Project girl group Kep1er will not extend its term beyond July, when it is due to end, according to a local media report on Thursday. The nine members will go separate ways when the group project ends but not before releasing an album and hosting a concert, it added. Management companies of the members – WakeOne and Swing -- gathered once last year to discuss continuing on as Kep1er but did not reach a decision. WakeOne Entertainment said that it is still in talks with the other agency as

K-pop powerhouse Hybe announced that it will file a complaint against sublabel Ador CEO Min Hee-jin and other executives on the charge of breach of trust on Thursday. In a statement, Hybe said that through the audit of Ador that began Monday, it has obtained concrete evidence of a plan led by Min to seize control of the sublabel, which manages popular girl group NewJeans. Hybe said one of the people subject to the audit has submitted evidence proving the alleged attempts of Ador executives to ta

Some fans of girl group NewJeans staged a protest outside the building of K-pop giant Hybe in Seoul on Wednesday, deploying a "protest truck" to voice their grievances against the chief of its sub-label in an escalating conflict with the parent company. "Min Hee-jin should no longer use NewJeans and its family," blared an electronic billboard mounted on the truck sent by the members of Bunnies, the group's fandom. Min is the CEO of ADOR. Other messages repeatedly flashed

K-pop powerhouse Hybe’s multilabel system is being tested as it has locked horns with one of its sublabels, Ador. Executives of Ador, the agency housing popular K-pop girl group NewJeans, began sending complaint emails to their parent company on April 3, about a week after the launch of Illit, a new girl group, by another Hybe sublabel, Belift Lab. Shin Dong-hoon, vice president of Ador, demanded that Hybe CEO Park Ji-won and Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae-ho address the conflict of interest surro

Stray Kids uploaded a teaser photograph for upcoming digital single Wednesday. The band of eight gazed into the camera exuding calm energy for much-hyped single “Lose My Breath,” a collaboration with Charlie Puth. The producing trio within the band – of Bangchan, Changbin and Han – participated in writing the song as it has for all lead singles since its debut in 2018. The digital single will be unveiled on May 10. Separately, the band’s “Why?,” its firs

Ateez announced plans for its North American tour Tuesday via agency KQ Entertainment. The band will resume the American leg of tour “Towards the Light: Will to Power” that began with a concert in Seoul in January, starting with a live show in Tacoma, US on July 14. It will then visit nine cities in the US and Canada, including: Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York and Toronto. The eight-member act hinted at visiting the region, telling the audience that it will be back in the US thi

K-pop giant Hybe has initiated an audit of its subsidiary Ador, home to NewJeans, claiming that Ador CEO Min Hee-jin attempted a takeover of the sublabel. This is the first time that Hybe, the parent company for multiple smaller K-pop labels, has taken such a move against a subsidiary. Min, who is also the producer of popular K-pop girl group NewJeans, has denied the allegation, arguing that Hybe took action against her after she pointed out that the entertainment monolith's new K-pop girl

Plave, the virtual K-pop boy group launched by Vlast, aims to expand its reach overseas this year. “Our goal for Plave this year is to go global. We are currently in negotiations with an agency abroad for the group’s launch in foreign music markets. We are close to inking the deal,” said Lee Sung-gu, CEO of Vlast, during a press conference in Seoul on Monday. Vlast is a virtual intellectual property startup that created and manages Plave. “We are creating a whole new genr

Rookie girl group Illit generated 100 million streams on Spotify with its debut single “Magnetic,” said agency Belift Lab on Monday citing the platform’s data. It reached the milestone in 26 days and set a record for a K-pop girl group’s debut song. The single fronted the EP “Super Real Me” and made Billboard’s Hot 100 and the UK’s Official Singles Top 100 charts, at No. 91 and No. 87 respectively, becoming the first debut song from a K-pop artist

Experts say such shows do not aim for high ratings

The six-piece-band Xdinary Heroes kicked off a five-month-long project with the solo concert “Closed beta ver. 6” on Sunday, which continued from Friday for three days. The concert, which took place at Yes24 Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, comes after successfully wrapping up the sextets’ first world tour last month. Xdinary Heroes, a rock band that debuted in 2021 under JYP Entertainment's sub-label Studio J, will showcase a five-month-long “2024 Xperiment Project&rdquo

Ateez is returning to the K-pop scene with their 10th EP, “Golden Hour: Part.1,” which will be released on May 31. KQ Entertainment dropped a poster and announced the promotion schedule for the new album on Monday. From this week, more concept photos, a track list poster, an album preview and a music video teaser will be revealed, the agency said. The K-pop group teased their comeback on stage during their performance at the Coachella Valley Music Festival performance on April 19. Th

K-pop girl group aespa is releasing its first studio album, “Armageddon,” on May 27. SM Entertainment said the LP will be led by two title tracks: “Supernova” and “Armageddon.” “Supernova” will be released on May 13 before the official album release. The album carries a total of 10 tracks with diverse genres including hip-hop, dance and ballad music. The agency hinted that the studio album will serve as an introduction to the second chapter of the

Over the past nine years, Doyoung has built a career as the vocalist of the popular K-pop boy group NCT. But it was just a year ago, as NCT embarked on a world tour and released various albums, when Doyoung realized he was ready to debut as a soloist. “Last year, I released three albums as a member of NCT when one of our vocalists Taeil took a break due to health concerns. I felt pressure in having to fill in his void. But after having overcome such challenges, I thought I had improved my

Yunho, a member of K-pop boy band Ateez, threw the first pitch at a Major League Baseball match between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, his agency, KQ Entertainment, said Sunday. Yunho, a vehement baseball fan since his childhood, mounted the ground and pitched the first ball to open the match held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday (U.S. time). He and three other Ateez members, Yeosang, Wooyoung and Jongho, were invited to the event. "It was an honor to step onto t