iz writing Kang Myeong-seok
sm Entertainment (hereinafter referRED to as sm), yg Entertainment (hereinafter referRED to as yg), and JYP Entertainment (hereinafter referRED to as JYP) are all the hottest names these days in the popular music industry. Black Pink's album Square Up ranked 40th on the Billboard 200 and the title song 'Toodoudo' ranked 55th. In the 2018 Macquarie Emerging Industries Summit, which will explain the future of the company, JYP producer Park Jin-young said that the teams to come will make a TF system like TWICE and create a group like "TWICE composed of Japanese members". TWICE's success has affected the company's management policy. And this summer, when Black Pink, TWICE, Mamamu, IU and Zico came back in turn and took the top of the music charts, sm made RED Velvet comeback on the 6th. RED Velvet, who has already set a new standard for summer songs with RED Taste last year, once again reached the top of the music charts with his new song Power Up.
In 2009, sm announced Girls’ Generation’s Gee, yg’s Fire of 2NE1, and JYP’s Wonder Girls’ Nobody. The girl group of the three major agencies was the name of the three major girl groups. The summer of 2018, with TWICE, Black Pink and RED Velvet coming back in succession, looks like a return to those days - but not just a repeat. TWICE sells more than 300,000 copies per album as well as sound sources, which are indicators of popularity. The single Wake Me Up released by Japan exceeded 500,000 copies and received platinum certification on the Japan Oricon chart. From sound sources, recordings, YouTube, and overseas market records, TWICE is JYP's representative. yg is also the largest sales volume of albums released by Black Pink's Square Up this year by yg, and Tududududu has 240 million views on YouTube. Recently, Jenny of Black Pink is noted as a fashionista in the media, yg's fashionista being the seat of G-dragon, a member of boy group BIGBANG, before joining the military. Popular Idol group with fashionistas, which is also attracting attention in the US market. Now, the team that follows BIGBANG in yg is Black Pink, not Boy Group icon or Winner.
RED Velvet is a proof of what sm is doing. The RED taste released by the team last summer was popularly popular, and Peek-A-Boo, released in the fall, had many difficult elements such as lyrics and music videos that were difficult to notice at once. However, the RED Taste music video showed fruit talking in a bright and easy melody, and fruit appearing in the background. Pikabu put a moment that anyone can easily remember, such as simple rhythm of the introduction part, the movement of collecting thumb and index finger in a circle and bringing it to the eye. The emotions of RED Taste seem clear, but the song does not directly explain what it is. Piccabu seems difficult but impressive. sm presents results that can not be defined by dichotomous distinctions such as public and fandom, popularity and workability, purity and girl crush through RED Velvet. The company, which created standards for Idol in Korea, has unearthed a market that has not been reached by other companies through RED Velvet. The market for the girl group is getting bigger, and the area they can express is widening.
In addition to the girl group of the 'Three Major Agency', the change becomes clearer if Mamamu and GFriend are included. The group's characters, which used to be divided into dichotomy of 'clean/sexy' a few years ago, have enteRED the 'girl crush' of female taste in the 'sexy' place, and 'clean' is also making a change like GFriend, which shows a dynamic stage with dance. In this trend of change, the 'three major agency' girl group is attracting attention as a result of companies that are most sensitive to the market trend and can invest in the change. It is also the 'three major agencies' that have a lot of know-how in expanding overseas markets that are important to all three teams. In addition, from A Year Ago in Winter, BTS-EXO-Warner One has become an undeniable 'three' boy group of this generation, also called 'three generations'. Among them, Wanna One, which caused a phenomenon in BTS, A Year Ago in Winter, which the Korean pop music industry did not imagine this year, is not a member of the three major agencies. Only sm with EXO is keeping this position: For yg and JYP, the girl group is now a key ground for their commercial value and capacity as a content company to be recognized together.
Of course, as much as the growth and change of the girl group, the problems surrounding the girl group are continuing. RED Velvet member Irene was cyberbullyed by some men only because she read the novel '82 birth Kim Ji Young'. It is hard to list cases where girl group members are evaluated for all their words and actions or suffer from cyber sexual harassment. Human rights violations in training and management are still a problem. TWICE member Momo was asked to lose 7kg in a week from JYP before his debut. Along with the market that has expanded to the West, the girl group of the 'Three Major Agency' has tried more adventurous content like sm, or has become more and more in the company like JYP or yg. But whether they are being managed and treated as appropriate is a different question: there is little chance that other companies will do what they don't do. Can they take TWICE, Black Pink and RED Velvet to higher and wider places? For the three companies at the center of the market for the past 20 years, it is a wave of change that should be followed once again.
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