The renewal of BIGBANG members' contracts could be crucial to YG Entertainment's state of finances, but the label may hold a trump card in making G-Dragon and Taeyang stay with the agency.
According to a report by All Kpop, the re-signing of its top artists G-Dragon and Taeyang could depend on the rights to their stage names. YG acquired the trademarks to the Korean and English versions of G-Dragon's name as early as 2003 before BIGBANG's debut in 2006.
YG Entertainment also owned the rights to Taeyang's English name. It was reported that the label was not able to secure the trademark for Taeyang's Korean name since it was synonymous with the word Sun. The label registered the trademark for Taeyang in 2015. It was reported that YG also acquired the trademark for the duo's name GD X Taeyang in 2015.
This means that if G-Dragon and Taeyang do not renew their contracts with the label, they will be unable to use their stage names as they move forward in their careers. This also means that G-Dragon will be unable to use the name GD which is closely associated with G-Dragon.
While VIPs well know both artists by their real names Kwon Jiyong and Youngbae, industry experts believe that this will affect the personal brands they have established over the years.
Entertainment pundits presented another perspective on the importance of G-Dragon and Taeyang's continued affiliation with YG Entertainment.
According to experts, since G-Dragon and Taeyang are the only members of BIGBANG that have not been involved in any major scandals, they can help uplift the image of the agency amid controversies plaguing former CEO Yang Hyun Suk and former BIGBANG member Seungri.
"If there's little chance that the entire BIGBANG will move to another company, G-Dragon and Taeyang are sure to be powerful solo artists if they don't re-sign. In this regard, it's YG, which has a wide range of trademark rights which is likely to benefit from the renewal," a securities firm researcher, said. Experts cited that GD and Taeyang could factor two things in their decision on whether to renew their contracts with YG - loyalty for the firm that trained and made them stars, as well as the agency's rights to their stage names.
A separate report from Koreaboo cited projections made by market analysts from Yuanta Securities Korea Co. Ltd. on the urgency of the duo's decision to re-sign with YG.
"If BIGBANG promotes, BIGBANG's profits are predicted to be 30 billion won (~ USD 25 million). If not, they will likely reach 10 billion won (~ USD 8 million)," experts said.
