M4M (Mystical Formula), is a Mandopopboy band formed in 2013 by South Korea's Cube Entertainment and China's Xing Tian Media. The group consists of four members; Alen, Jimmy, Vinson, and Yu Bin. The group debuted on March 13, 2013 on M! Countdown with the Korean version of Sadness.[1] In March 2014, M4M announced that they are going to terminate their contracts with Chinese company Xing Tian Media, due to a lack of activity.[2]
History
Name origin
M4M is an abbreviation for Mystical Formula. The name is used to describe passion, mystery and infinite possibilities, whilst the number 4 is representational of the number of members in the group.[3]
2009–2012: Formation
In 2009, Xing Tian Media started to scout four individual talents to make up a new group. Although they were originally due to début before fellow labelmate BtoB, the departure of member and leader Park Jung-jong set back their début until the arrival of Alen.[3]
2013: Début
In February 2013, Cube Entertainment announced that the group, which had been training for 1,460 days, would be making their début although they didn't specify a date.[4] On 12 March, they released the single for "Sadness" followed by their formal debut on M! Countdown[1] and the uploading of the single's music video on YouTube on the following day.[5] Two months later, they went on to release their first mini album, the self-titled "Mystery Formula" of which both a Chinese version and a Korean version were released.[6]
2018: Idol Producer
After a long hiatus, Bin became a trainee for NewStyle Media, and participates in Idol Producer.