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Grading the K-Pop Agencies 2024: SM ENTERTAINMENT

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It’s that time of year again! While December is filled with year-end countdowns, I like to take a look back at some of K-pop’s biggest agencies during November. Before reading (especially if you’re new to the blog), it’s helpful to know that my grading focuses most heavily on music releases and how comebacks are managed and delivered to fans. Scandals and non-musical factors can certainly impact an agency’s grade, but the biggest criteria will always be the music itself.

As usual, the thoughts below are my own and aren’t privy to any insider information. There will be plenty of subjective critique. 

The Good

Commercially, SM has had a very strong year. To me, this was highlighted most clearly by two acts: aespa and RIIZE.

While I feel like SM kind of stumbled into a hit with aespa’s Supernova (they were clearly not expecting it to do as well as it did), the song has become one of 2024’s defining moments. Hit songs are not unfamiliar to aespa, but this feels like a whole new level and has buoyed a trajectory that was already in ascent. I don’t love everything the group releases (mostly the b-sides, tbh), but they’re clearly doing what they need to do.

RIIZE’s music has been incredibly solid this year and each single seemed to hit it off with the listening public – a feat SM boy groups aren’t always able to achieve. After a promising debut in 2023, they proved themselves masters at vastly different genres while still managing to forge an identity that felt distinct. I haven’t been this excited for an SM boy group since SHINee, and the agency has done a very good job distinguishing their sound from NCT’s. Of course, there are non-musical concerns for this group… but more on that later.

This year marked the point where NCT members began to enlist. That puts the core group in something of a holding pattern, though their sheer number of members ensures we’ll probably get new music well into the future. None of their group or solo tracks hit big with me this year, but they were certainly prolific. We had new albums (of varying quality) from 127, Dream and WayV and a bevy of solo debuts. It’s clear they’ve built a very stable fan base that’s eager to support a variety of sounds and formats as long as the members are involved.

Newly arrived in the NCT universe are NCT Wish, and SM has gone all in on them. The guys have been incredibly active in both Korea and Japan, releasing a ton of music and straddling the line between the two markets quite well. They seem to be an out-of-the-gate success and I’m glad the agency has decided to give them a sound different from the core NCT style.

As expected, SM’s veteran acts weren’t quite as active as their younger counterparts – at least when it comes to new music. Most of this work focused on solo efforts, with all four SHINee members releasing albums, Super Junior basically being active when and where they want under their own label and only a couple Girls’ Generation members releasing new music. Similarly, EXO’s 2024 slate included only solo albums. On the other hand, we did get a very well-received Red Velvet comeback and TVXQ just released an anniversary album in Japan. BoA also gave us a single. But for me, none of these veteran acts released work that really moved the needle. There were many pleasant songs but few that lived up to their full potential.

Musically, I think SM did a better job than most agencies at avoiding the beige, “easy-listening” trend currently sweeping through the industry. Their output was quite varied and many of the music retained the unique touch we associate with SM acts. In fact, I think they’ll be the agency to lead overall trends in the coming year. I imagine many producers are trying to cook up their own Supernova, for example.

To sum it up, SM Entertainment’s 2024 strengths were mainly attached to their newer acts. The company seems well-positioned for the future with plenty of public-appealing talent to usher in the next wave of their history. And with trot group Mytro and a new girl group waiting in the wings, they may even be able to expand their reach in 2025.

The Bad

Okay, let’s get this out of the way first. When it comes to SM in 2024, the elephant in the room has to be the situation with RIIZE’s Seunghan. In fact, I imagine many would give the agency an “F” for the year simply due to this single issue. I couldn’t argue with that, though it’s not the way my evaluations work.

In short, SM handled the “controversy” around Seunghan’s past incredibly poorly. It was a mistake to have him go on hiatus in 2023, but even that couldn’t have prepared fans for how badly SM bungled his “return” (and later, removal) during these past few weeks. Their inability to stand behind their artist sets an awful precedent, kowtowing to the worst instincts of fan culture. But beyond the moral shortcomings, this about-face was an absolute communications nightmare. I’m shocked an agency of their caliber messed this up so badly. It has put a major stain on RIIZE’s trajectory and doesn’t bode well for future issues that may arise in the agency.

Musically, my gripes with SM Entertainment are the same as they have been over the past few years. My favorite eras for the agency tend to be driven by one or two visionary producers, giving their line-up of artists a distinct sound. For a long time, that fell to veteran producer Yoo Young-Jin. But after SM’s management transition in 2023, he left the agency and no single person has stepped up to fill that role. Kenzie comes to mind as SM’s most long-standing creative force and her work was reliably solid this year. Apart from that, SM fell strongly into the outsourced song camp approach. The agency has long outsourced their music, but without a central cohesion these songs can sometimes feel a bit generic. As I mentioned earlier, SM largely avoided what I call the “beige” music trend, but they also didn’t offer anything particularly new or visionary.

2024 Grade: B-

What I’d like to see in 2025:

  • A new girl group with the lighter, more melodic sound of SNSD (this is a holdover from 2023…)
  • The stabilization of RIIZE in whatever formation they move forward with
  • One or two high quality composers steering the general sound of the agency
  • Comebacks from veteran artists (SHINee, TVXQ, SNSD (?))

Previous years: 2023 // 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017 // 2016

41 thoughts on “Grading the K-Pop Agencies 2024: SM ENTERTAINMENT”

    • not to be all “erm akshually 👆🤓” but the only reason they didnt terminate taeils contract is bc then hed get a payout for the remainder of said contract they only fired him after the investigation was completed

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  4. Long rant upcoming, I’m sorry in advance.

    The way they handled Seunghan’s situation boils my blood so bad it turned me off from Riize completely, and this is coming from someone who’s been ulting Sungchan since 2020 and waited for almost 3 years for his debut in a fixed team!

    They should have had Seunghan return by Impossible era, cause a long hiatus at such a crucial time (your first year ffs!) can be very volatile (unless it’s for health issues). And not to mention, the constant mixed signals of his possible return and the constant disappointments that came with it (like him being removed from Siren’s full version) just divided the fandom further. And when he returned? SM should have stood their ground, but no, they simply bowed down to a small loud minority, and it will just create a bad precedent, cause how could a 30-year old agency with such a huge legacy be this spineless? It’s as if they never intended to bring back Seunghan and only did it for some possible shitty marketing tactic I have no fucking clue about (which did work for a while, but the fall was more spectacular than the rise when he was removed!)

    On the brighter side, I also appreciate aespa’s success and them expanding further, Supernova’s still a banger, I don’t follow the veterans closely so no comment, and I also am happy to see the Wishies rise and I loved their single run so far. Besides the good, the other bad is giving Lucas a solo debut before Seunghan’s return (or the debut in general), and I also am concerned with the way they’re overworking Mark and Haechan and Wish, esp Wish, with how they’re about to return with their first full album in 3 weeks, and Riku’s on a health hiatus as well. I hope they get a huge break after this, cause they, especially Ryo and Sakuya, are still young and are already overworked beyond anything.

    My gradings? I’m giving SM a D+. I’d have elevated it to a C+ or a B- like you, but the Seunghan situation horribly affected my grading (as it should).

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    • are you me? I’ve been a Sungchan ult since 2020 as well and I feel the same way. the way they botched the entire situation was tragic. literally all SM had to do was act like Seunghan is part of the group, because he WAS, but they couldn’t even do that, which was the easiest part. and that part of the fandom who thought the shit they were doing was normal and SM choosing them made distancing myself from the group easier. I still love those boys down but it’s definitely not the same feeling as before.

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      • SM tried appealing to both OT6s and OT7s, but ended up pandering more to OT6s, while alienating OT7s. I can’t look at Riize the same way as before with how badly the situation affected my love for the group, and knowing the members themselves have shown that they’re hurt by the events. I can only wish the best for them cause they’re now stuck with deranged gf stans who can drop them any time and who have shown they don’t care about the members or their wishes (Wonbin’s letter comes to mind), and hope for their protection knowing this isn’t the first nor will be the last time a member is attacked from leaks/rumours.

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    • I’m 90% sure Seunghan was brought back just so there would be less press on Taeil. The specific charges against Taeil were reported Oct. 7th, Seunghan was announced to be returning on the 13th, then Taeil’s contract was fully terminated on the 17th or 18th.
      There was close to no information from SM after the announcement, and they quickly bowed to the pressure to remove him.

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      • The closest info we had was Seunghan supposedly starting activities from November (today, the 9th, was supposed to mark his first performance in SuperPOP Japan). And I assume they were planning to actually bring him back given the other guys were really happy when announcing their participation in SuperPOP. I just wish they made him publicly appear the moment they announced his return, like a livestream on Oct 11th. Delaying his first appearance to November defo gives the impression that they weren’t serious about his return.

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  5. Also, I’m looking forward to your gradings for HYBE, cause man, they’ve been messier than my closet, like, it’s all 10% music and 90% a shitfest of all sorts 😭

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      • I’m wavering between D- and F, but knowing all the shit that has been exposed (them planning to toss NJ away, them shit talking every group and even probably launching hate campaigns against them and ofc, Bongo crossing the street with two streamers and so much more), I might as well give them the rare F. Who knew Min Heejin simply expressing her wish for her concept to not be plagiarized uncover so much dirt?

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        • The fact her case was blown way out of proportion, and despite promising Garam they’ll protect her, HYBE still used her for noise marketing is beyond disgusting. Besides NewJeans, Garam deserves the biggest apology from that highlighter company

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    • HYBE is so bad man, my rating has fallen so hard. I ADORE BTS, like they’re basically one of the reasons that got me closer to k-pop. But when I look at how HYBE handles the other groups, it’s like… exactly the opposite of what BTS did?? No emphasis on music, no innovation, only recycling US trends (and badly) and pushing up sales with the power of their PR. The fact that the singles do so poorly shows that. And I thought maybe I was biased and suspicious with no reason, but now that all this sh** has come out between the report and all the other allegations it made me VOMIT. And now I don’t think the other agencies are saints either, but as usual I look at the music, and the other agencies are making more of an effort on that side to me. I watched an interview by a member of production team DSign a couple of weeks ago. I am a big fan of DSign productions because they wrote so many hits for SM, “I got a boy”, “Dance the night away”, more recently “Broken melodies”, I absolutely ADORE those. And they asked them about Le Sserafim “Unforgiven”, because they’re among the composers of the song. And they said it was un unusual process, and that HYBE sent out an instrumental to lots of composers and then “collected” all the ideas, picked some they like and put together the song… what is even this? I almost fell off my chair. They might as well get some AI generated music for free. No wonder then that the songs suck.
      Basically in the last few months all I have been hearing re HYBE makes my stomach churn. I am waiting for that timeless hit to restore my faith in them. I still love BTS, but the rest… OMG.

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      • I can only wonder how did they went from actually putting effort into BTS (and TXT to an extent) to being a trend-chasing company with no efforts and ambitions. And now that it’s been confirmed HYBE’s inflated sales and charts for their groups, I can’t trust their achievements even if they gained it from their own efforts. But what infuriates me the most is the fact they trash-talked every group (even their own artists like Sunghoon, mind you) under the sun, and most likely generated hate trains towards them (such as DKZ of all groups). And the fact CEOs or higher-ups of other companies have criticized HYBE for this should be telling. I didn’t know about the production thing, but it’s just so strange. I have zero experiences as a producer, but I still find it really strange. What the events from April onwards told me is that HYBE was a big mistake. And they really made me go from feeling a bit iffy towards Min Heejin to actually getting where she is coming from lol. I can only hope the best for their groups (especially ILLIT) cause no one deserves to be associated like this.

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        • Same here. I remember when the case with Min Hee Jin exploded I thought this woman is crazy, lock her up in some ward. But then more stuff started to come out revealing HYBE manipulations and general attitude… I was totally shocked. Even more so that it seems that Hitman Bang was also responsible for this report and its circulation, and he definitely nurtured BTS… I cannot explain it to myself – is this the same person? The only explanation I find is that BTS probably had a massive input artistically from the beginning, and drove the boat. After all RM and Suga really were hip hop artists. Maybe that’s also why they said they even were close about disbanding in 2018? Maybe that’s where HYBE “switched” as it became too big of a machine.
          So many unanswered questions.

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  6. To me, SM was a mixed bag this year. While I was singing “Su Su Su Supernova” for months after its release, I have not been able to get on the Riize bandwagon. They seem to be SM’s response to current trends and eschew both easy-listening and New Jeans style retro sounds. It’s decent but forgettable.

    I would also highlight Red Velvet. Cosmic was fun, and SM needs to do more for them. It’s boggling that Red Velvet did not have mutiple solo releases, considering all the star power and talent in the group.

    This brings me to what I really need to see from SM next year:

    (1) Where is the Taeyeon-style soloist from the new generation? They have great female soloists but I don’t see a clear representative standout after Taeyeon. There should have been one from Red Velvet. I was pleasantly surpised to see Karina’s work do well but while she has a decent tone, her vocals aren’t a standout for me.

    (2) Manage artists better (this will apply to all agencies). What happened to Seunghan sucked. What happened to EXO sucked as well. SM has a history of poor management (recently learned what happened to JYJ from TVXQ, WTF Lee Soo Man you belong in jail), but it’s the year 2024 and there are more eyes on you. If not out of actual values, do it for the PR! And for god’s sake, don’t give in to toxic fan culture. It’s a cesspool – stop drinking the KOOLAID!

    Rant over – F for me (on pure principled basis – many Fs this year) Sorry, I am angry after the elections and don’t give a shit.

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    • From 3rd generation, their biggest soloist undoubtedly was Baekhyun, whom they lost so stupidly, like I don’t even know wether they just didn’t care enough or they just couldn’t help against their egos. Can just hope he can be thriving on his own now. After him, I don’t know if anyone from NCT will ever be able to showcase such soloist capabilities. I feel like their best singers just don’t feel profilic enough as soloists. For other groups I don’t have any mentions tbh.

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        • I feel like Ten has potential but SM has wasted his best years (sometimes due to situations beyond their control, like Lucas). Even now, when they’ve given him a solo debut and sent him to solo stages like Waterbomb, I can’t help but feel that this should have happened a long time ago for him. My hope is that he pulls a Taemin or Baekhyun, maybe even signs to a Thai label, to become the global star he’s meant to be.

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          • He is 28 and doesn’t have to do military service. Maybe he won’t be a numbers monster, but I am sure he can have enough of a dedicated audience for a solid career and, artistically, I think he has quite a lot to offer. He also has the bonus of an international following.

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    • I’m not really following sales & the like so am very open to hearing more about this, but Red Velvet have seemingly had a fair amount of solo activity? It all seems to have sold well, though maybe nothing as “breakout” with Taeyeon. But they do seem to be trying their best with that. Wendy has two EPs which sound relatively different from each other so I could see her being positioned in a similar place to Taeyeon artistically (though sadly I don’t think she’s quite as relatively popular as Taeyeon was.) Also Irene&Seulgi album did EXTREMELY well and wouldn’t be surprised if they continued to.

      In terms of “what will actually work with fans” I would not be at all surprised if Karina & Winter are conditioned into promising solo careers. I mean Winter is even styled to look similar to Taeyeon.

      I agree that losing Taemin, Baekhyun, & Seunghan was crappy for that goal though.

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  7. aespa has impressed me, but their music is not really my style. RIIZE has the opposite issue, with music that should be right up my alley but that has not left an impression.

    At this point I’m just in my little corner vibing with the SHINee solo comebacks because I have really enjoyed them, especially Minho’s and Onew’s (I am still dancing to Beat Drum).

    Unfortunately, SMs music has been completely eclipsed by the utter shitshow that was their management, communications and PR decisions this year. I quite literally cannot imagine a worse way in which they could have handled the RIIZE situation. I don’t expect morals from this company, I don’ t even expect basic human decency (as sad as that sentence is to write) – but I expected them to have some pride at least.

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    • I was gonna write something similar. I do like a couple of songs by RIIZE, but so far they’re not going to replace my favorites by SHINee, EXO, or NCT. I would love it though if they did get to that level for me.

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      • I am in for Riize. I am feeling like maybe I am just too old atp to get as far into them as I did others, but the music is great! What I think is “missing” is a distinctive tone that grounds the sound. I recognise their music due to the overall vibe, not the voices. But that could be a production issue.

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        • I find myself having these thoughts also – maybe I’m too old now to really get on board with a new group the way I used to. On the other hand I also have the issue you mentioned – I miss some sort of individuality there, different voices don’t stand out to me.

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          • I think it may be more of a production choice, in the New Jeans style of uniform voices. But I still enjoy most of the tracks to the point that I got the album, it is just such a cheerful sunny piece, makes my day feel like a summer in my late teen/early-20s years, it makes me nostalgic! They remind me so much of early SHINee, not so much in the sound but in the bright boyish vibes.

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  8. NGL I enjoyed a lot of the music from SM artists this year. They stepped up their game from last year. That’s the one good thing from them for me.

    On the other hand, the Seunghan situation was… messed-up on all aspects. I just don’t have anything else to say.

    I’m looking forward to when you finally grade HYBE’s agency. There’s a lot to discuss about them for this year 😬

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  9. The GOOD: Music (Grade:9 / A)

    1. NCT (127, Dreamies, Wish, WayV) and their solos(Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Ten, Yuta) comebacks
    2. Red Velvet’s Cosmic
    3. Aespa’s Supernova
    4. Riize’ BBBass, Impossible, Lucky, One Kiss 

    Most of these songs will make it to my Top 25 this year

    The BAD: Management of their veteran groups (Grade:7 / C)

    1. Shinee
    2. Red Velvet
    3. Exo

    The UGLY: Shit shows (Grade:1 / F)

    1. Taeil
    2. Seunghan

    Usually I would prioritize music so I’ll throw them a curve an round it up to a

    6 (D)

    CANNOT wait for HYBE and Woollim😂

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  10. As the resident ELF, I would like to remind everyone that SM always has bungled real and imagined scandals, badly. (Hello, Seungmin getting kicked out of SuJu for getting married.)

    As for the music, SM always has more style and polish than most agencies, its just not my style this year.

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  11. They did really well with Riize, amazing songs.

    Aespa feels more like they lucked out than anything else. Rising on the buoyancy of Karina’s scandal and HYBE’s trash talk.

    Outside of that they’ve accomplished very little.

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  12. I mean at least Seunghan is still under the label, so maybe they plan on doing something with him solo or with other artists? I certainly hope so. I don’t follow Riize but he impresses me. Sadly about a year not-really-being part of a boy group isn’t a lot of momentum to collect solo fans.

    I imagine the stress of rejoining a popular group and getting so much vitriol (+implied death threats) would have put a damper on how comfortable he felt. I mean in that situation I’d certainly feel like a liability, however unjustified. SM would really have needed to have a backbone to support him through that.

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