Disclaimer: I'm in no way an expert, nor in marketing, nor in any music production field. This is merely my thoughts as a consumer of Kpop contents. OK, "survive" is maybe a strong word but hear me out. A lot of people will agree that as of today, the Kpop industry is quite saturated. A lot of groups are debuting each year, and even if we are in the 5th gen, 3rd gen groups are still around and going strong, with regular comebacks and tours. The result is that if a group wants to get attention, it needs IMO a strong concept to stand out from the mass. A strong concept is not necessarily something loud or "girl-crush", but rather a way to market the group in which, when the general public sees something unrelated, they can instantly think "oh this is so X or Y coded!". A good example would be ILLIT. Despite a rather difficult first year, they debuted with a concept that's instantly recognized. And throughtout their comebacks (Korean and Japanese), they maintained their "magical girl" concept in such a way that they built their brand around this identity. Today, when an ILLIT song plays out, anyone who keeps an eye out on Kpop won't be surprised that it's by them, it makes sense. As for a counterexample, I'd say that Hearts2Hearts is a good one. I love the girls, and what they've been releasing so far, but I can't help myself from wishing that SM would give them a stronger concept. What they had going on for The Chase was really interesting, this dreamy vibe, but Style went quite against it, and FOCUS, while it has some elements reminiscent of The Chase, is quite on its own too. The effect is that any group could have released these songs without people thinking "wait, it should have been H2H." I think it's too bad, given the state of the industry. I'm not afraid for Hearts2Hearts - they are from a Big 4 company and the girls are talented, I know they'll manage. But I would have loved it if SM went big into creating a brand around the group, as they did with Aespa at their debut. As of now, I fear that H2H is not yet distinguishable enough from the mass of other girlgroups around. I focused on the two 5th gen girlgroups I'm most familiar about, so I'm not sure that they are the best examples, just the ones that poped into my head. What are your thoughts about this subject? Do you have any other example in favor or defavor? submitted by /u/coraelie [link] [comments]
