Study: Nearly 90% of K-pop Idol Groups Debut Under Small Agencies, but Big-Agency Groups Last Twice as Long
A study of 1,159 K-pop idol groups that debuted between 1996 and 2025 found that 89.9% came from small and mid-sized agencies, while groups from major agencies stayed active for 7.4 years on average versus 3.6 years.
Most K-pop idol groups start out at small companies, but far fewer of them last. A study by Kim Jung-seop, a professor of cultural industry and arts at Sungshin Women's University, looked at all 1,159 K-pop idol groups that debuted between 1996 and 2025. It found that 1,042 of them, or 89.9%, debuted under small and mid-sized agencies.
According to Yonhap and The Korea Herald, groups from major agencies stayed active for 7.4 years on average, compared with 3.6 years for groups from smaller agencies. Five years after debut, 65.2% of major-agency groups were still active, against 28.7% of small-agency groups. After 10 years, the figures were 49.8% and 13.2%, Yonhap reported.
The gap was widest in album sales. According to Yonhap, 20.5% of major-agency groups sold 1 million copies or more of a single album, compared with 0.7% of small-agency groups, a 30.5-fold difference.
Kim proposed 10 support measures in five areas, from IP-linked investment funds to digital marketing and overseas showcases. Yonhap quoted him as saying that support policies should go beyond simply covering debut and production costs and instead build a cycle of "market entry → growth → recouping investment → reinvestment → long-term activity." (Quote translated from Korean.)
Confirmed
- The paper "Agency Size Disparities in the K-pop Idol Music Industry and Policy Support Measures for Small and Mid-Sized Agencies" by Kim Jung-seop of Sungshin Women's University is listed in Korea's KCI academic database. Its abstract says it analyzed 1,159 idol groups that debuted in South Korea between 1996 and 2025.
- According to the abstract, 89.9% of the groups (1,042) debuted under small and mid-sized agencies, and their average activity period was 3.6 years, compared with 7.4 years for groups from large agencies.
- The abstract says large-agency groups were 8.6 times as likely to reach 100,000 copies on a single album and 30.5 times as likely to reach 1 million, and that a Delphi survey of experts produced 10 support measures across five areas.
Reported by other outlets
- Yonhap, The Korea Herald and Electronic Times reported the study on Nov. 9 (KST). Yonhap says it was published in volume 20, issue 6 of the Journal of the Korea Entertainment Industry Association.
- Yonhap reports that 117 groups (10.1%) debuted under major agencies. By group type, 88.4% of boy groups, 91.6% of girl groups and 84.2% of co-ed groups came from small and mid-sized agencies.
- Yonhap reports that 65.2% of major-agency groups were still active five years after debut, compared with 28.7% of small-agency groups. After 10 years, the figures were 49.8% and 13.2%.
- Yonhap and The Korea Herald report that 20.5% of major-agency groups sold at least 1 million copies of a single album, compared with 0.7% of small-agency groups.
- Yonhap reports that the proposed support measures include policy funds and investment linked to intellectual property, help for promising small agencies and startups, social media, short-form, AI and data-based marketing, and support for overseas showcases.
Analysis
2FC NEWSROOM analysis: The figures suggest that the K-pop pipeline's main problem is not getting groups to debut but keeping them going. Most new acts come from smaller companies, yet few of them get past the five-year mark.