might helps them even a bit in future

 

Can we stop with the whole "kpop fans have a superiority complex" narrative? Fans wanting the girls to stay permanent is normal. Even if you know and accept something will end, it's totally fine for you to still voice your wish of that thing you enjoy so much staying the same forever. Fans wanting izone to be permanent doesn't automatically mean they're kpop fans with a superiority complex. It's not a bad thing to wish your favorite group doesn't disband.

Also, a Nako fan who found her after falling for HKT will want her to go back. A Nako fan who found her after falling for IZ*ONE will want her to stay. When an idol graduates from their group, many jpop fans end up not following their future activities because it's not something they're completely interested in. So if a kpop fan ends up not following the jline members when iz*one disbands because they aren't a fan of the jpop idol system, can you truly blame them? Many Nako fans stopped supporting HKT, and many HKT fans stopped supporting Nako. I also know many Juri fans who stopped following her when she went to korea, i wonder why...

It doesn't make any fan worse than the other, at the end of the day being an idol fan is a hobby. If the hobby no longer interests you for whatever reason, you move on. That's how being an idol fan works.
*using nako and juri as examples.

Anyway, after first listen I'm not entirely keen on the secret story of the swan (tssots / swan) but i also didn't feel too amazed by fiesta and then the mv came out and changed my entire view on the song, now i listen to it all the time! So I have hope for this song!

Some sale details I found on from various users on twitter; pre-orders from kfans where around 108k, and chinese fans around 104k, ktown4u has at least 60k sales too. But this information was around 24 hours ago so I'll update more if anyone is interested!

Twice's 9th mini album beat bloomiz first day sales record, but failed to beat the weekly record. I love seeing friendly competition between these groups, makes you realize how much the group has grown and how much support they've gotten from fans in such a short time.

 

Do the people who want an extension of Izone know what they speak about. One sales STU 48 the newest and most unknow 48 group did outsale Izones first and second japanese singles. Two you speak about income for the members, we know that 48 group members get a salary, i Kpop you get a debt to pay off. Third Neither AKS what they now call themselfs or HKT will not being inytressed in an extention. That's mean that the J-line has to leave there Agencys and get hitted by the two years ban from showbusiness. Can Izone work without japan for two years?

 

How many members does STU48 and how many does IZ*ONE have? Not to mention the fact that yo uare only talking about IZ*ONE's japanese singles. Bloom*IZ outsold STU48 I'm quite sure and Oneiric Diary is well on its way for doing the same.

The J-line wouldn't have any debt and all of the Korean members have most likely paid off their debt already. IZ*ONE makes a LOT of money and any debt would have been paid off already. IOI members managed to pay off their debt with the time they were active, I see no reason for why the IZ*ONE girls wouldn't have been able to do this.

How do you know that?

 

If you ask somebody around the world who IZ*ONE is over who HKT is, I’m pretty sure statistically you’ll get a higher response on individuals that know who IZ*ONE is considering they’ve travelled overseas to many countries before.

What has AKS done in terms of overseas promotions, scraps and dust reminiscent to how Johnny’s operates.

 

I didn't mean that this japanese tracks release is a vendetta, but a way to say they can do things for Japanese WIZ*ONE on their own and that Vernalossom is not needed anymore. The MV of Vampire was recorded and produced in Korea, so they can easily prepare songs and videos for a new Japanese single in Korea, the HT events can be postponed for a date in which the quarantine is over, or do sessions on ZOOM, I think NMB did that and it went pretty well. But it doesn't seem anything like that is going to happen, and as I said before, I doesn't seem they'll keep working with Vernalossom if the group becomes permanent either.

And pardon my ignorance, but since when CJ has the distribution rights for AKB in Korea?

I think it'll depend on her perspective. It's been nearly 10 since she debuted, but if you count the time since she got her momentum then it's been like 5 years. But I agree that she should rest 4-6 months is totally fine.

 

In kpop, you get royalties/percentage of income you bring in. This is why members of unpopular groups can struggle with debt. With that same system however, popular groups can make insane bank.

Members who participate in lyrics also get paid for that and composing songs I think also leads to royalties. The J-line have all wrote lyrics and Sakura is learning how to compose music, so hopefully a self composed song is in the works.

Salaries = higher floor/lower ceiling.
Royalties = lower floor/higher ceiling.

With all that said, I feel like it's obvious that Iz*One is a very popular group so it wouldn't surprise me if they made more money with the k-pop system then with the 48g one.

As for whether the members want to extend or not, none of us know. Also it's not like everything is about money. Juri left for what sounded like more personal reasons. J-line could want to stay/leave for similar reasons as well.

 

not sure why people are getting so worked up about this... none of the korean agencies will sell their artists' contracts to CJ, so everything else is a moot point.

 

izone will do a live vlive on 14th, a day before OD comeback https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/109/0004221706

Also, izone will do a Q&A session on TwitterBlueroom Live!
https://mobile.twitter.com/official_izone/status/1270581484563226624

 

exactly... if the shoe had been on the other foot and it was IZ*ONE that didn't have a contract signed, they would have gotten disbanded just like X1 did... I guess none of the KR agencies wanted to take CJ to court to get out of the contract, so IZ*ONE could continue but I don't think the agencies are really all too happy with all that happened with the rigging scandal either. I don't see anything beyond a limited extension (say 2 or 3 months) and even that is probably the best case scenario since they must already be starting to work on their plans for their members to return in about 10 months.

 

I'm a complete K-pop noob here, but I heard that fans buy more albums because that means more chances to be able to win a seat to their fansigns. Would that "winning a seat to their fansigns" be considered a real life benefit? Just seeking clarification since I know nothing about this.

 

I think this is because of scheduling issues, the audio was still mixed in Japan.

After Produce 48, AKS and Stone (CJ) signed a distribution deal to distribute all AKB singles on all major Korean streaming platforms.

[oversize image]

Fansign "entries" only count to in store purchases at certain stores in which Stone has partnered with at release day. There is no handshake/fansign golden ticket within the album contents. Thus we can generally state that being off by 10-20k, IZ*ONE still has an astounding success in terms of album sales.

1. STU48 has handshake tickets in their singles, IZ*ONE doesn't. That alone is enough.
2. If you're not SSK level, you're legitimately going to get paid on average in Japan.
3. The K-Pop industry only has debt because you're nurtured and "taken care" of in the agency. They house you, they feed you, they train you. That has a cost, which is a debt when you debut. It means that when you debut and get paid, agencies take a percentage, allow the idols a living cost until you break even. Once you break even, you get your full salary.

However, if we remember, the J-line IZ*ONE members never had a debt. They joined a show to ultimately debut in PRODUCE 48. They would be receiving income not just only from performances but also ongoing copyright royalties. Even if they did have a debt of 2 months, it would have been paid off from La Vie En Rose.

4. Again as I said, a kennin situation would be best for the J-line members. They can return to their sentimental roots whilst also receiving international fame in IZ*ONE. Is this going to happen though? Highly unlikely.

 

Altough I agree about what you mentioned about IZ*ONE being disbanded if there wasn't a contract and that agencies might not have liked that the group kept going at all.

But that's a big reason for the agencies to sell girls' contract to CJ. The probabilities for the girls to be as successful as in IZ*ONE, while being in their own agencies are near to zero (J-line doesn't count here). And with the controversy is a lot of easier for the agencies to sell the contracts of the girls to CJ, which has shown it's able to protect the girls so the group can continue (altough is just for money); than doing all of that for themselves when some of those agency aren't big enough to properly support and defend the girls.

Again, I agree there's no point in doing an extension of the agencies didn't like the idea of the group resuming its activities. But there's no point in keeping the girls for themselves If there's no guarantee of success while dealing with the controversy either.

 

I almost think like the difference between IZ*ONE and X1 was that the members in X1 were more valuable to their label, hence the reluctance to sign a contract even during Flash era. It makes it seem like the rig being revealed was almost planned.

Let's compare IZ*ONE to X1.
IZ*ONE

• Starship (Wonyoung, Yujin's label) has no plans to debut a new girl group as they continue to work on WJSN.
  
• Woollim (Eunbi, Chaewon's label) has just debuted Rocket Punch.
  
• 8D Creative (Hyewon's label) is currently on track to debut a girl group, however this seems to be a long time away.
• Music Works has basically nothing for Minju at this point.
• WM has nothing for Chaeyeon, perhaps prepping for a girl group.
• Stone has their new girl group project but they keep delaying it.

X1

• Starship was expected to release a boy group containing all X101 members besides Moon Hyunbin. This turned out to be true this year with CRAVITY.
• Woollim was also expected to release a boy group rookie program. Woollim Rookies became a thing.
• Oui had a whole bunch of television deals for Yohan. Ones in which they could cash him in. Final blow was when he was announced to appear in School 2k20 (now cancelled) a week after X1 disbanded.
• TOP Media will always have ulterior motives as long as money involved, so they picked out Wooseok to go solo.
• Ultimately the labels that lose the most in X1 were MBK, DSP and Brand New.

Keep in mind that television ratings for the PRODUCE series were dwindling down as well. I think the fact that the IZ*girls didn't have clear plans as well a pre-set contracts allowed them to continue on. Not to mention the budget on BLOOM*IZ. Just Fiesta alone would have costed millions.

 

you guys still in this kind of arguments, while i'm crying like a baby a while ago after watching izone chu latest episode, not just i'm impressed with the kwiz, but also the girls, the situation may not the same at all, but it's reminds me of how akb makes performances with just a little amount of fans, long time ago, and after reading even just partial of the translation of WITH*ONE lyrics, no words, just crying alone in my room

IZ*ONE (Secret Story of the Swan) MV Teaser 1
https://www.vlive.tv/video/196268?channelCode=C1B7AF

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

^ speaking of...
Partial translation of with*one I found on youtube from the sneak peak we got.

if the video does not show watch the video here
"Promise you won't change"
"While waiting I woke up again thinking of you"
"As much as it hurt, I'll protect you"
"Our pretty memories will blossom into flowers"
"The words I held back in the time that has passed, I'll tell you now"

 

IZ*ONE Comeback Show: ONERIC DIARY Teaser

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

^
These teasers just make it harder to wait for the release date lol.

After all the crazy hair colors, I think Sakura still looks her best in short black hair. It also preserves her japanese-look.

For the akb singles, I think there's always someone competent that can take someone's place which we see in performances when one or more girls are absent. It doesn't really change much imo. And does it really make a difference if say there's 1 gril from hkt and 2 for nmb vs. 1 from nmb and 2 for hkt? And the ssk was years ago -- the rankings aren't supposed to carry-forward forever. I guess a particular member does matter in handshakes because when you buy a ticket for someone, I believe you bought it to meet that girl and not someone else. Anyway, I agree that a long extension is unlikely but let's just see what happens.

I think there is no contract that can't be bought if the offer is high enough.

 

M COUNTDOWN 'IZ*ONE Comeback Countdown' for next week's edition of the show (with English subs):


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

IZ*ONE (Secret Story of the Swan) MV Teaser 2
https://www.vlive.tv/video/196653?channelCode=C1B7AF

if the video does not show watch the video here