Grading the K-Pop Agencies 2024: STARSHIP ENTERTAINMENT

1 month ago 14

Before I take a brief look at many of K-pop’s smaller agencies, there are a few that I have more to say about. Consider these “bonus” write-ups — shorter than the “big four” but longer than a paragraph or two could cover.

As usual, the thoughts below are my own and aren’t privy to any insider information. The purpose of these articles is to determine how well K-pop agencies are serving their artists and fans. There will be plenty of subjective critique.

Starship Entertainment

The Good

Though they didn’t have a particularly noteworthy year, Starship Entertainment continued to chug along with their already-successful groups leading the helm. Bright spots were IVE and CRAVITY.

IVE didn’t release as much material as they did in 2023, but their single HEYA enjoyed long-running success and they branched out further into the Japanese market. Meanwhile CRAVITY released a mini album before participating in (and winning) the newest series of Road To Kingdom. I didn’t watch the series so I can’t comment on how they came across, but winning a competition show is never a bad thing! Smartly, Starship seems poised to capitalize on this success with the impending release of a new single.

The Bad

While it was solid enough, Starship’s 2024 was also strangely unambitious. Releases were few and far between and never represented the best music that’s come from the agency. IVE’s work feels a bit directionless at the moment and their English-language push into global markets landed with a fizzle. They’re still very popular, but the spark of their debut era dimmed this year.

Similarly, CRAVITY seem to have hit a natural peak. With Monsta X on hiatus due to military enlistments, CRAVITY are Starship’s flagship boy group of the moment. They’re doing fine, but are certainly not driving trends or conversation in the way that you’d hope. We’ll have to see if Kingdom can give them a boost.

Sadly, WJSN seem all but forgotten at this point. They also won an MNET series in 2022 but Starship failed to capitalize on this and the group hasn’t released material since then. A quiet disbandment feels more and more likely. I hope I’m wrong.

As far as soloists go, the agency lost Jeong Sewoon and most other artists didn’t release any new material.

There are rumors of a new group debut next year, and Starship could really use the boost. Right now, their roster is as small as it’s been in years and it doesn’t feel like there’s all that much room to grow given their current situation. This agency has occasionally competed with the “big four,” and to keep that possibility alive they need to find another monster hit (most likely from IVE) or a buzzworthy debut that gets the industry talking.