After taking a look at K-pop’s biggest agencies, I’d like to turn my attention to the smaller (but still important) players in the K-pop game, three at a time.
Disclaimer: As with my write-ups on K-Pop’s biggest agencies, this is written from an outsider’s perspective. I’m not privy to any business-related financial information beyond what any other fan would know. The purpose of these articles is to examine how well these agencies are serving their artists and the general K-pop fan-base.
KQ ENTERTAINMENT
KQ continue to keep things small, focusing on only two groups. ATEEZ remain their marquee act and the guys had a busy year. They toured extensively, renewed their contracts and released both Korean and Japanese music. And more importantly for me, this music marked an upward turn in quality. For the first time in awhile, it felt like they were stretching their sound a bit by playing with different genres. I enjoyed their output more than I have in years, though it seems as if sales slipped a little compared to prior years.
Meanwhile, xikers continue to see moderate growth, though it might not be happening as quickly as KQ would want. They’re promoted well, even if I feel that the agency continues to pick the wrong tracks for promotion almost every time. For me, their Japanese single Up All Night was a huge summer highlight and paints a promising road forward for them.
B
MYSTIC STORY
Mystic Story is still primarily an actors’ agency, but they’ve really dipped their feet into the idol world over the past few years. Apart from their established rock bands, Lucy is the most senior idol (-esque?) group from the agency. They operated as a trio this year, which felt a little strange. For me, their sound is in need of some new ideas, but they continue to be successful within their niche.
Girl group Billlie were inactive this year, though two of its members had a sub-unit release during the first half of the year. I don’t know what Mystic’s plans are for this group, but they kind of feel abandoned at this point. Long hiatuses like this are dangerous for mid-to-low-tier idol acts.
Most of Mystic’s promotion this year went to new boy group ARrC. The guys released three comebacks in 2025. Their music boasts some unique elements but they’re getting lost in the crowd of younger boy groups and continue to struggle with sales. I’m not sure what the agency can do to turn this around, but they need to do something.
C-
RBW (RAINBOW BRIDGE WORLD)
Ooh, this one’s irritating. Over the years, RBW has subsumed both WM Entertainment and DSP Media and has not done well by either of them. However, I’ll get to that later.
First, let’s look at the agency’s own artists. It was a rough year, to put it mildly. Marquee group Mamamoo continue to be inactive and the members who achieved the most 2025 success (ie: Hwasa) aren’t even part of RBW anymore. Meanwhile, ONEUS released a pair of albums that made little noise and saw dwindling sales compared to their commercial peak. ONEWE continue to churn out material with steadily increasing (yet still modest) sales. Then we’ve got Purple Kiss, who disbanded before their initial seven years had even passed. That happens quite rarely in K-pop and points toward big issues within RBW.
Worse yet, RBW continue to drain creativity (and maybe even resources?) from their subsidiary agencies. They messed around with ONF’s signature sound and producers, interrupting a promised two-part album series with a stopgap release. Essentially lying to your fans is not a good look. Meanwhile, new girl group USPEER debuted in the spring and haven’t released anything since. They’ll be easily forgotten without better promotions. Veteran artists B1A4 and Oh My Girl were pretty much inactive this year minus one digital single.
Things weren’t any better over at RBW’s other subsidiary DSP Media. DSP has long had a faded presence in the industry since their heyday over a decade ago, but they really feel like they’re running on fumes now. What little buzz KARD still had as a co-ed group feels like it has been usurped by ALLDAY PROJECT, while Young Posse continue to cater to their fanbase without moving much outside of that.