"LET THIS BE A TREND IN THE INDUSTRY"- Fans react as (G)I-DLE’s Soyeon reveals negotiating "equal" treatment on contract renewal with CUBE

On Thursday, February 20, (G)I-DLE's Soyeon and the YouTuber Mimiminu appeared on Star! Cooking Show. During the show's latest episode, which is hosted by the K-pop idol, the two had several conversations as they made the South Korean dish, Cheese Rabokki. At one point, the YouTuber stated that he was shocked at how the idol talked about her income and earnings.

He also asked if she ever gets scolded by the agency for revealing such information. However, Soyeon stated that following (G)I-DLE's recent contract renewal with Cube Entertainment, the two parties share more of an equal relationship. Here's what she stated,

"My agency can't scold me right now... That's because... It's become more of an equal relationship after the contract renewal. So, rather than scolding me... They probably just talk behind my back. That's what I think. I'm sure they did. They didn't tell me directly, but it doesn't bother me."

Following this remark from Soyeon, many fans expressed that the equal distribution of power and control between talent agencies and their artists made sense. Many fans also pressed that this should be the traditional practice across the K-pop industry.

"LET THIS BE A TREND IN THE INDUSTRY ISTG COMPANIES NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE ARTISTS ARE THE ONES THAT BRING FOOD TO THE TABLE AND THEY JUST SUPPORT IT," an X user exclaimed.

"Honestly, that's how it should be. Companies should treat their artists as equals," wrote a fan on X

"This is how 2 parties in a contract solve the problem. In a good manner way & legally way," added another fan

"WHAT, i've never-even in the wildest dream-imagine that this kind of words can out from a KPop idol??? the equal relation between artist and label?? Thats a very western concept," commented a netizen

More fans and netizens also called out people who criticized the group for renewing their contract with CUBE Entertainment. While many people thought that the members made a wrong decision, the recent comment from Soyeon revealed that (G)I-DLE was calculative and careful with the contract renewal.

"Those haters who called them "dvmb for renewing" better be choking on their own words right now," stated a fan.

"And people tried to make them seem stupid for renewing likeee it’s soyeon she knows what she’s doing," wrote a netizen.

"Gidle got everything they want with renewing and yall were on here fishing for hate tweets to make fun of them meanwhile all the other groups are still getting mistreated in their own respective companies," commented another X user

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All you need to know about (G)I-DLE's contract with Cube Entertainment

On November 30, (G)I-DLE's Soyeon rolled out a speech during the group's Record of the Year Daesang at the MelOn Music Awards 2024. As the K-pop girl group's leader, she explained that all the members had decided to renew the contract with their agency, Cube Entertainment. While it was initially just Soyeon's contract that expired, all the members chose to renew together.

Here's what she stated during the acceptance speech,

“My contract expired, and these days there are many articles being released that are like ‘(G)I-DLE is disbanding’ or ‘(G)I-DLE is over’. However, not me alone, but the five of us all decided to renew our contracts together. We had the discussion before coming on stage today. The five of us will be together from now on, next year, the year after, and really forever. We will give back with good music next year, as well.”

On December 2, Cube Entertainment released a statement officially announcing the contract renewal with (G)I-DLE. Here's what the statement read:

"After thorough discussions with the members of (G)I-DLE, we are happy to anounced that we have successfully completed the renewal of contracts with all members including Soyeon, whose exclusive contract had already expired. as well as Miyeon, Minnie, Yuqi, and Shuhua, who still had time remaining on their previous agreements."

The statement continued,

"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to (G)I-DLE for their trust and commitment , which have made this important step possible as we move forward into an exciting new chapter we also wish to express out thanks to the fans who have been patiently awaiting this announcement.

The company added that they are "committed to strengthening the brand that (G)I-DLE has built over the past 7 years."