A major re-alignment of KPop took place in the 2010s, and now all the major acts are from the major outfits.
While there are still acts like Astro, which continues because of Chaeunwoo's dedication to the group, in general there won't be any new acts from minor companies which will go anywhere from now on.
The cold truth is the KPop market has entered a period of saturation, and older acts still retain a considerable size of fandom. Newer acts take longer and longer to go anywhere, and only well financed and well planned acts have some kind of future. Even acts from better known companies will have a hard time getting anywhere if they are not planned well.
And smaller companies won't have the wherewithal to survive the initial period to get established.
The Rollin craze was entirely local. The Brave Girls story was interesting but even back then I said it would not affect the i-fans since it is a local fad and they don't have anything to appeal for the i-fans. Brave Brother, who owns BG, is still making them do a US tour, but that might be because HE wanted to do a US tour and this is his chance to do it, not that he is expecting a great success over it.
In the old days, acts from smaller companies which achieved some success in Korea could kinda survive. But, nowdays, acts do need enough support to get established first, and then have a foreign activity which need connection, financing and experience.
The age of corporate KPop is here to stay. No more coming-from-behind success stories. No more efforts and dedication going anywhere. Like the closing of the Wild West, KPop is corporate once for all, whether you like or not.
