KPOP FANDOM LIFE

The three biggest agencies in terms of income are S.M. Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, they are often referred to as the "Big Three", whose stocks are traded at the Korea Exchange. In K-pop these record labels also function as agencies for the artists. They started operating as such at the beginning of the 2000s. They are responsible for employing, funding, training, marketing and publishing new artists as well as managing their activities and public relations.

In terms of market share the biggest agency is S.M. Entertainment. Their artists started the Hallyu wave in K-pop and managed to break into Japan. The "Big Three" rarely cooperate, for example Se7en, managed by YG Entertainment received a song from JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young in 2012 and the representatives of the three agencies judged at the SBS reality talent show "K-pop Star". The "Big Three", together with Star J Entertainment, AM Entertainment and Key East founded the United Asia Management (UAM), which aims to spread K-pop globally as well as enable the development of better artist employment and management processes. UAM auditions are global and not restricted to Korean talents. Besides musicians, UAM also manages actors, directors, stylists, hair and make-up artists. Their merge was highly criticized as it might put pressure on content providers as well as further pressurize other Asian countries, like the Chinese market, which is unable to respond to and compete with the mass production of Korean entertainment companies.

In 2009, DFSB Kollective became the first distributor of K-pop songs on iTunes. The recent overseas expansion by K-pop music agencies has led to significant increases in profit and total income.