Earlier than I take a quick take a look at a lot of Ok-pop’s smaller companies, there are a couple of that I’ve extra to say about. Think about these “bonus” write-ups — shorter than the “massive 4” however longer than a paragraph or two might cowl. 

As traditional, the ideas beneath are my very own and aren’t aware of any insider data. The aim of those articles is to find out how nicely Ok-pop companies are serving their artists and followers. There will probably be loads of subjective critique.

The Good

Starship Leisure continues to vie for a spot among the many trade’s largest companies, and that bid will get extra credible annually. With lady group IVE on their roster, the company is now dwelling to one of many largest acts of the second. Unsurprisingly, Starship targeted loads on IVE this 12 months. We received two albums (a full and an EP), Japanese materials, CMs and solo collaborations. They’re putting whereas the iron is sizzling, and that’s completely the suitable factor to do.

The remainder of Starship’s line-up is trying just a little sparser, however CRAVITY proceed to be a dependable vendor and the company has compensated for Monsta X’s army enlistment period with profitable models and solos.

The Dangerous

Aside from IVE’s great success, the remainder of Starship’s roster appeared to endure an enormous downturn this 12 months. With members exiting the company and no new music, the way forward for WJSN is in complete flux. I can’t assist however assume they’ve gotten pushed apart in favor of newer teams, and that’s a disgrace coming off their success in final 12 months’s Queendom.

Monsta X is at the moment inactive as a bunch, leaving an enormous gap in Starship’s line-up. Wonho is serving within the army and Jeong Sewoon has been inactive past a few OSTs. To be sincere, there simply hasn’t been a lot occurring with Starship this 12 months!

The company’s tune choice has additionally appeared to dip in high quality this 12 months. Whereas we had a couple of definitive standouts, their discography felt far much less bulletproof than it did in 2022. Take IVE, for instance. Regardless of three title tracks on their latest EP, none matched the heights of an I Am or After Like. I fear about the place their music is likely to be going subsequent. Simply because the group is at the moment on the prime of the charts doesn’t imply Starship can get complacent and churn out forgettable fluff.

Admittedly, I’m not following the internal workings of this company all that intently, however I’m not seeing any concrete plans for the following era of Starship artists. IVE and CRAVITY are nonetheless fairly younger, but it surely appears like we needs to be seeing one other massive (boy?) group from Starship quickly. In spite of everything, their present roster is sort of sparse they usually can’t hitch all the pieces they’ve received to IVE. I’m shocked they didn’t ship any trainees to Boys Planet this 12 months and use that collection as a launchpad for assured success. That’s labored for them up to now. Why change their strategy?

What I’d prefer to see in 2024:

• A return to the excessive degree of musical high quality management we noticed in 2022
• New music from WJSN! (that is the second 12 months in a row I’ve written this…)
• A brand new boy group debut that may match the extent of IVE’s success

Earlier years: 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017