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.
The Good
It really does feel like Starship Entertainment belongs alongside the industry’s biggest agencies. Their roster may not be as sprawling as some, but their artists are constantly active and successful. Chief among these is IVE, who continued their winning streak this year. I can’t say I found their music to be all that good, but all three of their promoted tracks charted well and they remain firmly within the one-million-sellers club with each album. They’re also seeing steady growth in Japan.
This was a big year for Starship debuts, with both a new girl group and new boy group emerging from the agency. KiiiKiii focused most of their promotion on the first half of 2025 while IDID took the second half. This let each group establish themselves with a string of quick releases. So far, each group seems to be doing well. KiiiKiii has chart buzz while IDID are scoring with album sales. In other words, the different metrics you’d measure girl groups and boy groups by are being met. The music itself has been more uneven, but generally solid.
2025 also saw reunions and re-configurations within Starship’s ranks. Monsta X made their long-awaited return with a new mini album. Meanwhile, CRAVITY shifted around some group roles and emerged with their strongest music yet. For me, they had the most musically successful year of the agency’s acts and it wasn’t particularly close.
While Starship continues to pay WJSN dust, they stumbled into a big chart hit with Dayoung’s solo single Body. This doesn’t seem to have been by design (or promotion!), but it’s a nice feather in their cap nonetheless.
The Bad
Speaking of WJSN, it’s clear the public has affection for them and their music. I don’t know why Starship can’t muster up a comeback for them. It’s been three years, now!
Starship’s A&R team (teams?) were quite hit and miss this year. It seemed like they gave their less-promoted acts the strongest material while saddling their guaranteed successes with weaker songs. I hate when agencies do this. Just because a group has a huge fanbase (IVE) doesn’t mean you can feed those fans any old thing. Innovation and quality control are the keys to longevity and it just doesn’t feel like the agency is interested in putting in that effort with their marquee acts. I’d say this extends to Monsta X as well, whose big return could have been promoted with much more fanfare (and better material).
And while this is a criticism I have with almost every K-pop agency, I wish Starship would partner with a few frequent (or in-house) producers to give their agency’s sound a distinct vision. They tend to go to Dem Jointz most often (whose work I’m not a big fan of), but past artists like Sistar and Boyfriend used to work long-term with just one or two producers on title tracks, resulting in a sense of continuity and natural growth.
2025 Grade: B
What I’d like to see in 2026:
Better songs across the board
Plenty of promotion for KiiiKiii and IDID, along with a distinct (fresh) sound for each
Previous years: 2024 // 2023 // 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017