The Big Three (K-pop)
| Synonyms: | The Big 3, big three, big 3 |
| See also: | Nugu, K-Pop Dungeon |
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The Big Three in K-pop refers to the three South Korean entertainment companies YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and SM Entertainment. These companies dominated the K-pop industry from the late 1990s to today.
By the 2020s, HYBE Entertainment would often be included to make The Big Four.
History
YG Entertainment established themselves as a member of the Big 3 by signing artists such as PSY, BIG BANG, and 2NE1.
JYP Entertainment established themselves as a member of the Big 3 by signing artists such as 2am, 2pm, and Wonder Girls.
SM Entertainment established themselves as a member of the Big 3 by signing artists such as SHINEE, SNSD/Girls Generation, BOA, Super Junior, f(x), and EXO.
Impact
The Big 3 companies, with their connections and hold over the entertainment industry in South Korea, are capable of allegedly blacklisting ex-idols. Current rumored blacklisted idols are:
- From JYP Entertainment:
- From SM Entertainment:
- JYJ (South Korean music group) (Xiah Junsu, Yoo Chun, and Jaejong)
- Jessica Jung (Former SNSD/Girls Generation) member
When blacklisted, an ex-idol cannot promote their music on South Korean music shows like SBS Inkigayo, M Countdown, Music Bank, and Show Champion and are often barred from resources in the industry.
Big Four
In the late 2010s, there were arguments over including Big Hit Entertainment to create a new "Big 4", due to the company's success from their group BTS. Many fans were opposed to this due to company only have one artist under their roster. By the early 2020s, these arguments would become almost non-existent.
In 2020, Big Hit Entertainment announced a rebranding to HYBE Entertainment. In the following years, they would rapidly debut new artists including TXT, Enhypen, NewJeans, Le Sserafim, BoyNextDoor, Illit and more. All to critical success. They would also acquire a number of existing labels, including Source Music (GFriend), and Pledis (Seventeen and Nu'est). Due to this rapid expansion of artists, it is commonly acknowledged that the "Big Three", became the "Big Four", with fans and the industry alike using this term to describe the current landscape of K-Pop within the 2020s.