Additional Disclosure of HYBE Document ‘Weekly Music Industry Report’

HYBE Executive Report: Industry Trend Review Material

[Block 1]
It is meaningful that RM (presumed) soothed the fans by telling stories about the concert from the fans’ perspective. It is also a place to directly report [Blurred Name]’s recovery. However, [Blurred Name] engages in a bit of ‘Latte talk’ (Boomer talk/Old stories) as if he has some pride in pain, and I thought he is a person who always needs attention in such areas.

[Block 2]
Sorry to say this, but the plastic surgery was too severe. The concept brought out with a face changed that much is too plain, which is a bit pitiful. The main outfit is an unexpected school girl look, making the expectation of a natural concept pointless.

[Block 3]
(omission) It is a team taking the members’ young average age as a selling point, but when looking at the actual stage, I thought “So what if they are young…” They debuted them all at once when the members are at their ugliest age, so no one has idol features, and they are really performing a stage on the level of a middle school talent show.

[Block 4]
We are paying attention to the team again because of [Blurred Name], but it seems difficult to go beyond that team because the other members are shockingly ugly. It is a team where the reason they haven’t become popular in the meantime is very clear. [Blurred Name] alone looks a bit like an idol, has an idol-like personality, and was a character openly treated like a princess in every coupling within the team in the meantime. So it seems the company also wanted to keep pushing this kid towards acting.

[Block 5]
<2023-07-05> Scheduled to appear on as a whole group. is the 2nd broadcast, and the 1st episode is already released. When the members were gathered, I thought the synergy of ugliness was at a level that was unbearable, but this seems worse because the [Blurred]-[Blurred] line is in the top ranks.

[Block 6]
<2023-06-14> Maybe because the story of as a HYBE rookie team came out, information regarding SM’s new girl group suddenly started to circulate a bit. About 8 candidates have been narrowed down. Surprisingly, no one is pretty. I thought the trainee infrastructure of [Blurred] was not as good as [Blurred], but considering that everyone was shocked by the looks when [Blurred] debuted, I wonder if SM’s aesthetic sense itself has changed.

[Block 7]
<2024-01-10> Actually, most of the attacks on [Blurred] can be defended by [Blurred]. If someone says someone is ugly, respond with [Blurred]’s past photos. If someone says [Blurred] can’t dance, show [Blurred] still moving stiffly (dduk-ddak); the pattern has already passed on DCInside.

[Block 8]
<2022-11-16> The girl groups from JYP who escaped from [Blurred] were like that in the meantime, and [Blurred] too… and when [Blurred] appeared on this year, the plastic surgery was so severe that she was almost unrecognizable. The traces of being exposed for a long time to an environment where mental defense is almost impossible are too strong, and that tends to be revealed especially in looks or sex appeal. In such aspects, I wonder if similar signs are appearing in [Blurred] too, and worrying points are detected long-term.

[Block 9]
<2022-06-01> In the meantime, regarding [Blurred Name]’s live skills, the fandom’s defensive logic was “The company doesn’t let the kids who are good at it do it”, but this was shattered by Coachella. Now that lip-syncing is becoming an issue again, the fandom is quickly turning the arrow of blame in a direction other than the team. I think SM fandom is definitely fast at issue transition and direction setting in these aspects. To protect the members, the company has to become the villain, and blaming the company is the easiest way to respond to the atmosphere where [Blurred Name] is stagnating relative to the rise of other 4th gen girl groups.

HYBE Weekly Music Industry Report additional document 1

[Block 1]
Above all, because [Blurred Name] is a team that has secured significant trust regarding concerts, they are in a state where they can seriously create a structure to compete with boy groups while scaling up their tours. [Blurred Name] targeted Coachella and had many exchanges with foreign celebrities, but there was a problem that they couldn’t operate the team itself aggressively. [Blurred Name] had tight teamwork and stadium concerts, but the condition was too loose in terms of issues. I think it would be possible enough to enter the vacancy of large girl groups if [Blurred Name] strikes out with a condition that combines the strengths of those two.

[Block 2]
More serious is the point that if you stop at any scene, there are only 4 members, but there isn’t a single moment where the dance matches. There was already a lot of talk about them seeming not to practice stages since their ‘Girls’ activities, but it feels like the teamwork itself hasn’t grown at all. No matter how much [Blurred Name] or [Blurred Name] has #1 songs and high public recognition, thinking that the reaction on tour will be different is also a delusion, and I think that result will be revealed not too far away.

[Block 3]
As the wording “New-[Blurred]-[Blurred]” appeared in communities as HYBE’s “New-[Blurred]”, mentions of [Blurred Name] increased slightly. (Omitted) If [Blurred Name] ends up using virtual characters in parallel on YouTube, I think this team could take the window connecting the OSB worldview to reality.

[Block 4]
I think it is necessary now to move to categorize BlackPink-LeSserafim-Aespa-Ive together entirely, or take a move different from the 4th Generation theory. We suffered for days due to the “New-[Blurred]” wording, but it’s a matter of Just dump ‘New’ and set up a new game plan.

[Block 5]
However, up to the video, the atmosphere was identifying “They are trying to do something,” but public opinion is getting quite bad starting from the photos. The first photo teaser was not a reinterpretation of [Blurred], but just cosplay-like styling. The second teaser was members in a snowy field set wearing fur hats, fur boots, and outfits like crystal bikinis; it was pointed out that they were common photos from overseas shopping malls, and the styling details, composition, and even poses were identical.

[Block 6]
The timing was subtly favorable. Since it was the day when the Lee Jae-myung stabbing incident and the Seoul Music Awards happened consecutively, it seems the trolls (aggro) didn’t bother to bite this team hard. At most, it was appearance evaluations like “There are no Pledis-style beauties” or “Why are there no visuals when it’s HYBE?”, but this is a part we were already anticipating so there is no big damage. The funniest reaction was “Where did the skills go that [Blurred] picked?”; even SEVENTEEN faced all sorts of visual attacks when they debuted.

[Block 7]
The gist of the complaint is that the company is responding lukewarmly to the giant evil called “DC” (DC Inside). There were also pessimistic reactions asking, “Even the country can’t shut down one gallery, how can HYBE steal user info?” For now, it seems the consensus has progressed to the line where resentment towards the [Blurred Name] fandom is shared among the rest of the fans, and preventing this from connecting to a boycott of the artist is the company’s share of care for the time being.
Almost the only problem related to [Blurred Name] is, as expected, military enlistment. After the showcase, fan needs for a tour have risen significantly; if enlistment is decided early, the internal fandom struggle (Akgae fight) about “Sacrifice of the youngest” will likely rise big again.

[Block 8]
It seems the reaction to the content was sorted out a bit after [Blurred Name] appeared on . A flow wondering if the wariness about weaving ‘someone else’s oppa’ and ‘cute universal little sister’ was too big. The atmosphere is adoring the appearance of two high school girls probing each other saying “You look like someone else, not me.” It seems an approach where [Blurred Name] could comfortably show his real self was needed for character building. They also filmed a challenge, but it was a bit heartbreaking that the physical (height/build) difference between the two was too large, perhaps because [Blurred Name] grew taller in the meantime. And thinking about [Blurred Name]’s [Blurred] who was almost similar in height when filming a challenge with that [Blurred Name], it makes my heart ache more. And thinking that such [Blurred Name] happens to be friends with [Blurred Name] so the two were caught on camera side by side makes my heart ache continuously.

[Block 9]
Not sure if he is good at stages or hosting, but just [Blurred Name] standing there has meaning. The interview team happened to be NCT [Blurred] and [Blurred], and it was sorry to watch because both teams were physically slaughtered by [Blurred Name]. [Blurred Name] is originally perceived as being very tall, and his character image is a bit mild and clumsy so it didn’t feel that out of place, but [Blurred Name] standing side by side with [Blurred Name] made me think the difference was too much.
On Sunday, suddenly on Instiz, the story about [Blurred Name] giving up his dog for adoption was dragged out again; I wondered what was going on, but there must have been someone whose button was pushed after watching .

HYBE Weekly Music Industry Report additional document 2

Viral Marketing Implications and Community Sentiment Management Context

<2023-10-25>
: Reality show first release. There isn’t a specific reaction being caught in domestic communities yet, and since the full-scale travel hasn’t started, we need to wait until next week.
: However, we definitely need to send out more viral promotional content in a way that can appeal to the outside, whether it’s Shorts or blog diary formats, before it’s too late. (Omitted)
: Since [Blurred Name] stands out a bit alone, we could loosen that up as a queen character who wants to give off a slightly languid cat-like, different atmosphere, while dragging the rest of the members like country puppies (not beagles). I feel we could definitely squeeze into the position of [Blurred Group]. The natural bright feeling is strong, but it’s a pity that it’s not being discovered well in girl groups.
: Especially for [Blurred Name], if there is a photo that can be compared to the “Maltese famous for having soot on its messy face,” it would be good to appeal in that direction. We could designate a matching dog breed for each member and approach the “Yeocho” (Female-dominated communities) / Low-teen issues.

<2022-09-28>
Mad Summer
: It’s a fanfic that came out early in the debut, and whether the author is a fox (sly), they open the text occasionally to self-manage the issue. So it seems to have become a named fanfic within the 4th generation idol scene entirely. Last week, it was trending on Twitter because [Blurred Name] was revealed after a long time. However, while new fans and old-by (old) fans were reacting fussily regarding this, the reaction from the fandom core was strangely negative. The kids who push “Coupling” (Shipping) tend to act particularly peculiar, but regarding this fanfic, the power of the “bait” (content) grew to the point where it swallowed the actual fandom reaction and my team’s [Blurred], so there seems to be some strange attrition warfare.
: Initially, because of this text, the fantasy about the relationship between [Blurred Name] – [Blurred Name] was inflated too much, but in reality, the two are in a bickering relationship, and the members themselves have an atmosphere like cousins stuck together all summer vacation, not a mood good for “CP-ers” (Shippers) to be active. Because of this, conspiracy theories are even circulating that this text itself is a renaming of a text written unrelated to [Blurred Name] or [Blurred Name], and it was brought to the new fandom to take the “Named” title.
: Entering the 4th generation, the situation is that “Postype” (Fanfic platform) itself has been pushed back a lot from the base of fan activities. The fact that this text continues to carry issues strangely seems to be related to nostalgia for classic “Stanning” (Fangirling). In that aspect, no matter how sophisticated [Blurred Group] becomes and performs pop-trend oriented stages, I start to think that maybe the needs for K-Pop style drama are holding out in the core where fans react. I mean, maybe it’s a team that needs a truly tearfully dramatic moment.

<2023-07-19>
: According to recently seen information, if you search for fanfic popularity rankings on Postype, most of the top ranks are NCT fanfics. Especially, they say “Na-pes” (RPS involving oneself/Dream) continues to be NCT from 1st place. I thought that this type of “Over-immersion” or “Pseudo-dating” form of stanning itself is a bit of an old-school way of stanning, and that staying there is the essence of the SM fandom.
: During the rising period of [Blurred Group], there was loud talk that because coupling was not popular in this team, Postype was in a drought and thus the core wouldn’t stick and growth would be difficult. But eventually, the team became [Blurred] presenting a form of stanning suitable for the new era, “Uh-Duk-Haeng-Duk” (If you’re going to be a fan anyway, do it happily). There was a time when other fandoms were more interested in whether the writer of the legendary fanfic of [Blurred Group], [Blurred Name], had moved to which board (fandom). It is the point where I think those who can only do fanfic-based stanning have been tied to such agendas in the back alleys all this time. The tacky worldview stemming from here is eventually reflected intact in their attitude towards different members and different teams, reaching the state where they hear the derogatory term “That Fandom.”

[Blurred Name]
: Indoor smoking scene with an electronic cigarette in the behind-the-scenes video. They might make an excuse saying it was filmed directly in front of the practice mirror so it wasn’t… (Text cuts off)

HYBE Weekly Music Industry Report additional document 3

(Continued from previous page)…fans might make excuses asking if he wasn’t just eating a chocolate bar because he was tired from practicing, but he only received ridicule. This scene was deleted and the video was re-uploaded, and that scene has already been reported regarding indoor smoking.
: It’s not just SM, but since [Blurred Group] already has several members embroiled in smoking controversies, I wonder if it’s a problem that they can’t filter these issues out within the practice room or self-produced content (Jacon). It feels like a sickeningly repetitive pattern where “The Communities” overlook scenes of them openly smoking indoors as if they are outlaws of the world, even though they made a fuss about paparazzi shots of smoking in smoking areas.

<2023-05-17>
Certainly, after the trailer, awareness of the team’s comeback seems to have grown within the scene. Since the outlines of new teams like [Blurred Name] have not yet emerged, it implies a timing where the “wandering consumption layer” (light fans) can place positive interest in [Blurred Name]. The atmosphere suggests there is still an opportunity to run a “Viral” signaling that “It is not too late to enter the fandom (Stan) now” in terms of visuals, stage skills, and vision. Of course, the flow where the tension to digest the domestic comeback as “bait” (content) simultaneously with the Japanese fandom—while tightening the fandom solidarity in Japan—was created will also act as an important factor.

<2023-11-01>
Among Thai superstars, she is top-tier so she performs at Rajamangala, but I think the information that [Blurred Name] is performing here is meaningful enough to run a “Viral” just with the venue summary. Especially since top-selling teams on the recent charts are often suspected of “Where are they being sold?” (Sajaegi/Hoarding suspicions), [Blurred Name]’s Bangkok concert was at Impact Arena.

In the beginning, fans were just talking quietly about how cute it was, but after a few days, a critical post eventually shot up to the “Hot Category” on TheQoo, and although it passed 1,000 comments, most were negative reactions. Honestly, it’s only at this level because the reaction to [Blurred Name]’s album is ambiguous; if it were [Blurred Name], it would have become a huge controversy.

And regarding the words coming out by weaving the [Blurred Group] case: There was an incident where staff members resided in female-dominated cafes like “Women’s Generation” (Yeo-Si) to discipline the stanning culture (control fandom atmosphere). The claim is that they consistently positioned them as a team popular among women in their 20s and 30s, and company personnel directly intervened here because the reaction from “Yeo-Si” was the origin. They allegedly went to negative posts about [Blurred Name] to cause a scene and led the defamation of other boy groups. I wondered if rumors had spread in the idol scene that “Yeo-Si” is an untouchable group (a powerful group one shouldn’t mess with).

I kept monitoring “Instiz”, and as similar content was repeated too much and users showed dissatisfaction, the administrator cut off (banned) just one or two people, and at that moment, mentions of [Blurred Name] stopped. It was confirmed that it was a structure where a truly small minority of people were continuously supplying life to the topic as if doing a job (operation). I thought I could roughly grasp the purpose of that side, seeing that the point where the series of madness subsided matches exactly with the timing when this news was delivered to “Twifemi” (Twitter Feminists) and general female users who want to reveal their own “PC-ness” (Political Correctness).

Recently, there was news that [Blurred Name] introduced a novel collection as a book he is reading, and there was quite a bit of content in male-dominated communities attracting “Aggro” (Provocation) calling this “Feminist.” It is an anthology of young domestic authors, and I wonder how many young Korean novelists active today are not feminists. Rather than this communication having a big impact on [Blurred Name], I think it might be used as “Aggro” in a way that implies [Blurred Name] tried to ride the “Femi-Coin” (profiting from feminism) but ended up “Team Killing” (self-sabotaging) when the team wasn’t doing well.

: [Blurred Name], who was known as [Blurred] and moved to this team, released several photos kissing his girlfriend, leading to small commotion overnight. According to the explanation from the verified account (egg account), the girlfriend is a minor, and the photos were taken as selfies in places presumed to be accommodation establishments (motels) and cafes, so it looks difficult to blame it on “Sasaengs” (Stalker fans). (Omitted) However, the scary thing about the community atmosphere is that it is too obvious that they do not want to drag this issue out for long. In “Instiz”, the atmosphere was quickly setting up a frame of “Since the photos were released, [Blurred Name] is also a victim” and entering a “silencing operation,” and even if related stories came out afterwards, the atmosphere was blocking mentions with an attitude of “He’ll probably do his main job well.” In TheQoo, the issue didn’t even go up to the Hot Category; if it’s like this, I can’t understand why [Blurred Name]’s club paparazzi case in the past had to go through such chaos.