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I-Land (3)
Regardless of who is going to make it, I really wonder how much of the public will catch on to them, and will their debut even be successful? What is the definition of success? Would they beat physical sales of Treasure, who also debuted this year? Would their song make it to the charts with so many competitions? Will they be promoting overseas more, consistent with their 'global idol' premise? Will the so-called 'global' fans continue to support the group after the show is over?
Because I've seen this before. Other than groups from Produce series which were extraordinarily popular, groups formed by non-agency specific survival shows tend to not do well. Winners of MIXNINE did not even get to debut. UNB and UNI.T from The Unit, 1THE9 from Under Nineteen, TOO from World Klass, all performed so-so if not poorly. Their debut lacked hype despite having been on national television survival shows. The first three disbanded without barely making any dent in the idol industry. UNB sold okay I guess the first time, and I also liked their debut song. UNI.T released one last comeback before disbanding with a low budget MV. The song was a bop (Brave Brothers Bop TM), but no one knows it. That was it, after all of those blood, sweat, and tears we witnessed during the show. It pains me to see this. All they wanted was to debut, but if after debuting your group isn't successful, was it worth throwing your youth away?
The industry is so oversaturated, only a handful can survive. I worry every time I see debut plans even when they are from a well-established agency, let alone from a small company. Back then, there weren't that many competitions. Agencies of 2nd gen groups that used to be top to mid-tier now are debuting younger groups, expecting fandom spillover from their senior groups, and hoping for the public to catch on. That strategy doesn't always work.
Woollim's INFINITE's brother group Golden Child never really catches on? Or their songs are just not my taste. They suffered member departure, they also joined Road to Kingdom. They are still growing their numbers, but it's been two years since their debut and one would hope the numbers were better than it actually is. They are already getting ready to debut another group, I'm not sure how the dynamics will be in the Woollim fandom.
TOP Media's Teen TOP's brother group UP10TION was such a waste. They had so much potential but never really take off. Wooshin was caught in an overblown controversy and then took a time off. They sent two people to Produce X last year which later on caught in a voting manipulation scandal. Now Wooshin and Jinhyuk are doing solo stuff (?) UP10TION is left with 7 (?) members, and the agency already debuted an even younger group (MCND). Where can UP10TION go from here without their most popular members, I personally can't see it.
Jellyfish's VIXX's brother group VERIVERY also struggled to grow. They also went to Road to Kingdom to elevate some public recognition, I don't know if that helped at all.
CUBE's BToB's brother group Pentagon... sigh. So much potential. Hui is a genius, CUBE is a huge agency. Many don't want to admit this, but E'Dawn's departure was a huge blow to the group as they were just taking off with the success of Shine. E'Dawn was the most charismatic member and he was a big part of the group's musical direction. After they lost E'Dawn, now their oldest member Jinho already has to leave for military enlistment, Yanan kept getting sick and stayed in China, Pentagon just never really.... catches on.
FNC's SF9 is doing better I guess, with some music show wins and sales exceeding 100k on GAON. The agency is now gearing to debut a new group, P1Harmony.
This is just a very small example, and even they are somewhat successful and resourceful compared to many, many, other groups whose physical sales never even surpassed 10K, who has no previously somewhat famous brother groups, whose company does not have any money to fund proper comebacks, who only releasing digitally because they can't produce CDs, whose company has to resource to crowd-funding their projects via MakeStar.
We are now at a point where 3rd gen idol groups already have brother groups.
I'm not even talking about talent or song quality. Many of these kids competed against dozens to hundreds of people, survived years of training period, they are the best people their agency can come up with, there is no doubt that they are all very talented groups of people. Many of them also have really good songs, they're just buried in the mountain of constant releases, and only a small number of people give them any chance or listen.
So, where would the group from I-Land stand in this oversaturated industry?
Because I've seen this before. Other than groups from Produce series which were extraordinarily popular, groups formed by non-agency specific survival shows tend to not do well. Winners of MIXNINE did not even get to debut. UNB and UNI.T from The Unit, 1THE9 from Under Nineteen, TOO from World Klass, all performed so-so if not poorly. Their debut lacked hype despite having been on national television survival shows. The first three disbanded without barely making any dent in the idol industry. UNB sold okay I guess the first time, and I also liked their debut song. UNI.T released one last comeback before disbanding with a low budget MV. The song was a bop (Brave Brothers Bop TM), but no one knows it. That was it, after all of those blood, sweat, and tears we witnessed during the show. It pains me to see this. All they wanted was to debut, but if after debuting your group isn't successful, was it worth throwing your youth away?
The industry is so oversaturated, only a handful can survive. I worry every time I see debut plans even when they are from a well-established agency, let alone from a small company. Back then, there weren't that many competitions. Agencies of 2nd gen groups that used to be top to mid-tier now are debuting younger groups, expecting fandom spillover from their senior groups, and hoping for the public to catch on. That strategy doesn't always work.
Woollim's INFINITE's brother group Golden Child never really catches on? Or their songs are just not my taste. They suffered member departure, they also joined Road to Kingdom. They are still growing their numbers, but it's been two years since their debut and one would hope the numbers were better than it actually is. They are already getting ready to debut another group, I'm not sure how the dynamics will be in the Woollim fandom.
TOP Media's Teen TOP's brother group UP10TION was such a waste. They had so much potential but never really take off. Wooshin was caught in an overblown controversy and then took a time off. They sent two people to Produce X last year which later on caught in a voting manipulation scandal. Now Wooshin and Jinhyuk are doing solo stuff (?) UP10TION is left with 7 (?) members, and the agency already debuted an even younger group (MCND). Where can UP10TION go from here without their most popular members, I personally can't see it.
Jellyfish's VIXX's brother group VERIVERY also struggled to grow. They also went to Road to Kingdom to elevate some public recognition, I don't know if that helped at all.
CUBE's BToB's brother group Pentagon... sigh. So much potential. Hui is a genius, CUBE is a huge agency. Many don't want to admit this, but E'Dawn's departure was a huge blow to the group as they were just taking off with the success of Shine. E'Dawn was the most charismatic member and he was a big part of the group's musical direction. After they lost E'Dawn, now their oldest member Jinho already has to leave for military enlistment, Yanan kept getting sick and stayed in China, Pentagon just never really.... catches on.
FNC's SF9 is doing better I guess, with some music show wins and sales exceeding 100k on GAON. The agency is now gearing to debut a new group, P1Harmony.
This is just a very small example, and even they are somewhat successful and resourceful compared to many, many, other groups whose physical sales never even surpassed 10K, who has no previously somewhat famous brother groups, whose company does not have any money to fund proper comebacks, who only releasing digitally because they can't produce CDs, whose company has to resource to crowd-funding their projects via MakeStar.
We are now at a point where 3rd gen idol groups already have brother groups.
I'm not even talking about talent or song quality. Many of these kids competed against dozens to hundreds of people, survived years of training period, they are the best people their agency can come up with, there is no doubt that they are all very talented groups of people. Many of them also have really good songs, they're just buried in the mountain of constant releases, and only a small number of people give them any chance or listen.
So, where would the group from I-Land stand in this oversaturated industry?