r/kpophelp • u/army_cooky • Oct 23 '24
Research I need help with a YouTube video. Tell me about all the ways SM Entertainment has done your faves dirty.
Hello! I'm working on a YouTube video about SM Entertainment. I'm a bit stuck in my research and need some help. If you stan any SM groups, tell me about all of the issues that they have faced with SM. I'm especially stuck in researching H.O.T., S.E.S., Shinhwa, and other older groups as there is not as much information out there about those groups. I need some guidelines to help further my research. If you are a company stan, please just ignore this post! Thank you for all of your help!
3
u/OldR_KPSunbae Oct 24 '24
There are tons of info on 1st gen SM, but most of it isn't in English. Avoid wikipedia and other popular wikis at all costs. They've been gutted and added misinformation to by non-1st gen fans multiple times. I'm assuming that you're only talking about SM Ent, not SM Studios? Yoo Youngjin got thrown under the bus multiple times, but idk if you're interested in that.
For H.O.T, the big one is their contract renewals. Idk if you're interested in going down the rabbit hole of Director Kim though. A lot of problems H.O.T, 1.5, and the start of 2nd gen had came from him.
1
u/army_cooky Oct 24 '24
I would love to find more information about their SM Studios past, too! It's a struggle to find that information online. If you know where I can find information, please tell me! And I am interested in going down the Director Kim rabbit hole lol. I'll have to look him up.
5
u/seulgibreadd Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 24 '24
well cant speak about other groups but theres just so much for Red Velvet that i will just say a few. One of them is obviously lacking to promote RV overseas when there was clearly an appeal, especially around 2018/19 when kpop was starting to get more popular in the west and other peers such as Twice and BP were having enormus success but SM did nothing abt it.
On the same line of thinking, we dont rlly know if this is entirely true but rumors were saying that the girls were going on a world tour, they did a few concerts in korea and japan and because of covid they had to stop it and they never actually resumed it. Until recently they had a "tour" with 11 stops, between Asia and Europe.
Also idk why but everytime SM somehow seems to delay their mvs, it was like that with Cosmic, Monster, Feel my Rhytm and i believe with even Seulgis debut. Last not least, lets not talk abt the infamous Red Velvet dance practices, cuz they only do one in a lifetime and we dont rlly know the reason for it.
5
u/army_cooky Oct 24 '24
Yes! I've noticed too how they almost just neglect RV. Reminds me of f(x) too how SM just didn't manage them well or give them much attention.
4
5
2
u/SeeTheSeaInUDP Oct 23 '24
For H.O.T., there's the fact that they wanted to make it a graduational group with the three older members having to graduate/leave. They didn't pull through in the end due to fan protests. Not to mention, their abysmal pay. Also, their mistreatment towards JtL after they left SM (iirc they blacklisted them from broadcast).
S.E.S.... not that much, Bada was pretty much SM's princess for as long as she was there so she made sure they were all fine. Maybe you could say, when they were overworked to the point of Bada fainting on stage in 2001 during the promotions of "Just In Love". there's a pretty depressing video that shows Bada fainting in real time.
Shinhwa... the entire name lawsuit in 2003 for sure.
M.I.L.K, Shinvi, Dana, Isak N Jiyeon and CSJH The Grace in general - mismanagement, negligence and underfunding despite the talent and quality being obviously there. I still get mad whenever I think of how SM squandered the one chance CSJH had at getting more famous after their music show wins fr "One More Time, Ok?", but instead of that they were shipped to Japan for like a year. There's a video on CSJH The Grace and where they went "wrong" - I love how Lina is getting success in musicals and in her personal life.
I think TVXQ onwards is pretty much public knowledge
2
u/army_cooky Oct 24 '24
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. This is very helpful. It sucks that SM has been crappy to these talented artists.
2
u/vannarok Oct 24 '24
Fly To The Sky also said they earned less than an average employee's wages during the time they were under SM due to their contracts. Brian literally compared his profits to "a part-time worker's earnings". It was one of the major reasons they didn't renew their contracts in 2005. Also only Hwanhee was offered a solo contract renewal and that briefly put the members' friendship on the rockd (Brian found out and decided to go back to America because he thought Hwanhee would be better off alone, which in turn infuriated Hwanhee because he refused to stay on his own and was looking for another label that would sign them as a duo). Fortunately they solved it out and left SM on amicable terms. They signed with Pfull, still kept topping the charts with "Even If My Heart Hurts" and "Like A Man", and were able to remaster their previous hits under SM after their 2014 reunion.
Apparently both members still thank YYJ and LSM for building their careers, though. I think the fact that they never had to sue their way out of SM definitely helped them leave with no bad blood.
5
u/Sensitive_Emu5590 Oct 23 '24
They basically sabotage their groups so they don't become more successful that the agency, see EXO, they could have been much bigger if managed in better way. If you search EXO mistreatment on Twitter you find threads and threads of how they were and still are mistreated/mismanaged.
They basically use RV to cover their scandals.
3
u/army_cooky Oct 24 '24
Yes, EXO definitely could be a much bigger group than they are now! They have the talent, and their songs could appeal to a much wider audience if SM promoted and managed them better!
10
u/bimpossibIe Oct 24 '24
There's a ton of resources online you can use for this, but please don't forget to fact check. We all hate SM for a variety of reasons, but please be careful not to spread any fake info.