The ugly truth about how K-pop artists under the same agency are treated
It is not surprising that artists under the same entertainment company get treated differently.
The work of entertainment agencies contribute significantly to the success of K-pop idols. However, many companies have come under controversy for their poor treatment of idols. Groups under the same label sometimes get totally different treatment, causing outrage among fans. Groups with higher popularity, making more money will become the company’s “favorite”.
Starship Entertainment
Recently, how Starship prepares for their artists’ birthdays has become a trending topic among netizens. The company is accused of showing a biased treatment toward rookie girl group IVE compared to other groups. Wonyoung, Yujin, and Rei‘s birthday live broadcasts were all thoroughly and beautifully decorated, based on the concepts chosen by the members themselves. The spaces where they celebrated their birthdays are different and equally pretty.
Netizens then shared screenshots from the birthday broadcasts of IVE’s senior groups under Starship like MONSTA X, WJSN or CRAVITY and expressed their displeasure because the decorations are always basic and poorly done, which is the opposite of IVE.
Accordingly, the birthday lives of CRAVITY members have the same simple concept of sticking congratulation messages on the wall. The members of WJSN had to wear the same birthday hat every year. Fans also voiced their outrage over the fact that Starship never did anything for MONSTA X members’ birthday even though they have been making the most money for the company.
YG Entertainment
Amid the controversy over Starship’s alleged unfair treatment of their artists, YG was also dragged into the discussion. According to many fans, YG favors BLACKPINK over their boy groups. Specifically, BLACKPINK always gets to wear the most beautiful outfits. Every time they make a comeback or appear in public, the members are dressed in expensive, eye-catching outfits. The visuals of 4 members of BLACKPINK are always taken good care of, from clothes, hair styling to accessories.
Meanwhile, YG’s styling team often does the bare minimum when it comes to dressing YG boy groups like iKON, TREASURE and WINNER. WINNER‘s stylist gets criticized the most for constantly making the members wear weird-looking clothes.
Not much better than the senior, TREASURE‘s outfit is also quite boring. Accordingly, every comeback, the group’s members always wear similar outfits that are no different from school uniforms. This also makes fans doubt whether the male group has their own stylist.
Fans are upset when iKON weren’t well taken care of by YG. Specifically, before the super hit Love Scenario was released, the group constantly wore hoodies and sportswear on stage.
Even with a hit song, iKON still has an erratic fashion sense. The proof is that when participating in the program Kingdom, iKON was criticized for their outfits, which were also said to be less eye-catching than The Boyz and Stray Kids.
HYBE Labels
As a worldwide famous group with a great influence, BTS are often carefully invested by HYBE and always wear expensive branded items. Besides, the group was also provided with a luxury dormitory by the company. BTS has a private jet and often shoots shows and MVs in extravagant locations.
Besides BTS, TXT and ENHYPEN also bring in great revenue for HYBE. However, this major entertainment company has not yet invested in the right amount for the two groups. Accordingly, TXT and ENHYPEN have disappointed fans many times with their confusing outfits.
Despite bringing in great revenue for the company, many groups are still not treated properly, which makes fans extremely angry.
