'Unknown' K-pop acts find new worlds of opportunity

A recent talk of the town and formidable new player in the fourth-generation K-pop battleground is ZeroBaseOne (ZB1), a project group formed by the finalists of Mnet's audition show "Boys Planet" (2023). The hit program quickly shot many fresh ...

After struggling in obscurity since debuting in February 2019, Vanner made headlines for the first time after winning cable channel JTBC's K-pop audition-slash-survival show "Peak Time" (2023). [JTBC]

As K-pop continues to expand its influence around the world, the Korea JoongAng Daily would like to introduce Celeb Confirmed, a new entertainment news and community service to deliver K-culture news to readers around the world. This two-part series will decipher the unique relationship between an agency and its artists to better understand the special dynamics that are driving the growing force.

A recent talk of the town and formidable new player in the fourth-generation K-pop battleground is ZeroBaseOne (ZB1), a project group formed by the finalists of Mnet's audition show "Boys Planet" (2023). The hit program quickly shot many fresh-faced hopefuls to stardom.

One of them is Kim Ji-woong, a contestant who made it into ZeroBaseOne after consistently ranking high for his charms.

Singer and then "Boys Planet" contestant Kim Ji-woong in March 2023 [NEWS1]

But what most viewers didn't know at first is that "new face" Kim had already been in the K-pop scene for seven years. He debuted in 2016 with boy band INX under NA Entertainment and later attempted two more re-debuts at other smaller agencies, all of which were canceled. It wasn't until this year that he entered the spotlight on "Boys Planet," once again as a contestant from a smaller management company, but a different platform enabled him to show his individual talent without his management's label affecting his public reception.

Would Kim have earned fame earlier if he had debuted under a bigger agency from the start? Debuting under a major agency is like being born with a silver K-pop spoon — it exposes a rookie group to an established network of experts with extensive experience in making stars, not to mention the media exposure they get from the very reputation of the company.

But there is still hope for underdogs. In fact, a diversified media landscape and growing consumption around the world are helping bands that do not start from the so-called Big 4 — HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment — find alternative paths to stardom.

Making your mark

The rise of audition programs, especially those produced by Korea's music-focused cable channel Mnet, has been the most effective way for trainees at smaller agencies make their names in the K-pop scene.

Ever since the 2016 megahit "Produce 101," Korean television channels saw an onslaught of K-pop idol audition shows. Specializing in pop culture, cable channel Mnet led the trend, but it has since expanded to major terrestrial broadcasters like KBS's "THE UNI+" (2017-18), MBC's "My Teenage Girls" (2021-22) and SBS's upcoming "Universe Ticket."

"Produce 101" (2016) featured 101 female K-pop trainees from 46 agencies. The hit show sparked a trend of audition shows which continues to this day. [JOONGANG PHOTOS]

A major characteristic of trending audition shows is that they predominantly feature idol hopefuls from agencies apart from the Big 4, or those who do not belong to any agency at all. Trainee success on an audition show is also a win-win for small agencies. Even if a trainee does not become a finalist, the trainee's increased recognition can help launch an idol group with the trainee as a member. Likewise, if the trainee does make it onto the project group of finalists, these groups are temporary and usually disband after a couple of years.

Audition shows have been a significant outlet for trainees from lesser-known agencies to catch the public eye on major TV channels and lead to larger fan bases for new groups that debut with former project band members. For instance, boy bands AB6IX and CIX received much attention from both fans and local media when they debuted in 2019 because they had as members Lee Dae-hwi and Bae Jin-young, respectively, from Wanna One, the project boy band from the second season of famed audition franchise "Produce 101."

Jang Won-young and An Yu-jin were both in girl group IZ*ONE, formed by the audition show "Produce 48" (2018), and are now together in girl group IVE. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

One of the most successful examples in the girl group sphere is mid-sized agency Starship Entertainment's trainees Jang Won- young and An Yu-jin; the two were finalists on Mnet's "Produce 48" (2018) and active with project group IZ*ONE for two and a half years. They later returned to re-debut under Starship as girl group IVE retaining their large fanbases, playing a crucial role in immediately establishing IVE as one of the most popular K-pop acts today.

Some pivot to solo careers after the audition program or project group, continuing to enjoy the spotlight — taking the examples of singers Kang Daniel, Jeon So-mi, Chungha, Park Ji-hoon, Kim Se-joung, Kwon Eun-bi, Jo Yu-ri and more.

Boy band Vanner on the JTBC survival show "Peak Time" [SCREEN CAPTURE]

"Reboot" programs have also provided second chances for K-pop idols who already debuted but did not see much success. Boy band Vanner is a prime example. After struggling in obscurity since debuting in February 2019, Vanner made headlines for the first time after winning cable channel JTBC's K-pop audition-slash-survival show "Peak Time" (2023).

"Peak Time" started in February to give 24 lesser-known boy bands that have never reached their "peak" a second chance, providing the final winner with prize money of 300 million won ($223,700), a new album and large-scale promotional events, including a global showcase. Vanner was deemed the likely winner from early on thanks to its top-tier performance skills in both vocals and dance, coming from years of experience despite their relative obscurity. In this dramatic story, the agency — or lack thereof — played no role, but the members' talent could shine through another outlet.

More platforms, more love

Nowadays with the rise of social media and its vast reach to global audiences, K-pop groups needn't even go through traditional television channels to build their names.

They often communicate directly with international fans through live sessions on social media or YouTube. In fact, this kind of close communication was one of the key factors that made BTS globally popular early on when its agency HYBE (then Big Hit Entertainment) was still small.

Video sharing platforms have growing more and more popular worldwide, with most short videos including song snippets to complete the catchy clip. Considering the number of users, it may even be more effective for acts to promote themselves to much larger international audiences on such borderless platforms than to appear on a domestic TV show.

Fifty Fifty performs viral hit "Cupid" during a press conference in April. The song was released in February, but the press conference was held in April following the belated hit of "Cupid" thanks to it going viral on TikTok. [NEWS1]

A peak example is girl group Fifty Fifty, which recently made headlines by becoming the fastest K-pop act ever to enter the Billboard Hot 100. The group debuted last year under a very small agency called Attrakt. Its latest song "Cupid" (2023) was not even on the top 100 of domestic streaming charts for months after its release, and the group was invited to perform the song only a handful of times on Korean music shows.

What dramatically changed Fifty Fifty's trajectory was not Korea media but TikTok. Although TikTok has not quite caught on in Korea, the app is beloved worldwide and presents far lower barriers to international fans than Korean television shows. As users started picking the Fifty Fifty song "Cupid" for their short videos, the song became a global hit after a snippet of it went viral as background music on the video-sharing app, coming in at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 as of early May.

Ateez's reality show "Salary Lupin Ateez" (2021) gained word-of-mouth popularity for the boy band, then a small act from a small agency. [KQ ENTERTAINMENT]

If groups aren't popular enough to star on television, YouTube has proved to be a much more accessible alternative. Most K-pop groups nowadays produce and upload their own reality shows dubbed jakeon (short for jache content, meaning self-produced content) on their official YouTube channels. Self-produced by their agencies without enlisting the help of traditional TV channels, jakeon allows members to express their charms freely and communicate with viewers in the comments section or future episodes.

For instance, in early 2021 when boy band Ateez had a largely overseas following and was little-known in Korea, its YouTube reality show "Salary Lupin Ateez" started gaining word-of-mouth for the band members' portrayal of a relatable Korean office setting. Global from the get-go

World tours were once considered a major milestone in a K-pop act's career, and one that came years after their debut. But recently, one may have noticed that rookie groups start performing around the world not long after their debut. Last year, boy band BLANK2Y toured Japan, Central Asia and Latin America just four months after debuting, targeting the foreign market from the start.

Lesser-known K-pop acts tend to seek breakthroughs abroad rather than in Korea, since foreign K-pop fans are more likely to search for underrated "hidden gems" dubbed "nugu" — a slang term meaning "who" in Korean, used to refer to "nobodies" in the K-pop context. Unearthing and promoting nugu groups has become a proverbial thing for global K-pop fans.

Dreamcatcher performs during a showcase in October 2022. The girl group is a representative example of a small K-pop act who first gained recognition abroad. [NEWS1]

International listeners tend to be "multifans" with a general interest in K-pop as a whole rather than specific groups. Apart from very invested fans, foreign listeners are less likely to be aware of which Korean agencies are considered major, thereby being less affected by the aura of a "big agency" when coming across a group.

This tendency has let to international fans being dubbed "loving mothers" of lesser-known idol groups, since they were often the first ones to recognize their talent while the Korean public was largely indifferent. Boy bands Ateez and girl group Dreamcatcher are typical cases of small agency "miracles" who first gained recognition abroad and were "reverse imported" into the Korean market. Breaking away

Boy band Highlight, formerly known as Beast, founded its own agency after departing from Cube Entertainment which they debuted under in 2009. [AROUND US ENTERTAINMENT]

Some acts have departed from their original agencies altogether and continue to thrive, seemingly answering the question of whether the agency or artist comes first. Relying less on an agency's name value and appealing to the public with their own talent made it easier for these acts to sever ties with their agencies when necessary — as seen in the case of boy band Highlight, originally known as Beast (2009-17).

When their contract with Cube Entertainment ended in 2017, five out of the original six Beast members changed their group name to Highlight and founded their own agency, Around Us Entertainment. Beast's fan club B2UTY was maintained in the process of moving agencies, simply transferred to Highlight's newly named fan club Light. Highlight's sales or chart rankings may not be as high as in their heyday in the early 2010s. But the band has retained its loyal fan base and established itself as a long-running K-pop icon, still actively releasing music.

Rapper Jay Park, the founder of hip-hop labels AOMG and More Vision [YONHAP]

Rapper Jay Park, now the founder of prominent hip-hop labels AOMG and More Vision, initially debuted in 2008 under the Big 4 agency JYP Entertainment. He had to leave JYP and his band 2PM due to a personal scandal and seemingly took a hit to his career. Nonetheless, he went on to establish his own agency AOMG in 2013 and launch an even more successful career as one of Korea's top solo hip-hop artists.

Rock band The Rose also took legal action against its agency J&Star Entertainment in 2020 regarding overwork and missing payments, three years after its debut. After its contract with J&Star was terminated, the four members founded their own agency Windfall in 2022 and has been thriving, especially in South America, where it has a huge following.

See more Korean entertainment stories hereon Celeb Confirmed.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]