The era of big companies monopoly and how non big4 kpop is dying

[@jooniesun]

I’ve been a kpop stan since 2nd gen and back then if you were talking about groups dominating the industry then you would have mentioned many groups outside of the big3, but now when it comes to 4th/5th gen leaders it’s almost always big4 artists which really goes to show how much the industry has shifted

[@margaesperanza]

My fave irony is how stans gets up in arms about smaller companies debuting minors but will follow all the minors that Hybe launched. It’s always “protect minors” unless a rich conglomerate is exploiting them.

[@eliquos]

Nahhh fr

[@noirnoironey]

Honestly its not quite true when nj debut suddenly theres a mass push for this "protect the minors" so big that theres alot of talk from different platforms... I'm baffled becoz minors has been a big part of every kpop group thats why theres position of "maknae" but when Baby monster debut suddenly all the ones who bark about this issue is silent...I've seen some but not as loud as nj's considering BM concept is questionable

[@belaytriks]

​@@noirnoironeyNJ problem is they were minors singing an adult song for adults with an innocent look so they can pull a Dan Schnaider from Nikelodeom. People is trying to make concience about this but the industries that benefits from those actions are trying to make people forget.

[@noirnoironey]

@@belaytriks i could have said the same thing w/ MB from the choreo,gestures & styling. They act adult for their adult viewers/fans. adults song? Are you talking about cookie? But cookie means burning of cd. "context is key" the song revolves around d paired idea of burning cds and baking goods which share the same conceptual verb in Korea. What baffles me only internationl fans r barking but korean public does not even bat an eye to korean song knetz understand the reference they just felt very nostalgic w/ d concept of burning cds(which goes back to nj's y2k nostalgic concept) Theres CDs in the mv ALOT i dont know how d mv should stretch that out more & if you gonna push that idea, take a look at TVXQ they have song "HUG" its about sucking boobs & Changmin is 15 yrs at that time, Red velvet ICECREAM Yeri is 16 at that time, the most questionable group who always release suggestive songs NCT example song is DRIPPIN ..my point is sexual innuedos songs in kpop has been around since 1,2 & 3rd gen. This is not just specific to nj (according to you cookie being problematic) Nj's cookie is not even sexual but i understand if international fans might feel akward about it (i dont interpret it in a sexual content since in my country theres no such thing as this specific innuendo)if you think evrything is sexual then theres somethign wrong with your viewpoint. But I honestly think Adore could have been more careful releasing this song.

[@wandeesthoughts]

Clock it

[@gamjasong04]

It’s crazy because if big hit had remained as it was instead of becoming a multi label company now we wouldn’t have this much competition because it’s literally them that always end up debuting so many groups each year. In comparison the big 3 are not over saturating the industry this much 😑

[@btsmochimi7924]

Competition had always been a thing since pre-hybe...i agree that hybe is acting like a factory now...but then thats how a multi-label works...its under the same brand but different subsidiaries operating their own thing. Also, Big 3 had always been dominating on charts and awards. They don't produce often like hybe does...but they dominate nonetheless.

[@noirnoironey]

Are you new to kpop? Big 3 has been dominating the industry for a long time. Look at the winners from the musicshows for the past 15-20 years. The only group that i could think of that broke record was bts. Thats why its hard to debut for idols who are under those small companys especially to last longer in the industry given the fact that you need conncection & status to make it last

[@JulianMorty]

Exactly. We don't see any cube stans or starship stans eventhough GIDLE and IVE are among the top 3 4th gen girlgroups. Just look at Lightsum, Nowadays from Cube or Cravity and Wjsn from Starship. Not many people even know their names. On the other hand, look at Newjeans, Lesserafim, Illit, Tws from Hybe or Riize, Aespa from SM or Babymonster from YG. All of them are popular and have big fanbases. They even have fanbases before their debut. This proves that most of their fans are company stans who don't care about the music or the concepts.

[@minhyuklees1bebe902]

had sse continued doing those "family" songs they used to do up until 2018 and capitalized on that family promotions, maybe there would be more starship stans than there is right now. (they honestly missed the chance to capitalize on that entire starship family thing, like most people in that company are actually friends so the whole starship planet agenda wouldn't look staged).

[@JulianMorty]

@@minhyuklees1bebe902 Yeah. Cube too. They used to host cube family concerts up until 2017-18 , but failed popularise it.

[@getw3llsoon]

Lmao dives were pointing out how IVE managed to get so far without big company privilege and were jumped by HYBE bootlickers trying to make SSE out to be a big company. They're failing to understand that SSE stans don't exist. You don't have guaranteed success if you debut there or in Cube

[@gaellelm6678]

Sadly I agree with you, the only 3 group that are popular coming outside of the big4 in 4th gen are ateez ive, stayC and girdle ( and before everglow but the lack of comeback destroyed them, plus loona which was big outside south korea). 50/50 could had challenged them too

[@vixxexo6855]

StayC are also famous.

[@gaellelm6678]

@@vixxexo6855 oh my gosh yes, how could I forget them 😭 Thank for your notice

[@vangyul]

Bighit becoming one of the big companies of kpop is the proof that there was indeed a spot left in the market, that even if the big3 were pretty solidified there was still a chance for someone else to rival them. Now it would be insane to think it would be possible for another company to pull a bighit. I don’t know how small companies still manage to have enough hope in the future to continue debuting groups that are 99% likely to go unnoticed.

[@vixxexo6855]

(G)i-dle, StayC and Ateez did manage to get noticed while not debuting in big 4. Also Mnet show groups like ZeroBaseOne also do well.

[@bastetowl3258]

i think for smaller companies it would only work if they have connections to famous producers, artists, or have a member from a survival show like the video here said, otherwise it's pretty much guaranteed they'll disband after a year unfortunately

[@kkentaii]

Another issue with this is that then nugu geoups copy big groups and suddenly all songs sound the same. Like 5 GG have debuted and all their themes and music are the same

[@soft4taeng]

That's true and to be honest you can't even blame them for following what's popular. But of course it's always nice seeing new groups that bring some variety like kiss of life, young posse, xikers and tripleS for example

[@belaytriks]

Last time I watched a music show only one group make an impression on me, the rest just blended between each other, they felt the same, they sounded the same and looked the same for my half sleep mind. I think right now most groups blend and it is hard to find great groups around.

[@너구리집]

I think this is a problem with BIG4's company fandom. They live every day to destroy groups from other companies without consuming them. But if groups from small-mid agencies that do not have company fandom are on the road to success, who can protect them from the huge toxic BIG4's fans? Even IVE, which is considered the most successful among small business girl groups, has struggled to survive them. At least until the early third generation, overseas fans were not so toxic.

[@soft4taeng]

I totally agree but it’s not just about toxicity, it’s also about how close minded they are. They rarely give a chance to non big4 groups and i think it has a lot to do with the fact that so many of these people just stan groups for their achievements so of course they’ll only stan popular groups. And last but not least, these stans act as if big4 groups were the only ones allowed to be successful, that’s why they constantly try to discredit non big4 artists’ achievements.

[@saltclaws]

Shout out to Vlive, one of the first pieces of the monopoly to be consumed by Hybe.

[@soft4taeng]

that really pissed me off, don't even remind me of it...there was absolutely no reason for them to do that😫

[@起.承.転.結]

Lmao Vlive literally shut themself down to focus on developig weverse. Bc vlive has nothing much to do anymore except for idol to do livestream. While weverse can do much more than that. So there r no meaning to keep vlive going when u as developer didn't give a f anymore. Rather focus on the one u currently developing with more budget and have more chance to expand in the future. That's what it's called 'Business' yk🙂🙃

[@chelsietucker2208]

@@起.承.転.結but vlive was accessible to every kpop artist, Weverse isn’t. The death of vlive was the start of the downfall for smaller companies in all honesty

[@起.承.転.結]

@@chelsietucker2208 Lmao you reaching 💀💀💀 without vlive, there r many other applications accessable for everyone. Bubble or universe apps still out there. Or if u want to do a live stream? YT and IG r doable. Many idols do that nowadays. Also, if ur idols wanna join weverse, they can!! Weverse not only for live stream only like vlive. It's a whole package from live stream, communicate with fans to album and merchs sell and notifications. It's the same like vlive, artists gotta join the app too. It's just that back then vlive is popular for idols live streaming, so ppl thought vlive is for everyone. But not really, since it's populized among idols. So it's seem like everyone used it. 🤷🤷‍♀️

[@badkarma5245]

They are destroying small groups from small companies

[@user-ny5pm8kz3y]

HYBE is on the same path as Johnny's, which destroyed Japan's music culture.

[@winniejung]

that's a STRETCH , johnny is a criminal

[@margaesperanza]

@@winniejungthis is assuming that the Korean music industry doesn’t have a shady underbelly as well? Because it definitely does.

[@chaeripie888]

but johnny literally abused and was a criminal. also the jpop/jidol industry is not heavily regulated by the government like bluehouse governs it.

[@winniejung]

@@margaesperanza ik it does but @user is talking about HYBE specifically. assume

[@winniejung]

@macy5247 i'm not a hybe stan lol i don't wanna turn this into a big deal yall TT yall misread. possessiveness

[@nia4584]

on this topic, if you look to stan groups outside of big4, consider supporting onlyoneof who have immaculate discography and interesting themes they discuss in it. also all members are involved in the music production and choreography and are of age. some song recommendations: chrome arts, sage, tear of god, libido, byredo, dopamine, blueblueseoul. you can also see them live as they're currently touring in america and they'll go to europe and asia in a few months

[@bongji-p8t]

monopoly = impending collapse

[@elipren]

Unfortunately I agree with you.

[@Liz-jc3fz]

Stan rescene z new gg under a very small new company

[@Reileyy]

Love your vids ms dive 😍

[@soft4taeng]

thank you! 💕

[@Reileyy]

@@soft4taeng ✨🩵

[@sunshinehappymoarainbow9186]

One other thing where I think big companies I'm looking at you Hybe sabotaging small/mide size groups is by selling tickets for a high price so multis than will have not the money for smaller groups.....

[@sorntrash]

I don’t think that’s an intentional thing to sabotage smaller groups…

[@rho6382]

one thing that i think was integral to keeping non big4 labels relevant that we lost and no one talks abt was the produce series. the platform it provided for small agencies trainees was MASSIVE and we would likely not have MOST of the big non big4 groups as we know them without it (IVE, g idle, the boyz, everglow list goes on) the groups they directly created were also kinda unprecedented in terms of success. YES THE RIGGING WAS BAD but you HAVE to admit it was doing some heavy lifting in terms of keeping the monopoly away before it went to shit. i hate mnet survival shows as much as the next guy but i kinda hope they manage to regain their reputation somewhat since the planet series contestants, especially zb1 are doing quite well. just for the sake of like, healthy competition on the market. stan zerobaseone btw

[@soft4taeng]

Absolutely! Survival show were literally the only chance for certain trainees to be noticed and it's so sad seeing how survival shows have fallen off ever since the 2019 rigging scandal. I really hope the boys/girls planet franchise will continue and the future editions will do even better because it's crazy to think about the amount of talented trainees we will never get to know just because they come from small agencies.

[@wandeesthoughts]

It’s gonna be an oligopoly coz i doubt SM, JYP & YG are gonna let Hybe have a monopoly in K-pop

[@起.承.転.結]

Well, hybe didn't come to take any of em. They drown themself. Like yg and sm literally can't manage their artists. That's why they fail. And how is that has anything to do with hybe at first place. See jyp still can hold on to themselves. Did hybe ever do anything with them??? No. Yeah, that's the answer 4 ya🙂🙃

[@sarahjyun2044]

Girl hybe is 2 big I think even if bts leave they won't fell the looses until like 5y or something cuz hybe has more money and connections than all the big3 combined like their is nothing to do

[@sarahjyun2044]

But u know what I think their is no single relevant groups as bts bp twice cuz all of the success that this big groups has now are all manipulated especially hybe gg (not bg except for their sales nothing is fishy)

[@sarahjyun2044]

They want a more successful groups they got greedy they know they can't get a fanbase like bts so they are doing all the payola they could to get that type of success started with big4 especially hybe and now kakao is following like we can see that s why even if middle sized groups succeed like stayc kep1er people love to call them nugu when they aren't they just don't manipulate their streams and sales like the big4 do

[@arasong]

Self made always better then born/debut rich....

[@chaeripie888]

hybe is becoming markzuckerburger

[@JO-qn8gy]

50 50 became big but then they shot themselves in the foot. Really wonder how 50 50 part 2 will fare later?

[@idkjshssbvVs]

The members are innocent

[@JO-qn8gy]

@@idkjshssbvVs Innocent or guilty is not up to us to judge.

[@belaytriks]

​@@idkjshssbvVsThe members unfunfilled a contract and demanded their company for being subjected to standard practices. They lacked...intelligence and understanding of the world and refused every single conciliation offered to them. It does not matter if they were "innocent" they demandes a whole multibillion industry withou proofs nor a back up plant, yes they were "innocent" as in lack of intelligence.

[@bastetowl3258]

no, it was their company exploiting and treating them like crap that led them to leave the group. health is always more important than success

[@JO-qn8gy]

@@bastetowl3258 I agree. The Givers is really a shitty company.

[@timetodiveonin]

I see what your saying.

[@ketakikhobragade7168]

Can we talk about big 4 groups who would never be popular if it wasn't for them debuting in big 4, ofc girl's gen,wonder girls,2ne1,bts,bigbang are exceptions.

[@gamjasong04]

Literally illit. If they weren’t from hybe they would just remain in newjeans’s shadow for having a way too similar concept to them. Babymonster would also be considered generic for doing the same old girl crush concept but at least they have outstanding vocal and rap talents so they would probably get hyped for that even if they weren’t from yg.

[@noventanine]

@@gamjasong04 ILLIT'S CONCEPT IS NO SIMILAR TO NWJNS LMAO, IT SOUNDS MORE CUTE THAN NEWJEANS' SONGS

[@Arizzu_98]

​​@@gamjasong04well no, look at Purple kiss, they're great vocalists and have great raps (alongside great music btw) and yet they're still consider nugus.... so being really talented doesn't guarantee you anything if you don't come from the big4

[@margaesperanza]

ILLIT debuted alongside UNIS and Rescene and I was just baffled how the latter 2 got overlooked even if they had the most exciting package so far. The encore of ILLIT was so sad because the girls were launched too soon to be trained to sing more stable and their concept was too half-baked (the stan copium with them is funny though). UNIS has 3 girls who can sing high notes like its nothing but they’re considered “lucky” for having a decent debut. No where near a big 4 sadly.

[@noirnoironey]

NJ concept is refreshing, very international y2k girlies vibes. While ILLIT has e-girl dreamy,magical concept with sweeter tone in styling Nj's music spans genres such as R&B,hiphop, & electropop ILLIT's is a fusion of plugg,R&B, lofi(anime/ish sound) The only thing they have in common is having along hair during debut.

[@sshilander]

i think you're underestimating the popularity of snsd, super junior, tvxq, big bang, etc. I think it's about the same level now except the internet is bigger now so little groups have more of a chance to spring up.

[@naviseu]

Dulu sebelum big hit gede, big 3 masih ngasih kesempatan buat perusahaan kecil buat jadi gede, tapi sekarang pas big hit segede ini, mereka ngelindas semuanya, gak ngasih kesempatan buat yang lain, apalagi buat group-group kecil. Yes, that's what happens, contohnya aja pas mereka ngebeli vlive buat mereka doang, sangat egois

[@bastetowl3258]

the government needs to step in and make laws against monopolies, otherwise hybe is just going to continue monopolizing the industry by releasing a new group every year. also i think the big 3 started being solidified towards the end of 2nd gen rather than the beginning of the 3rd. that's why SM was able to blacklist the former tvxq members for so long by threatening to withdraw their artists from music shows and award shows if those former members appeared on their shows. SM seems to be starting to losing its grip on the industry as they're getting invited to more shows again

[@ayanobadass949]

They won't bec they are also making money out of it 😂

[@aartzy]

I don't think they'll ever do it. Just look at Samsung monopoly. They basically control South Korea in many ways. Creating laws about it would be a big problem

[@_.shinyunaa]

Firsttt! Love your videos btw ❤❤

[@soft4taeng]

thank youuuu🥰

[@JosFort54321]

HYBE surpassed the "big 3" in a snapshot because of its idea to use the US as a springboard which eventually propelled it to other markets. It now even owns part of SM (10%) 😊, Business schools now discuss their strategy on how to leverage a specific genre to dominate world music

[@Lizardlarry2000]

@TheRealAomineDaiki1 I just wanted to show you because you seem to think this isn’t true. I don’t know if you are a new kpop stan but that would explain your viewpoint. I don’t blame you, I like hybe groups too but you can’t deny that they’ve had an affect on smaller companies

[@起.承.転.結]

There r always some ppl in the comment section who gonna blame everything on hybe for no reason and without even tryna educating themself. So in the end, everything that happened, Sm and yg fail to keep their company together. They said it's all hybe's fault 😭😭😭

[@getw3llsoon]

Lmao another corporate bootlicker. People are focusing on HYBE because they're rapidly growing and obsessively acquiring small companies, hell, they were even trying to acquire SM. Idk what Elon M- hitman Bang told you, but monopolizing an industry is inherently bad.

[@Tom-w3n8i]

this is no different to 2nd or 3rd gen lol. Stop overreacting lol

[@Cherylmayblii]

It’s kinda different, but okay. Opinions can differ.