The ongoing pandemic has not made the industry K-pop retreat. Instead, they are increasingly innovating with various businesses.
It's no wonder that fans and the public are curious about what Kpop agencies will do over the next year. Specifically the big four agencies or the Big 4 . Namely SM Entertainment , YG Entertainment , JYP Entertainment , and HYBE Label .
Quoting AllKpop , these four major agencies recorded extraordinary achievements throughout 2021. Among other things, by debuting a special line-up of new artists, as well as producing comebacks brilliant artists' . Fandom also developed massively in America and Europe. Album sales soared despite almost no physical concerts for two years.
Not wanting to waste the opportunity, they also expanded their business using the IP (intellectual property) of their artists. Among them by developing platforms for fans such as Weverse and Universe , and starting to take advantage of Metaverse and NFT ( non-fungible tokens ).
So, what do you think the Big 4 will do in 2022? AllKpop predicts, with the Covid-19 condition being increasingly under control, the Kpop industry will most likely be able to return to activities offline . Of course, with various adjustments to the pandemic era, so that the experience of fans enjoying Kpop will be safer.
We start with HYBE Label. The fandom of groups under HYBE (BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT, ENHYPEN) is growing rapidly during 2021. For 2022, HYBE will maximize artists for activities in Korea and abroad.
- ENHYPEN is preparing to make a comeback with the album Dimension: Answer on January 10, as the opening act for the series comeback HYBE .
- BTS is planning to release a new album this year and hold an concert offline in Seoul in March.
- HYBE will be debuting two girl groups new under sub labels ADOR and Source Music.
- HYBE is also preparing a project in the form of a global female group in collaboration with Universal Music Group (UMG).
- In Japan, HYBE Japan is preparing a boy group new through a series of audition programs.
- Weverse will collaborate with V Live to launch an platform integrated in the first half of 2022.
- There will be an platform NFT released with the operator cryptocurrency largest in South Korea, Dunamu, in the first half of 2022.
Next, SM Entertainment will focus on maintaining their position as an 'entertainment powerhouse'. The new line-up of artists, NCT and AESPA, is seen as SM's promising future. SM is also getting tougher after developing SMCU (SM Culture Universe) with the concept of the future and metaverse, which is an attraction for global fans. This year, SM plans to expand, including:
- Starting with SMTOWN LIVE 2022: SMCU Express which aired on January 1.
- NCT and aespa will be more and more activity. Currently, NCT unit groups (NCT Dream, NCT 127, and WayV) are also actively promoting the latest album. They have a goal of breaking the record for most album sales by 2022.
- SMTOWN World Tour will be held in several major cities in the world.
- SM is also preparing to launch NFT products this year.
Switch to JYP Entertainment. During 2021, JYP groups such as TWICE, ITZY, Stray Kids, and NiziU showed great performances for the JYP business. This year, JYP prepared a number of plans, namely:
- sale Merchandise along with world tour for TWICE. TWICE is scheduled for concerts in five US cities in February and for two days at Japan's Tokyo Dome.
- American and Japanese concert tours for ITZY and Stray Kids, as well as Japanese tours for NiziU.
- JYP also boy band debuted a new , Xdinary Heroes (XH) with the concept of two worlds: real and virtual. Next February, JYP will release a Blind Package for this group.
- The LOUD boy group which was formed from the 2021 audition will also debut this year.
- As an NFT pioneer for a company entertainment major in South Korea, JYP will continue its platform business related to NFT and digital goods.
Lastly is YG Entertainment. This agency managed to stay in the top ranks thanks to artists such as BLACKPINK, TREASURE, iKON, and Winner. Fans are still disappointed because there has been no news about Bigbang and there were rumors about the disbandment of 2NE1. However, YG is still trying to provide the best updates throughout 2022, including:
- TREASURE will be the first group to make a comeback this year.
- BLACKPINK is currently preparing for a world tour and will reportedly be releasing a second full album this year as well.
- Rose and Lisa did well with their solo debuts last year, so there's a possibility that YG might do something with these two BLACKPINK members to strengthen the fandom.
- YG is also preparing to debut a girl group new , now known as Baby Monster.
- YG has expanded the fandom of its artists by joining the platform Weverse since last year. Hopefully their fandom will grow this year.
- YG also collaborated with the platform metaverse ZEPETO, then created BLACKPINK House with BLACKPINK's intellectual property (IP).
- They also opened the SamE, a project space for artists and fans. (*)
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