During the last two decades, the K-pop entertainment market was dominated by the “Big 3” K-pop entertainment agencies: SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. SM Entertainment has traditionally taken the lead in terms of size, number of artists, and revenue. SM is also regarded as having led the proliferation of the K-pop phenomenon around the world with prominent K-pop artists such as Girls’ Generation, EXO, SHINee, Red Velvet, and NCT. Singer BoA and boyband TVXQ became the first K-pop idols to successfully break into the Japanese market. YG Entertainment’s leading K-pop groups are BIGBANG, BLACKPINK, WINNER, and iKon, while JYP Entertainment manages TWICE, Stray Kids, ITZY, and many more.
The K-pop dominance of the Big 3, which has remained unchanged for nearly two decades, has recently expanded to the ‘’Big 4’’, with the arrival of HYBE Corporation, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment. Thanks to its globally popular artist BTS, HYBE generally posts the highest revenue and profits among the Big 4. BTS is a K-pop group comprised of seven young Korean men, first formed in 2013, and are widely considered the most popular K-pop artists. They regularly break their own records in album sales and YouTube viewership. BTS are still gaining fans around the world, and these fans formed the “ARMY”. The continuous growth of their fandom is a major driving force behind BTS’ record-setting. The BTS concerts held in Seoul in 2019 were estimated to have generated almost one trillion South Korean won as economic value to the country and attracted 187 thousand foreign visitors to Korea.
One popular and easy way of accessing K-pop content is via online platforms such as YouTube and Spotify. This makes it easy for existing fans to continuously consume content, while the threshold for people unfamiliar with the industry to begin consuming music, videos, and other content is low, allowing for more and more people to listen to the music. Accordingly, the amount of money spent per month on K-pop content over the world has doubled and stood at 10.8 U.S. dollars per person in 2021. Consumers who spent the highest average amount on K-pop content lived in the United Kingdom, and spent around 25.3 U.S. dollars per month in 2021.
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FAQs
The rookie groups from K-Pop's 'Big Four' agencies will have a 'fierce music market battle' in 2024. The 'Big Four' agencies – HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment – will be experiencing some stiff competition this year as they debut and promote new rookie groups.
What are the top 3 agency in Korea? ›
K-pop songs have a limited shelf life
During the last two decades, the K-pop entertainment market was dominated by the “Big 3” K-pop entertainment agencies: SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. SM Entertainment has traditionally taken the lead in terms of size, number of artists, and revenue.
What is the biggest entertainment in South Korea? ›
SM Entertainment has traditionally been the largest and most profitable, racing ahead of the other two in annual sales and employee numbers. SM also played a leading role in the rise of the global K-pop phenomenon and “Hallyu”, managing prominent K-pop performers such as Girls' Generation, Exo, and Red Velvet.
What are the Big 3 entertainment companies in Korea? ›
The most prevalent identities in previous generations of K-pop have been the “Big Three” companies: SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment. They are known for producing the most consistently successful groups and songs for the Korean and international public.
What do K-pop agencies do? ›
Introduction. Kpop entertainment companies play significant roles in Kpop industry. These talent agencies train trainees to become idols, select excellent trainees to form idol groups and keep managing their group activities after they debut. This system was created by SM entertainment in 1995.
What was the first K-pop agency? ›
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd.
| Native name | SM 엔터테인먼트 |
|---|
| Formerly | SM Studio (1989–1995) |
| Company type | Public |
| Traded as | KRX: 041510 |
| Industry | Music Entertainment Production Retail Travel |
14 more rowsSouth Korea's most valuable company by a country mile is Samsung with a market cap past $375 billion, bigger than the economy of Qatar. Samsung is most popularly known for their mobile phones, but is also a major appliance maker: washing machines, air conditioners, and televisions.
What is the best K-pop agency to audition? ›
You should audition for companies like 1 JYP ENTERTAINMENT 2 YG ENTERTAINMENT 3 SM ENTERTAINMENT 4 RAINBOW ENTERTAINMENT 5 PNATION ENTERTAINMENT 6 CUBE ENTERTAINMENT 7 BRAVE ENTERTAINMENT 8 WM ENTERTAINMENT 9 PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT 10 FNC ENTERTAINMENT 11 FANTAGIO 12 KQ ENTERTAINMENT TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL A…
What is the best agency in Korea? ›
Top Advertising Agencies in South Korea
- AJ Marketing. Genuine Influencer Marketing That Works🚀 ...
- Waterbe Marketing. Digital marketing agency specialized in SouthKorea. ...
- Seoulz. ...
- Need help selecting a company? ...
- Blue Orange Communication Inc. ...
- The SMC Group. ...
- JnJ Interactive Co., Ltd. ...
- RS AD.
As of May 2023, the K-pop entertainment HYBE Corporation achieved the highest market cap in the South Korean stock exchange market, at around 11.37 trillion South Korean won. HYBE Corporation, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, is home to globally popular K-pop group BTS.
BTS has secured the top spot in the brand rankings for K-Pop boy bands, followed by Seventeen and NCT. The rankings, released by the Korea Brand Reputation Research Institute, measure the popularity and love for K-Pop groups. The list includes other popular boy bands such as EXO, Stray Kids, Super Junior, and MONSTA X.
Who is the CEO of YG? ›
Does BigHit accept girl trainees? ›
Can girls audit Big Hit Entertainment? As of now, BigHit Entertainment does not accept female trainees.
What is the biggest company in K-pop? ›
As of May 2023, the K-pop entertainment HYBE Corporation achieved the highest market cap in the South Korean stock exchange market, at around 11.37 trillion South Korean won. HYBE Corporation, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, is home to globally popular K-pop group BTS.
What is the best agency in K-pop? ›
What Is the Most Popular K-Pop Agency?
- SM Entertainment. Lee Soo-man. ...
- JYP Entertainment. Park Jin-young. ...
- YG Entertainment. Yang Hyun-suk. ...
- Big Hit Entertainment. Bang Si-hyuk. ...
- Pledis Entertainment. Han Sung-soo. ...
- Starship Entertainment. Kim Shi-dae. ...
- Cube Entertainment. Hong Seung-sung. ...
- FNC Entertainment. Han Seong-ho.
BTS. Of course, we had to put the record-breaking BTS at the very top of this list. These boys are the current leaders of the K-pop invasion. Probably the first band most people think of when they think of K-pop boy bands.
