Overview
Once a K-POP group debuts, no one is sure about what will happen next, disbandment is usually announced not so long before it actually happens and if everything is going naturally (without members leaving the group and/or company without any notice), the group will produce one last song or album before finally disbanding.
However, some groups come to disbandment once the contract ends, as they don’t want to renew it. K-Pop idols typically have a 7-year contract which ties them to their agency. After this contract ends, it is not uncommon for groups to go their separate ways.
The girl group Red Velvet debuted on August 1, 2014, with four group members: Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy. Therefore, their contracts should be ending in 2021. While Yeri joined the group in March 2015, and therefore her contract should be ending in 2022.
Moreover, Red Velvet's agency, SM Entertainment, is known to keep long lasting groups:
- Suju’s been promoting for almost fourteen years now
- SNSD and Shinee for eleven years
- f(x) has been promoting for ten years
- EXO for seven years
- NCT for three years
Individual members do leave, but SM hasn’t had a disbandment for a very long time. Not all their groups are active, but they still exist and members are active as solo artists, actors and etc.
As on December 2019, there is no official announcement of Red Velvet disband.
Decline since Bad Boy
Top YouTube music videos of Red Velvet as on December 2019:
| # | Music Video | Published On | Views (Mi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bad Boy | Jan 2018 | 237 |
| 2 | Russian Roulette | Sep 2016 | 159 |
| 3 | Peek-A-Boo | Nov 2017 | 152 |
| 4 | Red Flavor | Jul 2017 | 136 |
| 5 | Dumb Dumb | Sep 2015 | 123 |
| 6 | Ice Cream Cake | May 2015 | 109 |
| 7 | Power Up | Aug 2018 | 90 |
| 8 | Happiness | Aug 2014 | 87 |
| 9 | Rookie | Jan 2017 | 62 |
| 10 | Zimzalabim | Jun 2019 | 60 |
| 11 | Really Bad Boy | Nov 2018 | 51 |
| 12 | Cookie Jar | Jun 2018 | 32 |
| 13 | Umpah Umpah | Aug 2019 | 28 |
Since Bad Boy in 2018, the number of views of Red Velvet's music videos on YouTube has gone downhill. Although more recent musics like Zimzalabim and Umpah Umpah deserves some attention, current forecasts doesn't indicate the same level of success as before.
Worldwide search volume of "kpop red velvet" query according to Google Trends.
Google Trends also support this same analysis. Since their debut in 2014 until 2018, they have consistently maintained the same peak levels (≈50 points) of google search for each new song hit. However, since Bad Boy in 2018, new song hits doesn't achieve the same peak levels as before.
Maybe it is just a matter of time until they release another big hit. However, this hiatus of two years is probably disturbing SM Entertainment.
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