What was Izone's ceiling if they were a permanent group and never disbanded?

  • AllKill VIP

    Can't give an exact number, but it would be very high.


    Remember back before the later 4th gen groups debut, during their era they were rivalling Twice in terms of physical sales, which was unheard of back during that era.


    For comparison (and these numbers are just from wiki coz I don't know how to find the numbers), their 2020 album sold more than IVE debut album in 2021 or LSFM debut album in 2022. And this 2020 album was before the physical sales boom.


    I have my own theory about physical sales boom. During that era 2020 covid was still rampant, so many people didn't buy albums or even spend much on KPOP stuff, but despite that IZ*ONE sold over 500k.


    In late 2021/early 2022 where IVE/LSFM debut, covid died down. People's spending power increase, resulting in huge physical sales boom on KPOP merch overall from then on and in the later years.


    It would be reasonable that the physical albums bloom would apply to IZ*ONE as well. I don't know how big in general they would become, but without a doubt they would be one of the biggest 4th Gen GGs if they didn't disband as well.


    Digitals honestly I don't know it's a toss up

    All of their 5 releases reached top 25 on Gaon, a couple reached top 10. Everyone downplays them as fandom based but that's just a way to cope, they were digitally impactful. The fact that we are in the 6th year of 4th gen and only Izone soloists have ever made any kind of impact on charts should tell us something (top 10 for Yena, top 30 for Chaeyeon, top 30 for Eunbi except Melon for some reason X( ).


    But even i have to admit that their combined star power prevented the most popular members from reaching their peaks and prevented others from showcasing their potential. This is why i dont mind too much when WY and YJ fans talk about how their faves got to shine brighter in a smaller group, i think this is true, i only get mad when they discount Izone's huge role in helping them rise to stardom. Chaewon and Sakura too, both benefitted from a smaller group and fans are expressing a lot of shock at "discovering" them, even Sakura went from being made fun of for her skills to being a solid performer that doesnt look out of place in a performance oriented group.


    This is why i have been able to move past the anger stage of grief and sort of nibbled at acceptance. I will probably be seesawing between acceptance and depression for a long time, until we get that Izone reunion i know is coming (BangPD will buy out Starshit by the end of 2025).





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    ETA: Oh, i was so obsessed with another Izone rant that i forgot to clearly answer the question lol.


    I think they would have been successful but not have reached the peaks of Ive/LSRFM/NJ/Aespa/Idle. More like Stayc.

    Oh one more thing... Izone's downfall was necessary for the rest of 4th gen to shine. Remember even in the early months of 2021, 3rd gen was still in charge with The Album/Dynamite still ruling Kpop.


    Only when Izone was disbanded in March/April of 2021 did we finally see 4th gen rise.


    Next Level came out of nowhere a few weeks after Izone disbandment and eventually outcharted Butter head to head and even outimpacted IU's Celebrity by the end of the year. Then came Izone's literal daughter group in Dec 2021 with an instant impact megahit Eleven which peaked at #2 on Melon iirc. Then in 2022 March we saw Idle take the Kpop world by storm with Tomboy, Love Dive, Izone's other daughter group Fearless, then Hybe Boy and Attention.

    Not as high as IVE.


    But maybe as high as Le Sserafim.

    Interesting responses so far 🤔


    I honestly thought some people might've looked at the success of LSF and IVE and tried to retroactively apply that to Izone.


    I wonder how much the Produce scandal impacted their popularity outside the fandom as well


    I also wonder if the fandom would be larger if everyone knew they weren't a temporary group. That is legitimately the main reason I avoided getting invested and attached to them

  • AllKill VIP

    The last point yes.


    I think their sales dropped for their last album by a bit, and my guess is because fans know they aren't going to renew.


    And back in the old forum a lot of people did mention that them being a temporary group stopped them from diving in too deep.


    For digitals I don't know, but for my perspective on physical sales is they will get higher if they didn't disband. IVE LSFM or whatever groups were going to get high sales anyways because physical sales in general just increased tremendously over those past few years, and I think IZ*ONE would as well.


    Would it be as high as the top selling GG right now I'm not sure. I think IVE is the highest overall? IZ*ONE could possibly be the highest considering they already have 3 years extra of album sales ahead of all the more recent groups.

    They would have had to pull an (g)idle to keep the longevity going. They were big but by the time the contract was ending they were already seeing a decline.


    Also large groups were declining internationally & in Korea but they would have kept a loyal fanbase in Japan. Their popularity in Japan would have kept them paid through concerts & tours.


    They disbanded at the perfect time while people still saw them in their prime and glory. This kept their fanbase loyal even after disbanding.

    If managed by Off The Record, lower than Twice and BP.


    If managed by another company, and they had good songs, Twice and BP level within 7 years.

  • AllKill VIP

    They probably would've been the first 4th gen GG to hit 1M and could probably pull a decent tour. They weren't very popular internationally though (doubt it would've improved) and in Korea their charting was very fandom-fueled for the most part and had experienced a decline following Fiesta so, basically end up being the boy group of girl groups

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