SM Entertainment has been in the center of quite a bit of controversy in recent times. With the departure of some of their most notable idols like SHINee‘s Taemin and Onew, EXO-CBX, and others over the past couple of years, it seems that the transition to the label’s new business strategy and development plan — known as SM 3.0 — hasn’t been going as smoothly as they probably hoped.
The label’s ongoing legal battle with aforementioned EXO-CBX and the numerous scandals and rumors regarding SM’s treatment of them and other idols has made many K-Pop fans voice their frustration with the company. And recently, Red Velvet‘s Joy herself publicly voiced her worries over the girl group’s (then upcoming) comeback and tenth anniversary debut plans, and SM’s lack of promotions for them. To name yet another issue, the continued silence over Seunghan‘s future with RIIZE after seven months of hiatus has fans of the group at their wits’ end by this point.
These are just a few of the complaints K-Pop fans have voiced against the label in recent times. At this point, it seems like SM Entertainment itself has few people actually supporting them and fans are only choosing to support the idols under the label that they care about while condemning the actual label.
But there is one small pattern that people have noticed within SM Entertainment’s otherwise heavily criticized activities that has been getting a little bit of praise from some K-Pop fans.
For five weeks in a row, from June 17 until July 15, SM Entertainment is releasing a comeback every Monday by one of their artists. This kind of consistency isn’t doable by many labels, and fans of these artists are feeling “well-fed” thanks to the frequency of their comebacks.
First was RIIZE‘s comeback with “Boom Boom Bass” and the album RIIZING on June 17…
Followed by Red Velvet’s Cosmic album and accompanying title track of the same name on June 24.
Next week, on July 1, NCT WISH will release their new song “Songbird”…
Followed by Taeyeon‘s “Heaven” on July 8.
Finally, NCT 127 will finish off the five-week period with their new album, WALK, on July 15.
NCT 127 ‘WALK’
【WALK – The 6th Album】
➫ 2024.07.15 6PM (KST)💿 Pre-Save & Addhttps://t.co/ILJbF1R3Bm#NCT127 #NCT127_WALK #WALK pic.twitter.com/TsX2j4Wc95
— NCT 127 (@NCTsmtown_127) June 23, 2024
Here’s how people are reacting to these numerous comebacks by SM Entertainment artists.
Do you think this activity is something worth praising?
Source: The Qoo and Pann Choa