Sensitive What I think will happen if HYBE officially takes over SM (1 Viewer)

[frocho]

This is what I think will happen if HYBE officially takes over SM Entertainment:
1. All SM artists will be limited to a certain number of albums per year and HYBE will prioritize the bigger number for their own artists.
2. SM artists will be neglected.
3. SM will have to stop using its current fan platform and switch to HYBE's platform.
4. HYBE will likely prioritize better strategies for its fully-owned subsidiaries such as Pledis.
5. SM will be left with secondary plans.
6. Both SM and HYBE are Korea's top major entertainment companies. If combined, they would monopolize about 66% of total market sales. This means more than 60% of album sales and top artists will be concentrated under a single company preventing the diversity of K-pop.
7. SM always sets reasonable ticket prices for fans to enjoy the artist's concerts whereas HYBE is increasing their concert price rapidly. If the two agencies merge, ticket prices will increase and this will be a burden for fans.

 

[Horizonshard]

I can agree with numbers 3, 6, and 7.

Otherwise I think it would be silly to not use the SM artists. After spending all that money to acquire a company, they should want to get profit back out of it.

 

[frocho]

I can agree with numbers 3, 6, and 7.

Otherwise I think it would be silly to not use the SM artists. After spending all that money to acquire a company, they should want to get profit back out of it.

Understandable.

 

[Myth]

I’m not sure. Instinctively I want to say they’ll at least throttle artists that are more threatening competition right now (such as aespa to lsf/nj) but I can’t say what will happen…

 

[frocho]

I’m not sure. Instinctively I want to say they’ll at least throttle artists that are more threatening competition right now (such as aespa to lsf/nj) but I can’t say what will happen…

I'm not completely sure either, these are just my guesses.

 

[StirFriedPanda]

This will be a good deal for smaller companies. Once they distroy SMs groups there will be a larger audience for not Hybe owned groups. All my groups win except Red Velvet. I'm selfish.

 

[Myth]

I'm not completely sure either, these are just my guesses.

It might end up a mix where they’ll take advantage of sm and get profit in some areas and throttle other areas.

what acquiring sm for hybe is about control i think. They want to control what they do and more of the music industry….

 

[PloryWinxyMYBlnk]

Even though it's speculation, I would not be surprised if more than half of what you said occurred.

Anytime there's a corporate takeover there's always restructuring favoring the new parent company.

 

[Tiaramitsu]

Pretty much all the things u said seem pretty accurate to me

 

[HardcoreBLINK]

It'll benefit them to implement SM 3.0 strategy, it sounds promising tbh

Rising ticket prices & all is a natural expectation imo

Their A-list artists should have higher prices than rookies & solo artists

 

[StirFriedPanda]

Maybe if SM and HYBE combine forces they can afford BP?! I mean, they'd still end up in a dungeon and release almost no music but you could still call them BlackPink!

 

[Sleepwalking]

no idea but hoping SM artists are not pushed to the side

 

[cocomelon]

im ready for the worst tbh

 

[the101]

They're spending a lot of money and even borrowing to buy them, so they intend to utilize those artists. They want to make money and those artists make money.

What I think will change is that some artists will not be getting the $$ spent they are now. You can look at the sales and see the groups that drive the largest chunks of sales volume. I think the artists that have to be concerned are those from older groups that don't drive the same sales volume. They make money, yes, but not as much right now. Now I'm sure those older artists negotiated well to get more in their second contract but I think might be in for a bit of a surprise on things like MV budgets. I also think less popular members of groups should be concerned - would someone like Xiumin (less popular member of a popular group) get a solo mini in the new Hybe world? I don't think so.

Again, Hybe wants to make $$. I don't think there'd be less SM albums, but I do think Hybe would shift emphasis. For example, from Hybe's perspective, they'd make a lot more money and media buzz launching solos and singles from NCT or aespa members than the Kangta mini, the D&E mini, the Hyo single or the BoA single. (And actually too tbf, all of the Shinee minis too, except for maybe Taemin, provided they launch the right members that are popular with strong, organized fanbases). I'm sure these older artists have stuff like this contractually tied in, but it's a strange world where aespa - one of the top-selling gg selling like a bg and Baekhyun, who sells like a bg not like a soloist - gets a mini while TVXQ gets a full album. (The last TVXQ Korean album sold less than 150K copies and the Japanese one less than 200K (good for Japan but still) Aespa sold 1.8M with an EP (yes, less in Japan). Baekhyun did numbers no soloist had done in over 19 years. Similarly the last Shinee album did well, but again, much less than the aespa EP or Baekhyun albums. Those are the shifts I'd think we'd see under Hybe. (Again, those are solid artists and I know they have strong, solid fanbases, but if I'm looking just at today's numbers, not yesterday's numbers, and diversification is important, but I think SM has traditionally protected their legacy acts. Everyone complained that the SMTOWN was heavily NCT but there were really long and large portions of that show devoted to SuJu and TVXQ. Much longer than you'd see under any other label.)

There are members out there as fashion ambassadors at global fashion week with no plans for singles or EPs, which is just a missed marketing opportunity. Yuta's out there partnering with Louis Vuitton and covering magazines as one of Forbes' Japan's most important, hottest stars and SM is planning..uh, a Yesung tour. Dream and 127 are selling out 50K domes and 920K aespa fans tried to attend a 40K Japan showcase but...Chen? Onew? Minho? I know there are fan bases, but I mean those would be the questions I'd be asking as Hybe.



I do agree with you that they will shift everything to their crappy Weverse platform. And I hope we don't lose the SM C&C teams, who I think do good work on content. Concert ticket prices will probably go up too, but the Pink Blood fandoms are loyal to their groups and would still spend and Hybe knows that.







So I'd back up my comment on Xiumin. I went and looked at album sales from last year. The EXO soloists will be ok. The Shinee and Suju soloists tho..although again, I'm sure they have mandatory solos as part of their new contracts. Plus Key is popular on TV and stuff too.



(No Key, Onew, Minho, Max Changmin, Chen, Kangta, Ryeowook in that list - all had minis or albums.)