K-pop group FIFTY FIFTY file to suspend contracts with agency Attrakt

K-pop girl group STAYC are currently preparing to make a comeback next month.On July 17, South Korean news outlet Hankook Ilbo reported that the six-member girl group are in the final preparations of their next comeback in August. Later that day, their agency High Up Entertainment confirmed the news, telling EDaily: “STAYC is preparing with the aim of releasing an album on August 16.”At the time of publishing, the title and format of STAYC’s upcoming release has not been revealed.

EXCLUSIVE: Hayley Atwell predicted that she’d be on strike now.

William Earl “Hotels on Screen” is a new five-episode video series in partnership with Variety and Hotels.com, spotlighting fictional worlds in fan-favorite TV shows and movies where real-life hotels were used as locations and sets. The series, featuring interviews with actors and artisans, aims to inspire fans and audiences to travel and explore hotels around the world. The new sponsored editorial series launches July 13, featuring the newly released film “Joy Ride” with interviews from stars Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu and director Adele Lim. “It’s exciting for us to partner with a marquee brand like Hotels.com to support artisans and actors who create content that stimulates imagination and fosters a desire in their audiences to experience these locations for themselves,” said Dea Lawrence, Variety’s chief operating and marketing officer.

YG Entertainment have fallen amid uncertainties over BLACKPINK‘s contract renewals.Yesterday (July 12), South Korean news outlet Munhwa Ilbo reported that BLACKPINK member Lisa had yet to come to an agreement about a contract renewal with YG Entertainment. It also alleged that Lisa was unlikely to renew her contract with the K-pop agency.Soon after the report, YG Entertainment responded in a statement, saying that “contract renewals are currently under discussion”, though it did not specify which members it was referring to.On the same day stocks of YG Entertainment, listed on the Korea Exchange, fell over six per cent by the end of trading day, closing at ₩74,300.

YG Entertainment has given an update on the contract renewal progress for popular K-pop girl group BLACKPINK.Earlier today (July 12), South Korean news outlet Munhwa Ilbo reported that BLACKPINK member Lisa had yet to come to an agreement about a contract renewal with YG Entertainment. The outlet also alleged that it was likely that Lisa would not renew her contract with the K-pop agency following the expiration of BLACKPINK’s contracts in August.Munhwa Ilbo also cited an anonymous Chinese agency, who told the publication: “We have been working with Lisa and YG Entertainment to see if she can appear on our show, but they have told us that it is difficult to discuss any schedules past August due to uncertainty with contract renewals,” as translated by Koreaboo.Elsewhere in its report, the news agency also claimed that the contract renewal processes for the remaining three BLACKPINK members – namely Jennie, Jisoo and Rosé – are proceeding smoothly, citing an industry insider.YG Entertainment has since responded to Munhwa Ilbo.

Popular Korean singer Lee Sang Eun was found dead on July 6 shortly before a performance, according to police reports.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International “D.P.” creator Kim Bo-tong has signed with CAA for representation. The Korean screenwriter, who is also known as Kim Ho Yeol, is the creator and co-writer of the webtoon “D.P.” which was adapted into the Netflix military drama. The show, which premiered in 2021, earned multiple awards in various categories at the Baeksang Arts Awards in 2022, establishing it as one of the top Korean dramas of the year. “D.P.” returns later this month for Season 2. The series follows a team of Korean military police who are tasked with catching deserters. (Military service is mandatory for men between the ages of 18 and 35 in South Korea.)

Enhypen just announced that they’ll be playing six huge arena shows in the U.S. as part of their upcoming ‘Fate World Tour.’That includes back-to-back concerts at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center on Wednesday, Oct.

LOONA member Yves has shared that she is still looking for a new agency to sign with.On July 6, South Korean news outlet Hankook Ilbo published an interview with the K-pop idol regarding her future in the entertainment industry. In the interview, Yves shared that she is now living with her sister and has been working on writing music.She then revealed that she has also been meeting with several entertainment companies in search of a new agency following her departure from Blockberry Creative in June.“Because of circumstances I couldn’t control, there were things I wasn’t able to accomplish and while composing [music] and writing lyrics, I have a growing sense of wanting to create my own musical colour,” said the idol.

BTS member Jungkook has officially made two of his older solo songs available on streaming services for the first time.Jungkook first released ‘Still With You’ and ‘My You’ in 2022 and 2020, respectively, as part of BTS’ annual Festa celebrations. The songs, which were only available on SoundCloud or YouTube prior, are now available on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.Aside from Spotify and Apple Music, Jungkook’s two solo songs are now also available on South Korean streaming platforms such as VIBE, FLO and Genie, among others.The release of both ‘Still With You’ and ‘My You’ comes just weeks ahead of Jungkook’s debut solo digital single ‘Seven’, which is set to drop on July 14.

Margot Robbie was celebrating big at the premiere of her new movie, Barbie, in South Korea!

MAMAMOO’s Hwasa‘s agency is speaking out amid rumors.

Fall Out Boy have released an updated version of Billy Joel‘s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ with headlines from the past 30 years.Joel’s 1989 Number one hit, ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, includes brief references to 118 significant political, cultural and scientific events between the years of Joel’s birth in 1949 and the song’s release in 1989.Today (June 28), Fall Out Boy shared a modernised version of the track, replacing the original lyrics with standout events from where the song left off in 1989 to 2023.“I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events – some that disappeared into the sands of time –others that changed the world forever,” shared the band on Twitter.“So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years – we felt like a little system update might be fun.

FIFTY FIFTY is suing their agency, ATTRAKT.

Ampere Analysis  presented Tuesday at Spain’s Conecta Fiction.  Ampere’s popularity score is a propriety metric based not on viewership but on the tracking of internet search volume received by a title each month as well as other metrics, Ampere’s Alice Thorpe clarified at the presentation.  The fandom base of Korean series and Japanese anime are concentrated in teen and YA demographics, which are also most avid Internet users. 

EXCLUSIVE: Seoul Searching director Benson Lee has signed with Verve.

MAMAMOO member Hwasa will be leaving her long-time agency RBW, the company has confirmed.Today (June 27), RBW released a statement, per OSEN and translated by Soompi, that MAMAMOO’s Hwasa will be leaving the company after the expiration of her contract. The singer has been with RBW since 2014, when she made her debut as a member of the K-pop girl group.“We inform you that our exclusive contract with Hwasa, who we have worked together with until now, recently expired,” RBW said in its statement.

P Nation, founded by Psy, has confirmed that it is in talks to sign MAMAMOO member Hwasa.Today (June 27), South Korean news outlet Xportnews reported that Hwasa is currently in the final stages of contract discussions with Psy’s P Nation agency. It also noted that the singer’s contract with long-time label RBW is set to expire at the end of June.In response to the news report, P Nation told MyDaily that “A contract with Hwasa has not been confirmed”, while also confirming that it is “currently under discussion”, as translated by Soompi.Hwasa has been signed to RBW since 2014, when she made her debut as a member of K-pop girl group MAMAMOO.

TikTok recently to share the news, writing the following text across one of his videos that featured him listening to music in a car: “When ur dating a girl but ur also a lil bit into men.” Now, it seems clear that Lauv is not straight, but how exactly he identifies isn’t obvious, at least from what was shared in the clip. Lauv continued the conversation in the comments on the video, explaining how he’s come to this realization.

Warner Music Korea, the South Korean subsidiary of Warner Music, has issued a statement against claims by their agency Attrakt that it had attempted to illegally poach members of girl group FIFTY FIFTY.On June 26, K-pop girl group FIFTY FIFTY’s label Attrakt released a statement claiming that Warner Music Korea had been colluding with an unnamed third party to illegally poach members of the group.“We have evidence of [an outside party] clearly attempting to poach FIFTY FIFTY members illegally, and we request Warner Music Korea to provide an adequate explanation and answers,” said Attrakt earlier today, per Korea JoongAng Daily.This also comes several days after Attrakt stated last Friday (June 23) that it would take legal action against other agencies that had been spreading negative rumours about it “in an attempt to lure the members of FIFTY FIFTY” into breaking their exclusive contracts.Warner Music Korea has since denied the claims made by Attrakt in a new statement, per XSportsNews. “First, as FIFTY FIFTY’s overseas distributor, Warner Music Korea has has been working [with FIFTY FIFTY] since April 1, 2023,” it said, as translated by Soompi.“We have done our best to make the dazzling achievements of FIFTY FIFTY and their agency shine even brighter by mobilising Warner Music Group’s abilities and network, so we are very sorry that such unfortunate suspicions were raised,” added Warner Music Korea.The agency went on to say: “Attrakt’s claims are groundless, and we are regretful that they have sent [us] a certification of contents.