IZONE FUTURE AHEAD THEIR EXPIRATION DATE CONTRACT, WILL IT GET EXTENDED?

IZ*ONE may not be disbanding in April 2021 after all according to the recent news that claims CJ ENM and IZ*ONE are talking about a potential contract extension. Previously, On July 16th 2018, according to OSEN, members of the group will have to exclusively promote together for a year, and in the year after they can work in both the “Produce48”’s group and their original group. IZONE was formed from Produce 48. In the first week, the group sold more than 80,000 albums and won trophies on music shows. IZONE’s success is understandable because the groups that came from survival show have a steady number of fans.

On January 12, Ilgan Sports reported that CJ ENM had gotten in touch with the agencies of some of the IZ*ONE members to officially begin their discussions about the contract. CJ ENM has not yet spoken with all of the members’ agencies, and some of the members have reportedly finalized their decision to stay in IZ*ONE.

If an extension is completed, this will mark the first time within the Produce 101 series groups that an extension was agreed upon, and not have the group disband when the contract is up. However, the process for extending isn’t expected to be as smooth as it has been so far. Currently, CJ ENM intends to support IZ*ONE, as they were the victims of vote manipulation.

According to media outlets, they have received the opinions of each members’ agencies and have moved towards the idea of disbanding. However, because they still have five months before their contract expires, they will listen to the members’ thoughts a final time before making an official decision. The news outlet commented that agencies who were preparing new plans following IZ*ONE’s disbandment in 2021 would be surprised by CJ ENM’s sudden proposal to extend the contract, and because CJ ENM is also aware that this is a sensitive issue, they will carefully draft out a new contract that respects the agencies’ opinions.

Ilgan Sports cited a source who stated, “Publicly, IZ*ONE’s contract ends in April, but internally, they agreed to only promote until December 31, 2020. They most likely reached the decision in consideration of the [‘Produce 48′] producers’ imprisonment and the fact that the contract for IZ*ONE’s dorm ends in 2020.

That is indirectly saying that IZONE is now on idle or hiatus, as their last comeback will probably be PANORAMA if the contract talk isn't going smooth with all the members. As their dorm rent is already ended in 2020 last December, now Izone members is no longer live together in a dorm. Many people opinion is divided into two side, one who support about this contract extension and the other who is against it. Most of the fans want izone to extend the contracts for a few months just like wanna one did. It's the most profitable and wisest decision for the group would be to extend for one year or two, but it's highly doubtful since the individual agencies aren't getting much of a cut from the profit and probably want to launch new groups (that will sadly flop due to the market oversaturation and fierce competition).

Yet another good news comes in, Staff from CJ ent added, “The members are currently preparing for a new album. They will also be attending the end of the year ceremony so they plan to talk about making a final decision early next year.” Agencies that have been planning for their IZ*ONE members to return to their care following the end of IZ*ONE’s activities may now in a difficult situation. Many agencies have been preparing for their artists’ second chapter of promotions after the project group’s disbandment. CJ ENM stated that this is an issue they are aware of and will make a new contract for IZ*ONE while respecting the opinions of the various agencies.

So what will gonna happen? We need to check it out soon!