A recent post on the Korean online forum Learnentitled “SM is not international fans, eh”, is becoming viral, turning on strong reactions on Smenirtainment’s International traction calculation. The post, which includes a direct confrontation of the counting of YouTube subscribers between the K-Pop groups, the questions about the current influence of SM outside Korea.
Original post content
Comparison of YouTube subscribers:
- Blackpink: 96.5 million
- Baby monster: 9.17 million
- TREASURE: 7.78 million
- Stray children: 20 million
- TWICE: 18.1 million
- Itzy: 9.53 million
- NMIXX: 3.37 million
- Aespa: 7.18 million
- Rhize: 1.74 million
- WISH: 820k
“What is this, it’s all quite disappointing. Aespa is going well abroad, so I thought they would at least keep the line, I didn’t expect it to be so low.
I only became a fan of the artists sm’s last year. “
Many Netizen have indicated a perceived decline in live vocal skills, excessive use of synchronization of the lips and a stagnant creative direction as reasons for the company’s international appeal of the company. While some recognized the continuous strength of MS in the internal market, the overall feeling was strongly supported, with fans who asked for a reinvention of the company’s strategies.
- “It is inevitable. Overseas fans are very concerned with live voices, but the idols Sm rarely perform live. They only follow what the company tells them as puppets. That type of image has not worked for years.”
- “You cannot dominate global communities or become viral without real talents. It is difficult without real skills.”
- “Honestly, the live skills of SM are not the ones they were.
- “They are always synchronized for the lips and their phases are not exciting.”
- “However, we are real: SM has had a narrow grip on the internal market for decades. Their groups are always at the top of the Brusium rankings in Korea.”
The post has rekindled the longtime criticisms that SM, once seen as a creative electricity plant, has not evolved with the changing expectations of the global K-pop audience, especially around authenticity, quality of performance and involvement. Since the most recent agencies produce more features and freshest concepts with live skills, the pressure on SM to reinvent its strategy appears more than ever.
