Girl groups are also in the era of’Total Soccer’… Center disappeared

Black Pink [사진 YG엔터테인먼트]

“But who is the center?”
This is a question I heard from an acquaintance who recently became enamored with Black Pink. He said, “Even if I watch the music video or the stage, it doesn’t seem to be particularly focused on one person. I don’t know if the center is Jisoo or Jenny.”

From the conclusion, there is no center in Black Pink. It’s not just black pink. All of the major girl groups that are counted as representatives of the 4th generation girl groups such as (Female) Idle and Izi (IZTY) have all disappeared from the center position.

(ITZY) [사진 JYP엔터테인먼트]

The center is like the’face’ of a girl group. In performances, they stand at the front or center of the group, and in music videos, they have the most. At one time, in girl groups, centers were considered a prerequisite for success. Girl groups that have enjoyed a period of time captivated the public with firm centers such as Yoona (Girls’ Generation), Suzy (Miss A), and Seolhyun (AOA).

Girls’ Generation. Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Suyoung, Taeyeon, Yoona, Jessica, Seohyun, Sunny, Yuri (from left) [중앙포토]

There was a reason for raising the center like this. It is the’trickle-down effect’ in economics.
The current girl group system was completed in 2007, when Girls’ Generation, Wonder Girls, and Kara debuted. In particular, as 9-member Girls’ Generation had a great success, a multi-member girl group who copied it was pouring out.
The number of girl groups suddenly increased, and because there are many members, it was not easy for individuals to get attention. This is the background for the strategy to raise awareness of the group by bringing one person to the table. Kim Jung-hyun, a popular culture critic, said, “A large entertainment company such as SM Entertainment still had the capacity to export members to various fields such as dramas and radio DJs, but the smaller and medium-sized agencies that were not given such opportunities had no choice but to’all-in’ to one center. “He said.

AOA member Seolhyun greets fans at a fan signing event [중앙포토]

AOA or EXID is a case where they have a lot of fun with this strategy. As for AOA, center Seolhyun became active in various commercials, movies, and dramas, and the words “I don’t know AOA, but Seolhyun knows.” The group’s overall awareness also increased.

However, such a’fallout effect’ strategy clearly had risks. This is because there is a dissatisfaction that’there was a hard work together but the spotlight goes to only one’ and teamwork may be shaken.
An agency official said, “The most difficult case is when the main vocalist doesn’t get as popular as the center. From the main vocalist’s point of view, he suffered the most when recording a song, and he has the most’share’ in the song. “I often complain of extreme stress.” In fact, in the case of some girl groups, these problems could not be overcome, and some members withdrew or the group collapsed.

Suzy, who was MissA’s center [중앙포토]

Accordingly, a strategy that did not emphasize the center position was introduced from the mid-2010s. The representative girl group is TWICE. Twice even set up Nayeon at the center at the beginning of their debut, but it was flexibly applied by taking the role of the center to other members such as Tzuyu and Sana.

It is said that the experience of Miss A, who is counted as a sore finger at JYP Entertainment, also worked. It was once expected to succeed as a large girl group, but as the spotlight was focused only on Suzy, the team eventually turned into an unfamiliar existence. For this reason, Twice strictly restricts members’ individual activities in commercials and entertainment programs.
It is a’Fountain Effect’ strategy in contrast to the so-called’falling water effect’. Unlike the falling water effect, which raises the team with individual members’ awareness, the fractional effect corresponds to the case where the team grows while the whole member receives attention. In other words, a’long run’ is possible only when receiving attention as a’team’.
It also fits with the recent trend emphasizing fairness or’political correctness’. There is an atmosphere that it is difficult to be welcome these days because the position of the center itself reflects the values ​​that place importance on’appearance’.

Twice’more and more’ [사진 JYP엔터테인먼트]

On the one hand, there is an analysis that it is a paving stone for pursuing strategic diversity, like’Total Soccer’, the trend of modern football.
Gaon Chart Chief Commissioner Kim Jin-woo said, “It can be interpreted that there is no center, but it seems that it can be expressed as a multi-center.” It looks like,” he said. “If you set up a center, the group image is bound to be fixed, but no center or multi center has the advantage of enriching the musical colors that the team can digest,” he said.

Reporter Yoo Seong-woon [email protected]