footballfina 29,566 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 At their inception, Pledis Entertainment’s male group Nu’est was touted as one of the rookies to look out for in 2012, alongside SM Entertainment’s Exo and TS Entertainment’s B.A.P. Out of these three super rookie groups that debuted in 2012, Nu’est seems to be the only one not living up to their hype. During their debut with “Faceâ€, they drew a lot of attention with their dubstep-centric sound, lyrics tackling bullying, and the androgynous nature of Ren’s image. Recently, the group announced its impending Japanese debut; they will be releasing Nu’est Best in Korea on July 30th. This news isn’t surprising per se, but what puzzles me is Nu’est’s place in all of this — the group isn’t fully established in Korea. The group has not had a breakout hit, and a lot of the momentum they built has largely been eroded due to mismanagement from Pledis. Let’s recap the history of Nu’est briefly to get a better sense of their career trajectory. They debuted with “Face†in March of 2012, and it performed solidly for a rookie group, reaching number 62 on the Gaon singles chart. Their follow up “Action†was released a few months later in July, but it peaked lower, climbing only number 77. To Pledis’s credit, they tried mixing it up with “Hello†– Nu’est’s first comeback in 2013. It was a mid-tempo song that had a seasonal appeal. The change-up worked and “Hello†would go on to be their biggest hit to date charting at 51. Of the songs they have released so far, this would be the peak in their career. “Sleep Talking†was promoted about ten months ago. That single was a return to their electro-pop sound, but it also became their lowest charting title track to date, peaking at 92. Based off chart performance, Nu’est has failed to crack the top 50 with any song and is actually in a decline since their most notable hit. At the end of 2013, Nu’est announced they were adding a new member for their Chinese promotions. Jason joined the members to create Nu’est-M, and the group promoted their tracks in China for a bit. They made their rounds of the Chinese variety shows and festivals. It was interesting to see them tackle a different market, but it was puzzling given their lukewarm reception in Korea so far. Since then, they have been noticeably absent from the music scene, until recently when their company announced their Japanese debut. Sometimes overseas promotions can feel like extended periods of inactivity for a group, but in actuality Nu’est are constantly promoting their music – just not in Korea. This brings me to the question at hand: shouldn’t Nu’est be working on solidifying their Korean popularity before venturing overseas? Nu’est have only been active in the K-pop scene for 2 years. If you take a look at their popularity in 2012, against their same year contemporaries (of which there were over 30 groups that year), Nu’est’s debut song was one of the highest selling singles for a rookie group. However, their popularity has since been eclipsed by many other groups whose first songs charted much lower. While sales do not necessarily equate to popularity, this declining trend seems to indicate a plateau in their career. They have not been able to stir up new interest in their music. We are now at the halfway point in the year, and the boys still seem to be dormant back at home. Furthermore, questions of how Pledis is handling all of the acts on their plate have come up. With Seventeen in the pipeline, the company should be utilizing their resources to establish a stronger foothold in the market for Nu’est. Instead, Nu’est appears to be deployed as a pawn, to gauge how best to tackle the Asian market outside of Korea. With more overseas promotions in the line-up, the boys would be absent from the Korean scene for almost a year. Looking at the Pledis roster, it is a wonder that they continue to add on newer groups. Their star group Orange Caramel After School has been trying to reestablish an identity, especially with their graduation system sparking a different group dynamic. Also lacking their own breakout hit, Hello Venus has only found lukewarm success. Son Dambi and Kahi have both released music sporadically in the past year, although their promotions have suffered due to a lack of marketing effort from their company. And even though they have yet to debut, Pledis has their hands full with Seventeen, cultivating a following for the boys with magazines and TV shows while planning on tackling three different markets in Asia with the boys. The reason why all of this bothers me is: Nu’est had all the potential to become a top tier group based off their debut efforts. Since then, I highly question Pledis’ mismanagement of their activities. Sending a group away for a year may build excitement for a group with a larger, established following, but for a group that has yet to find its legs in the K-pop industry, it sounds more like a death sentence. A lot of this is probably just speculation right now. Nu’est can certainly reestablish themselves with a solid comeback song and interesting MV, but the odds seemed stacked against them. I especially worry that they will be further ignored or relegated to a low key comeback once Seventeen debuts. With Pledis’ resources spread even more thinly amongst their growing roster? Is there any hope that Nu’est will get the comeback that they deserve? Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thot 1,829 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 r.i.p their career neva liked them, but i remember when Ren was in Strong Heart and i was like "oh guess nuest is getting big now" since only popular people get to be in the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyung-soo-jung 499 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 the hype for their debut was so high (debut MV views is big) pledis succeed for built the hype and anticipation, but fail at manage them after.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapmon's Ahjussi Husband 2,299 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Then what Ukiss have to say, if Nues't is "done" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil4life 3,270 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 this is the same story for the other major label boybands of 2012 like A-JAX and BTOB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaity 5,777 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 nu'est was doing really well now........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yerowan 1,006 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Pledis may well be experimenting with Nu'est, but it may have more to do with finding a niche where they do better compared to the very saturated idol market in home territory where they're quite obviously not making a mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candykiss 2,124 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Reminds me of Boyfriend Big debut year and than company ships them off to Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shigeo 2,341 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I really like their albums. Baekho's voice is one of my favorite voices in Kpop. Since Pledis is making them promote their group outside of Korea for all this time, I guess they're trying to solidify their international fanbase... which clearly is not working for them. Hope they make a Korean comeback soon. Hello Venus first tho pls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeeYaWithYou 4,415 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Their debut song was actually really good, but then their song quality just went down from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyunseunq 501 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 face and hello were so catchy though. ive never even heard of nu'est-m............ there were so many new boy groups in 2012. it's actually amazing how vixx has come to where they are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArseneLupin 4,475 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 This brings me to the question at hand: shouldn’t Nu’est be working on solidifying their Korean popularity before venturing overseas? Nu’est have only been active in the K-pop scene for 2 years very true groups who aren't big to begin with in korea never make it big in japan or china (unless its part of the big 3 and they sing in chinese like exo m) what pledis failed to do was provided good music for nu'est or decent management Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gno 1,887 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 damn they're releasing a Best Of? dafuck Pledis they haven't even had a major hit to be considered for a "Best Of" album. well so long Nuest, because "Best Of" albums usually means you're done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yabarthe 6,697 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 They had decent momentum in 2012. But the whole group basically revolved around Ren and how he looked like a girl. That got old after awhile. Then that whole n'uest-m came out of the left field and was basically destined to flop. Better luck to them in Japan though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinky 15,878 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I really like face and hello Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako Yagami 4,462 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Pledis is just bad at promoting their artists. After School has plenty of talented members but they only use like 2 most of the time, and then use 3 of them for Orange Caramel since they do better digitally than AS in that department, which brings in $$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XIUDEAN 4,562 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 face and hello were so catchy though. ive never even heard of nu'est-m............ there were so many new boy groups in 2012. it's actually amazing how vixx has come to where they are I was thinking the same thing. I think it's better if you don't debut with TOO much hype (Nuest etc.) It's so much easier to go downhill and have people think you haven't progressed. Whereas VIXX had a fairly weak debut, but now they are working their way up the success ladder, as my grandma always says, "It's not where you came from... but where you're going, that counts." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepidoptery 2,917 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 You have to either blame Pledis in 2012 or not at all. Nu'est flopping with Hello was already a sign that things were not ok. Actually, Nu'est failed the Hanteo-Gaon test with either Action or Face, so their debut was probably not as strong as it seemed, and they weren't able to actually build something better out of it than they have due to competition or lack of angles to exploit. It's not like they didn't get whatever cross-promo was available to them via Orange Caramel (probably the most successful Pledis group even in 2012) or whatever. Like, I'm not saying Pledis' management was brilliant, but shipping them off to China was not the problem. They already had a problem before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsjustanEXOthing 16 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I don't see Nu'EST picking up momentum ever again, sorry bout it. They had a decent start, doesn't matter though since their nugus again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anh. 5,127 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 welp who else to blame but Pledis tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrockfantasia 358 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Pledis just as a company has been doing horribly for as long as I've been in K-Pop. None of their acts have seemed to be popular to any noteworthy extent except maybe Son Dambi. I mean sure they're not flopping but I still feel like their best acts are only like 3rd tier at best if even that. Their biggest misstep with NUEST was moving them out of Korea before getting a solid fanbase. Then again, it happened a lot with other groups as was mentioned. Essentially companies have to be aware of the fact that if they're not big and well known they have to keep their idols in the public eye a lot and it's just not being done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunatrigger 490 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I don't see Nu'EST picking up momentum ever again, sorry bout it. They had a decent start, doesn't matter though since their nugus again I used to be a big fan, but I kinda feel the same, tbh. Really I think it might be a good idea if they went the way of Boyfriend or DGNA, primarily focussing on Japan. They could have sort of a fresh start there and build up a new fanbase... unfortunately, I'm pretty convinced it'll just be a 'make some money in Japan to fund the next Korean comeback' situation :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aion Divinity 9,761 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 This was one of the saddest thing's I've witnessed in Kpop. I was ready to stan for them too. Pledis is just horrible for what they have done to the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aion Divinity 9,761 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Like, I'm not saying Pledis' management was brilliant, but shipping them off to China was not the problem. They already had a problem before that. It contributed to the bigger problem as to why they weren't doing well in Korea. At the end of the day you just don't cross the seas just to cross it. Pledis could've done a NUMBER of things other than ship them across the damn ocean. Variety shows, reality shows etc etc. SOMETHING to get them out there and to garner more fans in Korea. Management is definitely to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chizuru 1,387 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 That article hit the nail on the head. Its quite sad, I really liked Face, everything afterward was just... OK... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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