Ask Asian Junkie: How Much Of An Advantage Does The “Big Three” Provide?

Is the success of idol groups from the “Big Three” just hype or is it legitimate?

I often find myself doubting the legitimacy of the success of idol groups from the “Big Three” (SM Entertainment/YG Entertainment/JYP Entertainment).

It’s as if success is guaranteed, not because they have a superior product, but because a major company is debuting them and fans will lap up anything they shit out.

You are correct to an extent.

Generally speaking, it’s much harder for any group that isn’t affiliated with those three companies to make it big.

While I would say that those companies are generally able to recruit better talent, better stylists, and better producers, a significant part of their success comes with the attention that their brand drives.

EXO from SM Entertainment is a solid current example. If an unknown company was debuting that group with what has so far been overwhelmingly mediocre material, they would get almost no attention, and those eleventy trillion teasers wouldn’t be able to happen. Yet, because it’s SM Entertainment, they have managed to stay in the headlines for what seems like months now. It’s honestly fucking ridiculous.

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Anybody who denies the fact that groups debuting from the “Big Three” have a type of house advantage over smaller companies is delusional. Not only do they have all the financial and marketing advantages, but they have dedicated fans who stan everything the company does, so there’s already a fanbase built in as well.

I do think that some competition is starting to emerge though, primarily Cube Entertainment, who seem to be on the verge of making it a “Big Four”.

In my opinion, their monopoly of the industry does a disservice to K-pop. How can the industry grow musically if the “Big Three” control everything?

I’m not sure if they actually do a disservice to K-pop, because they are the ones who have been pushing it internationally. Granted, they’ve done it to expand revenue and increase their market, but that’s the nature of the business, and they’ve done plenty to grow their industry. In fact, you might not be into K-pop today if it wasn’t for those companies, so it’s hard to argue they’re a negative.

Of course, because they dominate the news, they do dictate the trends, and IMMATOP regularly predicts with frightening accuracy what the new trend in K-pop will be. Sadly, it’s become that predictable.

Overall though, I think you’d have to say they’ve done far more good for K-pop than bad.

Is the popularity of new groups from bigger companies legit?

Of course it’s legit in terms of sales and music shows and what not.

It’s only fabricated in the sense that if you give two groups the same talent, same concept, and same song, but one comes from SM Entertainment and one comes from Slave Contracts Incorporated, the SM Entertainment group will have a gigantic advantage from the outset as far as reaching potential fans and creating a fanbase. Plus, they have the means and knowledge to employ media manipulation techniques to keep their group relevant with all the dumb horseshit that you see the media covering.

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