Snsd VS Exo

    Quote from uwuwu-98

    If we talk about just the money that the group generated for SM, it's probably Exo. It's not just that they had better sales/touring numbers but also they peaked during the 3rd gen when the market was in general bigger and easier to make money. I think SNSD made more money with CFs in Korea but I still don't think it's enough to make up for the crazy amount of money big bgs fandoms can make.


    However if we talk about "indirect" money I think SNSD wins. Some people have already mentioned SNSD had more impact but that doesn't translate directly into money. While I agree I think if we want to analyze the situation properly that's too simple. SNSD had a huge impact in Kpop being the top act for a long time, and the impact that had on SM's brand was also huge, making the debuts of the upcoming groups more anticipated and being acknowledged as the top company of Kpop for a long time (also thanks to other groups like SJ or SHINee ofc, but SNSD was the "face" without any doubt), actually EXO themselves and their super fast success were a consequence of SM's status those years.


    Might be me but I tend to value this impact more than direct moneymaking, but I understand there will be many people that disagree.

    This is a good analysis.


    Exo debuted at the same time social media started being a serious thing. It actually affected their growth because SM hadn't known how to use it to promote their idols better and that's how BTS dominated the scene shortly after investing time and resources in the use of social media. So, it wasn't easy for Exo. I remember Exo holding the record for the most watched music video in 24hrs with only 4 million views. Exol also didn't know what to do and they never caught up.

    I chose for fun but I got a great read going through the comments.


    I went for exo because I remember them being massive and I know that boygroups can generate a lot of sales but I was not here for Snsd so I am not a good judge of this.

    Quote from sonemariam

    The Exo China line made SM a lot of money from their China activities. Lunan once made over $30M when he was still under SM, the others made like 13M or 17M individually which is what other whole groups make in Korea.

    Tvxq still holds 2 highest grossing tours and attendees in SM

    One is over 90m$ and other over 110m$ and TVXQ made that money from Japan and Korea

    And you know that TVXQ had highest sales in SM until Exo took over! In small time frame TVXQ made more money to SM than EXO


    Well nct is nct! There are 25 members currently so they simply make tons of money! Nct dream also has more album sales than Exo! Nct tours are bigger than Exo and Nct tours more!

    Also there are already a lot of soloists in nct!

    Doyoung, Taeyong, Yuta, Ten comes from top of my head

    There is also Nct U, Nct djj

    And even nct wish who debuted this year sold nearly 2m albums!

    And in terms of group individuals who made most money to SM would actually be Taemin!

    Simply because he toured more than anyone in SM!

    In 2017-2019 he had 500k attendees in his concerts! Taemin just toured even more than most groups under SM!

    For exo’s defence Exo built Sm’s building and they brought SM to higher peaks and they were their biggest act worldwide! As Key from Shinee said exo built the building and Shinee contributed for elevators and he said smth else too but I can’t remember what was the rest!


    And new Kwangya building that currently SM is based is built from Nct’s money

    Damn, TVXQ is so rich. I remember when they sold out a million tickets in Japan with one tour. That was incredible. A million tickets is what BP sells for a world tour but those dudes did that in Japan alone.


    WayV are yet to make good money or sell as well as Exo or Nct dream. Wish is yet to tour. And, Nct is yet to reach Exo's tour numbers as a whole even when Exo has been inactive for some good years now as a group but, they'll soon do that given that they are still active.


    Individually, Nct has no soloist with sales as much as and or tours as well as Baekhyun or the rest of Exo members. Doyoung and Jarhyun sold 300k+ each so that's great. I'm sure they'll get there since they still have years to promote as a group.


    And, at their peak, Exo had around 50 cf deals. Nct doesn't endorse brands that much.


    Taemin debuted solo very early. Had other Exo members been given that chance, they'd have been much bigger than they are. Lay, Lunan Tso got the chance and that's why they were that successful. At some point, Lay had the best selling album or something in China. It sold over 4 million copies, at that time, no other Kpop idol had achieved that.


    Which means, only TVXQ has probably made more than Exo.

    I was talking about nct brand as one entity 😅

    Ofc not a single nct unit can bring more money than Exo yet but joint forces of Nct dream, 127, wish, U, Djj and wayv makes more money😅

    Quote from Taemin-Identity

    For exo’s defence Exo built Sm’s building and they brought SM to higher peaks and they were their biggest act worldwide! As Key from Shinee said exo built the building and Shinee contributed for elevators and he said smth else too but I can’t remember what was the rest!


    And new Kwangya building that currently SM is based is built from Nct’s money

    When was the new Kwangya building built?

    both EXO and SNSD has made considerable contribution to SM financially, and they are not the only two either.


    the thread ask which one made bigger contribution financially, I would assume and humbly say that is EXO.


    I don't think anyone here knows the exact numbers in the SM financial records for the entirety of the past 17 years so lets not dig too deep into this matter. It's long and tedious with the final conclusion not amounting to anything that is worth the effort in the first place.


    At the end of the day both groups did well.


    Senior acts like H.O.T., SES, BOA, SHINHWA, TVXQ, Super Junior, etc. have all made significant contribution to SM, without them groups like SNSD could not have gotten the amount of financial support they had to catapult themselves to super stardom so early in their careers. The SM connection with the entertainment industry that was previously established by these Senior acts are valuable in the sense that the junior acts that follow will have a much better chance to do even better than their Seniors in the entertainment industry. This is the essence of paving the way for your juniors so that they can and have the opportunity to go even further and have success even larger in the foreseeable future.

    Quote from uwuwu-98

    If we talk about just the money that the group generated for SM, it's probably Exo. It's not just that they had better sales/touring numbers but also they peaked during the 3rd gen when the market was in general bigger and easier to make money. I think SNSD made more money with CFs in Korea but I still don't think it's enough to make up for the crazy amount of money big bgs fandoms can make.


    However if we talk about "indirect" money I think SNSD wins. Some people have already mentioned SNSD had more impact but that doesn't translate directly into money. While I agree I think if we want to analyze the situation properly that's too simple. SNSD had a huge impact in Kpop being the top act for a long time, and the impact that had on SM's brand was also huge, making the debuts of the upcoming groups more anticipated and being acknowledged as the top company of Kpop for a long time (also thanks to other groups like SJ or SHINee ofc, but SNSD was the "face" without any doubt), actually EXO themselves and their super fast success were a consequence of SM's status those years.


    Might be me but I tend to value this impact more than direct moneymaking, but I understand there will be many people that disagree.

    Yeah this a a good point as well. SNSD was not only the face of SM but the face of Kpop as a whole as well during their peak years so they generated a ton of interest and brought in a ton of fans internationally. That in turn greatly helped SM grow exponentially as they were on the world stage.


    You could easily argue SNSD was the turning point for SM from being a very successful domestic label with access to Japan to a worldwide label and the biggest Kpop label for years to come. Same way Big Bang blew up YG, Twice to JYP, BTS to Hybe. So in that sense SNSD had a massive benefit, arguably the biggest, to SM but it's hard to put those achievements into raw numbers like say x number of albums sold.

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