BoA parts ways with SM Entertainment

So, in news which was both surprising, but not that surprising — the Queen of K-pop that is BoA, has chosen not to renew her contract at SM Entertainment.

An official statement from SM Entertainment was posted on BoA’s official artist Instagram account, which is managed by SM. The statement was posted in Korean. An interesting choice to not include an English translation given, where K-pop is at and that BoA has many international fans. Now that I think about it, it was odd to not even include a Japanese translation.

HENNYWAY.

The translation below is via Google Translate. I do not read nor speak Korean, so cannot vouch for the accuracy of this translation. But nothing in it looks to be too off, based purely on the context.

Hello, this is SM Entertainment.

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Jumping Boa and everyone else who has always loved and supported artist BoA.

After lengthy and in-depth discussions with BoA, we have agreed to conclude our 25-year partnership on December 31st.

BoA, who debuted in 2000 at the age of 13, has been loved by global music fans as an 'icon of overseas expansion' and 'star of Asia' who pioneered the Korean Wave throughout Asia, and has become a role model for many juniors who are leading the K-pop craze.

As a pioneer and a trailblazer, BoA's journey has been marked by brilliant achievements and unparalleled records, all thanks to her tireless efforts and passion.

From BoA's extraordinary debut, which made history in the Korean pop music industry, to her current growth as a No. 1 artist and producer, we remember every moment and are truly honored to have been a part of her dazzling journey.

BoA has been the pride, pride, and symbol of SM Entertainment for 25 years.

Although her exclusive contract with us has ended, we hope that BoA will continue to shine even brighter as a “star of Asia” by fully demonstrating her abilities in the new activities and challenges she will take on in the future.

We ask for your continued love and support for BoA's future. We sincerely hope that BoA, not just as an artist, will continue to support her future and find true happiness.

Thank you.

BoA and SM Entertainment parting ways is a HUGE deal, and I can’t imagine it was a decision BoA made lightly — given that most of her life has been being an artist at SM Entertainment. But I’m sure it was something she had thought about for a while, for a bunch of reasons. K-pop is ageist, especially toward women. Women are aged out, and SM were also contributing to this, all the while BoA is still signed to them. K-pop tends not to look back and really honour icons of the genre. So with the main K-pop audience being so young, they just don’t have the reverence for BoA that fans close to her in age who remember the golden eras of K-pop have. So because of this, BoA’s music releases never caught on, never delivered high streaming numbers and her music videos would not become the online sensations that those from younger acts would. And so much conversation around BoA online from these younger K-pop audiences would be about how ‘old’ she is. And between these commentaries, how ageist K-pop is and how common cosmetic procedures are in South Korea — it probably all conflated to lead BoA to have work done. BoA having work done to her face became a huge topic when she starred in the 2024 K-drama Marry My Husband. If netizens weren’t talking about how terrible BoA’s acting was, they were talking about her face. And I can imagine that this felt VERY loud, given the great viewership for this show and that BoA’s face was on more screens and in more homes than it had been for quite some time. So loud in fact, that it led to BoA hopping on Instagram live to address the surgery ‘discourse’. Then there was the ‘BoA drug scandal’ of 2020, which threw a spanner in the works of BoA’s 20th anniversary comeback. A situation which SM Entertainment handled terribly. And then there is the Lee Soo-man of it all. The man who discovered BoA and helped build her career. He was there for BoA from day one, and gave her special treatment — deservedly so. So Lee Soo-man being kicked out leaving SM Entertainment in 2022 was probably a big blow for BoA, as he not only advocated and protected her at SM, but BoA had never known a time at SM without him.

I’m just speculating and calling out a bunch of things. Anybody can make reasons to leave somewhere. But when you look at what BoA’s had to deal with over the past 6 years, it’s no wonder she ended her contract. And this is all of the stuff that we do know. There was probably all sorts of mess behind-the-scenes and closed doors that BoA was witnessing and privy to, which made her question staying and probably helped her make her decision more than any of the stuff mentioned above. Her Instagram post a year ago, in which she openly mentioned that her SM contract would expire in a year and jokingly-but-not-jokingly contemplated not renewing it was very telling.

BoA | SM Entertainment

SM Entertainment is a mess and has been for a while. And they have not known what to do with BoA for a while now. So, her leaving makes sense to me.

Given the landscape of K-pop being so different to what it was in 2010, and there being no space in it where BoA can meaningfully exist and thrive — I think she should instead turn her attention and focus back to her Japanese career. I always found it such a shame that the point when her Korean releases got better, her Japanese releases got worse, when it was a Japanese release (Identity) which resulted in her Korean releases getting better and becoming some of the best releases of her career. The Japanese music scene isn’t as ageist as K-pop — there are a lot of acts in their forties, fifties and beyond who are still active and not being nudged out by audiences over their age. And the Japanese music scene really does honour and value acts who have been in the game for a good while. Also, there is still a space in the game for an artist like BoA. The only act in Japanese music right now who is comparable to BoA is Daichi Miura. So there is no risk of her having to deal with a market oversaturated with similar acts. Also, BoA has a big thing for jazz and lounge music, which coincides nicely with Japan’s love of these genres and the rise in popularity of city pop — so BoA could easily carry over the sounds she’s been honing and delivering for her Korean releases into her Japanese releases, WHICH IS WHAT SHE SHOULDA BEEN DOING IN THE FIRST PLACE. I do not understand why her Japanese releases have been such trite for the past decade.

BoA could choose to produce for Korean acts behind the scenes, which she’s shown a knack and an inkling for over the years. Or she could choose to pull a Namie Amuro and peace out from music entirely — and I wouldn’t blame her if she did. After all, BoA has been at this music shit since she was 13 years old. But I do hope she chooses to revitalise her Japanese career and get her music to a [turns and looks into the camera] better place. Because it’d be a shame for her to call everything quits with Watashi Kono Mama de Ii no Kana being her last Japanese studio album. Because, girl for real. Are you okay like this?

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💿 Album Reviews: K-pop Hurricane Venus | Kiss My Lips | One Shot, Two Shot | Woman | Starry Night | Better | Forgive Me | J-pop Listen to My Heart | Outgrow | The Face | Identity | The Greatest | English BoA