I've been hearing/reading news from SNS (via comments) that G-Friend's company Source Music Entertainment's CEO, So Sungjin (hangul: 소성진), has former affiliation with the famous SM Entertainment.
At first I was glad that CEO So came from the company which gave rise to my first bias group, SNSD, since I am a fan of G-Friend. And having connection between your favorite group is surely elating.
Upon the debut of G-Friend, comments like "they copied SNSD" are appearing every now and then. Since the news that CEO So Sungjin came from SM Ent came out, more people gave bad comments about G-Friend saying "they just become famous because of their CEO's connection and not because they are talented."
During my search for answers I stumbled to this post: http://www.allkpop.com/forums/discussion/251005/k-netz-sm-sponsors-gfriend/p1
There are about two more websites that I found but all of them are saying the same thing as discussed in the One Hallyu link I mentioned.
Please refer to this link as well: http://pann.nate.com/talk/326823782?listType=c&page=2
First let's examine the post.
![image]()
This image is just stating that GFRIEND is working under Source Music.
![image]()
This one (probably) came from a screen shot of Source Music's official website in South Korea. It just show
Translation (in order)![image]()
Rough translation:
자본금 1000만원에 직원 5명 --->10 Million Won Capital (about 8,500 US Dollars) with 5 Employees
중소기업이라 하기도 애매한 소기업 수준인데다---> OP said that SMEs(small & medium enterprise) are sometimes considered as small business level
자본금 천만이면 요즘 동네 구멍가게도 못차림---> OP said, Lately, 10 million won is not enough for a Hole-Clad Shop (i dunno what he/she meant for a hole-clad shop, maybe he (let's just use he) refers to a very ugly shop.
쏘스뮤직 대표인 소성진 대표는---> Source Music's CEO is So-Sungjin is ...
과거 신화의 매니저로 일한 경력이 있고 ---> had an experience as Shinhwa's manager and ...
소녀시대와 에프엑스 기획에 참여했던 sm임직원 출신.----> he is used to be a former SM Ent employee who participated in planning for SNSD and F(x) (it's either in forming the group or planning for their activities)
아마 스엠 나오고 혼자 기획사 꾸린걸로 추정됨 ---> the OP speculated that CEO So-Sungjin came out of SM Ent alone to create his own agency
The remaining part of the post:As we
Sunny saying "GFriend reminds me of young SNSD, I feel happy"
The OP pointed that Gfriend's Yuju already got her own song for an OST even though they are still 3 months since debut.
Yerin appearing on Running Man e
And Gfriend's Yerin appeared in M&D's MV
the OP thought that they must have connections with Suju's Heechul (from SM Ent) tho (the OP said that) we can rule out that Heechul is a fan of Gfriend. OP also said that they may have used Hee-chul's image to promote Yerin and specially G-friend
and the Entertainment's Location is pretty good (probably because they are near SM Ent, residing in Seoul)
The OP also mentioned about Gfriend's alleged plagiarism (probably comparing ITNW and Glass Bead) and how it affects the public
So as we can notice at the post. The post is highly speculative and just giving out his own opinion based on the so called "proofs"
In order to clarify this matter. I asked my Korean friend about it's authenticity. And the following are what he said:
The very first thing he said is that Pann is notorious for bashing and defaming many groups in Korea.
He also said that it is NOT ONLY CEO SoSungjin that has work first for SM Ent before establishing a new entertainment agency. He also mentioned that TEEN TOP's CEO (Lee Jaehong) there are (now) famous entertainment agency CEOs that once worked under SM Entertainment.
And this is the result of more research.
Please refer to this link: https://absolutshinhwa.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/090218-ex-sm-staffers-enjoying-success-now/
This link shows us that it is NOT ONLY CEO So Sungjin that came from SM Ent but also other CEOs of many famous labels in the kpop industry like the following
---"Han Sung Soo of Pledis Entertainment, who manages Son Dambi and After School, was working in SM in the early 2000s, as BoA’s manager."
---"Lee Jae Hong of T.O.P Media, who manages Andy and new male duo Jumper, is also an ex-SM employee. He was the manager for various SM artistes such as Shinhwa and S.E.S from the late 1990s to the early 2000s."
---"Topclass Entertainment’s Choi Byung Min was the manager of S.E.S and Shinhwa until the early 2000s. Topclass Entertainment manages Shinhwa member Eric."
---"H2 Entertainment, who manages Kim Dongwan, who’s now serving out his military duty, is headed by Hong Hyun Joong, also an ex-SM employee;"
---"as is Park Man Jin who heads Lion Media, management agency of “Oricon Comet” Younha and Ajoo."
According to the link:
"...Because of these, industry insiders have termed SM as the 'Producers Training Academy'."
My Conclusion:
We should not make it a big deal that Source Music Entertainment's CEO came or has worked for SM Ent once.
We should still consider that without connections a group cannot make it big and at the same time that even if connections exist a group cannot become successful without the talent, visuals and work attitude.
For the very next time, before you post something, do MORE research. Verify your articles first.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
credits:
to the creators of the links I mentioned
and
Mr. Park (my Korean friend) for the verification of facts about CEO So's affiliation to SM Ent. He also told me that someone must be a graduate from Seoul National University in order to join/enter/apply at SM Ent.
At first I was glad that CEO So came from the company which gave rise to my first bias group, SNSD, since I am a fan of G-Friend. And having connection between your favorite group is surely elating.
Upon the debut of G-Friend, comments like "they copied SNSD" are appearing every now and then. Since the news that CEO So Sungjin came from SM Ent came out, more people gave bad comments about G-Friend saying "they just become famous because of their CEO's connection and not because they are talented."
During my search for answers I stumbled to this post: http://www.allkpop.com/forums/discussion/251005/k-netz-sm-sponsors-gfriend/p1
There are about two more websites that I found but all of them are saying the same thing as discussed in the One Hallyu link I mentioned.
Please refer to this link as well: http://pann.nate.com/talk/326823782?listType=c&page=2
First let's examine the post.
This image is just stating that GFRIEND is working under Source Music.
This one (probably) came from a screen shot of Source Music's official website in South Korea. It just show
Translation (in order)
- Source Music
- Established since: April 29, 2014 (On it's 2nd Year since establishment)
- Number of Employees: 5(five) Employees
- Company Type: Small Business/Enterprise
- Public Status: General Corporation
Rough translation:
- Company Overview: Source Music did the management and music production for the the girl group GLAM. Our current core business is (during mid-November) to manage a debuting girl group called G-Friend and a vocal team called MIO
- Company History: Almost the same as the second picture. Just adding the capital(10 million won) and address (somewhere in Gangnam, Seoul).
자본금 1000만원에 직원 5명 --->10 Million Won Capital (about 8,500 US Dollars) with 5 Employees
중소기업이라 하기도 애매한 소기업 수준인데다---> OP said that SMEs(small & medium enterprise) are sometimes considered as small business level
자본금 천만이면 요즘 동네 구멍가게도 못차림---> OP said, Lately, 10 million won is not enough for a Hole-Clad Shop (i dunno what he/she meant for a hole-clad shop, maybe he (let's just use he) refers to a very ugly shop.
쏘스뮤직 대표인 소성진 대표는---> Source Music's CEO is So-Sungjin is ...
과거 신화의 매니저로 일한 경력이 있고 ---> had an experience as Shinhwa's manager and ...
소녀시대와 에프엑스 기획에 참여했던 sm임직원 출신.----> he is used to be a former SM Ent employee who participated in planning for SNSD and F(x) (it's either in forming the group or planning for their activities)
아마 스엠 나오고 혼자 기획사 꾸린걸로 추정됨 ---> the OP speculated that CEO So-Sungjin came out of SM Ent alone to create his own agency
The remaining part of the post:As we
Sunny saying "GFriend reminds me of young SNSD, I feel happy"
The OP pointed that Gfriend's Yuju already got her own song for an OST even though they are still 3 months since debut.
Yerin appearing on Running Man e
And Gfriend's Yerin appeared in M&D's MV
the OP thought that they must have connections with Suju's Heechul (from SM Ent) tho (the OP said that) we can rule out that Heechul is a fan of Gfriend. OP also said that they may have used Hee-chul's image to promote Yerin and specially G-friend
and the Entertainment's Location is pretty good (probably because they are near SM Ent, residing in Seoul)
The OP also mentioned about Gfriend's alleged plagiarism (probably comparing ITNW and Glass Bead) and how it affects the public
So as we can notice at the post. The post is highly speculative and just giving out his own opinion based on the so called "proofs"
In order to clarify this matter. I asked my Korean friend about it's authenticity. And the following are what he said:
The very first thing he said is that Pann is notorious for bashing and defaming many groups in Korea.
He also said that it is NOT ONLY CEO SoSungjin that has work first for SM Ent before establishing a new entertainment agency. He also mentioned that TEEN TOP's CEO (Lee Jaehong) there are (now) famous entertainment agency CEOs that once worked under SM Entertainment.
And this is the result of more research.
Please refer to this link: https://absolutshinhwa.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/090218-ex-sm-staffers-enjoying-success-now/
This link shows us that it is NOT ONLY CEO So Sungjin that came from SM Ent but also other CEOs of many famous labels in the kpop industry like the following
---"Han Sung Soo of Pledis Entertainment, who manages Son Dambi and After School, was working in SM in the early 2000s, as BoA’s manager."
---"Lee Jae Hong of T.O.P Media, who manages Andy and new male duo Jumper, is also an ex-SM employee. He was the manager for various SM artistes such as Shinhwa and S.E.S from the late 1990s to the early 2000s."
---"Topclass Entertainment’s Choi Byung Min was the manager of S.E.S and Shinhwa until the early 2000s. Topclass Entertainment manages Shinhwa member Eric."
---"H2 Entertainment, who manages Kim Dongwan, who’s now serving out his military duty, is headed by Hong Hyun Joong, also an ex-SM employee;"
---"as is Park Man Jin who heads Lion Media, management agency of “Oricon Comet” Younha and Ajoo."
According to the link:
"...Because of these, industry insiders have termed SM as the 'Producers Training Academy'."
My Conclusion:
We should not make it a big deal that Source Music Entertainment's CEO came or has worked for SM Ent once.
We should still consider that without connections a group cannot make it big and at the same time that even if connections exist a group cannot become successful without the talent, visuals and work attitude.
For the very next time, before you post something, do MORE research. Verify your articles first.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
credits:
to the creators of the links I mentioned
and
Mr. Park (my Korean friend) for the verification of facts about CEO So's affiliation to SM Ent. He also told me that someone must be a graduate from Seoul National University in order to join/enter/apply at SM Ent.