ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – Cube Entertainment is set to debut a new boy group named Nowadays in the first half of this year, as announced on Monday through the establishment of social media channels.
This marks the first boy group debut from Cube Entertainment in eight years, following Pentagon. Nowadays comprises five members, with their details to be revealed gradually leading up to their debut.
A clip released on Cube Entertainment’s official YouTube channel on Tuesday showed the group members exploring London. Notably, Kim Hyun-bin, known from Mnet’s ‘Produce X 101’, is confirmed to debut as part of Nowadays.
Cube Entertainment cited the time taken to hone the trainees’ vocal and performance skills as a reason for the delay in launching a new boy group.
The agency aims for the new group to broaden its intellectual property portfolio, given that the majority of its current revenue is derived from 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. – Hong Yoo
