Why K-pop still needs small agencies

When Rescene appeared on MBC's "Omniscient Interfering View" on Aug. 8, one exchange offered a clue to why the five-member group has struck such a chord with the Korean public.

Member Woni recalled a time when becoming an idol had seemed financially out of reach.

"I thought only rich people could become idols," she said, before explaining how encouragement from the head of her agency, The Muze Entertainment, gave her the confidence to pursue that dream. The company's chief, for his part, said he was grateful that the members had chosen his little-known agency in the first place.

It was an unusually personal glimpse into the relationship between an idol group and the people behind it. And it points to something easily overlooked as K-pop becomes an increasingly capital-intensive global business: Small agencies matter precisely because they cannot always operate like the industry's giants.

Rescene is a timely example. Debuting in March 2024, the group spent much of its first two years outside K-pop's top tier before breaking into the mainstream this year, helped by viral YouTube content and renewed interest in its 2024 song "Love Attack." Its remake of Kara's "Pretty Girl," released July 8, then delivered the group's first music-show trophy and went on to win multiple times on MBC's "Show! Music Core."

That kind of underdog narrative is hardly new to K-pop.

BTS debuted in June 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment, then a small company founded eight years earlier. Long before the company grew into today's Hybe, BTS built an unusually direct connection with fans through social media and YouTube, sharing behind-the-scenes footage, personal videos and everyday moments alongside more conventional promotional content.

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That more informal and direct communication became an important part of the group's relationship with its fandom, Army, as BTS gradually built an audience at home and abroad.

Of course, smallness itself does not create authenticity. Nor does belonging to a large agency prevent it. But fewer corporate layers can leave more room for experimentation — including in how an act finds its audience.

Ateez offers perhaps the clearest example. The KQ Entertainment boy band debuted in October 2018 and, less than five months later, embarked on a five-city US tour that sold out, followed by 10 European dates that also sold out. The tours were driven by overseas fan demand gathered through concert platform MyMusicTaste, an unconventional route for a rookie without strong domestic recognition.

Years of overseas growth followed before Ateez saw its mainstream profile at home expand dramatically this summer. "Bad," the Brazilian funk-inspired lead track from its 14th EP "Golden Hour: Part.5," released June 26, went viral after a brief piece of member San's choreography spread across TikTok, X, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

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What connects these cases is not a particular sound or promotional formula. It is the need to find another way in. Smaller agencies cannot routinely match the biggest K-pop companies in spending, global networks or promotional reach, giving them greater incentive to look for audiences and opportunities their larger competitors might overlook.

The scale of that disadvantage is considerable. According to 2023 data from the Korea Creative Content Agency, large Korean music companies spent an average of 43.11 billion won ($31 million) annually on music production, compared with just 1.49 billion won for small and midsize companies — a nearly 29-fold difference.

The disparity extended beyond production. Large companies staged an average of 83.4 overseas performances that year, compared with just four for their smaller counterparts.

This year, the Culture Ministry launched a program specifically aimed at helping small and midsize agencies expand overseas, selecting 10 acts including Rescene and KQ Entertainment's Xikers. The initiative itself reflects growing recognition that sustaining K-pop's global expansion requires more than the handful of companies already capable of competing on that scale.

Small agencies may lack the resources of K-pop's biggest companies, and most will never produce the next BTS or Ateez. But their presence gives artists more ways to enter the industry, find an audience and ultimately break through — something K-pop risks losing if success becomes increasingly concentrated among a handful of major players.