There’s no set expectation for how often a K-Pop artist should release songs, and how many they should have in their discography after a certain period of time. However, while the number of songs a group releases during its rookie period varies depending on the group and its label, the first two years of their career is generally pretty busy and often the time when they release the most music.
IVE | Starship Entertainment
Take IVE, for example. They’ve just about reached the end of their rookie years — they debuted in December 2021 — and in the past two years, they’ve released 26 songs (not including Japanese versions of originally Korean songs).
Kep1er | WAKEONE
Kep1er, who debuted in January 2022, has an even larger discography at this point, with 31 songs under their belt so far. Even LE SSERAFIM, who has a bit more time before they reach their two-year debut anniversary in May 2024, has released around 20 songs outside of Japanese versions and 2023 versions of older songs.
LE SSERAFIM | Source Music
In comparison, NMIXX, who debuted in February 2022, has a relatively small discography. Not including instrumentals and collaborations, they have only released 13 songs at this time, due to them having almost only single albums.
NMIXX | JYP Entertainment
What makes it even more unusual is that JYP Entertainment groups are generally known for keeping their artists very busy during the first couple of years of their careers. For example, TWICE had a whopping 43 songs released by the time they reached the end of their rookie years, and Stray Kids had over 50!
The topic of NMIXX’s small discography was discussed recently on a Reddit post, with fans speculating over whether or not they should have released more songs by now.
Some people agreed with the author that the girl group hasn’t produced as many songs as they would have expected by now, especially due to them being a JYP Entertainment group.
On the other hand, several other people aren’t too concerned about it, and think that the departure of former member Jini plus the uncertainty over NMIXX’s musical direction has led to them not being as active as they might otherwise be.
Hopefully NMIXX’s fans will get plenty more music from the girl group soon, and the members will get to continue to showcase their vocal prowess with a rich and diverse discography!
