Welcome to another edition of SB Week in Review! With the extended Chuseok holiday behind us, the fall season has begun with a slew of comebacks and debuts. Here’s all the news you might have missed:

Headlines

  • In a move that was half expected, yet still surprising, news broke on October 9 that Girls’ Generation members Sooyoung, Seohyun and Tiffany will not renew their contracts with SM Entertainment. Suspicions about contract renewals first arose during the group’s tenth anniversary comeback, followed by the announcement that Tiffany planned to try her hand at acting back in the United States. Despite the saddening news — the end of an era, really — SM maintained that this is not a disbandment. We’ll see what the future holds for the remaining five members, and of course we wish the best of luck to Tiffany, Sooyoung and Seohyun in their future acting endeavors.
  • Some of South Korea’s major music distributors like Melon, Genie, Bugs, and Mnet were revealed to owe some 17.4 billion won collectively in royalties to various copyright holders. These amounts have been calculated between 2014 and 2017. Melon released a statement saying that they will continue to work with the government to resolve the issue.

Debuts & Comebacks

  • Check out the playlist of all this week’s releases above!
  • Seventeen‘s Performance Team shared their project MV for “13th Month’s Dance.”
  • Got7 changed things up for “You Are,” and their latest album 7 of 7. The creative risks paid off, as our review thinks the group finally found their sound.
  • Davichi are back with another moving ballad, “To Me.”
  • Ha;tfelt (Yeeun) tugged at heart strings with the narrative MVs for “I Wander” and “Read Me.” The new album MiENE is her first under her new label Amoeba Culture.
  • Masc also released two MVs for their latest comeback: “Do It” and “Run to You.” While fun, our reviewer found the release lacking personality.
  • TS Entertainment‘s debut of TRCNG was a little too reminiscent of previous debuts under the same label.
  • Survival show The Unit kicked off its run with the MV for “My Turn.” Which idols are you rooting for?
  • Nu’est W returned to ask “Where You At?” Their mini album W, Here didn’t disappoint our reviewer.
  • SF9 channeled Latin Pop for their latest single, “O Sole Mio.”
  • Rookie group Hashtag got a little lost in their debut release, “Hue.”
  • Wooyoung (2PM) shared the Korean version of his latest Japanese solo single “Same Old.”
  • DIA are back with their repackaged album Present and the new MV for “Good Night.”
  • Up10tion are “Going Crazy” in their latest comeback MV.
  • Varsity sweetly asked their girlfriend out on a date in the MV for “Can You Come Out Now?“
  • Project group of Produce 101 season 2, Rainz, debuted with “Juliette.”
  • Space Music has debuted perhaps the youngest girl group into the idol-sphere; Hi Cutie‘s oldest member is only 14 years old, and the youngest member is 11. Their debut single “Play U” was released this week.
  • Gearing up for their official debut, rookie group The Boys shared a pre-redebut MV for “I’m Your Boy.” I’m sensing a theme here…
  • Our SM Station release of the week is Doyoung (NCT) and Sejeong‘s (Gugudan) “Star Blossom.”

Teasers & Announcements

  • SM is going all out for Taemin‘s third solo comeback, with video teaser clips and a slew of teaser images. Looks like Move will be quite the production — maybe enough to distract from other agency happenings?
  • Label-mates Super Junior will make their long awaited return with their 8th album in November.
  • Highlight‘s “Can Be Better” looks like a fun release for the group. Their new album Celebrate is due out on October 16.
  • On the flip side, BtoB‘s “Missing You” looks like a rather sombre release. The album Brother Act will also be released on the 16th.
  • ACE are rolling out individual photo and video teasers for their comeback, Calling on October 18.
  • B.A.P.‘s Daehyun will star in yet another musical. This time it’s All Shook Up alongside Jinho (Pentagon), Wheesung, and more.
  • A debut is on the horizon for rookie boy group, IN2IT — the final debut group from the survival show Boys 24. Carpe Diem drops on October 26.
  • CL, Zico and Taeyang will all participate as judges on YG‘s new survival show, Mix9. 

Other News

  • Kyla will be taking a break from Pristin activities due to health reasons. Pledis shared that she is resting back in the United States with her family.
  • Dating rumors surfaced between Teddy and Black Pink‘s Jennie. YG came forward to deny the claims, and will take action against those who propagated the rumors.
  • Gil received a sentence of two years probation following his third drunk driving incident.

(YouTube. Naver: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8], Nate: [1] [2], Osen, Yonhap. Images via: SM Entertainment, MMO, Pledis.)