Kaleidoscope 2024: 8 Phenomenal Events In The K-pop Industry

NewJeans (X @newjeans_ador)

JAKARTA - The year 2024 has become a mixed year for the K-pop industry. Behind its global success, a number of incidents rocked the music industry's biggest market.

Every year, the K-pop industry gives birth to many new names coming from competitions to training results from various agencies. In addition, various groups also chose to end their careers as a group this year.

Several names were also involved in controversial incidents that sparked public debate considering that K-pop also touched the fan market of various ages from teenagers to adults.

Check out 8 phenomenal events in the K-pop industry throughout 2024 below:

More than 10 K-pop groups debuted in 2024. Some of them are Artms, which are five former LOONA members, BABYMONSTER, Badvillain, ILLIT, Izna, Madein, MEOVV, NOWADAYS, Unis, to TWS and many others.

A number of groups have succeeded in forming new fans such as ILLIT and TWS who occupy the Korean and global music charts. In addition, groups such as BABYMONSTER managed to get 100 million views for the songs they released this year.

A number of groups were declared disbanded after their contracts ended with their respective agencies. They are Cherry Bullet, Cignature, Mirae, Nature, Pink Fantasy, Rocket Punch, TFN, Vromance, to Weki Meki. Some groups even ended their activities before their contracts ended.

Shocking news came from Suga BTS. In the middle of his military duties, Suga was examined for driving drunk. The news began when one of South Korean media reported Suga being questioned at the Yongsan Police for carrying an electric bicycle and falling in one area. Suga's blood alcohol content was observed to cross the line, which means that the driving license (SIM) can be withdrawn.

The BIGHIT MUSIC agency stated that Suga had finished her business with the authorities and that the distance he was driving was not far away, but the police gave the opposite statement. Suga had complied with the police summons and wrote an apology to the public.

Taeil was announced by SM Entertainment to leave NCT after his name was linked to a sexual harassment case on August 28. After they discussed, Taeil decided to leave the group after undergoing the promotion of their latest album, Walk.

Bangbae Police confirmed that Taeil had been investigating the case since June. However, SM Entertainment only found out about the case in mid-August. He reportedly took the action with his friends. Taeil's contract with SM Entertainment was terminated in early October. The NCT 127 vocalist also made his Instagram account private.

Not a year after his career with RIIZE, Seunghan left the group. Two months after his debut, Seunghan went on a hiatus after his past photos with his ex-lover were revealed to the public. On October 11, SM Entertainment announced the return of Seunghan with RIIZE, but the news received a negative response from the public until fans flocked to send condolences to the SM office.

Two days later, Seunghan decided to leave RIIZE because he did not want to harm other RIIZE members. Currently, Seunghan is preparing to debut as a solo singer in 2025 under SM.

G-Dragon released his first single after seven years and under the new agency, Galaxy Corporation. Single titled POWER is highly awaited by the public, it is evident that this song is directly ranked at the top of the music charts. He also made his premiere at a number of award shows. G-Dragon also released a duet song with two BIGBANG members: Taeyang and Daesung entitled HOME SWEET HOME, which is still ranked first on the digital music charts.

On October 29, the entertainment industry was shocked by a weekly HYBE report, a document containing the results of monitoring K-pop artists and the efforts they made to sabotage their activities. More than 100 names are mentioned in the document, including aespa, ZEROBASEONE, RIIZE, NMIXX, NCT, BLACKPINK, IVE, DKZ, and others.

The report also revealed several attempts to bring down artists from labels under their companies, including NewJeans. This was then linked to Min Hee Jin who revealed that there was an attempt to bring down NewJeans from HYBE.

NewJeans declared out of ADOR, the label that Min Hee Jin founded on November 28. This statement was made after one of the members, Hanni testified in the National Assembly audit. Hanni admitted that her nickname had been rejected by other group managers and felt that the management of the new ADOR and HYBE had no attempt to protect NewJeans. They revealed the reason for leaving the label because the agreement was in which contract.

Para member menegaskan, meski mereka keluar dari ADOR tapi mereka masih memenuhi kontrak brand dan jadwal yang sudah disusun sebelumnya. Saat ini mereka masih menyanyikan lagu-lagu NewJeans, namun mereka tidak menyebut nama grup ketika menerima penghargaan atau menghadiri acara publik. Mereka juga membuat akun Instagram @jeanzforfree untuk membagikan foto-foto mereka tanpa menyebut nama kelompok.