How GFriend overcame its limitations as a girl group of small agency

In the k-pop industry, k-pop agency’s capital strength and power have a decisive effect on its idol group’s success. So, nobody in the industry expected that GFrined, a girl group of a very small agency will achieve such a huge success. Some people say GFriend was just lucky because the girl group could receive great attention from many people when the video clip of the members falling down on the stage again and again has become an online sensation. Well, but that’s not all. Let’s see how GFriend could overcome its limitations as a girl group of a small agency.

First, GFriend could catch the eyes of people with its pure but energetic conception. When GFriend debuted, the members captivated k-pop fans’ hearts by showing off their pure and innocent charm. However, the girls, who look very vulnerable showed energetic and powerful dance performance on the stage. In this way, they highlighted their attraction as lively teenage girls and differentiated themselves from the other girl groups. Some people in the k-pop industry even say the idea of GFriend’s agency was a stroke of genius.

Second, GFriend fascinated k-pop fans by singing songs with catchy and familiar melodies. When GFriend debuted, the girl group was faced with an unexpected difficulty because there was much debate over the originality of “Glass Bead” among netizens. The Netizens insisted that GFriend plagiarized Girls' Generation's old hit “Into the New World.” It seems that no one can deny that the two songs sound alike, but, I can't say that GFriend copied Girls' Generation's song, either. A complicated story, huh? Well, in the world of k-pop, we call this kind of thing "reference." When k-pop idol groups prepare for their debut, their agencies usually search for great examples. And yeah, for GFriend and its agency, Girls’ Generation was the great example to refer to.

Anyway, since its debut, GFriend has been releasing songs with catchy and familiar melodies which remind people of dance music of the 90s and 2000s like “Into the New World,” and the songs could become hits because most of the general public likes easy and familiar music.