Last year, K-pop dominated the global market. However, it is true that there was a sense of anxiety on the one hand, as unpleasant suspicions such as album manipulation and tampering continued.
Then, how will the “Big 4” of the Korean music industry (HYBE, SM, YG, and JYP), deal with the K-pop crisis in 2025? What about the other agencies?
The Plans of “BIG 4”
First of all, the most anticipated events are the comebacks of BTS and BLACKPINK. Five BTS members who are still serving in the military will have been discharged by June. Therefore, attention is on the new music they will release after training hard in the military. However, since it is impossible to predict how long it will take the members to produce an album after their military discharge, there is a possibility that their comeback will be delayed to the next year. In addition, Suga’s unpleasant issue recently will become a variable in the group’s activities.
There have also been reports that BLACKPINK will launch a world tour this year. In July last year, YG’s executive producer Yang Hyun-suk said, “In 2025, many YG artists will do activities”, adding “BLACKPINK will make a comeback and begin a world tour”. As Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé and Lisa have all achieved great success with their solo promotions, fans are eagerly waiting for their new stage as a whole group.
Additionally, it was said that BLACKPINK will release a full album in May, prior to the aforementioned world tour.
Aside from BTS and BLACKPINK, Stray Kids and Seventeen will also continue their activities in 2025. While 3 Seventeen members are scheduled for enlistment, the gap is expected to be filled with solo activities.
On top of that, it is revealed that HYBE will welcome 2 new girl groups under Source Music and Pledis, meaning HYBE will have the most active artists among domestic entertainment companies.
SM, which has entered its 3.0 era, is expected to push aespa, which has enjoyed significant successes in 2024. In addition, various activities of the artists are scheduled, including the comeback of NCT’s Mark and Ten, EXO’s Kai, Red Velvet’s Seulgi, and NCT Wish.
The agency also teased various activities and merch for their 30th anniversary.
Finally, SM, JYP, and YG are all preparing to introduce rookie groups this year, starting with JYP’s boygroup Kickflip’s debut in January.
JYP, in particular, will pay attention to the Chinese market.
Other Agencies
At the same time, IVE will be releasing their album soon, kick starting the year with a strong comeback.
In addition, the popularity of virtual idols and indie bands is also expected to continue this year. Following the success of PLAVE, many other virtual groups also debuted. The same goes for the virality of indie bands. On January 1st, pop music critic Lim Hee-yoon shared, “As fandom and consumption of non-human idols grow, demands for virtual idols are also expected to grow even more. There may be a competition between virtual idols and human idols this year. Continuing last year’s momentum, the popularity of indie bands is expected to continue this year as interest in bands has increased not only among adults but also teenagers and children.”
Lingering Issues
Meanwhile, many issues in the music industry are still left unsolved. The most significant event is the dispute between HYBE and ADOR’s former CEO Min Hee-jin and the termination of NewJeans’ contract. These two issues are expected to make headlines again in the K-pop industry as they involve agencies, producers and artists.
Music critic Lim commented, “In the past, agencies controlled everything, from the production systems to idols’ appearances on programs, making the K-pop structure solid. However, the situation has changed since K-pop became globally famous. There is a possibility that the idol production and management system will change due to the demand for collaboration overseas. NewJeans controversy is an evidence of the ongoing changes within the K-pop industry”.
