Blackpink basically has just one writer/producer, Teddy over at Black Label (A YG sub-label that he runs pretty much).  For whatever reason YG refuses to work with other producers for the most part with Blackpink.  Understandable to an extent based on all their early hits being so successful and having a kind of signature sound and feel.  Teddy just doesn't appear to be a prolific producer or he can't be one and manage a label and produce for more than one artist.  He damn near begged Jeon Somi to sign with Black Label five years ago when she left JYP and she has just five songs to show for that an none of those in the last two years.

She may not succeed, but if she wants to pursue that she should.  In your 20's you should take those risks, if you can.  If a company is willing to finance the attempt and she isn't likely to be saddled with all the debts if it fails, it is worth trying.  She just needs to be careful that her company doesn't saddle her with a bunch of debt if the solo attempt isn't successful.  You never know.  Sometimes you get lucky.  If it turns out you release a solo album that goes unnoticed and a couple comebacks have the same problem, well then you know it is time to move on with a different plan in life, but at least you tried and can mostly look back without regret.

I suspect some of it is new fans buying albums in their back catalog, but much of it is probably their fan clubs doing bulk album purchases trying to take over the top 10 with nothing but Seventeen albums.  If so they came very close to pulling that off.  

Yeah, depending on one's hobbies, that downtime spent in the car commuting while a manager is driving or spent in a waiting room or on set can be used productively or to relax some, but for some hobbies the downtime is too fragmented to do much or it isn't a travel friendly hobby.  Of course many adults have very limited free time either due to working multiple jobs or handling domestic chores after work.  So the fact idols can indulge in some downtime during the work day likely seems like a luxury to some young working adults.

Also Korean mother-in-law / daughter-in-law dynamics are often very bad.  Many sons will let their mothers bully their wives under the pretense of its tradition and blind obedience to filial piety.  I can't blame many women for not wanting to take on a 30+ year old man-child who still lives at home with his mama who does everything for him, and then have that mother-in-law expect you to take care of her son in the same manner after you already worked all day.  Then that same mother-in-law will complain when you aren't taking care of domestic chores to her standards, making the Park family's kimchi for your husband because you aren't going to spend your weekend off with 30 heads of cabbage, or spend Chuseok in the kitchen simply because this year you were fool enough to marry, where last year, you would have been able to sit on the couch with the men largely watching TV because you weren't the daughter-in-law slave in your own family.

They seldom appear as regulars on variety shows anymore.  Unless you are watching 10 year old episodes of Running Man, Invincible Youth, or Strong Heart, its hard to get an appreciation for how reliably funny they were.  They appeared a little on Knowing Brothers or other shows as a guest for an episode or even with their group, but Sooyoung is probably better known to many current Kpop fans as an actress than an idol and I wonder just how well Hyoyeon is known to those under 18 as she mostly works as a club DJ these days, I believe, and likely isn't on the radar of younger people as one of 2nd Gen's best dancers.  They have kind of hit that age where they are just old enough to be perceived as old by teens, but not old enough yet to be considered legends and therefore cool again.  It's sad because they were were great at variety work whether alone or with their group, but you have to be willing to do a bit of a deep dive into a more or less inactive group that debuted 15 years ago to learn that and many teens or young adults don't have the interest or time, when there is already a video by their favorite 4th gen group to devour.

Yeah, hard to say if those incidents had never happened would he have continue to do variety, or would YG have decided they group image was being damaged by him being silly on variety shows.  He was very entertaining on Family Outing obviously.

Sad to say it, but most fans responding to such polls are probably too young to have been big fans of 2nd gen groups or have watched variety shows they were on.  To 16 year old fans 1st and 2nd gen groups are only relevant if they are a musical historian and take the time to dive into old groups and watch old reruns of Running Man, Infinite Challenge, Star Golden Bell, or Star King.  Many teens don't care much about an older artist unless it is one that is worshipped by the 4th gen artist they follow such as Taeyeon or IU.  After all many teens' parents listen to those 2nd gen artists which makes them uncool by association.  By the time they become more interested maybe in music history rather than just current groups they are less engaged in doing polls and writing comments.

I think Heechul's age may be starting to catch up with him in some ways .  He is 40 in Korean age and I suspect many younger Kpop fans don't dig very deep into groups or artists that debuted before they were born.  I bet many see Heechul on variety shows and just assume him to be a middle-aged comedian rather than a member of one of the largest 2nd gen boy groups.  

Well ironically back in 1st gen, before everything went to streaming and digital, album sales tended to be much higher.  For instance the SM girl group SES sold 600k+ albums regularly.  So, such sales numbers are not something new.  Also if you look at how Kpop went from a mostly Korean sensation, to East Asian, to global phenomenon, the sales numbers don't seem that odd as you are selling to a much bigger market than 20, 10, or even 5 years ago.

Yeah, while groups getting into their 30's and up and still be quite successful financially, their older fan bases make it harder to top shows or charts which are heavily dependent on hours of SNS engagement and streaming, which adult fans just don't have the time to do.  Also adult fans don't generally buy three versions of an album just for a few different photocards or a different member being on the cover, so in this era you are not going to get high enough album sales to make up for a lack of SNS and streaming as even the young groups now sell 500k+ albums in many cases.  Their adult fans will get one copy as they have other financial priorities unless they are the adult fan living in their childhood bedroom at their parent's still with their parents supporting them, so they can continue to live like a high school kid with no responsibilities.

It's that sick fan entitlement/ownership dynamic all too common in Kpop, where even 30+ year old idols have to apologize for dating or getting married and even at that age many of their fans react very negatively to such news.  Many of these fansite managers are no better than stalkers.

Many of these fansite managers are obsessed fans just like sasaeng fans.  They will get money somehow to buy enough albums or merch to get a ticket or to bribe event venue staff or the group's company staff to get them a ticket.  Until someone does something to get blacklisted it is fairly easy with enough money to gain access.  The problem is companies are often loath to blacklist such fans as that fan might go out and buy a 100 albums to get one fanmeet ticket, or buy one or more of each piece of new group merch, and if spurned will often turn in an extreme malicious commenter.  For many companies an idol crying because a fansite manager was an ass to them is a small price to pay for someone who might be spending $1000's per year supporting the group.  It's part of the sick dark side of Kpop fandom.

Yeah any time you have an ensemble cast for a show with a half dozen or more people, the odds are sooner or later someone will get involved in a serious scandal.  That show has had particularly bad luck, but many other variety staples have had to dismiss cast members over the years too.

Thanks for clarifying that.  The way the article was worded at the beginning made it sound like it was an agency they owned.

Hard to say.  A lot probably depends on what Yerin wanted to do when leaving GFriend and was going solo kind of a last stop before maybe leaving behind being an entertainer, or was Sublime just not a good long-term fit and she hopes to find a better one and continue as a soloist.  I have never seen a true free agent that just bounces from agency to agency under some kind of single album deal.  Maybe an IU or Taeyeon could get away with that as their long track record of success would give them some leverage to have some companies bid to do their next album, but Yerin is not at that level.   

Yeah, it probably depends on what company the group signs with or whether the members have been carefully saving money to found their own label.  I certainly can see Soyeon being a good label head one day.  The tough part would be balancing running a label if you are still an active performer.  Also, its hard to say where Idle will be in two some odd years or what Soojin's position is.  It will work itself out when the time comes.

She likely still has a lot of fans in her fanbase who are of delusional fanboy type from back in her days with Lovelyz and would react negatively and loudly to her dating.  She's not yet established enough as a variety star to poke that hornet's nest with a dating "scandal."  Now if she keeps being in popular shows as a regular and starts to get more work that is independent of Yoo Jae Seok and does well in the ratings, she can probably start to be more open in the coming years as she builds a new fan base as an adult.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

It's everywhere.  Just a few years ago in the US there was a guy who got arrested whose mug shot went viral because he was so handsome.  Many forgot he was a crook and wanted him released because he was hot and would make a good model.  So it isn't just a Korean problem.

Yeah, I remember how upset Woori was at having to leave the cast of Invincible Youth 2 mid-season because Rainbow was going to Japan.  Today, in hindsight, she likely knew that was not a good move, but you are under contract, so you have to do it.

I remember when Woori was on Invincible Youth 2.  She left the show because Rainbow was going to promote in Japan.  Sadly Rainbow could never seem to find that song that got them over the top in the Korean market.  That's the story of a lot of groups especially back then.