Fans are disappointed with SM’s treatment of female artists.
Last year, SM Entertainment announced that they would hold a SMTOWN concert in Seoul. THE SMTOWN Live in Seoul The concert is special as it celebrates the company’s 30th anniversary.
The concert will begin in Seoul on January 11 and 12 at the Gocheok Sky Dome before heading to other countries later this year.
The event attracted attention the moment it was announced and the line-up was a much talked about aspect. Initially it looked like many bands would perform at the event.
As more details about the lineup have been released, fans have expressed disappointment with SM, starting with its reveal Generation of girls‘S Taeyeon would not participate.
The Reason Why Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon Didn’t Attend “SMTOWN Live In Seoul” Enrages Fans
Lately, Red Velvet‘S Wendy revealed that she wouldn’t be attending for personal reasons, which led some fans to take stock of the female artists in attendance.
Of the girl groups currently active under the company, aespa appears to be the only one that will participate in full. Red Velvet will currently have four performances following Wendy’s announcement, bringing the total to eight.
Generation of girls‘S Hyoyeon is the only member of the announced group who will participate, while SES‘S There is seems to have responded to the invitation to SM artists of the past to participate. Buoy he also confirmed that he will be present, and Min Ziwoonan artist under SM branch, CRUCIALIZEbrings the total number of female participants to 12 as of this writing.
For comparison, the number of male artists exceeds 50, even excluding members of NCTthe largest group of MS, let the number of men present be double that of women.
Many have expressed disappointment and anger at the way SM has treated its female stars, accusing the company of favoring men over women, despite the success they have seen.
there are literally only 10 women at the smtown concert
SES – bad
generation of girls – hyoyeon
red velvet – irene, seulgi, joy, yeri
aespa – karina, giselle, winter, brightness
what does it mean that we can LITERALLY count on our fingers the artists who will participate?— nicole 💐 (@baechustokki) January 6, 2025
All this and SM will continue to treat their female employees like second class citizens. They need to start investing in their women like… yesterday https://t.co/8ks7KrBfz7 pic.twitter.com/8K3ECDDJQN
— J🌙 (@j3ybias) January 6, 2025
I have no small obsession with their boy group when they ALWAYS create a successful girl group (just to dump it) https://t.co/OzmiKy4OA7
— ᵍᵒʳʲᵉˢˢ ˢᵖᵃᶻᶻᵉʳ⁷ (@whaeplash) January 7, 2025