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
Though this year was a relatively unambitious one for SM Entertainment, it did boast one high profile debut. New girl group Hearts2Hearts have not yet found their huge public-friendly hit (that usually doesn’t happen right away for SM groups), but their chart performance has been decent and their output has been varied enough that at least one song is bound to appeal to every listener. In a year with few notable girl group debuts, Hearts2Hearts seem to be positioned relatively well.
Also debuting this year was ex-RIIZE member Seunghan under the project XngHan & Xoul. While fans will rightfully not forget his awful treatment in the past, I’m glad SM kept their word and eventually gave him his own promotions.
SM Entertainment has always done a nice job giving its artists frequent comebacks. Yet again, 2025 was stuffed with new music from both older and newer acts. Almost every current act received promotion of some sort, even if that was in the form of solo or sub-unit comebacks. This was an especially banner year for the agency’s legacy acts, with full albums from Super Junior, BoA, Key and TVXQ’s U-Know.
As far as music quality, there were a few bright spots. RIIZE’s first full-length album was fantastic from start to finish. NCT Dream and Super Junior also released strong material during the summer.
Commercially, aespa continue to be a juggernaut even when their music isn’t as strong as it could be. They feel well-established now and an obvious pillar of this generation of SM artists. NCT Wish are also establishing a solid fan base, well-positioned for success in both Korea and Japan. And as group activities for NCT have stalled, SM is taking advantage of the members’ various talents with a string of successful solo releases.
The Bad
SM Entertainment’s quality control is not what it used to be – at least musically. In years and decades past, the agency reliably churned out legendary song after legendary song. This year, very few SM title tracks did much for me. And apart from running on the fumes of established popularity, very few made much noise in public discourse either. It just doesn’t feel like there’s any overall creative vision at the moment.
When I look at my own playlist, it includes less SM songs than ever before. Too many of their 2025 releases lacked ambition and/or a unique soundscape, making it feel that the agency is simply following trends rather than establishing them. This is a sharp turn from where they used to be, driving the musical culture of K-pop. SM has always favored outside producers and song camps, but now they have very few visionaries left in their orbit. This makes their music blend in with every other agency who outsources their material.
Even SM’s most successful artists underwhelmed this year. aespa continue to dominate charts but their music hit a real roadblock in 2025. Most of the agency’s solo efforts came and went in the blink of an eye, selling well one week before disappearing from public consciousness the next. For the first time in what seems like forever, I don’t think SM had a genuine, iconic hit this year – the kind of song that will be remembered in not only fans’ minds but in the general public’s as well.
Though SM does a nice job honoring their legacy artists, these releases are either under-promoted or mismanaged. EXO’s long-awaited 2026 comeback is already mired in issues as SM seems to be blocking some members from participating at all. As artists begin to leave the agency for their solo endeavors, it becomes harder to cobble together group reunions, making these celebratory comebacks feel choked by unnecessary controversy.
As K-pop’s purchase starts to slide internationally, SM has been forced to cancel or modify several high-profile tours. This isn’t a problem unique to them, but the agency seems to have overestimated their ability to sell tickets internationally. The buzz around their artists just doesn’t feel as strong as it could be, and that’s likely due to a lack of industry-defining hits and an increasing desire to milk their fans for as much money as possible.
Overall, this feels like the least exciting era for SM Entertainment in some time. And with other agencies stepping up their game, there’s a lot that could be improved upon.
(Also, RIP to MYTRO and DearALICE, who seem to have been forgotten before they even took off…)
2025 Grade: C-
What I’d like to see in 2026:
- A greater emphasis on bold songs that push the agency’s sound forward
- A big public hit to fully establish Hearts2Hearts
- Less song camps, more specific and unique songwriting voices
- Strong comebacks from legacy artists we barely head from this year (EXO, SHINee, SNSD, TVXQ)
Previous years: 2024 // 2023 // 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017 // 2016
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Heavy on the music output. Ever since Yoo Youngjin left, things have shifted downhill. Man, I hope we see more Kenzie and Andrew Choi involvement or even a rising in-house producer who could take the torch from YYJ. As for the acts, I don’t keep up with much except aespa, but geez, did SM groups this year kinda… underwhelmed. And yay for Hearts2Hearts, but they need a more developed sound that could help them stand out better, they did good with Style, and to a small extent, Focus, they could do well with a cute, quirky sound with a stronger edge.
C for me.
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I feel like the SM for the younger acts can be summed up as yes-Kenzie=good or not-Kenzie=notsogood.
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For the legacy ones too. Probably the best producer SM has atm.
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I hated the whole kwangya/smcu but i feel like after they gave up all of that they don’t know where to go
I didn’t liked “The Chase” when it came out and it took me some time but it grew on me. Overall I think H2H had a really good rookie year
Riize’s album it’s certainly a stand out to me although I feel like from all the songs they promoted the lead single was the weakest
Aespa really disappointed me both their pre-release and main single were a big step down from a good streak (Spicy-Drama-Supernova-Armageddon-Whiplash). Their MVs this year were also terrible and “Rich Man” it’s the worst choreo SM has ever released (I think it’s the worst from this year overall) I hope they comeback with a strong song next year
Dream had a solid comeback in 2025 with great singles. I prefer it “Bttf” over “Chiller”
I hope for 2026 SM get their shit together
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I am quite happy with the Riize album earlier this year and also with the Super Junior anniversary full album. Really happy with both. Also odd other singles here and there. Also Chen’s solo “Arcadia” but Chen isn’t with SM anymore.
Begin rant in 3 2 1 …
I wish the kpop agencies would just stop with the whole fan wars. There is a vocal minority who just ruins it for every one else. I hadn’t heard about the EXO thing going on (really, I can’t be bothered following the controversy of the moment on the boards with the keyboard warriors, as I am too old for caring about random people saying shit anonymously, and too long in kpop to know It’s Always Something for that crowd). I had not heard about it but it sounds about right for SM. SM should be big enough and mature enough under their new management to realize that hey, we could make A Lot Of Money with all the stans who have moved on from past so-called controversies. But SM won’t.
Well hey at least we ELF got a picture of the full Super Junior 15 members, though it had to happen at Ryeowook’s wedding. (Some idols are allowed to date and get married, but only if the keyboard warriors approve.)
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NCT Dream and RIIZE albums are clear highlights. I honestly would be happy if thats all we got from SM this year lol
we got more though, and Hearts2Hearts had strong output (specifically Style!). I also liked SHINee’s Poet Artist and Starlight
I dont really pay attention to the business side of things so any controversies are unbeknownst to me 🫠
also, Surf by NCT wish was really good
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SM is a sinking ship
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In Summary….SM sucks! D
I only liked Riize’s “Show Me Love”. (Even after going to their concert, I did not add any of the other songs to the playlist. They did great, and I know that the album is objectively good, but I never got over all the bullcrap surrounding it at the time, so🤷🏻♀️). I also liked “BTTF” by the Dreamies. That’s IT!! I’ve never been a big fan of TVXQ or SJ, so their offerings didn’t get to me. Not a fan of the Wishes so far. Don’t get me started on EXO 🤦🏻♀️
On the ladies’ side, I only liked H2H debut “The Chase”. After Cosmic, I was expecting another Red Velvet banger but NOPE.
On the solo side, I remember enjoying Kai’s “Wait on Me” and “Adult Swim”, Mark’s “1999”, Seunghan’s “Heavenly Blue”, and Key’s “Hunter/Glam” combo.
For a Big 4 agency, that’s a total of 9 songs…🤯
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This comment most closely resembles my feelings for SM this year concerning their music output. I did like Dirty Work more than most for Aespa though…
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Any buried treasure coming for the U-Know album? I thought it was quite strong
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i can’t believe it’s already time for the kpop agencies grading, 2025 went by so fast :”D
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SM really did DearAlice and Mytro dirty! DearAlice seems to have had some management shuffles, though, as they’ve been continuing under some mysterious UK company without any SM involvement. However, in my opinion, since SM let them go their music quality has been going downhill. Every song on their Made in Korea soundtrack was great and “Ariana” was great, but I haven’t liked any of their other songs. They’ve been boring or pale imitations of what they could be at best, and some of them, like “Drums”, havce been horrible and grating on the ears. They’re teasing a new song which sounds like a baby step up, but still not good and nothing like what Made in Korea promised us. sigh
It’s especially sad for me as I’m an Anglophile and K-pop (especially boygroup) fan, so they were the perfect thing for me!! 😦
Other than that, the few SM songs I liked enough to buy (on iTunes or physically) this year was “Style”, Wish’s “poppop” album and the 30th anniversary SMTown album. I liked the first two, but the SMTown album was disappointing except for SNSD’s cover of “My Everything”. (I also got Eunhyuk’s solo album and loved it, but he’s not under SM, I think, right?) I like Super Junior, but I disliked “Express Mode” enough (it was so grating) that I didn’t bother with their album, and BoA’s title track didn’t seem especially good to me either. It’s a shame since apparently she’s going to retire now. (Or so I’ve heard??) I bought Riize’s album but never got around to listening to it, but I’m sure it’ll be good, at least. But I just hope SM reverses their downward trend! It’s depressing, when they used to have so many good songs. At least I always have SNSD’s discography to listen to…
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If you all hate SM this year, wait until he recaps JYP
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JYP’s first half of the year was not steady, but starting from September, the company has been continuously releasing quality releases from junior groups. NMIXX’s Blue Valentine has achieved RAK after many years without any song from JYP’s girl groups that has made big waves in South Korea. Even though JYP’s biggest names, Twice and SKZ, have not really brought any great music this year, the rest of the groups are doing pretty well, especially NMIXX’s first full-length album. I think JYP will get at least C+ or B-, in short, better than SM. None of SM’s songs this year have resonated as much as Blue Valentine.
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Key’s album was very good.
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