It's a big question today if the BLACKPINK members will renew their contracts with YG Entertainment. Jisoo, Rose, Lisa, and Jennie's deals with the company are about to expire in August.
BLACKPINK is currently on a world tour, which is said to be their last official activity with YG before the group's contract expires this year. Being with the agency for years, industry officials are concerned about the girls' possible non-renewal of their agreements.
Sports World noted that industry officials show concern over many experts' predictions that the company will fail to renew the group's contract due to the many issues with the renewal. Considering the company's history, the girls debuted in 2016, when 2NE1 faced contract renewal problems.
When the girls officially debuted, their senior group's activities ended. By the looks of it, the firm chose to invest its resources in the new group, and the same thing might happen again with the nearing debut of the new YG girl group Baby Monsters.
Yang Hyun Suk will be Baby Monsters' chief producer as their official debut will happen later this year. Aside from that, BLACKPINK is also said to be facing challenges in sustaining its success due to the emergence of new and younger girl groups.
NewJeans, IVE, and Le Sserafim are now gaining traction after debuting in 2022 and being dubbed the new generation of top K-pop girl groups. Also, as Jisoo, Rose, Lisa, and Jennie have already established themselves in the music and TV scenes, they can work things out independently without needing group activities.
So, if the group decides not to renew their contracts, the girls can no longer use the name BLACKPINK which may result in disbandment. Hence, as YG owns its name for promotions, it has to secure the contracts of its four members.
Meanwhile, NH Investment & Securities predicts that the "Pink Venom" hitmakers will renew their contract. However, Muhwa Ilbo claims YG will have a hard time doing so, knowing the girls are receiving much bigger offers elsewhere.
An insider revealed that Lisa has a hundred billion won offer to switch labels, which YG may find difficult to match. That said, it has to raise the game and offer each member at least 20 billion won.
But with the upcoming introduction of Baby Monsters, some believe it's YG's way to mitigate its possible failure to renew its deal with BLACKPINK. Jisoo, Rose, Lisa, and Jennie are set to close their world tour in June, two months before their contracts end, allegedly making YG more anxious.
