The Two K-Pop Labels Who Are Overwhelmingly Represented At The “2022 MAMA Awards”… And One Noticeably Absent

Earlier today, the second lineup of performers for the 2022 MAMA Awards was announced, adding several soloists and rookie K-Pop groups to the already impressive list.

At this time, the artists planned to perform for the first day of the awards show (November 29) are Stray Kids, TXT, Kep1er, JO1, Hyolyn, FORESTELLA, BIBI, NMIXX, and LE SSERAFIM, while the line-up for the second day (November 30) consists of ITZY, ENHYPEN, IVE, TREASURE, Zico, Lim Youngwoong, (G)I-DLE, NiziU, INI, and NewJeans.

While being excited about the artists performing, some fans have also noticed something about the line-up that is a bit interesting.

It seems that some Korean entertainment labels are much more represented in the performance list than others, most notably when it comes to the “Big Four” companies.

JYP Entertainment and HYBE Labels both have four artists performing, making up nearly half of the performers between the two of them. JYP Entertainment has Stray Kids, NMIXX, ITZY, and NiziU, while HYBE Labels has TXT, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, and ENHYPEN.

YG Entertainment has just one group in the line-up so far — TREASURE — which shows that the label seems to be falling behind when it comes to fresh new K-Pop groups compared to other labels in the current and new generations.

Cube Entertainment is represented by (G)I-DLE, and Starship Entertainment is represented by IVE, and both girl groups have been at the top of the charts this past year and keeping their companies relevant!

But one “Big Four” company is notably absent from the line-up of artists: SM Entertainment. Despite having highly successful artists like Red Velvet, NCT, and aespa that are able to compete against the most popular artists today, it doesn’t appear that any of them will be present at the awards show so far, at least not on stage.

Of course, there could still be more artists announced for the line-up in the coming days, but netizens have noticed SM Entertainment’s absence so far and have made comments about it. Some suspect that the awards predictions could have something to do with it, while others believe their artists are too busy with other schedules.

• “They won’t go because they won’t be getting an award.”
• “It’s been years since an SM Artist won a grand prize”
• “MAMA has nothing to give SM. aespa is losing to IVE, and Red Velvet is behind (G)I-DLE now. No award is left for them.”
• “Does SM have a beef with MAMA?”
• “SM is busy preparing for comebacks. Honestly, their artists’ comeback cycle this year is worse than last year.”
• “They won’t go because besides not getting awards, they also won’t get an ending stage… If they want awards, they should put out good songs and promote properly. And even if they won’t get awards, they should still attend to congratulate the winners. I guess they really want authority when they attend awards.”
• “is aespa locked up in sm dugeon? i dont see them anywhere in any award show or they dont have a good result for this year?”
• “As they should, MAMA is known for robbing SM idols year after year starting from 2009”

Time will tell if more artists are added to the 2022 MAMA Awards performance line-up, but it seems that if nothing else, JYP Entertainment and HYBE Labels fans should be excited for the show!