The PROBLEM with Lightsum (why i'm worried ...)
2024 ж. 18 Мам.
6 261 Рет қаралды
This is my analysis on the current issues with Lightsum and the reasons that I am worried for them.
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- Content -
0:00 - Intro
1:06 - Debut
3:52 - Concept
5:47 - Promotions
7:48 - Cube Entertainment
9:49 - Final Thoughts
10:42 - Outro
I feel like the reason they removed members was first off: smaller groups get more popular than bigger groups And second off: getting rid of the minors means they don’t have to think abt working hour restrictions. Was it justifiable enough? No, but it’s definitely something that helped kering lightsum afloat (+ paying expenses for two less members is cheaper)
Yea, these days, we've seen way less groups with a lot of members. Plus the working hour restrictions does make sense too tbh. Only thing was that hiatus after the members left. Like if it was mainly that, then we would have seen more work and effort placed on them but obviously we didn't get much. Hopefully, this new direction is actually helping LIghtsum and we get to see atleast the bare minimum in releases.
@@cloudchungxiaoyeah so far ZB1 and NSSign are the only recently debuted groups I think of that doesn’t have 5-6 or 6-7 members
@@gwenmloveskpopcecmoretripleS with their 24 members 💀
@@minolino2176 yeah lol but minus then the majority of new ggs have 5-6 members
@@minolino2176 but I’m talking about boy groups lol
I think the mix of light concept and girl crush members should be their strength. Honey or Spice is a step in the right direction but they need more exaggeration and better promotion. Its gonna be an uphill battle considering how poorly handled there promotions have been up until now.
Yea, honey or spice was a good direction for sure. As long as they can continue with that with better promotions like you said, I think we can see them build up their audience. Whether they compete as top 4th gen groups is another question, but at this moment in time, they need to show themselves as worthy investment for Cube.
When Vivace was released, it was extensively compared to IZONE. So much so - that those at Twitter said it was a Walmart Panorama comeback
Never saw Twitter so divided lol one side was so happy there was a group that would continue with iz*one’s legacy after their disbandment and the other side saying vivace was panorama goodwill’s version
Yea, I remember those discussions. Plus the fact that Chowon was rigged out of iz*one, it created a sub-discussion regarding her being able to fit Iz*one concepts despite what some were saying regarding whether she truly would have fit it.
There was like a video right before Vivace released where Chowon was reacting to her Boombayah performance on produce 48 and one of the comments said "Boombayah was a performance that brought Chowon's rank from 80 to 13". Chowon reacted by saying, "no it brought my rank from 80 to 6". I guess Cube was trying to capitalize from that video and fill in Iz*one's gap, but it didn't really work well.
Ohh yea, I saw that video. I don't know if it was that video that led them to release Vivace but to me, she defs suited Vivace and if people are making the comparison to Vivace being a Iz*one type of song, then that says a lot.
@@cloudchungxiao ok but like lightsum MAYBE could’ve had a more successful career if they followed the iz*one inspired sound, like I remember they got a little bit more attention bc people where saying they followed the iz*one “legacy”, also an elegant concept like that never goes out of style. If they would’ve followed that direction they would’ve built a more recognizable brand identity as a group too
Lightsum is CLC all over again. Cube tried to fill the hole Iz*One left with the luxe look and when that didnt work they shifted. Then moving members, CLC adding 2, Lightsum removing 2 with little reason as to why. As for promo, Cube has shown they will not be anything if they have to pay for song writers or producers. If the group does those things they will throw a few bucks and shows the groups way until they make LOTS for the company. Cube should have debuted them before Iz*One to fill that space that fans waited for them to debut and while Chaewon was still SUPER popular.
Debuting before Iz*one means you would be referring to G-Idle because they debuted a few months before Iz*one. I wonder how much of the lightsum members trained with G-Idle. But then yea, we would see immense initial success from G-idle before they would start to "dwindle" a little. Not sure if CUbe would have wanted two girl groups that close to each other.
they obviously mean debuting them before izone disbanded :) @@cloudchungxiao
@@pennymikkthat was not obvious
For what it's worth: - Cube's CEO said that they are planning on debuting a new girl group in 2024. Whether or not that actually happens...I'll believe it when I see it. The new boy group has been on the road to debut for three years now. There have been prospective members who have made appearances on other Cube shows though (Workdol with Shuhua for example). We'll see. - Jian said on Instagram that leaving was her choice and she wasn't kicked out of the group. I don't know that Huiyeon has ever addressed it (she does have her own KZhead channel now though!) . I doubt if we'll ever know the whole story there. - Chowon said at KCON in 2022 that they were preparing to relase a new album that fall, but for whatever reason that never happened. They also said during the Honey or Spice promotions that they recorded a different title track and that it got scrapped right before they shot the MV. So I do wonder if there's more disfunction that led to their hiatus that we don't know about. They seem like they're headed towards making a Japanese release right now, and that's great! They seem like they're well received there and hopefully their release does well and they get a boost from those promotions. I've always liked Lightsum, but everything about them so far has felt very rushed. Even they seemed to think so when they talked about their debut on "Do You Lightsum". I'm interested to see what Juhyeon, Sangah and supposedly Chowon are able to do as songwriters and/or producers. I thought Skyline was a decent first effort, but I also realize that we can't expect them to suddenly be Soyeon or Hyunsik after a year or two. I still have a lot of hope that they can carve themselves out a niche. I doubt they'll be on the level of Idle or even other groups that debuted around that time like STAYC, but that doesn't mean they can't be active and profitable. They've had a few viral moments (Sangah at KCON and at times on Queendom Puzzle, their live performances at the badly mismanaged KCON US tour which got rave reviews, some of Juhyeon's dance covers, Chowon discussing her time on PD48), but they've never been able to capitalize on them, either because of ineffective social media or because the band was on hiatus. Hopefully they get things figured out.
I've heard more about Cube's new boy group than girl group. I think it owuld be ambitious to debut a girl group but it's clear that the boy group would come first before the girl group considering there has been more announcements and info on them. Jian's IG comment could be more PR thing. I doubt it was just a simple she wanted to leave the group and that's it. She went through so much and to leave just like that would kinda be wild. Yea I wonder about the inner turmoil within Cube. I mean I have similiar worries about Weki Meki but when I saw a video on the history of them; apparently Fantagio had been going through so much which contributed to Weki Meki's weird career trajectory so far. So it could be similar with Cube too. Omg they even thought their debut was rushed? Okay actually kinda backs up my theory that they were trying to rush their debut. But yea, there sound would so fit Japan's aesthetics or like gives vibes of something AKB48 would do. Just had a listen to Skyline and it was pretty alright. Kinda like a coming of age vibe type of song. But yea, would be interesting if they continue to try things like this and hopefully maybe this might help them get more comebacks considering that's the common pattern of how groups get comebacks quicker within Cube. But yes. Capitalising and marketing. Sort that out and we'll be able to enjoy them for their full seven years with no worries.
@@cloudchungxiaoBtw I kinda like Skyline, but I expected more. Maybe it's because I like almost all Lightsum bsides or because I associate Juhyeon with Soyeon a lot and expected Soyeon's level of production (Soyeon was Soyeon since day one huh). All in all, I find it to be okay.
In what ways do you associate Juhyeon with Soyeon? Juhyeon was pretty lowkey after her appearances of survival shows and plus what they both showed were kinda different as.
@@cloudchungxiao Juhyeon and Soyeon are close friends as far as I know, both are leaders and had pre-debut activities, spent the most time training in Cube, both are extremely good in specific area (dancing and rapping) and interested in songwriting. Before Lightsum debut I kinda hoped Juhyeon will be someone like Soyeon or Hui for her group, otherwise it's difficult to survive under Cube and the girls may follow CLC's path (unfortunately, I was kinda right).
I hope that scrapped title track won't be another La Vie En Rose situation again. Cube is straight up repeating history 😬
Cube is the first and main problem for Lightsum to achieve *some* of their potential. I mean it's like when you talk about a Pledis group, even YG in some cases. It's frustrating that, despite having a lot of great ingredients, there don't seem to be any competent cooks in this kitchen from time to time. Honey or Spice, for me, was a great track and the whole era was a step in the right direction (I literally ranked it my 2nd favourite song of the year), but there needs to be more work put into them. I really hope it's not too late for them.
Yess, keep the direction of honey or spice and add the flavouring of proper marketing towards them and they'll only continue to rise because lightsum could actually work if they were done right.
Cloud ChungXiao uploads Inmeditaily me: *sits down and with popcorn* For me Lightsum is like a capsule of everything that Companies do wrong: not give the group enough (and if want to get salty, interesting) music to create a solid fanbase, not utilizing the members skills to their fullest potential, focusing on only one member to promote and that member to be promoted for the wrong reasons, a hiatus, removing members for no reason, and lacks of promotions. I'll be bopping to Alive and Vivace, but this talented Girls deserve better
Thanks hahaha But yea, kinda every step of the way, there's always been some kinda issue. I wonder how the members feels though and whether they are content with their direction.
When CUBE said they were going to use (G)I-DLE as a way to promote the new boygroup, my thoughts were .... "So why didn't they do that with LIGHTSUM?" Think about it, (G)I-DLE has been on two world tours so far and it wouldn't have costed that much more to have LIGHTSUM tour with them as an opening act. Not only will they gain more fans through this, but experience as well as the mentorship from (G)I-DLE along with that. There is a money sink initially, no doubt abut that, but the long term affects would have out weighted the cost. If LIGHTSUM toured during I NEVER DIE era, they would have picked up some of the new Nevie fans. Even if LIGHTSUM opened for (G)I-DLE in just the Asian stops it would have worked. So I think that says that either CUBE are too lazy or stupid to make money or else they never had faith in LIGHTSUM to begin with and their existence is just a result of a knee-jerk reaction to the scandals going on at the time.
this is one of the first legit good ideas i've seen regarding what they should do with lightsum, respect.
Exactly, like what JYPE did when they made VCHA the opening act for some acts of TWICE's tour@@iamdz4304
Exactly why don't they use gidle to help them ! They are lazy and stupid. Smh
@@iamdz4304 I mean, it's worth a shot, right? CUBE obviously isn't doing anything with them, so why not send them on tour and maybe make a buck or two...with the added bonus of giving the girls exposure, experience, and mentorship from seniors. You can't tell me spending just a little bit of time with Soyeon isn't going to rub on on you somewhat.
Yea, was gonna say. JYP did that with Twice and VCHA and I think we saw some backlash from that which was kinda weird because that's nothing new with american tours. But the only thing is that this aint really the norm within Asia, well Korea specifically. So not sure if they thought about it liek that. But defs a good idea on how to build generational success within the companies.
I literally only knew about lightsum bc of the members they kicked out
I only knew them because of a resin an toy youtuber maniland because three of the members (yujeong, huiyeon, and someone else) visited manis resin workshop
Stopppp. But honestly 2022 was the year of a lot of individual members leaving their groups
Bruh why
I already new about them when they 1st got revealed
@@cloudchungxiaoyeah and 2023 but not as much as 2022 but it’d say both years are a repeat and version of 3rd gen groups losing lots of members and then ofc we all know who died just like Sulli and Hara did in 2019
I love it when you upload omg, you're like one of the few channels I have my notifs on for
Thanks so much. I always enjoy reading the comments and discussing with anyone what their thoughts on the video are :)
ThankU for discussing the issues with Lightsum. I feel so disappointed because they have such talented beautiful members with star quality and uniqueness that could capture new audiences. Yet their discography, their creative direction and their management has been lacking. It could not even be compared to other top groups. And their comebacks have been so unconsistent that everyone even their fans and casual listeners forget about them and lose their interests in them. Everytime They got a comeback Gidle got three comebacks in the meantime. I wish Lightsum members were writing their own songs. They debuted 3 years ago. Yet i still feel like they're rookies. Other groups that debuted the same year as them are so much more established and known. It's such a pity they are under cube.
Yea, I mean currently what doesn't help is the fact that Cube is debuting a new boy group and maintaing the hype of G-Idle's Fate so Lightsum is back in the dungeon awaiting for something. Hopefully we see more good things for them soon though because if not, I can see their ending be very similar to CLC where we won't even realise they had their last comeback before they disband.
A few months since their comeback & they still have no proper promo... they get forgotten about . I want cube to let THEM GOOOOOOOO
A bit more promo but nothing amazing. Like I feel like honey or spice stayed a bit longer in peoples mind in comparison to the other comebacks they had done.
@cloudchungxiao they had promo in japan but they don't even talk about it , upload content on it nor add subs . They did some promo recently in korea but again no subs & they don't even share anything about it or let the fandom know to tune in . They barely post any content on their KZhead compared to gidle posting 10 million times a day ( yes they're doing promo for superlady but even before they still upload way more frequent than lightsum) . I hope they can book them for festivals & such to get more popular otherwise I hope they can let them go to find better opportunities bc I doubt they will even have the option to renew if it keeps going this way just like clc & 4 min
Yea, this all sounds like marketing and exposure. I wonder how quick it is for companies to drop their groups or maybe stop giving attention to them. Like it's so much investment to debut and retain the group so would it be the same quickness to drop them too? Lightsum is still getting things and activities but it's just really bare minimum things that can't sustain them.
huiyeon was my bias i was so sad to learn she wasn’t in the group anymore she was good dancer!!! 😢
Ohh damm, must have been so unfortunate. Not sure if you still follow her but she just started a youtube channel.
@@cloudchungxiaowhat's her KZhead channel called?
It's called heehui 휘연
I will say that it looks like Cube is willing to invest more in Lightsum. The overall promotion and extra performance video for Honey or Spice, the dance video for Sangha & Yujeong, the Spice Girls cover by the full group, and (I realize it's very recent) the album cover by Hina are all extra things that suggest Cube is trying to keep the group active. It's not the same as another song, but it's a far cry from what happened to CLC.
Yea, i mean with G-Idle's renewals coming within the next year, I think they are really needing to put more energy to ensure they can continue to maintain their legacy. This hopefully means good things for Lightsum but I may have also heard them potentially trying to debut a girl group either this or next year too so still a little wary.
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Thanks :)
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Thanks for watching :)
I absolutely love Lightsum and I think the main problem is that they are lacking concept, their songs are pure hits, girls have distinguished personalities but the quality of MVs, "storyline", stages is what CUBE is lacking. Honey and Spice could have become sooo big if they put efforts in making an eye catching concept. The performance version of the MV was much more interesting and energetic than the main MV. I want girls to shine, because Alive, Vanilla and Honey and Spice are really my fav songs
What kinda concept do you think they should go for? I really like their title tracks and their is cohesion but wouldn't know what concept or storyline that would be the bow on distinguishing the group completely and get them more attention.
@@cloudchungxiao I think they should emphasise their direction of "cute/badass mix", it's quite unique and they have everything for that. If the MV of "Honey and Spice" had the same energy as the performance version like the extreme change from cute jeans outfits to the shiny black ones it would have definitely caught more people. Like their songs (Vanilla, Honey and Spice, Alive) scream this concept but during those "badass" parts everything in still on cuter side which doesn't make any sense. I guess I want the vibe and concept of "Love cherry motion" when the beat drops, everything gets darker
Omg, I can completely see that. I mean I talked about how half the group really suits the cute and the other half suit badass. But yea, something like love cherry motion, which I feel like Vanilla slightly does that in some sense. Defs could see that being pretty distinguishable considering it's always separate concepts within releases. it's never a combination within the one song. But yea, honey or spice was a pretty decent release so hopefully the next comeback does something similar to help emphasize all the members in the best ways.
Unpopular opinion: Please don't attack me. I love Lightsum and I wish them no harm. So.. The tea: Them having less member is a GOOD thing for the group imho. There were too many random members that didn't really stick out enough (harsh truth) and now I feel like all the members are more visible and it's easier to get into the group. The only downfall for now is the lack of consistent promotions and also the unfortunate creative direction team that needs to be fired. The music and visual direction needs to make a whole lot more sense and actually needs to suit ALL the members of the group. They need to stay away from anything too girl crush and too cutesy. Just right in the middle. Just something fresh and fun.
Everything you said makes sense and personally I also agree. Considering how contrasting some members can be, it's hard for the groups cohession to be their stanning factor when some suit girl crush and some suit cutesy. They need that good balance which I think honey or spice did. You think that song worked for them? And if not, was there a song from another group that you think encapsulates what you meant?
That's a very interesting thought
I confess that at first lightsum didn't interest me much (although vivace is very good, I have some questions about the music's production), but with honey or spice they caught my attention and I hope these girls do well in the future.
Honestly though, I think honey or spice was a good comeback in the right direction for them. Really hope for them to continue with something like that.
as a new lightsum fan yes idk alot abt them yet except for chowon and nayoung i feel like the only thing thats lacking is promotion like cube gives so many opportunities to their other groups js for lightsum to not get any.
Yes, both during promotions and while their on hiatuses, I defs feel like there is more that can be done to retain their name in the mind of listeners. It's just about getting those opportunities or Cube advocating for them
An oficial from cube litterally said cube entertainment plans to debut a new BG and GG in 2024 Nowadays has already debuted, but new GG? like have they gave up on lightsum someone also said the ceo of cube called lightsum a failure
Damm, probs will be a 2025 debut because I would assume they wanna give Nowadays a bit of time to get all the attention from Cube before the debut another group. But yea, I saw Hina on a internet variety show and she said Lightsum are in preparation for another comeback. Not sure how legit it is, but hopefully we can support them enough for Cube to take Lightsum seriously.
@@cloudchungxiao yes hopefully lightsum doesn't become another CLC they still have a chance
Potentially not looking the best. I don't know if it was Cube themselves or some reporters but did you see the analysis on Cube Ent looking for the next big thing as G-Idle's contract come to and end soon? Very minimal mention of Lightsum besides the failure to capture much attention.
Could you please do why im worried about Weki Meki.
I had actually thought to do that but there hasn't been much activity from them and while doing this mini series, I saw that someone else had done something like this. Search for "searchingforelris" and you can watch a really good breakdown of their career
Cube debuted Lightsum because (G)I-DLE was on a downward trajectory and CLC was dismantling quickly, and they need another girl group. They were expecting (G)I-DLE to fail due to the Soojin scandal. However, Tomboy was released and BAM! (G)I-DLE's popularity skyrocketed. Cube doesn't need Lightsum anymore and they were put on the back burner.
Yea, that was what I was thinking and that's why Lightsum was relatively rushed to debut.
@@cloudchungxiao Cube needed a backup just in case both of their girl groups failed. It just turns out that one of them didn't
I'll never forgive cube for kicking out Huiyeon. Imo she was the best dancer in the group. Obviously her vocals needed some work but her dancing, facial expressions and stage presence were incredibly strong, some of the best in the group. She would have ate the honey or spice concept so I don't see why they didn't think she would fit in. That's all I could think about the entire time during their promotions and performances was how amazing Huiyeon would have been if she was given the chance to participate in the honey or spice era. It literally fits her to a T!!! Just such a hugely missed opportunity for everyone, especially the fans. I seen some comments that she has a youtube channel now, I would love to follow her, what is her channel called?!
Still not compeltely sure about the reason for her departure but yea that was something I thought about. Honey or spice really honed in on all the good stuff from their previous releases and did something pretty cool. However, it didn't feel like it deviated enough to let the Huiyeon and Jian to depart. But yea, her channel is heehui 휘연
Hey I like your videos! what country are you from?
Thanks :) I'm from New Zealand
Cube is seriously very rapidly losing traction. Gidle is into their 6th (?) year, and they’ve made it pretty clear that they don’t enjoy working with cube, so unless cube offers them an insanely good deal, I’m pretty sure they’re gonna leave. Btob has left, the remaining ptg members in cube are the older members who probably had their contracts put on hold while they were in the military, so I reckon they’d probably leave once their contracts actually ends. That leaves cube with just lightsum, who very obviously is not enough to keep cube going. Idk how their new boy group is gonna fair since they’ve let really talented and popular trainees like sung hanbin, Matthew and park hanbin go.. I became a cube Stan because of beast, but they’ve just been going downhill since their original founder stepped down. It’s so sad to see all the hard work that their pioneer groups, beast and 4 minute going down the drain 😢
Yea, that's kinda why I think this could be good for Lightsum in that Cube will be forced to pay more attention to them. However, will they actually though. Kinda wild to also hear that G-Idle contributed to their recent comeback to make it elaborate so idk. Seems like Cube is still kinda holding back a bit too.
@@cloudchungxiao oh yeah I agree. I’ve been a kpop fan for ages and never heard of a group having to fork out money for their own mv 😦 especially when they’re like the most established group in the company. I guess they must really have confidence in their new boy group
@@hongsamwineyeah but they’ll probably just wind up being one hit wonders like PTG with shine
Ohh it could be that. Not that they're confident to that extent but maybe they're trying to go all out for them and are shooting a lot of debut content in preparation for them to debut and hopefully become the next big cube group. Literally the minute G-Idle leave, it's kinda the last hope that Cube has before their downfall
@@cloudchungxiao exactly bruh and then LightSum will disband
I think Their Company Failed Them so badly. I don't even know they're just want money just like any other god-awful management company
I mean from a business view, how are they going to fund the group if they don't have money. It starts of with a lot of initial investment from the company in hopes they don't need to constantly sacrifice their own personal money to constantly fund the groups activities. However, in saying that, Cube's decisions that they have been making don't help their situation so their also kinda digging their own grave with how they treat their groups.
Cube should just disband them but I know they wouldn’t handle it well just like they didn’t for CLC’s.
I don't think there is a need to completely disband Lightsum. I mean they're doing decent. It's just not like G-Idle levels of success so it seems like they're doing extremely bad.
@@cloudchungxiao yeah ur right
@@cloudchungxiao but I mean they and the new boy group will be the only thing that keeps cube open once G idle leaves
Yea, so it would be dumb to disband any groups assuming Lightsum is making some form of revenue for them. Even if it's not a lot, it's enough to continue to stay afloat or even try to expand Cube again
@@cloudchungxiao yeah especially since they’re debuting a new BG soon but I already heard they’re debuting a new gg too which I think they need a new BG 1st cuz like their last one was 6-7 years ago
I feel like the choreography is suggestive and the camerawork is a little questionable in the MV. There are some strange... angles.
Ohh right, so probs would not have been a good comeback if they were OT8?
@@cloudchungxiao not that it wouldn’t have been good, just different
Right, I mean I wonder how much of the choreo would have changed if it was OT8. Not too sure about the lyrics but I know that suggestive lyrics aren't changeable for the most part once it's recorded, but choreo can always be adapted based on company preference.
@@cloudchungxiao Exactly