As many already know, 2020 has been a wonderful year for K-Pop. Groups like BTS and BlackPink are currently taking the Western World by storm, groups like Stray Kids and Dreamcatcher have been expanding at home, and indie artists like Crush and Heize have been gaining notoriety through collaborating with better known artists (ie. Joy from Red Velvet and Suga from BTS). There have also been numerous debuts this year, most notably MCND, Secret Number, and Cherry Bullet. However, there is a question that must be asked; what's happening with all of the other groups and bands in this unprecedented period of time? How have smaller record labels and companies been dealing with this pandemic?
One example of a group affected by the recent pandemic was DKB, a nine-member boy group that debuted under Brave Entertainment in February of last year. “DKB was supposed to perform at KCON Japan and release its Japanese debut album on April 7. But everything went down the drain. It’s hard to measure the total amount of damage,” said Kang Heuk-cheol, the agency’s chief marketing officer. Kang also expressed concerns over their futures, saying, “DKB should be laying the groundwork for their fandom right now.” Clearly, that is not the most ideal of situations, but some groups have been handling it. Despite already being huge stars, Ateez's company KQ entertainment is not very large. They've had to reschedule all of their European Tours. However, that has not stopped them from still growing in quarantine. One way being their fandom expanding through their leader, Hongjoong, covering many famous songs and distributing them. Namely, 'Numb' by Linkin Park. Check out his cover below.
While, clearly, this shows that some groups are still doing okay, that doesn't negate the damage done to some companies. In particular, the group Girl's Alert has been struggling over the pandemic. The company has taken a great amount of time assuring fans that the group is not disbanding, but that has not been the greatest comfort to viewers. Their previous members Narin and Saetbyul have decided to quit the group. They have also ended their exclusive contracts and the members have more freedom now. The group has decided to continue with only Jisung, Seulbi, and Gooseul. This is rather unfortunate, but they are currently holding auditions for new members.
Overall, this pandemic is an unprecedented time for all. What are your thoughts? Viewers can leave their opinions in the comments.
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