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. Following SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment‘s analysis, it’s time to dive into HYBE Corporation.
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
The less directly an artist was involved with HYBE, the stronger their 2024 work tended to be. I’m talking mainly about subsidiaries Pledis and KOZ Entertainment, and even more specifically about TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR. These two groups have defined the year for me, releasing great music that thrives on distinct identity and a clear vision. These two factors are not as common as you may think in K-pop at the moment, and should be celebrated.
TWS had a killer debut year with steady promotion, excellent releases and a genuinely massive hit. Plot Twist will go down as one of 2024’s most iconic tracks – a rare feat for a rookie boy group. Meanwhile, BOYNEXTDOOR have continued to develop their own quirky catalog. They’re genuinely one of the most idiosyncratic idol groups working today and I see this focus on individuality paying off in the long run. Their mentor and agency-head Zico also released a solid single this year, managing to get BLACKPINK’s Jennie on the track with him.
Speaking of subsidiary agencies, there’s no doubt that Seventeen had a strong year. I haven’t been a fan of most of their 2024 music, but they are legitimately the biggest K-pop group on the planet right now, spawning a similar fever as BTS did before they went on hiatus. It’s almost intimidating how popular they are. Pledis Entertainment must just be thrilled. The subsidiary’s only girl group fromis_9 also found unexpected success with their most recent album. Supersonic has exceeded expectations.
With most of BTS currently serving in the military, Big Hit’s fortunes rested largely on TXT. The group continued to sell well in 2024. Smartly, Big Hit also pre-planned hiatus-era tracks from some of BTS’s members and is now successfully navigating post-enlistment work with Jin. So far, so good… at least commercially.
Moving onto BeLift Lab, this subsidiary saw gains in 2024. ENHYPEN are now outselling other groups on HYBE’s roster and have done a particularly good job reaching out to global markets. ILLIT was an out-of-the-gate success, with debut track Magnetic riding high on the charts all year long.
HYBE’s other girl groups continued to chug along. NewJeans still enjoyed a ton of success despite a raft of behind-the-scenes issues and LE SSERAFIM made international gains with some high-profile performances abroad. Global group Katseye also appear to be doing well, paving the way for a new kind of K-pop-adjacent career.
Meanwhile, over in Japan boy group &TEAM are shaping up to be a powerful force. Their sales still lag behind the country’s biggest male acts, but the music has generally been strong.
On a non-musical level, HYBE does a great job promoting its artists. As a fan, it’s nice to have so much material to freely watch on YouTube. The fact that many of its artists have their own weekly show is insane and keeps their hype going even between comebacks. You can definitely feel the budget of a big corporation.
The Bad
While much of my favorite music of 2024 came from HYBE artists, the corporation as a whole was a big old mess. As you know, scandals don’t factor heavily into my grades, but it’s impossible to ignore the multiple messes HYBE found itself in this year.
Mess one was the NewJeans/Min Hee-jin scandal, which saw the NewJeans creative director fighting with HYBE in a sprawling power struggle too vast to recount here. Suffice it to say, this battle could very well sideline or completely dissolve one of the industry’s most popular girl groups depending on how things turn out. At the very least, it’s put a stain on many different entities and clearly affected the trajectory of the corporation. It even pitted HYBE’s artists against one another, with a clear NewJeans vs. ILLIT sentiment taking hold.
Mess two spawned from mess one, involving a leaked internal audit from HYBE’s “Weekly Music Industry Report.” This included derogatory comments about other agencies and idols, revealing a toxicity that raised serious concerns about the culture within HYBE and the corporation’s power within the industry. It wasn’t a good look for a company that many have accused of operating as a monopoly. Above all else, it was simply a gross and cynical peek behind the curtain and made fans question how much of HYBE’s success was truly organic.
Musically, HYBE was most responsible for the “beige” music trend I’ve been complaining about for much of the year. Apart from groups like TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR, who have specific, unique musical perspectives, most of the corporation’s artists released watered-down, truncated music that was factory-designed to offend no one. But when you seek not to offend, you become unable to thrill. I never would have expected K-pop to embrace an “easy-listening” experience, but many of HYBE’s 2024 singles feel designed to fill space on a playlist and exist comfortably in the background.
NewJeans and ILLIT released flat, repetitive music that unfortunately went on to influence the entire K-pop industry. TXT and ENHYPEN were drained of much of their musical personality, delivering shadows of former glories. Even BTS members fell into an adult contemporary realm far removed from the visionary work of their past. Meanwhile, LE SSERAFIM sought to replicate global trends but removed many of the idiosyncrasies that make those trends so enjoyable. Two-minute songs lacking a bridge became normalized. Production smoothed over vocalists’ individual quirks. Song credits often revealed dozens of cooks in the kitchen, making it impossible for the music to harness a specific perspective. Even veterans Seventeen, who had an incredibly successful year, found themselves mired in ho-hum material.
Overall, it’s difficult to grade such a sprawling corporation. I almost want to dole out different grades to different divisions of the company. There are parts that would get an “A+” and many parts that would earn an “F.” When everything’s combined together, it evens out in the middle for me.
2024 Grade: C
What I’d like to see in 2025:
- No more beige! Give us music with color, bite and unique ideas
- Less mess, more innovation
- Less focus on international trends
- Some sort of resolution for NewJeans
- Successful runs for TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR, my favorite acts from the HYBE roster at the moment
Previous years: 2023 // 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
The Good: their acts being successful. I liked a few songs from them, the rest were meh. Yeah, nothing much given I don’t follow HYBE groups closely.
The Bad: Yep, that’s a whole shitshow right there! So, we got: Belift/Bongo using NewJeans’ formula for ILLIT, Min Heejin rightfully calling them out for this and also for the lack of creativity and extreme saturation in the industry. HYBE shit talking every group under the sun (even their own idols like Sunghoon), and apparently generating hate trains via negative press and publicity (even targetting DKZ of all groups). Bongo being too busy hanging out with streamers half his age. HYBE/Belift leaking videos of NewJeans as trainees which hurt the girls. HYBE planning to toss NewJeans away for LSF and ILLIT (hence why most of their activities this year were cancelled). And also hate how basically all their groups are following the more subdued sound.
In conclusion: HYBE really made me go from being iffy towards Min Heejin to getting where she’s coming from and lowkey siding with her (and yes, I know her history of being weird, but still). Their shitty PR is failing and only bringing hate towards their groups (especially ILLIT, I feel bad for them and LSF). Bongo can choke on a hamburger. And NewJeans deserves way better.
Grade: F. I guess it’s time we invent a Z grade for them.
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Oh, and also, it being proven they used Garam’s scandal for publicity, despite promising her they’d protect her. Yep, a then 16 year old lost her career with false hopes 🙃 I’m sure there’s still a lot more shit exposed about HYBE, damn, not even my room is this messy
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I was also iffy towards that woman at first because what she was doing at the beginning of the year just seemed so irrational. Fast forward to when she’s the one who had complained about that report and demanded it to be more objective…I’m still not saying she’s a good person and I think I’m not siding. In the Belift copying case I can say this: a person who isn’t into kpop, heard Magnetic and asked me about Magnetic being a NewJeans song. So much about an average person even distinguishing between the two. And I’m just sorry for both groups atp., I mean bunnies were probably the most annoying fandom when it came to accusing other groups of copying NJ, but then it turning into this and hybe actually trying to discard a group is wild.
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Sure, she isn’t perfect and has her own share of flaws, but in this case, she’s the better person. I feel for both ILLIT and NewJeans, but I’m starting to feel iffy towards the former given the recent interview with Belift’s CEO (unless it’s him bullshitting as usual). I can only hope the best for NewJeans after everything that’s been exposed about HYBE and their plans for the girls.
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I can’t forgive Hybe for the NewJeans fiasco. F is too good for them.
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Bongo?! OMG I died laughing 😭
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the hybe and the min heejin conflict made the garam situation look like clown college
F for me (not even the music could raise my grade considering I didn’t even like half of their music). Hopefully TWS continues to put out the high quality music they have been putting out this year
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I don’t have time to bother with “kpop news”, so I quite happily have avoided the mess, though new still filtered through.
So I will grade based upon the music: except for a handful of bright lights, literal handful, as in maybe 5 songs, the music so dull. Dull dull dull. Beige. Greige. Worse, because they are the industry leaders the dullness is infecting every other agency in kpop. For this, its a total failure this year.
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”Greige” made me chuckle. Grey and beige mixed together—just a drab, muddled hue toeing the line between safe and uninspiring. A sleepy, joyless color. Greige.
Greigepop coming to your Spotify playlists soon!
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I think it’s interesting how little of the HYBE report had anything to do with music. “We Believe in Music”… but when it comes down to it, how much do they actually care?
I’m not going to ignore the fact that I did really, really like several of their releases this year, even some of the “beiger” ones (though I’m with you that the saturation of this sound in Kpop is terrible and should be limited to as few groups as possible). They are capable of good material, and I’m not on board with the people who are bashing every HYBE release that comes out just because they’re mad at the company.
But their whole situation has left a really bad taste in my mouth, and my sympathy is only with the idols who are caught in it or catching strays from HYBE’s negative virality games. I’ll never defend a company just because I like some of their artists. I just hope things turn out well for the groups involved, and that there’s no retaliation towards NewJeans whether they stay or go.
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Well the person responsible for that motto (directly or indirectly) is actually Min Heejin, who really does seem to believe in the music. Evidently she didn’t succeed in convincing the rest of the corporation to do the same…
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the music industry report was crazy…. hybe seething because they don’t have organic success; not a real rags to riches, sihyuk always had money and connections
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kinda shocked that u didnt mention how the newjeans girls themselves have decided to take matters into their own hands on this front…..immensely proud of them for knowing their own worth and standing up for themselves (especially given how young they were when they started out)
oh yeah and then theres the other big elephant in the room: the fact that hybe has platformed so many zionists (both higher ups and in their music team) during the middle of an ongoing genocide + most of them being tied to the “beige” music u were talking about but that is a whole other ball of wax that other ppl r farrrrrr better qualified to talk abt than me
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oh yeah and also u forgot that pledis often forgets that fromis even exists like the only reason we even had a cb from them this year was bc fans were petitioning pledis to give them one after chaeyoung came out saying shes upset that everyone else under the hybe umbrella gets comebacks but they dont…..and even then supersonic (which i assume has grown on nick since its release) was barely even promoted despite it being their best performing cb to date
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Screw Johnny Goldstein. All my homies hate Johnny Goldstein.
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Imagine debuting TWS and Illit and still only eking out a C.
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Where to begin? This year hasn’t been particularly favorable for Hybe. First, the company has been embroiled in a number of legal issues with ADOR CEO Min Heejin, which has fueled a series of fruitless disputes throughout the year. Min Heejin and ADOR have established themselves as significant adversaries of the company during this period, and other individuals have contributed to the undue exposure of internal politics that should not have been made public, putting Hybe in a challenging position
In addition to the complex legal issues, Hybe has struggled to provide truly engaging material for many of its artists. Whether it’s TXT, Enhypen, or its girl groups, all have, in my opinion, remained at a mediocre level. Is it really that challenging to provide content that would be more engaging for its artists? There was a time when, with something authentic and distinctive, one would not resort to such artificial trends as those that have prevailed, especially in girl group music, which is characterized by a pale and easily assimilated sound. Hybe (or ADOR, as it were) ended up pushing a trend that is tired of the current industry
On the other hand, TWS also restarted a trend, and this was a good one. I could separate them from the only part of Pledis Ent. that actually did something good. And, well, BoyNextDoor still has to convince me with their portfolio
What I’d like to see in 2025:
• A new sound from all their girl groups.
• A very good continuation of TWS’s rise and consolidation.
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as an army im just thinking about how the hybe drama affects bts as they’re one of the ones being most targeted by you-know-who as they’re hybe’s biggest moneymakers with all the slanderous articles coming about about them saying “ThEy’Re CoPyInG ExO aNd BiGbAnG” as well as yoongi’s nothingburger of a scandal
plus the group is in the middle of the military hiatus so they can’t really speak out about what’s going on lest they get more hate from knetz, ik namjoon might be able to as he’s the most outspoken of the group (hes the leader after all) but hes still doing this service
boracity magazine made a video on this which i cant link bcuz fuck wordpress but its called “about the current smear campaign against bts” and its a great video
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more songs like Super Tuna, says me.
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This ELF appreciates the serious camp in Super Tuna.
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There isn’t enough popcorn in the world to watch all the drama going down at Hybe. The only group I’m really attached to there is Le Sserafim (shocker given my PFP, I know). I’m hoping they can escape eventually. I feel like the success of NewJeans singlehandedly changed their musical style and it makes me sad.
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Maybe the producers are self-soothing through the drama of working at Hybe in the form of creating beige song after beige song…
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I like this theory! Haha
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Ha ha ha I love this 😂
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What I’d like to see in 2025:
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I was impressed to see Illit going from struggling during their Magnetic-era encores (except Minju who’s always been their vocal powerhouse) to successfully performing some of their Cherish-era stages live, so there’s at least someone in their train wreck of an agency who’s paying attention.
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I’ve been wondering and wondering why I struggle to truly fall in love with any newer groups, and this may just be part of it. What drew me to the groups I really love is largely their unique and powerful singing voices. I’m not hearing many voices that impress me right off the bat now.
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I feel like young groups used to have time to mature into their vocals and sound, but with bigger groups they get too much attention right away, and then seem to lock into their debut era skillset. I hope some of the smaller labels are able to build some quality bands in response by giving them time to grow.
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What a shit show this year has been for Hybe. I am not sure if I have been misled into thinking they were somewhat better behind the scenes but it seems like it’s all an ego toxic piss-contest happening in the C-Suite.
Ok – I blame a lot of their issues on this multi-label concept. The K-pop market is over-saturated and is not huge like the American industry. Multiple labels under one giant corporation works in America because it’s a HUGE market with many different audiences. Kpop is tiny comparatively – and for this tiny market, how do you have multiple labels under the same company and not expect vicious infighting and bad blood about similar concepts, debut times etc. I am assuming this is why other agencies release their new acts after the older acts are more established because they expect that the new ones will gobble some fans of their older acts and everyone kind of has to accept that.
HYBE had a lot of BTS money to spend and I can understand that it made sense at one point to buy out smaller agencies, but maybe they should have stopped PLEDIS and SOURCE. Having Le Sserafim and New Jeans debut so close was already a recipe for disaster. Healthy competition amongst labels that reside in the same building is walking a very fine line – add to that releasing new acts so soon after each other and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Musically, Hybe needs better vision. Their music is over-produced and lacks that oophm. If their agencies are truly independent, they need to stop giving in to the Hybe urge to disney-fy music.
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Completely agree with you about how TWS and BND seem to have strong identities of their own already, and how that’s paying dividends for them. Musically, TWS have had such an incredible debut year and I’m so happy for that. I’m adoring the energy and vision throughout both of their mini albums, and the upcoming single seems extremely promising too. It’s so refreshing to see bright sounds doing well again! BND’s releases this year were also strong throughout, even if I thought Nice Guy didn’t quite live up to the hallmark of Earth Wind & Fire. But their personalities really come through in their music, which is great.
I also think &TEAM deserve more credit for the year they’ve had. There was no Firework-level highlight, but they’ve done an exceptional job sticking to the seasons theme so far and I feel they’ve improved in terms of their vocals as well, although they’re still falling prey to the HYBE vocal processing. Aoarashi and Koegawari were legitimate summer hits for me and I think them leaning into more jpop sounds was absolutely the way to go to help distinguish them.
SVT are my ult of ults in kpop, but I wish I enjoyed their 2024 music more. I don’t even have anything much to say about it and that makes me kind of sad. Still, as we enter enlistment era, I’m looking forward to seeing what else they have in store because we already know the incredible heights they’re capable of. I just wish they would give us something dynamic and bright again, they do that like no other. I’m imagining SVT putting out another song like TWS’ hey! hey! – what I wouldn’t give for that!
I’m genuinely very afraid that TWS will soon pivot to either the same braggadocious hip hop/random shouting boy group trend – I’ll take easy-listening beige over that! I hope they take inspiration from the way SVT worked up to their own brand of darkteen over the years. I can handle a b-side like Double Take every now and then, but I really hope we continue to see this strong melodic vision for them, going forward.
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As someone who usually gets on a bandwagon pretty late, Seventeen’s skyrocket to fame has felt so strange. Suddenly, I’m one of the ‘early’ fans, and it really is intimidating how massive they’ve become. Unfortunately, with that fame comes a change in atmosphere in the fandom. I won’t complain more though, because I’m also so happy that they made it. Watching their concert videos and seeing their fan interactions, I’m incredibly proud.
Also loveee Plot Twist by TWS! Hope to see more of them next year too.
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I never really liked HYBE since it got formed.. I liked Big Hit and LOVE LOVE LOVE BTS, and I do think they are an organic success. I remember when in 2016 I noticed them when Blood Sweat and Tears came out and delving into their songs and lyrics and they felt just *genuine*. The music was good. But HYBE sounds like a total other beast. The report, the lack of great songs… I think it’s been ages since I really LOVED a release by HYBE, with the exception of New Jeans, Boynextdoor and TWS – but as Nick said, probably it’s because these artists were managed by someone other than Hitman Bang. I’m starting to think that HYBE is just obsessed with replicating BTS success and jealous/bitter of the fact that they are an organic success. And they went off on a narcissistic trip to prove they can manufacture that level of success yet again… “create the next BTS”. And when someone like Min Hee Jin obtained more success than they did with TXT or ENHYPEN, they got even more jealous and tried to sabotage the project. But to me it’s simple how New Jeans were successful. Actually I’m not this fan of their “bland/beige” style, but “Hype boy”, “Ditto”, “Attention” are undeniably great songs. Even if you’re not a huge fan of that understated style, you can hear the quality, and they’re all in my playlists. So for 2025 my wish is that HYBE focus more on the music. We want great songs!!
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I don’t know how you can dispute that this is an F grade for HYBE. They’ve spent the whole year pitting their own groups against each other, destroying their reputation, and their music is mostly just corporate approved, focus group tested, music by algorithm. Not a lot of humanity or emotions coming out of HYBE groups. They seem like the worst company to work for and I feel like a lot of the next year is going to be spent trying to fix their public reputation.
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saying seventeen is spawning a fever similar to BTS is a crazy statement
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