KPOP Faces a Creative Stagnation, as New Girl Groups Struggle

An analysis suggests that despite reaching a peak of global success in 2025, the K-POP industry is suffering from severe internal growth pains. It was stated that creative stagnation exists within the genre due to a top-down structure centered around large entertainment companies. The dispute over exclusive contracts between the group NewJeans and HYBE’s ADOR was described as an issue that poses heavy challenges on both business and artistic fronts. NewJeans was cited as “the group that has shown the most innovative moves in recent years,” with it being noted that “the true strength of K-POP and its future direction are being determined in court.” It was pointed out that “over the past 30 years, K-POP has grown through a top-down structure dominated by a few large entertainment agencies,” adding that “it is almost impossible for groups with original identities to continue operating within such a system.” The assessment is that while groups affiliated with these large agencies achieve commercial success, they fail to break away from conventional musical frameworks. The poor performance of the new generation of girl groups was identified as the core issue behind the industry crisis. According to MediaS analysis, the so-called “5th generation” of new girl groups are falling short of expectations. Groups such as ILLIT, BABY MONSTER, Hearts2Hearts, Miya, and IZNA have received weak market responses despite varying concepts, member compositions, and growth strategies. In contrast, boy groups like STRAYKIZ and SEVENTEEN have managed to defend their market positions by selling 3 million and 2.5 million units respectively. This year, only aespa and IVE were the girl groups to sell over one million units in their initial releases. In the global content market, innovation outside established systems is attracting attention. The Netflix animated series KPop Demon Hunters, which set a record for highest viewership ever, was cited as an example, with it being evaluated that “its success proves that K-POP has taken root worldwide as a universal cultural form beyond being merely a music genre.” Young artists operating outside entertainment agencies were also seen as positive signs. Effie, a female rapper born in 2002, was named by the renowned international critic Pitchfork, and her album received high praise with a score of 7.6 from Pitchfork. The global girl group KATSEYE, a collaboration between HYBE and Geffen Records, was evaluated as offering a new starting point for creation by targeting the world market from the outset and breaking away from traditional K-POP patterns. Additionally, the success of BLACKPINK’s Rosé and Bruno Mars’s collaborative song “Apt.” received attention. It was described as “a natural phenomenon that occurs as K-POP establishes itself as a mainstream genre,” with it being stated that “as the K-POP industry endures internal fatigue and uncertainty, it has created new sounds capable of overturning the status quo.” Meanwhile, though a discourse about a “crisis” is spreading among K-POP critics, MediaS warned of the risk that this language based on subjective preferences could reduce specific industry problems to exaggerations.