BTOB leaves Cube Entertainment after 11 years

The boy band BTOB, which debuted in 2012, not only possesses strong singing and stage performance abilities, but the members also excel in various other areas. From variety shows to dramas and even their every new song release, they become the talk of the town, constantly gaining popularity.

However, BTOB, which is about to enter its 12th year since debut, has successfully renewed its contract once, but there are rumors that the group's contract renewal is still not finalized. There are also reports of a member preparing to leave and a group contract fee of 60 billion Korean Won. All of these reports have been categorically denied by CUBE.

On Nov 6, Korean media reported that the contracts of all members of BTOB with CUBE have already ended last week and they have decided not to renew. However, the reason for the failure to renew is not the previously reported issue with the renewal fee, but a dispute over the use of the group's trademark.

Image Source l theqoo

In fact, on the 1st of this month, BTOB and CUBE's second renewal is imminent, and after the members contacted other planning companies, a group contract fee of 60 billion Korean won was offered because they were interested in attracting BTOB's trademark.

But according to industry insiders, BTOB is not only a rare group with both song performance and production capabilities, but also explores variety shows and acting. Therefore, it is true that they have been offered a high contract fee for BTOB, but all the members have a strong desire to maintain the group BTOB. Hence, they have adjusted the final contract fee with CUBE Entertainment.

Image Source l cube_official_btob

However, during the negotiation process, CUBE demanded a share of the entire team's sales revenue in return for BTOB's trademark rights, leading to a breakdown in negotiations and no mutual agreement. In response to this, CUBE released its official stance earlier stating, "After a long and careful discussion with members before the expiration of BTOB’s second exclusive contract, we decided not to renew the contract after mutual negotiations". "CUBE Entertainment and BTOB's Seo Eun Kwang, Lee Min Hyuk, Lee Chang Sub, Lim Hyun Sik, PENIEL, and Yook Sung Jae have officially ended their 11-year exclusive contract with BTOB".

Image Source l cube_official_btob

After BTOB's contract renewal with CUBE fell through, it immediately sparked a discussion amongst netizens. Although many were confused about CUBE's intention to take a cut from the group's use of the trademark, they felt that even after paying for the trademark, the company still insisted on taking a share, leading netizens to exclaim, "Why do we have to pay for using our own brand and then still give a part of the profits to the company?", "CUBE is still doing the same as always.", "Even if BTOB changes their name to CTOC now, they will still be popular.", "This must be why BEAST changed its name to HIGHLIGHT.", sparking a heated discussion.