I would also say King Kong by Starship and Artist Company have some pretty big names.

Starship:

Lee Dong Wook

Yoo Yeon Seok

Kim Bum

Song Seung Heon

Shin Seung Ho

Chae Soo Bin

Lee Kwang Soo

Artist Company:

Ahn Sung Ki

Jung Woo Sung

Lee Jung Jae

Park Hae Jin

Kim Hye Yoon

Lim Ji Yeon

Park So Dam

Management Soop is a prestigious agency with a strong roster of artists, including Gong Yoo, Kong Hyo-jin, Kim Jae-uck, Jeon Do-yeon, Seo Hyun-jin, Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk, Nam Ji-hyun, Jung Yu-mi, and Lee Chung-ah.

https://preview.redd.it/v26ix65n37ze1.jpeg?width=1320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=01f36cfe1a82340eb24574893763c5e6e6c76b94

I think BH is a pretty solid one they have alot of established old actors + Rising new ones too. Just look at their artist profile you will know. 

But mostly tho actors are really scattered into companies when it comes to acting as compared to idols. Since there are SO MANY talented/famous faces coming out with every drama which is very different as compared to debuting new groups there isn't really any fixed company i can think of rn.

KEYEAST used to be stacked.

My current fave are BH ent, Namoo & Soop

BH entertainment (founded by legendary actor Lee Byung-hun) is probably the #1 agency in terms of how popular its artists are.

Some of the artists they manage:

• Kim Go-eun
• Han Hyo-joo
• Han Ji-min
• Park Bo-young
• Yoo Ji-tae
• Park Sung-hoon
• Park Hae-soo
• Lee Hee-joon
• Lee Ji-ah

Management MMM started in 2021 with besties Kim Taeri and Jeon Yeobeen (ex J Wide Company). They've since added Hong Kyung, Esom, Ahn Jaehong, Kim Hyejun, and others.

I'd join this company for a chance to work with Kim Taeri, Jeon Yeobeen, and Hong Kyung.

Soop or management mmm, especially since majority of my favourite actors/actresses are from these agencies and their pick for scripts are pretty good

Agency power? Aren’t most scripts sent to actors by directors casting?? I thought writers/directors decide who they want to play their characters.

While agency does pull some strings, it’s ultimately up to the range of actors/actresses and their accomplishments (awards/recognition) also do play a huge role on what kind of scripts they get offered.

For instance, IU was personally called by the writer of “When life gives you tangerines” to play the role. Same as she was first choice for QOT.

Goldmedalist ... Lol (downvotes incoming)

If I take acting seriously then I guess soop. They seems to get their artists the best opportunities and most of them are actors that take long breaks compared to others.

If it's for drooling purpose then lee dong wook's agency kingkong 🤭

The management/record label system in Japan is slightly different. 

The closest companies that work like the ones in Korea would be Avex and Starto (Johnny’s & Associates). Even then both are not fully dominant in the same way HYBE, YG, Jyp and SM are. 

I think there is just a lot more competition in Japan and as a result no one company dominates all. 

The only company that you need to be on side with is Dentsu the PR company. I’ve noticed if an idol group is not a client of Dentsu they get way less advertising contracts. At least with Morning Musume their drop in popularity definitely coincided with being dropped as a client. 

JPop is a very huge and diverse category of music, unlike KPop which is essentially just a few companies all making the same type of music for boy bands and girl groups.

The Japanese music industry is actually the second largest after the US's. It's even larger than Britain's and much larger than Korea's. It also has a very long history with pop music, going all the way back to the 60s. So it can't really be reduced down to just three main companies, any more than American pop can.

It's not really structured the same way, either. Even if you just look at idols specifically, groups aren't typically fully "owned" by a company in the same way that KPop idols are. They are usually run by talent agencies, not record labels, with the labels just acting as publishers, and throughout an idol's career their albums may be published by various labels, and they may even switch talent agencies. Like how AKB and its sister groups used to be under one agency but are now all under different companies.

Probably sony and universal. idk for the third one tho

Agencies as in the artist/entertainment management companies? Or the recording companies?

I dont think there is really an analogous “Big 3” because the connections to power are a lot more subtle and convoluted within the broader entertainment industry. If you really get deep as to who truly holds power and influence in the Japanese entertainment industry, it’s not any of management companies of top “jpop” idol groups.

Amuse, under the Burning Production umbrella, should be much higher in many lists😂

its prob just sony, universal and warners they dominate everywhere

I'm no expert but I strongly dislike DSP Media. Previous home to Rainbow and KARA, current home to KARD, A-jax and April. Their artists are super talented but usually don't excell (except for KARA which got pretty popular)... But I think I'm mostly just salty over Rainbow.

I can’t stand MBK and TS

They both have great talents but they seriously suck at promoting them. I want a TRCNG and Shannon comeback already what are they doing. If they promoted Speed well those guys would be winning awards I bet.

I have a hate/like relationship with Cube. I like the fact they encourage their artists to self compose but ever since OT10 got ruined because of their stupid mistake, I don’t know how to feel anymore. They treat them nice too. CLC too. If they ain’t gonna promote them together at least give them solo projects.

I mean with YG, when Seungri replaces him then I’ll cheer.

Pledis has a frustrating reputation considering has happened with After School, Pristin and Orange Caramel. Their boy groups, Nu’Est***and Seventeen, do great but their girl groups get dungeoned.

***worth noting Nu’est needed Produce 101 to regain relevancy and likely would’ve been disbanded without it.

So I guess Pledis is really only 1 for 6 in successfully debuting and promoting a group.

After the recent exposure of how they treat their artists, I will never support Cube monetarily again (yes, I vote/click hearts/etc to support in other ways). But honestly, the only agencies in general that don't seem to be complete and utter shit are Jellyfish and Beat Interactive.

JYP seems to have a good reputation. No trainee debt, successful artists. I think the fact there are a huge number of ex-JYP trainees who are now successful in the industry is a good sign that JYP has done well as an agency.

The big 4 at the moment would be HYBE, SM, JYPE, and YG in that order of market capitalization (the value of the company). HYBE is bigger than the other 3 combined, which is why the government is taking a long look at HYBE's acquisition into SM because it could create a monopoly or close to one.

HYBE is worth about $6 billion USD, SM is in 2nd at $2.364 billion, JYPE is at $2.1 billiion, and then lagging really far behind is YG with $821 million. JYPE and SM are roughly 3x bigger than YG with HYBE bigger than all 3 combined.

In comparison a middle tier company would be like RBW, Cube, or FNC Entertainment. Cube is worth about $221 million USD, RBW at $109 million, and FNC is about $63 million. As you can see, these are way smaller than the big 4, even with YG being so far behind the other 3.

The original big 3 have a lot of influence, resources, and connections in the industry as a result of being around for so long. HYBE is a newcomer on the scene but what they lack in influence and connections, they make up with sheer amounts of money.

The other smaller companies don't have anywhere near the level of resources, connections, or influence that they do.

Below the middle tier companies are your much smaller agencies usually only representing a handful of groups or even just one group. Most of these companies are not public companies and therefore do not have public shares like the companies above. As a result its harder to find how much they are valued at but due to their small size, its not usually more than a few million, if even that.

You can roughly divide all the companies in tiers:

Tier 1: SM, YG, JYPE, Hybe

Tier 2: Cube, Starship, IST, RBW

Tier 3: Woollim, FNC

Tier 4: C9, Yuehua, Fantagio, Brand New Music, Dreamcatcher company

Tier 5: the rest

This is just my arbitrary system so don't think of it as a gospel LOL, but it might help you to understand the hierarchy. Tier 1 is self explanatory - SM, JYPE and YG basically set the foundation for kpop as we know today, continue to be huge and relevant and continue to create the most popular groups. Hybe doesn't have the same legacy but they're so powerful and have such a strong roster of artists now they basically forced their way to the top. Companies from tier 2 are not as consistent, they had their highs and lows, they don't churn out top groups all the time but they have a pretty good success rate. Tier 3 is for companies who used to be great in the past but can't repeat their success and now mostly home less popular groups, they remain well known and recognized among kpop fans. Tier 4 for companies who never produced a top tier group but are good at creating/managing solid mid tier acts. Tier 5 is the mix of the everyone else - ranging from no name companies that never achieved anything to infamous disasters like Star Empire or TS.

The gap between big4 and the rest of the industry is MASSIVE, if a group debuts under the big4 they're guaranteed to be successful, the only question for them is HOW successful. With every other group it's a lottery - their chances may wary (a Cube group has a better chance than a a group from a no name agency) but it's never guaranteed, they can be the next top player or end up in nugudom, you never know!

For me, all your favourites would be considered small-ish companies. Except for RBW. RBW is probably a medium sized company.

Yue Hua in China however is huge.

Welcome to K-Pop! If you need song recs or anything at all, just ask :)

Companies are usually divided in the big4, medium size, small, and nugu companies.

The big4 are not only making lots of profit but they also have several consistently highly successful groups and have shaped kpop history in major ways. If you debut in one you won't have to fear disbandment until your contract runs out, and you don't have trainee debt either.

Not all of them are equally powerful, nor do all of them employ the same tactics. For instance, Hybe is significantly richer than JYPE and uses much more aggressive promotion and business strategies while JYPE generally cuts costs wherever possible to present a high profit margin to investors.

The reason people are still sometimes hesitant to group hybe with the rest of big3 is that they still don't have a group whose success is similar to bts', while the other three have had several groups in their history of existence with comparable levels of success. Personally I believe it's silly to act like it's still 2013 bighit since hybe is richer, more powerful than the big3, and made the kpop landscape very different by acquiring several companies like pledis and playing a major role in vlive ending service.

Mid-size companies are generally like Starship whose groups' popularity is very inconsistent, but they have successful groups in their history: IVE are currently very successful and Cravity for instance...are not. These companies' treatment of their groups also tends to vary more than in the big4.

Small companies are usually those that have 2-3 groups max. and didn't have huge groups in the near past. Their groups tend to be somewhere from mid-tier to relatively obscure. However, they are generally capable of providing basic promotions like for instance attending some music shows (even if not all) and some variety (even if it's youtube variety), and also other "kpop basics" such as stylists, acceptable dorms, pocket money even if they're not paying the idol an actual salary. This is the tier where disbandments get much more common because the companies' only source of income usually tends to be 1-2 mid-tier groups.

Nugu companies almost always have a short history with 1-2 groups (before potential bankruptcy) their groups often don't have those basics I deacribed above, some use crowdfunding, and the members are most definitely not getting paid.

It's also the case in Korea that when actors reach a certain level of fame they start their own agency.

The two main actors’ unions in the United States are the Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA

Screen Actor's Guild and The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is one of the major unions that performers join when they accept roles in US cable TV and commerical TV. As a kid, the second I landed a voice actor role on nickelodeon, SAG-AFTRA membership was a mandatory condition in order to accept wages from the network. So all it takes is one role with a unionized network or production company, and you're essentially folded in at onboarding. The role itself is the invite, but you could also pay union membership fees in advance of landing roles

US film union work however, splinters into many different unions, some specific to job title such as

The Writers Guild of America (WGA): This labor union represents writers for film and television

The Directors Guild of America (DGA): This labor union represents directors for film and television

Some organizations are non-profit, NOT unions, but are directly involved in actor representation and casting pools, such as the Casting Society of America (CSA)

Actor's Equity (AE) is a widely used union for performers in stage roles, frequently adopted by performers on broadway and off-broadway productions. Membership is not only encouraged, it is occasionally mandatory for actors and actresses in say, the NYC theatre scene and members routinely receieve "Do Not Work" notices about non-union productions. Too many recorded instances of you signing onto non-union productions, and your membership may be revoked. So the example there would be The Public Theatre in NYC - off-broadway theatre, but union membership was mandatory there for accepting the role for a musical

If actors are members of unions outside the states before coming here and accepting roles, they may be forced to close out membership (especially in asia) due to the vast differences in pay minimums and insurance minimums. A stunt performer in southeast asia for example, will be subject to less strict guidelines about overtime and hazard pay, so they will have to close out those terms before accepting stricter conditions for stunt work in the US (way fewer hours allowed, more stunt performer rotations required) it's a safer system, but less pay as a result

A great example of this stunt union disparity is the film A Dirty Carnival. One of the major fight sequences in that film features a group of gangsters stuck in a van while the windows are being shattered with baseball bats from the outside. In Korea, there are no mandates for sugar glass (or at least, there weren't for this production in 2006) and performers told interviewers later that the windows were real vehicle glass that got slivers of glass in their eyes, nose and mouth. Totally different safety minimums. There's also the controversy in asian film productions that to this day, are allowed to use fatal tripwires on horses during stunt sequences. This was part of the controversy surrounding the american production of The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise - most of the film was shot in the states, but all the major battle sequences with horses were filmed in China using tripwires where their use is ethically permitted

This month's winner is The Host (2006). The theme was DIRECTED BY BONG JOON-HO. Click here or see the stickied post to participate in the official discussion thread for a chance to pick next month's theme.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Agency may be important for idols because they train, produce their talent, market them and even book them to certain things in attempt to boost their exposure and popularity.

Acting is different. It comes down to their acting ability, availability and what the casting directors are looking for their projects. Some projects may go for well known A-lister for boxoffice appeal but at the end of the day, director isn't hiring someone based on which agency they belong to unless there are some nepotism going on between the agency and producer/casting director.

Definitely sm, there’s a clear reason why a lot of their idols left the company 🧐

Right now? Everyone is leaving SM for a reason after sticking around for YEARS. Also the smiley face at the end of this depressing question is throwing me off lol

SM. Been in shambles since LSM left. They’re bleeding very important artists.

idk about the trainees and idols getting trauma that well but for bad management you can just watch the MV of supernova love just to get an idea of why they were included in that part. so much potential for such a good song but it you can trust starship to manage their groups.🙄

All different flavours of bad, but I gotta go with the one that does 10 year long slave contracts and then tries to strong arms you into renewing.

wait, i think i messed up in the Mistreatment one. It was nos Starship the one i wanted to mention.

Let's be honest. All of them are horrible companies in all ways.

• For lack of promotion and, bad management? We could mention most of them. Cube, Starship and SM sometimes forget that their groups actually exists.

• Mistreatment and overexploitation? Jyp, Hybe and Sm do this all the time. Enhypen, Txt, Twice and Red Velvet in their moment. Anyways, everyone is overworked in this industry atp.

• Giving trainees and actual idols traumas? Cube, SM and Starship are known for treating trainees bad. Like, REALLY BAD.

• Which one sucks at protecting idols? YG is a disaster, the same for SM, Hybe and JYP.

They're all bad in different ways. That's the reality.

SM, Cube and Woollim.

Vocals, Vocals, and Vocals.

YG, MBK, TS = The Prime Evils. YG is Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred. They hate women and following the law. TS is Baal, the Lord of Destruction, because they destroy all the hopes, dreams and potential success of their artists. MBK is Diablo, the Lord of Terror. Because their working conditions are truly terrifying.

TS, MBK and Pledis. The trinity of shit.

Guys I know we all hate TS & MBK, but pls state your favorite? Haha

The classic trinity of underdogs Big Hit, Source Music and RBW. But I guess that is kinda two companies now lol. Still SouMu got to keep their autonomy so I'm gonna stick with it.

People will name one of the bigger companies, but I think smaller companies in general have way worse scandals.

Out of the big 4, it’s definitely YG I think.

They had artists Sleepy/Untouchable, Secret, B.A.P, Sonamoo, and TRCNG. Pretty much every group has had at least one member sue them for non-payments and mistreatment. B.A.P's lawsuit is the best known one because the group was at their peak popularity when they collectively sued. They made the company over $9 million over 2.5 years and were each paid around $18,000 over the same time period. One of the members, Daehyun, was hospitalized for exhaustion and they pulled him out of the hospital for a performance with his IV bandage still on his wrist.

TRCNG's case I remember being worse. Physical abuse like chairs being thrown at the members (who were minors at the time). The water and electricity in their dorm was always shutting off because the company didn't pay the bills and their toilet was broken for a long while. There's more but that's just what I remember off the top of my head.

Cube.

Trademarking your breadwinner group's name (ie. BEAST) 2 months before renewals because YOU KNOW they will leave you and you want to threaten them and force them to stay.. they leave and change their name nonetheless, and what do you do? Announce a re-debut for them as a 3 member group with a previous member (Hyunseung) who left AND WHO YOU DIDN'T EVEN INFORM about those plans? Straight up evil.

Also how they disbanded 4Minute without even informing the members, they found out online.

A lot of abuse and mistreatment, have you heard of B.A.P? (Now BANG&JUNG&YOO&MOON) they were under that company

cracks knuckles

As OP mentioned, they had artists like BAP secret Sonamoo, trcng, and sleepy under them. And they got sued by .. all of them. Sleepy actually won his lawsuit against them quite recently, after 5 years of legal battles. He won $150k+ in unearned wages.

But they also had artists from every idol group they debuted (bap sonamoo trcng secret) file a lawsuit against them for poor working (and living) conditions, profit distribution, abuse, withholding pay, extortion, and other things that the company had to close down and reopen under a new name.

BAP, who won best rookie group in 2013 and were the most famous rookies competing head to head with EXO, famously had a hiatus from 2014-2016 when they decided to collectively file a lawsuit against the company. They claimed TS had made over a $9 million since BAP’s debut (2012) and members weren’t given a salary until 2014 where each only got around $16k. They also mentioned harsh working conditions. Since their debut they had back to back comebacks (5 releases in their first year of debuting) and went on a world tour that same year. They were working non-stop and didn’t see money in their bank accounts.

Their other artists sued them as well. Jun hyosung from secret filed a lawsuit against them saying she hadn’t been payed for 3 years. Another member also sued them for lack of transparency in payments. Trcng members also sued them and mentioned enduring poor living conditions, sleeping in storage rooms, and the water, heaters, electricity not working (coz apparently TS only pays their lawyers). They also said they had to pay for food from their own pockets. One of the members (I believe taesoon) said that when one time he walked into the practice room with coffee, the staff yelled at him for not buying for everyone else. The company closed down 5 years ago but they still had ongoing legal battles with the artists and were even caught selling BAP’s MAMA awards in second hand stores 💀

TS (already mentioned), Entertainment Pascal (Stellar), Star Empire (9MUSES), or Spire (Omega X) for sure

The management is different, that's why - current Cube management is decent, but back then when LOEN took over in 2015 and bought the majority of Cube's stock, they downright were HORRIBLE to both artists and staff, they booted the original CEO and founder of Cube who everyone loved, and basically just cleaned the house over the next year making bad decision after bad decision.

https://preview.redd.it/h9ayawy4qq9f1.jpeg?width=324&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dffbc12105b0b08fa5c803e622cab3debc609485

Tshit entertainment. Other companies only wish they can reach that level of evil.

Do they even have an artist that hasn’t sued them?