As part of the new plan for SM Entertainment‘s business strategy and development plan moving forward — known as SM 3.0 — the label has implemented the use of “centers” in the company, with each one in charge of different artists. Prior to this, all of their artists were managed by the same production team, but beginning last year, five different centers were created with each of them in charge of different SM Entertainment idols and groups.
| NAKD SEOUL
Center 1, also known simply as “ONE”, is in charge of three different artists: BoA, Girls’ Generation (the remaining members as SM Entertainment, at least), and aespa.
aespa | SM Entertainment
Center 2, called “PRISM”, has a perhaps unexpected line-up consisting of SHINee (the remaining members at SM), WayV, and Lucas.
WayV | SM Entertainment
Center 3, also named “RED”, is aptly in charge of both TVXQ and Red Velvet.
Red Velvet | SM Entertainment
Center 4, also known as NEO, is also unsurprisingly in charge of the other NCT units besides WayV: NCT 127, NCT U, NCT DREAM, and NCT WISH.
NCT 127 | SM Entertainment
Finally, center 5, which is also called “WIZARD”, has control over Kangta, Super Junior (the remaining members at SM), EXO, and RIIZE.
RIIZE | SM Entertainment
Here’s a visual of the five centers.
There has been plenty of criticism against the implementation of SM 3.0, especially as staff members working at the company have shared their discontent and frustration with the way the company has been going. Additionally, SM Entertainment has been losing many beloved and legendary idols in recent times, including SHINee’s Taemin and Onew, several EXO and Girls’ Generation members, and Super Junior’s Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun.
Taemin (SHINee) | SM Entertainment
K-Pop fans also believe that the centers aren’t all equal, and that some of them are better at promoting and taking care of their artists than others. For example, the ONE center generally has favorable opinions due to the amount of promotions that their artists get, while the RED center seems to get the most criticism due to their artists’ lack of activity and apparent support.
On a forum post discussing the five centers of SM Entertainment, netizens had a lot of varying and strong opinions to share.
What are your opinions on the five centers that SM Entertainment has divided into?
