Cube Entertainment to launch first boy group in eight years

Cube Entertainment is launching a new boy group called Nowadays in the first half of this year.

The launch was made official with the agency establishing social media channels for the upcoming boy group on Monday.

Nowadays is the first boy group debuting from Cube Entertainment in eight years. Pentagon was its last boy group.

Nowadays consists of five members whose details will be unveiled in the days leading up to their debut.

Cube Entertainment dropped a clip of the group members roaming around London on its official YouTube channel Tuesday.

The clip revealed that Kim Hyun-bin, one of the K-pop trainees who starred in Mnet's K-pop idol survival program "Produce X 101," is set to debut as a member of Nowadays.

According to Cube Entertainment, it took a long time for the agency to launch a new boy group as the agency has been working with its trainees to build solid vocal and performance skills.

The agency hopes the new group can help diversify its intellectual property portfolio as most of its revenue at the moment is generated by the K-pop girl group (G)I-dle.

“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.

The agency does not have any active boy groups at the moment.

Last year, the agency failed to extend its exclusive contract with all members of its successful boy group BTOB, which enjoys a strong fandom.

Most members of Cube’s boy group Pentagon -- Yeo One, Yana, Kino and Wooseok -- left the agency after their exclusive contract expired, effectively halting the band's activities.