South Korea’s music industry has always had a soft spot for artists who rise from humble beginnings. Time and again, relatively unknown acts have overcome fierce competition to earn nationwide recognition through persistence and talent. Many of today’s biggest K-pop groups including BTS began their careers under small agencies with limited resources.
Now, RESCENE is writing its own underdog success story.
At a time when the gap between major entertainment companies and smaller agencies continues to widen, the rise of The Muze Entertainment’s first girl group has become one of the industry’s rare success stories. Many insiders believe it has become increasingly difficult for artists from smaller labels to gain widespread public recognition in today’s K-pop landscape.
It took nearly two years for RESCENE to finally reach the top.
The group’s dance-pop track “Love Attack,” originally released in 2024, first entered Melon’s Top 100 chart at No. 100 in March 2025 before quickly dropping out.
Many assumed the song’s chart journey had come to an end. Instead, “Love Attack” made an unexpected return at No. 98 on May 28. Just over a month later, at 10 p.m. on July 8, the song completed a remarkable climb to No. 1 on Melon’s Top 100 chart.
Behind what appeared to be an overnight breakthrough was actually months and even years of steady effort by the group’s five members.
RESCENE debuted in March 2024 with Woni, Liv, Minami, May, and Zena. As the first girl group launched by the small agency The Muze Entertainment, they had limited opportunities to appear on television music programs and lacked the large-scale promotional campaigns typically enjoyed by artists from major companies.
Instead, the group chose a different strategy: building a loyal online fan community.
Throughout nearly two years of promotions, the members produced more than 1,500 livestreams, videos, and various digital content to stay connected with their fandom, Remine. Their approach reminded many fans of BTS’ early strategy of growing through constant online interaction, as well as the recent success of virtual boy group PLAVE, which also built a dedicated fanbase through frequent livestreams.
Earlier this year, leader Woni further expanded the group’s reach by launching her own YouTube channel, where she shared humorous, everyday vlogs that introduced RESCENE to new audiences.
Ironically, the group’s biggest turning point came from an ordinary phrase.
In a YouTube video uploaded to Woni’s channel on March 20, Japanese member Minami introduced viewers to gyaru culture before enthusiastically shouting, “Geoje yaho!” a playful expression meaning “Geoje is awesome!” in reference to Woni’s hometown of Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province.
Minami’s pronunciation and cheerful delivery quickly went viral across short-form video platforms and online communities. “Geoje yaho!” soon became a popular meme, inspiring countless parody videos and recreations.
As the trend spread, viewership on Woni’s YouTube channel surged, bringing new attention to RESCENE and its music. The renewed interest eventually fueled “Love Attack” back onto Melon’s chart, nearly two years after its original release.
When the song officially reached No. 1 on July 8, all five members immediately held a surprise livestream to celebrate with fans. During the broadcast, the members became emotional and broke into tears as they thanked Remine for helping a once-overlooked rookie group achieve the biggest milestone of their career.
Following their chart-topping success, RESCENE continued attracting public attention with an appearance on MBC’s Reveal My Star’s Life: The Manager.
During the show, the members reflected on the difficult years before their breakthrough. They revealed that the company’s CEO and staff personally drove them to schedules, prepared hundreds of promotional packages, handwrote letters, and even baked cookies to send to television stations in hopes of securing opportunities to perform on music shows.
Their journey has become a textbook example of what the Korean entertainment industry often calls a “small agency miracle” a term used to describe artists from lesser-known companies who achieve mainstream success through perseverance and strong music.
Before RESCENE, groups such as BEAST, INFINITE, EXID, Brave Girls, and more recently FIFTY FIFTY have all been cited as examples of similar breakthrough stories.
However, according to one anonymous entertainment executive, such success stories have become increasingly rare.
“Ten or twenty years ago, it was much more common for artists from smaller agencies to gradually become successful,” the executive said. “Back then, people didn’t even need the phrase ‘small agency miracle.’ But as some companies grew into major corporations and the industry’s structure changed, those kinds of stories have become far less frequent.”
The executive added that the cost of producing and promoting a K-pop group has increased by nearly five times compared to a decade ago, making it significantly harder for smaller agencies to compete with industry giants such as HYBE.
The widening gap between entertainment companies was also discussed during a July 8 meeting in Seoul between South Korea’s Minister of Culture, Chae Hwi Young, and representatives from small and mid-sized entertainment companies.
During the meeting, industry representatives noted that the number of rookie artists appearing on the Circle Chart over the past year had fallen by roughly 40% compared to 2023. They also pointed out that production budgets can now differ by as much as thirtyfold between major and smaller companies, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily.
While participants acknowledged that rapid industry growth has helped K-pop expand its global influence, they also warned that the increasing concentration of resources among a handful of major companies could threaten the industry’s long-term sustainability.
“If only a small number of companies control most of the industry’s resources, it becomes difficult to maintain a diverse music ecosystem,” one participant said during the discussion. “K-pop can only continue growing sustainably when many different types of artists and creative voices are able to succeed.”
Sources: Znews
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