There has been no era of success for girl groups under Bang Si-hyuk's leadership at HYBE; only a time of tribulation.
Since the days of Big Hit, the predecessor of HYBE, Bang has shown affection and ambition for girl groups. Even before launching the group BTS, his idol business was focused on girl groups, as seen with GLAM.
GLAM was a group that Big Hit and Source Music jointly created in 2012, pouring significant effort into it. At that time, both companies focused on discovering trainees, drawing attention. Big Hit handled music production and marketing, while Source Music managed the group, leading to high expectations for their collaboration.
However, their initial performance was disastrous. GLAM, which started as a five-member group, lost one member early on due to personal reasons. To make matters worse, another member was arrested and indicted for allegedly blackmailing actor Lee Byung-hun over personal issues, making it virtually impossible to maintain the team. It was revealed that this member had demanded 5 billion won from Lee Byung-hun using a video of inappropriate content as leverage, shocking many.
Ultimately, Big Hit's first foray into girl groups sank without a trace. Before they could showcase their musicality, they were embroiled in serious controversies that severely damaged their image.
Afterward, Big Hit shifted its focus to its new boy group BTS in 2013, resetting its direction. As BTS achieved significant success in the music industry with chart-topping hits and strong performances, Bang Si-hyuk began to eye girl groups again. This shift began when Big Hit changed its name to HYBE in 2019 and acquired Source Music, which was home to the group GFRIEND.
GFRIEND debuted in 2015 and established itself as Source Music's representative girl group with a solid fandom and several hit songs. However, after the acquisition, GFRIEND's musical performance declined, and the power of their fandom experienced instability. They maintained an uncomfortable relationship with HYBE, ultimately deciding to part ways with Source Music in 2021. This decision raised eyebrows and left fans and the music industry puzzled and disappointed, marking the sudden disbandment of a once-thriving group.
Consequently, HYBE, which earned the label of a 'girl group graveyard,' introduced another potential group: fromis_9, which they acquired by purchasing Pledis Entertainment in 2020. This group debuted in 2018 and had built a core fanbase, consistently receiving love. However, they were notably inactive among Pledis Entertainment's groups, with a hiatus exceeding a year and a half. Last year, the members publicly expressed their frustrations through fan communication platforms.
Then came the dissolution of the team. Pledis ended its relationship with fromis_9 in December last year, marking a predicted outcome. At this point, it seemed that Bang Si-hyuk had effectively given up on his challenge to write the history of girl groups. The active comeback activities of boy groups under HYBE, such as Tomorrow X Together and ENHYPEN, further underscored this.
The nail in the coffin for Bang Si-hyuk's girl group ambitions was none other than NewJeans from Ador. Despite bringing in Min Hee-jin from SM Entertainment to seek change, it became the biggest risk. The so-called 'HYBE incident' erupted in April due to allegations of 'Min Hee-jin's takeover of Ador's management rights.'
A staggering 21 billion won was invested to nurture NewJeans, and the results were indeed impressive. Their debut song and all subsequent works became hits, propelling the team to the top tier of girl groups in the music industry. However, due to the HYBE incident, the members sided with Min Hee-jin, erecting a wall against HYBE and leaving the agency on their own accord after receiving a settlement of 50 billion won each.
This marked the beginning of Bang Si-hyuk's nightmare with girl groups. The future of Ador, which had achieved the highest success as the only girl group under HYBE, crumbled.
The legal disputes between HYBE, Min Hee-jin, Ador, and NewJeans are ongoing and expected to be prolonged. One notable development is that the court has granted all of Ador's requests for injunctions to preserve its status as a planning agency and to prohibit the signing of independent advertising contracts by NewJeans members, steering the situation in a favorable direction.
While LE SSERAFIM, which Bang has been involved with since their debut and recent albums, and ILY:1, which faced plagiarism allegations against NewJeans, are still holding on, they too have not achieved standout results comparable to boy groups. Especially when compared to NewJeans, their performance is disappointing.
Attention is now focused on the activities of girl groups under HYBE, which maintains a multi-label system.
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
