which idol groups will still be around in 4-5 years?
this is a question i answered at ~an ungodly place~ a while ago.
i'm going to look at the company reputation instead... it doesn't really have much to do with the actual group. rofl. nothing in kpop really has much to do with the actual group. for simplicity's sake, imagine an extra "e" after each name (i.e. jype, sme, mnet...e)
jyp -- has a tendency to keep his groups under his label as long as possible without stifling them too much, so their future looks pretty long (i.e. g.o.d; they're just on hiatus, but individually they're doing their own things and i'm pretty sure once they all work out their military duties and things they'll reunite for at least one more album). unfortunately they also have a tendency to find talents who decide they'd much rather be doing things other than being gasoos. overall the longevity of the group still remains, but at the cost of not having all the original members present.
sme -- has a tendency for the "five year" curse, so i'm pretty surprised super junior has lasted this long, with the exception of hankyung (i.e. h.o.t, shinhwa, dbsk... which started juuust after the five years... and then other failures like isak n jiyeon, the trax, blackbeat, ftts left/disbanded)... overall i'm not too sure how long their groups will last but i'm actually willing to bet that snsd just might stick it through till the 5-year mark. girls usually seem to be treated much better in entertainment companies.
yg -- has a tendency to retire their groups and put them in the background doing producing, composing, songwriting, choreo, training, etc (i.e. jinusean, swi.t, 1tym)... plus they train their artists as if they're all soloists and then group them together, so i'm not at all willing to bet on them staying together far into the future... however, big bang and 2ne1 are his cash cows so if i were him, i'd milk them for as long as possible. or at least until they're getting into their late 20s and getting too old to really be considered teen idols anymore.
dsp -- they're really still not on the same level as the previous three but they're still fairly prominent, and apparently longlived... or at least until their artists decide the grass is greener on the other side (i.e. fin.k.l; all of them have split up to do their own things, fairly successfully now, too)... with their recent surges in popularity, i think things are looking up for ss501 and kara. but poor a'st1 :[ the jury's still out on rainbow, but i'm starting to believe that if they don't start getting real popular real fast, they'll end up like a'st1.
mnet -- they haven't been in the business for too long yet, but i can see a great deal of longevity in their groups. if people leave, they replace them without a second thought (sg wannabe, seeya, ft island, t-ara). they've got ridiculously high budgets (first episode of invincible youth -- was no one else shocked at the huge difference in the living conditions between t-ara and secret?) i can see them lasting for a while, especially with the huge corporation backing them. i might cover mnet's scandalous company background a little later. i dunno.
pledis -- they're not very successful either, at least not on a huge scale, but i can see after school lasting for a while, especially in principle, since the people themselves are replaceable... i don't, however, think they'll be able to escape the fringes of obscurity that son dambi seems to be plagued with. as soon as she finishes her activities it's like she drops right off the face of the earth. i'm hoping that won't happen to after school, because that's not the winning formula for an idol group.
cube -- extremely new, but i actually think they'll be okay. it's still a little too early to tell, but so far i'm liking what i'm seeing; most new companies don't try to tackle promoting two idol groups in such close proximity to each other AND balancing their ballad group on variety shows (as a clarification: 2am's label is jype, but they are managed by cube). cube artists have a very large presence right at the start, and that bodes well for their future. i would like to see them focus a little more on their solo artists (eddie, mario, etc) but as far as idol groups are concerned, they seem to be doing everything right.
j.tune -- i don't think this company will be satisfied with only rain and mblaq under their belts. rain may not personally be mentoring any groups in the future, but he doesn't own or head j.tune, so i'm willing to bet plans for a female group are already underway over here. it's also too early to tell, but i can see mblaq making a name for themselves because j.tune seems to be doing alright financially (at least from what i could tell from their google financial report thing lol).
star empire -- these motherfuckers are poor excuses for a management slash production company slash label. zea is their last hope and by god i'm as sure that they won't be able to milk them for five years as i am sure that i have small eyes. they should be ashamed of themselves for not being able to do right by v.o.s or jewelry or whatever other poor motherfucker had the misfortune to join their company.
...
i'm in a bad mood because of star empire now. excuse the bias-ness. i just had a huge soft spot for both v.o.s and jewelry. if i were to be honest and step back when i took a look at star empire, i'd still say their financial situation is extremely troubling. it's probably about at the same level as jype's, but without the long reputation or influential stockholders to save them.
maybe come back and go through some other companies like good or stam later
i'm going to look at the company reputation instead... it doesn't really have much to do with the actual group. rofl. nothing in kpop really has much to do with the actual group. for simplicity's sake, imagine an extra "e" after each name (i.e. jype, sme, mnet...e)
jyp -- has a tendency to keep his groups under his label as long as possible without stifling them too much, so their future looks pretty long (i.e. g.o.d; they're just on hiatus, but individually they're doing their own things and i'm pretty sure once they all work out their military duties and things they'll reunite for at least one more album). unfortunately they also have a tendency to find talents who decide they'd much rather be doing things other than being gasoos. overall the longevity of the group still remains, but at the cost of not having all the original members present.
sme -- has a tendency for the "five year" curse, so i'm pretty surprised super junior has lasted this long, with the exception of hankyung (i.e. h.o.t, shinhwa, dbsk... which started juuust after the five years... and then other failures like isak n jiyeon, the trax, blackbeat, ftts left/disbanded)... overall i'm not too sure how long their groups will last but i'm actually willing to bet that snsd just might stick it through till the 5-year mark. girls usually seem to be treated much better in entertainment companies.
yg -- has a tendency to retire their groups and put them in the background doing producing, composing, songwriting, choreo, training, etc (i.e. jinusean, swi.t, 1tym)... plus they train their artists as if they're all soloists and then group them together, so i'm not at all willing to bet on them staying together far into the future... however, big bang and 2ne1 are his cash cows so if i were him, i'd milk them for as long as possible. or at least until they're getting into their late 20s and getting too old to really be considered teen idols anymore.
dsp -- they're really still not on the same level as the previous three but they're still fairly prominent, and apparently longlived... or at least until their artists decide the grass is greener on the other side (i.e. fin.k.l; all of them have split up to do their own things, fairly successfully now, too)... with their recent surges in popularity, i think things are looking up for ss501 and kara. but poor a'st1 :[ the jury's still out on rainbow, but i'm starting to believe that if they don't start getting real popular real fast, they'll end up like a'st1.
mnet -- they haven't been in the business for too long yet, but i can see a great deal of longevity in their groups. if people leave, they replace them without a second thought (sg wannabe, seeya, ft island, t-ara). they've got ridiculously high budgets (first episode of invincible youth -- was no one else shocked at the huge difference in the living conditions between t-ara and secret?) i can see them lasting for a while, especially with the huge corporation backing them. i might cover mnet's scandalous company background a little later. i dunno.
pledis -- they're not very successful either, at least not on a huge scale, but i can see after school lasting for a while, especially in principle, since the people themselves are replaceable... i don't, however, think they'll be able to escape the fringes of obscurity that son dambi seems to be plagued with. as soon as she finishes her activities it's like she drops right off the face of the earth. i'm hoping that won't happen to after school, because that's not the winning formula for an idol group.
cube -- extremely new, but i actually think they'll be okay. it's still a little too early to tell, but so far i'm liking what i'm seeing; most new companies don't try to tackle promoting two idol groups in such close proximity to each other AND balancing their ballad group on variety shows (as a clarification: 2am's label is jype, but they are managed by cube). cube artists have a very large presence right at the start, and that bodes well for their future. i would like to see them focus a little more on their solo artists (eddie, mario, etc) but as far as idol groups are concerned, they seem to be doing everything right.
j.tune -- i don't think this company will be satisfied with only rain and mblaq under their belts. rain may not personally be mentoring any groups in the future, but he doesn't own or head j.tune, so i'm willing to bet plans for a female group are already underway over here. it's also too early to tell, but i can see mblaq making a name for themselves because j.tune seems to be doing alright financially (at least from what i could tell from their google financial report thing lol).
star empire -- these motherfuckers are poor excuses for a management slash production company slash label. zea is their last hope and by god i'm as sure that they won't be able to milk them for five years as i am sure that i have small eyes. they should be ashamed of themselves for not being able to do right by v.o.s or jewelry or whatever other poor motherfucker had the misfortune to join their company.
...
i'm in a bad mood because of star empire now. excuse the bias-ness. i just had a huge soft spot for both v.o.s and jewelry. if i were to be honest and step back when i took a look at star empire, i'd still say their financial situation is extremely troubling. it's probably about at the same level as jype's, but without the long reputation or influential stockholders to save them.
maybe come back and go through some other companies like good or stam later