I was watching a video about SM entertainment's marketing choices and it made me think of this post.

I'm not a fan of Aespa but I do appreciate some of their songs and listen to them often which is why the way SM is managing them kind of confuses me a bit.

I am not a SM stan and the reason I say this is because I'm not familiar with how the company manages their groups/solos besides of my bad experience with it while liking EXO, I also listen to Baekhyun and Taemin casually but tbh I've never paid attention to the way they're marketed, so if there's anybody more informed than me, let me know, maybe this is a thing SM has always done and I had no idea.

Anyways, I've seen the Aespa fandom talk about how it seems like SM is "wasting Aespa's momentum" by taking too long between comebacks and having them do other activities that do not exactly benefit the group, I've also heard them say that the company seems to be more interested in solidifying the "SM" brand rather than the group's brand and other things of that nature.

Personally, the way Aespa is promoted reminds me of actual BlackPink, especially combining the copious amounts of fashion related events they attend and how long they take between comebacks, now, I wouldn't really have a concern with this, I mean, BlackPink is literally the biggest girl group right now, they're doing great but the difference is that Aespa are still pretty new on the scene and sure, the drought will get the kpop community to pay more attention than normal to your music due to... Well, basically how long it took you to come back but what worked for YG/BP in 2017 (Before BlackPink established a solid fanbase) might not work in 2023, especially considering how competitive the Kpop scene has become.

But, honestly I don't know, I realize this is a very personal perspective so I wanted to hear yours if you want to share.