[TF Focus] "They announced their disbandment"...The 'curse' of UNIS only grows with regret

'Sky Land Star Land' Achieves Group's Best PerformanceCited as an example of the difficult K-pop production environmentGroup UNIS's 'Sky Land Star Land,' released on September 8, is achieving higher results after announcing its disbandment./F&F Entertainment[THE FACT|Reporter Choi Hyun-jung] Group UNIS is causing much regret with its 'late achievement.'UNIS (JIN HYEONJU NANA GEHLEE KOTOKO BANG YUNHA ELISIA OH YOONA LIM SEOWON)'s single 'Sky Land Star Land,' released on September 8, is receiving a positive response on major music charts, including Melon HOT 100 (30 days) at 20th place and HOT 100 (100 days) at 33rd place, as well as YouTube Music Weekly Popular Songs Chart at 33rd place and Weekly Shorts Popular Songs Chart at 20th place.While direct comparison is difficult as it is a digital single without a physical album release, in terms of digital sales alone, this is a 'career-high' achievement for UNIS.While this is a situation that should clearly bring joy based on performance alone, the reality is the opposite. This is because UNIS concluded their project and all activities on September 26.The halt of UNIS's activities leaves significant regret in two main aspects. The first is that it was 'too sudden.'Of course, UNIS was formed through the SBS survival audition 'Universe Ticket,' and it is true that a 2-year and 6-month activity period was set from the time of their debut. However, the termination of UNIS's activities was a shock because it occurred without prior notice while they were actively engaged in promotions right up until then.In fact, UNIS released their first Japanese mini-album 'UNI☆Sparkle!' in July and was actively promoting in Japan until September. Furthermore, they released 'Sky Land Star Land' on September 8, engaged in domestic music show promotions, and even released a new single 'Milky Way' on September 23.Given this, announcing the end of their activities just three days later was enough for fans to feel like the group was suddenly disbanding.The second aspect is, of course, the success of 'Sky Land Star Land.' As explained earlier, 'Sky Land Star Land' is the song that recorded the best start among all the songs UNIS has released so far, and it also received praise for 'finally finding their fitting color.''Sky Land Star Land' was already generating a lot of buzz before the disbandment announcement. Analysis suggests that the announcement of disbandment, combined with its original popularity, led to even greater popularity./F&F EntertainmentJust as they seemed to be truly shining, their wings were clipped before they could fully spread, leaving no choice but to feel regret.Some analyze the success of 'Sky Land Star Land' as a kind of 'scarcity effect.' The argument is that interest surged due to the psychology that they could no longer be seen after disbandment. The 'scarcity effect' is an analysis that is gaining considerable traction in the industry.However, even taking that into account, the popularity of 'Sky Land Star Land' was undeniably at a level that could not be easily overlooked. Even before the announcement of the end of activities, the song had already reached 28th place on Melon HOT 100 (30 days) on September 12, and videos comparing the original artist Bibi's stage with UNIS's stage were also gaining significant traction on short-form platforms.The performance industry was the most direct recipient of the increased interest in UNIS. A representative from the performance industry told , "After the release of 'Sky Land Star Land,' inquiries for UNIS significantly increased, but we could not proceed with bookings due to the end of their activities. It is truly regrettable."While regret is unavoidable, what is now intriguing is the future whereabouts of the UNIS members. As of now, the only member whose future whereabouts have been precisely revealed is GEHLEE. GEHLEE announced a contract with a local management company in her home country of the Philippines on September 29 and has already begun her solo activities.For others, there are speculations about re-debuts for members like Kotoko, who enjoyed relatively high popularity in Japan, and LIM SEOWON, who, at 12 years old, still possesses significant age competitiveness. However, nothing has been officially confirmed yet. Furthermore, with members like Jin Hyun-ju and BANG YUNHA no longer having agencies, their future whereabouts are even more uncertain.A music industry official, identified as A, stated, "From what I hear, it seems like they will be fending for themselves." He added, "It hasn't been a long time since the end of activities was announced, and the individual members' recognition or popularity is not so high that there would be intense recruitment competition immediately after the announcement. Therefore, their final whereabouts will likely become clear after some more time has passed."Currently, GEHLEE is the only member of UNIS whose future whereabouts have been confirmed. The activity status of the other members remains uncertain./F&F EntertainmentAdditionally, A pointed to the case of UNIS as an example illustrating the increasingly difficult reality of the K-pop industry.A commented, "Recently, there are more cases of teams formed through audition programs extending their contracts or activities. However, UNIS chose to end their activities despite having the opportunity. Ultimately, I believe they judged that it would be difficult to cover production costs no matter what." He added, "It feels bitter, like a case showing the reality of the K-pop industry where production costs are constantly increasing, while achieving results is becoming even more difficult."laugardagr@tf.co.kr[Entertainment Department | ssent@tf.co.kr]