It’s that point of 12 months once more! Whereas December is full of year-end countdowns, I like to have a look again at a few of Ok-pop’s greatest businesses throughout November. Earlier than studying (particularly if you happen to’re new to the weblog), it’s useful to know that my grading focuses most closely on music releases and the way comebacks are managed and delivered to followers. Scandals and non-musical components can definitely impression an company’s grade, however the greatest standards will at all times be the music itself. Following SM Leisure, YG Leisure and JYP Leisure‘s evaluation, it’s time to dive into HYBE Company.
As typical, the ideas under are my very own and aren’t aware about any insider data. There can be loads of subjective critique.
The Good
The much less immediately an artist was concerned with HYBE, the stronger their 2024 work tended to be. I’m speaking primarily about subsidiaries Pledis and KOZ Leisure, and much more particularly about TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR. These two teams have outlined the 12 months for me, releasing nice music that thrives on distinct id and a transparent imaginative and prescient. These two components should not as widespread as you could suppose in Ok-pop in the mean time, and must be celebrated.
TWS had a killer debut 12 months with regular promotion, glorious releases and a genuinely large hit. Plot Twist will go down as one among 2024’s most iconic tracks – a uncommon feat for a rookie boy group. In the meantime, BOYNEXTDOOR have continued to develop their very own quirky catalog. They’re genuinely one of the crucial idiosyncratic idol teams working right this moment and I see this give attention to individuality paying off in the long term. Their mentor and agency-head Zico additionally launched a strong single this 12 months, managing to get BLACKPINK’s Jennie on the observe with him.
Talking of subsidiary businesses, there’s little question that Seventeen had a powerful 12 months. I haven’t been a fan of most of their 2024 music, however they’re legitimately the largest Ok-pop group on the planet proper now, spawning an identical fever as BTS did earlier than they went on hiatus. It’s virtually intimidating how fashionable they’re. Pledis Leisure should simply be thrilled. The subsidiary’s solely woman group fromis_9 additionally discovered sudden success with their most up-to-date album. Supersonic has exceeded expectations.
With most of BTS at the moment serving within the navy, Massive Hit’s fortunes rested largely on TXT. The group continued to promote effectively in 2024. Well, Massive Hit additionally pre-planned hiatus-era tracks from a few of BTS’s members and is now efficiently navigating post-enlistment work with Jin. To date, so good… a minimum of commercially.
Transferring onto BeLift Lab, this subsidiary noticed beneficial properties in 2024. ENHYPEN at the moment are outselling different teams on HYBE’s roster and have finished a very good job reaching out to international markets. ILLIT was an out-of-the-gate success, with debut observe Magnetic driving excessive on the charts all 12 months lengthy.
HYBE’s different woman teams continued to chug alongside. NewJeans nonetheless loved a ton of success regardless of a raft of behind-the-scenes points and LE SSERAFIM made worldwide beneficial properties with some high-profile performances overseas. International group Katseye additionally seem like doing effectively, paving the way in which for a brand new form of Ok-pop-adjacent profession.
In the meantime, over in Japan boy group &TEAM are shaping as much as be a robust pressure. Their gross sales nonetheless lag behind the nation’s greatest male acts, however the music has usually been sturdy.
On a non-musical stage, HYBE does a fantastic job selling its artists. As a fan, it’s good to have a lot materials to freely watch on YouTube. The truth that lots of its artists have their very own weekly present is insane and retains their hype going even between comebacks. You may undoubtedly really feel the finances of a giant company.
The Unhealthy
Whereas a lot of my favourite music of 2024 got here from HYBE artists, the company as an entire was a giant previous mess. As you understand, scandals don’t issue closely into my grades, but it surely’s unimaginable to disregard the a number of messes HYBE discovered itself on this 12 months.
Mess one was the NewJeans/Min Hee-jin scandal, which noticed the NewJeans inventive director preventing with HYBE in a sprawling energy battle too huge to recount right here. Suffice it to say, this battle might very effectively sideline or utterly dissolve one of many trade’s hottest woman teams relying on how issues end up. On the very least, it’s put a stain on many various entities and clearly affected the trajectory of the company. It even pitted HYBE’s artists towards each other, with a transparent NewJeans vs. ILLIT sentiment taking maintain.
Mess two spawned from mess one, involving a leaked inner audit from HYBE’s “Weekly Music Business Report.” This included derogatory feedback about different businesses and idols, revealing a toxicity that raised severe considerations in regards to the tradition inside HYBE and the company’s energy inside the trade. It wasn’t an excellent look for a corporation that many have accused of working as a monopoly. Above all else, it was merely a gross and cynical peek behind the scenes and made followers query how a lot of HYBE’s success was actually natural.
Musically, HYBE was most chargeable for the “beige” music development I’ve been complaining about for a lot of the 12 months. Aside from teams like TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR, who’ve particular, distinctive musical views, a lot of the company’s artists launched watered-down, truncated music that was factory-designed to offend nobody. However if you search to not offend, you change into unable to thrill. I by no means would have anticipated Ok-pop to embrace an “easy-listening” expertise, however lots of HYBE’s 2024 singles really feel designed to fill area on a playlist and exist comfortably within the background.
NewJeans and ILLIT launched flat, repetitive music that sadly went on to affect the complete Ok-pop trade. TXT and ENHYPEN have been drained of a lot of their musical persona, delivering shadows of former glories. Even BTS members fell into an grownup up to date realm far faraway from the visionary work of their previous. In the meantime, LE SSERAFIM sought to duplicate international tendencies however eliminated most of the idiosyncrasies that make these tendencies so pleasurable. Two-minute songs missing a bridge turned normalized. Manufacturing smoothed over vocalists’ particular person quirks. Music credit typically revealed dozens of cooks within the kitchen, making it unimaginable for the music to harness a particular perspective. Even veterans Seventeen, who had an extremely profitable 12 months, discovered themselves mired in ho-hum materials.
Total, it’s tough to grade such a sprawling company. I virtually wish to dole out totally different grades to totally different divisions of the corporate. There are components that might get an “A+” and lots of components that might earn an “F.” When all the pieces’s mixed collectively, it evens out within the center for me.
What I’d wish to see in 2025:
- No extra beige! Give us music with colour, chew and distinctive concepts
- Much less mess, extra innovation
- Much less give attention to worldwide tendencies
- Some kind of decision for NewJeans
- Profitable runs for TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR, my favourite acts from the HYBE roster in the mean time
Earlier years: 2023 // 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017
