YG Entertainment Responds After MIXNINE’s Cancelled Debut
When the news of MIXNINE Top 9’s debut being cancelled broke, YG Entertainment faced immense criticism. The agency has responded in an official statement.
When the survival program MIXNINE ended, fans grew anxious by YG Entertainment’s silence. Then he offered MIXNINE finalists a three year contract. A month after that offer, YG Entertainment confirmed with this official statement that MIXNINE’s final group’s debut has been cancelled.
YG Entertainment stated, “The news broke before the agency could explain first.”
“Hello, this is MIXNINE‘s producer, YG Entertainment. First, we would like to thank the viewers who watched and supported the program. Before the agency could release an official statement, the news about the cancellation of MIXNINE‘s Top 9 debut got out.” — YG Entertainment
The agency apologized for letting the viewers and the contestants’ fans down.
“We sincerely apologize and feel a tremendous amount of responsibility for letting the fans and viewers down. YG Entertainment produced MIXNINE in hopes of discovering and developing stars who either have worked hard to debut or have debuted but never got to showcase their talents.
YG Entertainment looked forward to putting its 21 years of know-how to work in the process of discovering talent from not only YG Entertainment but other agencies as well. YG Entertainment’s goal with the program was to produce a truly international star group, using the agency’s production system and global connections.
Unfortunately, the program did not receive as much attention as we expected. Regardless, YG Entertainment’s producer Yang Hyun Suk worked on developing a strategy to debut the Top 9 contestants and bring them to success. The producer met with a total of 6 agencies, including YG Entertainment, to discuss the terms and conditions to make this group work.
Initially, MIXNINE offered a contract of four months and overseas performances. YG Entertainment wanted to negotiate the contract with the winning contestants’ agencies as they also understand that, with the K-Pop industry’s competition growing more fierce by the day, it is impossible for even the most talented group to become a hit upon debut.” — YG Entertainment
In the official statement, YG Entertainment outlined what exactly the producer offered to the other agencies.
“What did Yang Hyun Suk offer to the agencies?
He offered a three year contract for the finalists that would allow them to spend 6 months of the year with their respective agencies, and spend the other 6 months of the year to promote as a group.
Why did Yang Hyun Suk change his initial offer?
The producer realized that the initial offer, which promised four months of contract time, was simply not long enough. For a group to debut, it needs to produce songs, train choreographies, create music videos, and more. Yang Hyun Suk did not think four months was enough to cover all this. Also, for a group to hold a concert, it needs at least 15 tracks to perform. This would have been impossible to prepare in the short four months.” — YG Entertainment
Then, the statement explained where the finalists’ agencies failed to come to an agreement.
“With the first proposal of the revised contract, a majority of the other agencies reacted negatively to the idea of six months of promotion. Yang Hyun Suk took this into consideration and offered a second, revised proposal that would allow the finalists to promote as a group for three months of the year. One of the three months would be spent preparing, while the other two would be spent promoting.
Unfortunately, at the final meeting held last week, the agencies could not come to an agreement on the contract terms.” — YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment explained that the meetings to negotiate the finalists’ contracts were serious, but peaceful.
“There have been seven meetings with the other agencies. All meetings were held in peace. The representatives of each agency were all considerate of one another. Rather than pushing for what was best for themselves, everyone tried to make concessions to find some way to make this work.
We would like to emphasize that though the agencies could not come to an agreement, it was not because of conflict.” — YG Entertainment
The agency concluded the statement by thanking the finalists’ agencies, viewers, and fans. While YG Entertainment shared regret for not being able to keep the promise, it also made clear that MIXNINE’s final group will, in fact, not debut.
“YG Entertainment appreciates the other agencies making the time and attending the meetings to discuss MIXNINE.
In conclusion, YG Entertainment has no excuse. The agency decided it would be best to share the details of what happened, to help you understand why the debut has been cancelled.
We thank the viewers and fans for supporting MIXNINE. YG Entertainment wishes the Top 9 finalists and all the program contestants the best in their future endeavors. Thank you for watching the program and, again, YG Entertainment is terribly sorry it could not keep the promise to debut the group.” — YG Entertainment
