about 6 groups debuted so far this year, none looking all that promising. is kpop slowing down?

Purple Kiss and Hot Issue have really captured my eye I hope they do get more success soon!

Who knows anyone can blow up.

It's always going to be hard for non-big3

People were saying the exact same things back in 2013-2014, look where we are now. Too soon to say it's slowing down.

I like Purple Kiss, Hot Issue and TRI.BE. Do they have what it takes to blow up in popularity? Unclear. But i'll keep supporting them as long as they deliver a content that I enjoy.

Kpop sales are not slowing down at all, i mean have you seen the numbers groups are pulling? Holy heck it's insane. Dream is about to go to 2 MILLION on GAON , TXT will hit 700K at least, Rose getting 600k, etc.

But maybe Kpop will eventually consolidate around the middle and top tiers, with many of the nugu groups falling away.

This has been a difficult year for artists...

Debuting in 2021 really sucks.

I had high hopes on Tri.be, but they have been a disappointment this far. But it's a bit crowded right now among the girlgroups, with both a bit older popular groups like Twice, BP, Red Velvet, Gfriend (even if they have disbanded now). Add to that the sudden rise of Oh my Girl, new groups like ITZY, AESPA and more. Not easy to break through among that.

we have future nugu groups debuting every year. nothing surprising since none of them is from a big company.

i like Purple Kiss' music

6?

Where the fuck is Kingdom at?

Quote from patrik-k

I had high hopes on Tri.be, but they have been a disappointment this far. But it's a bit crowded right now among the girlgroups, with both a bit older popular groups like Twice, BP, Red Velvet, Gfriend (even if they have disbanded now). Add to that the sudden rise of Oh my Girl, new groups like ITZY, AESPA and more. Not easy to break through among that.

It's definitely crowded. So many groups, big and small. Hard to keep up with everyone and be fair to all of them.

I hope so, too much groups already. I would like if kpop had only ~12 companies and only them kept releasing groups

Lightsum is expected to debut soon, and they're bursting with talented members:

Chowon

Chowon, Nayoung, Jian

Sangah, Chowon, Juhyeon

Lightsum debut trailer:

So hopefully Cube won't mess their debut and management up too much, the group has great potential.

Also, internationally K-pop has been growing, album sales have doubled to tripled for most groups the past 2 years, and NCT subgroups are easily getting to 2 million album sales per comeback now, something no other group except BTS has been able to do.

On top of that, the success of Brave Girls and Oh My Girl has shown that even midtier and less successful groups can rise to great heights.

Quote from Icaro_Ribeiro

I hope so, too much groups already. I would like if kpop had only ~12 companies and only them kept releasing groups

What labels to keep?

YG

SM

JYP

Hybe

Starship

WM

Cube

??

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

What labels to keep?

YG

SM

JYP

Hybe

Starship

WM

Cube

??

Display More

Mnet and its sublabels

RBW

FNC

Woolim

Plus another 2 or 3 born with the merge of smaller companies. If 12 is too few, them expand to 20 or something

The point is no reason to keep so many garage kpop-companies

Tri.be, Hot Issue and Purple Kiss have made their presence known. Up to the fans to take further.

Purple Kiss is a unique concept. Could catch on big time.

Lightsum from cube has some hype, and they say that SM may debut a bg in second half and yg a gg as well, no one knows if they will but there are possibilities...

even if we dont have debuts we can say we have a re-debut kind of situation with groups like Brave girls and now laboum.. they are getting recognition a lot compared so revival is there which isnt much different..

either new groups come to market or old ones finally get famous, its more kpop groups growing

Quote from Icaro_Ribeiro

The point is no reason to keep so many garage kpop-companies

No one keeps them, they are private companies that are doing business freely. As long as there's a few bucks to make, they'll keep coming. The only thing that we should worry about is if they do shady things with their contracted idols. For the rest, the market will tell whether they turn a profit or not.

I liked Purple Kiss. I'm not following them closely to know if RBW marketing is adequate or not.

Quote from Alex_Murphy

No one keeps them, they are private companies that are doing business freely. As long as there's a few bucks to make, they'll keep coming. The only thing that we should worry about is if they do shady things with their contracted idols. For the rest, the market will tell whether they turn a profit or not.

The point is the market already told them they aren't sustainable. Those companies survive not from selling music, but from trainee debts

Quote from sleeplessnights

I liked Purple Kiss. I'm not following them closely to know if RBW marketing is adequate or not.

I'm not sure, but they might be underperforming. For a RBW group that is. Someone posted not long ago some stats (dont remember what it was) and Purple Kiss were around woo!ah!'s level.

Quote from Icaro_Ribeiro

The point is the market already told them they aren't sustainable. Those companies survive not from selling music, but from trainee debts

Oh, I get your point. Well, there's not much anyone can do anyway in that regard. Unless the Korean laws change in a way that these contracts are not possible anymore.

Quote from Icaro_Ribeiro

Mnet and its sublabels

RBW

FNC

Woolim

Plus another 2 or 3 born with the merge of smaller companies. If 12 is too few, them expand to 20 or something

The point is no reason to keep so many garage kpop-companies

Display More

Actually, i was shocked at how small Kpop companies are. Many are literally small business level it seems like, even bigger companies like Cube only have 79 total employees and bring in only 25 million USD in total revenue per year.

cube.png

Quote from Alex_Murphy

Oh, I get your point. Well, there's not much anyone can do anyway in that regard. Unless the Korean laws change in a way that these contracts are not possible anymore.

I'm sure if trainee debts were ilegal 80% of companies would vanish overnight

Sucks for people who have a dream and can't get into a big company, but kpop is a restricted market. You don't join a start up that promise sending you to the moon just because you failed in the Nasa exam to be an astronaut

Quote from aclassyteaparty

but thats the thing, there's always a trade off. a plethora of groups fall or disband and 1 or 2 groups blows up. the difference between those numbers is the measure of growth and decline, and overall im pretty sure its a decline. 3 ggs blowing up doesnt accoutn for all the bg plummeting or the ggs disbanding like gfriend. js

that has always been the case though?

Not every year has a spectacular debut lineup and who knows who is gonna blow up at what point?

only bts survived out of 2013 debut groups, out of more than 40 groups that debuted in 2012 around 3-4 are still active...

we still have a whole of 7 months to see which rookie does great and which new ones come.. we have had a whole lot of years without a lot of big debuts.. i wont call this slowing down of kpop at all lol

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

Actually, i was shocked at how small Kpop companies are. Many are literally small business level it seems like, even bigger companies like Cube only have 79 total employees and bring in only 25 million USD in total revenue per year.

cube.png

Cube made 32 million in 2020 but yeah, I agree. Only 32 million for a top 10 public traded kpop company. It's a mid-size business company

Put some respect on purple kiss, will you

Also those are non big 3, give them time or maybe the good moment/song to rise

Lightsum look promising, and I've seen some hype for them on twitter already. How is rbw fumbling purple kiss? I like the music theyve released so far but haven't kept up with them otherwise.

Quote from aclassyteaparty

that wasnt rlly my point. this thread is just me pointing to signs in an overall decline in kpop. what happens next year will be the deciding factor on if this was a one off or if it will be a continuous pattern. this thread is just pure speculative conjecture since none of us know the future.

alright, no one knows maybe your speculation may be true... i probably didnt understand your OP well enough i guess

I think Purple Kiss has potential.

They seem to have a unique identity, so they can stand out somehow.

Quote from Icaro_Ribeiro

I hope so, too much groups already. I would like if kpop had only ~12 companies and only them kept releasing groups

Sounds like what I wish for Japan cause I see soooo many companys co-signing/publish their artists under popular companys like Avex, Sony, Universal, Warner in Japan and almost all people who are co-signed/uplished sonewhere else fail so hard. I mean if you look at for example Avex's Youtube and see all those names and that they release MVs on a daily basis. Non of them has more as like 10K views