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Is GFRIEND disbanding? K-pop girl group fail to renew contract with Source Music, fans hope 'they pull a GOT7'

GFRIEND will reportedly re-debut as HUG HUG and WORLD PEACE. While exact cause of GFRIEND leaving Source Music isn't clear, fans are hoping and praying that the group remains as six and not disband

Update: According to a fan page, "GFRIEND is reportedly to re-debut as HUG HUG and WORLD PEACE. HUG HUG is composed of former GFRIEND stars Yerin, Eunha, and Umji while WORLD PEACE will be with former GFRIEND stars Sowon, Yuju, and SinB. As of now, there were still no date of debut announcement."

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GFRIEND, the 'unique' K-pop girl group will be leaving their agency Source Music. Their exclusive contract will end on May 22 and the label has announced its decision to "follow separate paths to continued growth." While GRFIEND fans have taken to Twitter to pour support for the girl group's decision, a ton of speculations have surfaced regarding the group's next venture.

Among the most asked questions, fans are wondering why did the girl group decide to leave Source Music, especially when fans have called the two 'perfect pair' in the past and also whether the girl group will remain under HYBE labels, the joint umbrella home of Grammy-nominated music group BTS, TXT, and more.

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Why did GFRIEND leave Source Music?

Source Music officially released a statement regarding the six-member K-pop act sharing their final decision on May 18. The statement read, "Hello. This is Source Music.
The exclusive artist contract with GFRIEND and Source Music will conclude on May 22. After careful consideration and extensive discussion, GFRIEND and Source Music have come to an agreement to follow separate paths to continued growth. For the past six years, GFRIEND has won the boundless love of K-pop fans through a wide range of concepts, performances, and songs that marked a new generation of girl groups and music."

The statement further added, "We would like to express our sincere and heartfelt gratitude to GFRIEND who has allowed Source Music to accompany them on their journey.
We would like to deeply thank all BUDDY and fans who have shown your love for GFRIEND, and we ask that you give your unchanging love and support to the members who will begin their adventures in new and diverse areas." It concluded by saying, "Source Music will always continue to cheer for the members as they take the first step towards new beginnings."

Will GFRIEND disband?

While the exact cause of GFRIEND leaving Source Music isn't clear, fans are hoping and praying that the group remains as six and not disband. According to an exclusive Tenasia report noted by Koreaboo, the group might disband after their exclusive contract with Source Music is over. A fan said, "I might sound selfish but gfriend and source music was a perfect pair:((( but besides, we don’t really know what happens behind but we need to trust them!" Another fan shared, "I’m guessing when it comes to renewing their contracts it’s the idols choice so...maybe Gfriend made this choice and decided to disband!" An optimistic fan noted, "They are just not renewing their contract with Source Music... Nowhere is it mentioned that they are disbanding... they may yet pull another GOT7!"

Fans have further noted that the K-pop group's agency Source Music previously trademarked the name 'GFRIEND' which makes them question if the girl group will be able to continue that name after they leave the entertainment agency. A fan pointed out, "Hold on soumu applied for a trademark for 'GFRIEND' just early this year so if they do renew with a different company they wont be able to use their group name!" Another fan noted, "SouMu made a trademark on Gfriend name so because of that, in future Gfriend can't perform any of their song within this 7 years on the industry. All the song are copyright under SouMu. They only can perform a song that has their name as composer just like Highlight!"

GFRIEND under HYBE

GFRIEND is currently a part of HYBE labels, the umbrella which is a home of Big Hit Music (BTS and TXT's label), Pledis Entertainment (Seventeen's label) and so many more music entities. Fans have pleaded to any of the agencies under HYBE to 'adopt' GFRIEND. A fan wrote, "They only mentioned that gfriend is parting ways with source music so pls tell me that they signed with other angencies bighit?? HYBE labels?? PLS!" A similar tweet read, "they choose to not renew the contract with source music (which doesnt make sense because gfriend is the only group under source music) :( their contract will end on 22/5. we are now hoping for other labels under hybe to take them in!"

GFRIEND hasn't commented on their future plans yet. Stay tuned to know all the latest updates on GFRIEND's future activities.

Stream GFRIEND's music here.