This is a bit of a loaded question – JYP Entertainment has been one of the three most prominent entertainment companies in the K-Pop industry for years, and it’s still treated as such. However, nowadays, the main competition is between YG Entertainment and SM Entertainment, and it’s worth looking at why exactly this is the […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/JYP.jpg467700Tamar Hermanhttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2014-08-04 16:32:492014-08-04 16:32:49Let’s Discuss: Is JYP Still One Of The Big 3?
K-Pop is a genre mostly dominated by the male idol groups or soloists. It’s hard to find girl group fandoms as dedicated and loyal as ELF or VIP –unless you’re Blackjack or SONE. But K-Pop girl groups are so much more than just Girls’ Generation and 2NE1, even though we also love them. So for […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PS3.png372672KultScenehttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngKultScene2014-08-03 16:57:322014-08-04 08:37:34Playlist Sunday: All Girls
This is a bit of a loaded question – JYP Entertainment has been one of the three most prominent entertainment companies in the K-Pop industry for years, and it’s still treated as such. However, nowadays, the main competition is between YG Entertainment and SM Entertainment, and it’s worth looking at why exactly this is the […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/JYP.jpg467700Tamar Hermanhttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2014-08-04 16:32:492014-08-04 16:32:49Let’s Discuss: Is JYP Still One Of The Big 3?
K-Pop is a genre mostly dominated by the male idol groups or soloists. It’s hard to find girl group fandoms as dedicated and loyal as ELF or VIP –unless you’re Blackjack or SONE. But K-Pop girl groups are so much more than just Girls’ Generation and 2NE1, even though we also love them. So for […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PS3.png372672KultScenehttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngKultScene2014-08-03 16:57:322014-08-04 08:37:34Playlist Sunday: All Girls
This is a bit of a loaded question – JYP Entertainment has been one of the three most prominent entertainment companies in the K-Pop industry for years, and it’s still treated as such. However, nowadays, the main competition is between YG Entertainment and SM Entertainment, and it’s worth looking at why exactly this is the case.
The Success
Park Jin Young, JYP himself, was one of Korea’s most popular singers in the early and mid-1990’s. In 1997, he founded JYP Entertainment, and ended up producing idol groups like g.o.d, which was one of the K-Pop groups that started the first Hallyu wave in Asia. g.o.d’s popularity is still so immense that the group recently made a comeback, to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary.
JYP produced several other acts, but in 2002, it was Rain who ended up becoming JYP Entertainment’s pride and joy. Other popular JYP acts from the early 2000’s included Noel, Park Ji Yoon, and Byul.
In the mid 2000’s, JYP scored major successes with the debuts of Wonder Girls (2007), 2AM, and 2PM (both 2008). The three groups became some of the most popular acts in K-Pop and immensely popular throughout not only Asia but also the world.
The Wonder Girls gained enough attention to result in Perez Hilton showing off their songs, like Tell Me and Nobody; the group ended up touring with the Jonas Brothers and filming a show for Nickelodeon in the US.
2PM started a trend of “beastly idols,” known for athleticism and masculine concepts, which was different from the flower boy trend of other groups like TVXQ, SS501, and Super Junior.
While it looked bad for 2AM, since ballad groups were losing popularity in favor of K-Pop acts in the past, these guys are actually more popular than their label mates, the Wonder Girls and 2PM. Unlike the average K-Pop group, 2AM attracts all sorts of fans, not only the more typical, young fans who tend to be attracted to pop music.
The Slow Downward Spiral
Wonder Girls, 2PM, and 2AM gained a lot of success and were able to promote competitively against Kara, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, Big Bang, and other groups that were popular in the late 2000’s. Songs by the three JYP groups were extremely popular, and, for a few years, it seemed that JYP was at the very top of its game.
Miss A debuted in 2010 to much acclaim, but it was another two years before JYP debuted a new group, which was the duo 15&;. While 15&; is very talented, it hasn’t attracted as much attention as other YG groups.
It was around 2009 when JYP started to suffer. Out of JYP’s top three teams, only 2AM has kept its original member line-up. This was due to the leader of 2PM, Park Jay (Park Jaebeom) withdrawing from the group and the Wonder Girls focusing on their American promotions. The Wonder Girls also had a lineup change; Sunmi left the group and Hye Lim joined.
Both groups were still considered leaders of Hallyu, but, since then, the Wonder Girls have disbanded, and 2PM, despite promoting continuously to much success, isn’t as active as groups like Big Bang and Super Junior. Furthermore, the influx of rookie groups also endangers 2PM.
Miss A is popular in its own right, but Suzy has become one of Korea’s darlings; the rest of Miss A’s members are well-known, yet not half as popular as Suzy. Miss A last promoted Hush in 2013, and it is almost the end of 2014. It is now JYP’s oldest girl group, but Miss A is hardly active as a whole.
JYP’s other three current acts are two former Wonder Girls, SunMi and Yeeun (who made her solo debut recently as HA:TFELT). Both solo artists are extremely popular and hint to JYP regaining its stride, but that will still wait to be seen.
This year, JYP also debuted GOT7, which achieved a lot of success abroad but has met less acclaim than YG Entertainment’s yet-to-debut group WINNER.
While this could all just mean that JYP is in third place, after the other two largest entertainment companies, that doesn’t really seem to be the case. JYP is still popular and considered one of the best primarily because of its past — the current idols are good, but in an over flooded marketplace, they don’t particularly stand out.
JYP is also rumored to release another boy group and girl group this year, which seems like it would simply overstretch the company’s capabilities.
Other than the fact that few of its artists have as large fanclubs or as many hits as artists at SM and YG, there are a some other reasons JYP is no longer really the top.
The most important factor is the fact that JYP is not one of the biggest three earners in Korea’s entertainment industry.
In March 2014, SM Entertainment had over 30% of the market, and YG had over 14%, while JYP wasn’t even ranking in the top ten. This was a continued trend that further revealed itself in 2013, when JYP Entertainment was relegated to the “Other” category, rather than gaining its own ranking on Gaon’s market share chart.
[Credit: ALLKPOP]
JYP is also facing an investigation into being illegally funded by JYP’s in-laws, who have a relations to the company that is currently being tried for homicide in the Sewol Ferry tragedy. The Korea Herald reported that JYP tried to avoid an investigation by selling JYP Entertainment to YG Entertainment’s CEO, Yang Hyun-Suk. This has resulted in JYP’s stock price plummeting.
Between the financial scandal and the lack of aggressive, constant promotions (unlike SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment), and the fact that the CEO tried to sell the company, JYP is in serious trouble.
Could the company be saved? Maybe.If JYP has successful comebacks from 2PM, 2AM, and Miss A within a span of a few months, and the company’s solo and rookie artists do extremely well, JYP may be able to return to a competitive standpoint. But at the moment, it seems that it is barely managing to hold onto its fading glory.[This inadvertently became part of a series, pointing out issues with each of the big three entertainment companies. The one about YG Entertainment HERE. Look forward to my discussion of SM Entertainment’s practices in an upcoming “Let’s Discuss.”] Be sure to share your thoughts and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Bloglovin’ so you can keep up with all our posts.
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/JYP.jpg467700Tamar Hermanhttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2014-08-04 16:32:492014-08-04 16:32:49Let’s Discuss: Is JYP Still One Of The Big 3?
K-Pop is a genre mostly dominated by the male idol groups or soloists. It’s hard to find girl group fandoms as dedicated and loyal as ELF or VIP –unless you’re Blackjack or SONE. But K-Pop girl groups are so much more than just Girls’ Generation and 2NE1, even though we also love them. So for this week’s playlist, we’ll focus on girl groups that need a little more love and attention.
This week I cannot get enough of f(x)’s Milk, their lead-off track on their Red Light album. The songs starts out kind of quirky with the sounds of a cat meowing and a dog barking, as the cat swats at the dog and it whimpers. We also hear glass break and then we hear a gun being cocked. From there we go right into the vocals. The song has a chill, laid-back vibe in the beginning. The girls’ vocals compliment each other extremely well, especially during the harmony parts.
I honestly can’t pick a favorite part of this song. The whole thing is so different and interesting from the other K-Pop songs out there that I haven’t tired of listening to it yet. And I don’t foresee that I will tire of it anytime soon. At first listen, it may seem a bit strange, but trust me when I say that by the end of the song, you’ll most likely hit the replay button.
Right when Miss Korea began with the smooth guitar riff, I knew I was in love with Lee Hyori‘s comeback last year. It’s a perfect blend of classy and sexy, along with an interesting style in clothing. The music video is grayscale and brings up a retro feeling, especially with some of the outfits and dance sequences that she uses. The chorus is addicting, and the entire song is absolutely mesmerizing. I definitely love and prefer her sultry tone! What makes this even more marvelous are the lovely drag queens she performs with in one of the scenes.
–Thuc
If Girls’ Generation and f(x) where to have a child, the result will be SM’s newest girl band Red Velvet. They just debuted this week, and I can’t get enough of the group’s song! The title is Happiness, and it suits the track very well. I find myself feeling very happy and bubbly when I listen to this song.
I really love Happiness because it’s very easy to listen. Seulgi’s rap is very good and doesn’t show up in the song randomly. I also really like the whole seapunk feel of the track. The tropical sounds and drums give it a very unique feel. From the bridge and into the chorus there is a perfect transition, and that chorus is so catchy.They barely debuted and I feel like I already fell in love with these girls.
–Alejandro
When it comes to speaking about the girls, I can’t help but think of Girl’s Day’s Female President. One of the most empowering songs out of K-Pop in recent years, Female President reminds women that there’s a female president in South Korea, so why shouldn’t every girl do whatever she wants? There’s no reason to be coy, or play hard to get; just take what you want.
The video breaks all of the stereotypes of most K-Pop songs, with the members stripping in silhouette in the beginning, and then two of the members dressing up as a couple questioning its relationship. The whole thing was extremely shocking at the time of its release, portraying Girl’s Day as both sexy and powerful women. And if that wasn’t enough, Yura’s dress gave the misconception that she was actually naked.
Female President’s catchy sound and message led to the song being a major success. Take a listen, and try to resist standing up and thinking (male or female) that you can do every and anything that you want.
–Tamar
I’ve never been a big fan of miss A, despite them having better messages in their lyrics than most girl groups. But once they released Hush, I began paying them more attention. That’s how one day while listening to Seoul FM, I spotted a miss A song that I now play regularly on my own playlist, Lips.
I like how their voices sound very sultry throughout the song as they fantasize about kissing the boy they like; it makes for a very sexy song to sway your shoulders to while singing. Moreover, the chorus and bridge are very easy to follow. My favorite part is the boom boom la la li lala negero, but the whole song is great, really.
–Alexis
What’s your favorite girl group song? Be sure to share your thoughts and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Bloglovin’ so you can keep up with all our posts.
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