Is DearALICE doomed?

Quote from msmelon

Let’s talk about DearALICE! The UK boy band launched by SM in partnership with US-based label Gamma (home to artists like Usher, Snoop Dogg, Sexyy Red, f5ve and Mariah Carey).

Despite the potential and global partnerships, DearALICE is struggling hard to gain traction. Their debut made barely any noise, engagement is low and there’s no visible fanbase. It’s like they debuted and instantly vanished. They’ve been doing dance challenges with SM artists but even those haven't helped much. SM stans aren’t supporting them the way they do with other acts.

Harsh truth: I think visuals might be playing a big role here. Like it or not, visuals are a huge part of idol marketing. Add the usual stigma boy groups face and it’s an uphill climb.

They released this song today and their fans had to find out about their debut album through the MV description lol and if you noticed, this is basically a solo song where one member sings the whole song:

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Is it too late for DearALICE? Or can they still turn it around?

Btw does anyone know how f5ve is doing in comparison? Since they are managed by the same label Gamma.

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I remember EXP EDITION, one of the first "kpop" groups of such kind .... however, many people thought they (EXP EDITION) looked like dads trying to be cool and dance .... Dear Alice have a more youthful look to them

Quote from msmelon

Let’s talk about DearALICE! The UK boy band launched by SM in partnership with US-based label Gamma (home to artists like Usher, Snoop Dogg, Sexyy Red, f5ve and Mariah Carey).

Despite the potential and global partnerships, DearALICE is struggling hard to gain traction. Their debut made barely any noise, engagement is low and there’s no visible fanbase. It’s like they debuted and instantly vanished. They’ve been doing dance challenges with SM artists but even those haven't helped much. SM stans aren’t supporting them the way they do with other acts.

Harsh truth: I think visuals might be playing a big role here. Like it or not, visuals are a huge part of idol marketing. Add the usual stigma boy groups face and it’s an uphill climb.

They released this song today and their fans had to find out about their debut album through the MV description lol and if you noticed, this is basically a solo song where one member sings the whole song:

External Content www.youtube.com

Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.

Display all external content

Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

Is it too late for DearALICE? Or can they still turn it around?

Btw does anyone know how f5ve is doing in comparison? Since they are managed by the same label Gamma.

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I've first heard about Dear Alice last summer ... I don't know when their official debut was .... or was it a predebut? .... because I remember Dear Alice coming to M Countdown in January, earlier this year

Quote from msmelon

Link me the best EXP EDITION performance or music video! Are they disbanded or do they still exist?

I'm not sure if they're disbanded, but their last comeback was in January 2018 ... their last video on Youtube (in which all 4 of them appear) was August 2020, where they react to their old performances

Quote from msmelon

Google says they officially debuted with their first song "Ariana" on February 21, 2025.

I thought it was a predebut though, because it made so little noise

Quote from msmelon

Link me the best EXP EDITION performance or music video! Are they disbanded or do they still exist?

Fun fact is that EXP EDITION were praised by members of Super Junior (Dear Alice's company seniors) when they (EXP EDITION) performed a cover of Super Junior's song "U"

The whole thing’s out of pocket! It was a recipe for failure imo! If kpop companies want to debut western groups they need to drop the kpop style of doing things! That goes for all western kpop groups they will never catch on!

The reason groups like BTS and BP are big in the west is because they’re big in the kpop world, thanks to their kpop fans not your average public person

What next a new kpop afrobeats group

Damn, I didn't even know they had debuted already.

I have literally seen 0 about them. Anywhere. Even VCHA had some kind of attention before they disappeared.

I feel like SM half-assed this. Like, they were already kinda half expecting this to fail so they didn't really invest much into it. Because if they really put the full SM machine behind this, ain't no way I shouldn't have not even known they debuted. SM has always struggled to reach a Western audience outside of KPOP fans though.

Katseye may be the only saving grace from KPOP companies trying to break into the Western market with Western members.

Quote from keyboardwarrior7

Damn, I didn't even know they had debuted already.

I have literally seen 0 about them. Anywhere. Even VCHA had some kind of attention before they disappeared.

I feel like SM half-assed this. Like, they were already kinda half expecting this to fail so they didn't really invest much into it. Because if they really put the full SM machine behind this, ain't no way I shouldn't have not even known they debuted. SM has always struggled to reach a Western audience outside of KPOP fans though.

Katseye may be the only saving grace from KPOP companies trying to break into the Western market with Western members.

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I think JYPE and SM never understood the concept of creating a global group. I think these 2 companies felt their name alone and doing the typical kpop marketing and concepts would work on a global scale. On the other hand, Hybe understood you can't approach a global group like a kpop group. Hybe was able to find a fine balance between marketing towards kpop fans and appealing to western markets. It also helps they were able to get US label Geffen to be fully onboard marketing the group and handling certain activities. I don't think SM or JYP have that type of relationship with their partners

Quote from StanGIDLE

I think JYPE and SM never understood the concept of creating a global group. I think these 2 companies felt their name alone and doing the typical kpop marketing and concepts would work on a global scale. On the other hand, Hybe understood you can't approach a global group like a kpop group. Hybe was able to find a fine balance between marketing towards kpop fans and appealing to western markets. It also helps they were able to get US label Geffen to be fully onboard marketing the group and handling certain activities. I don't think SM or JYP have that type of relationship with their partners

Yeah. I don't know about SM, but JYPE had the approach all wrong from the get go.

Like, the members they chose, the concepts...

All of it was way too childish to have any true longevity in the Western market.

Their debut was really weird. I remember I liked the song which is why I started to paying attention to them at first but then I think they said it was a pre realeased or something? So I thought well I'll check it out when they actually debut but then it turns out it was actually their debut and they promoted at some point? It was very confusing.

I also think that having them all the members be mostly white boys was a bad decision. They should have had at least one korean member, so when they promote in korea, he could be the spokes person. Also, no offense to them but I think most people who are into kpop are from various ethnicities and nationalities, so if they were not going to be mostly korean, they should have at least made the line up more diverse ala katseye if they wanted them to be more popular with the kpop audiences.

Still, I do think they could have potential but their management is really bad. I was gonna check out this release since I saw it pop up in my youtube recomendations but now that you are telling me is just one member singing? Thats again so weird and I don't understand why their teams keeps making these decisions.

Quote from msmelon

who is backing them up?

A Korean lady called Bora Kim ... EXP EDITION was basically formed for her thesis (or something like that) .... and fun fact: there were originally 6 members, but the two black members left (or were kicked out???) before the official debut, leaving 4 members.

They do nOT look cohesive and do NOT give me pop band.

One direction? Pop band.

Nsync? Pop band.

Backstreet boys? Pop band.

Hell even that knock off “i cast a spell on you spell on you, you hit me like the sky fell on you fell on you” band LOOKed like a group… the Wanted??

That has nothing to do with visuals and everything to do with vision (styling)