On May 6, 2021, it was announced that SM entertainment (SME) would partner with MGM Television (an American television production/distribution studio) to launch an American competition show to create a new NCT sub-unit that would be called "NCT Hollywood". This article will be split into three parts: First, explaining the concept of NCT, a Kpop boy group under SM entertainment and its many, MANY members. Second, stating what has been officially announced, so we're all on the same page and no false information would be relayed. Last but not least, I'll give my very humble opinion on the matter. So, has SM entertainment gone over the limit for its "limitless-concept" group? Let's find out!

Once upon a time, Neo Culture Technology...

Neo Culture Technology, most commonly known as NCT, is a Kpop boy group under the label SM entertainment. It is CURRENTLY composed of 23 members: Taeyong (the leader), Mark, Johnny, Taeil, Doyoung, Jungwoo, Haechan, Jaehyun, Yuta, Ten, Lucas, Hendery, Xiaojun, Yang Yang, Kun, WinWin, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Chenle, Jisung (the youngest), Shotaro and Sungchan (the newest members who were introduced in 2020). However, they function in sub-units, meaning that they do not always perform altogether, but in small groups that are: NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream, and WayV. 

The first sub-unit of NCT is NCT U that debuted on April 9, 2016. The line-up for this unit keeps changing, meaning that you might have multiple songs sang by "NCT U", but the members would be different from one song to another. For example: In the song "Make a Wish" we have Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jaemin, Lucas, Xiaojun, and Shotaro. And for "Work It", we have Johnny, Ten, Jisung, Jaemin, Yuta, Jungwoo, and Hendery.

The second sub-unit is NCT 127 that debuted on July 10, 2016 with the song "Fire Truck" and is composed of Taeyong, Mark, Johnny, Yuta, Jungwoo, Taeil, Doyoung, Jaehyun and Haechan. 

The third NCT sub-unit is NCT Dream that debuted on August 24th, 2016 with the song "Chewing Gum" and is composed of the youngest NCT members: Mark, Haechan, Jaemin, Jeno, Chenle, Renjun and Jisung. 

The fourth NCT sub-unit is WayV. The sub-unit is based in China making WayV the first sub-unit in NCT based out of Korea. WayV is under S.M Entertainment’s China-exclusive label: Label V and is composed of the members Ten, Xiaojun, Kun, Hendery, Lucas, YangYang and WinWin. They debuted on January 17, 2019 with the song "Take Off". 

You might have noticed it already, but yes some members are in multiple units, and four of them (Taeyong, Mark, Ten and Lucas) are part of another group under SM entertainment that is called "SuperM", a project Lee Soo Man (CEO and founder of SM entertainment) created to "conquer" the American market. SuperM's members are Taeyong and Mark from NCT 127, Lucas and Ten from WayV, Kai and Baekhyun from EXO, and Taemin from SHINee. 

And it seems that the limitless concept really doesn't have any limits, since a fifth unit is said to be soon added to the pile...

All we need to know about NCT Hollywood

According to an article on "The Hollywood Reporter" published on May 6, 2021 (and written by Rebecca Sun) and according to an article released by Soompi on the same day, there will be an audition program open to American males aged between 13 and 25 years old in order to form a new NCT sub-unit that will focus on promoting in the U.S: "NCT Hollywood". 

"Contestants will be flown to Seoul for K-pop bootcamp training at the SM campus, where in each episode, they will compete in dance, vocal and style tests and will be judged and mentored by SM founder Lee Soo-man as well as various current NCT members." We still don't have more information about how many NCT members will be involved in this and who exactly. 

“I look forward to making an unconventional audition show that all music fans around the world can enjoy,” said Lee Soo Man, founder and CEO of SM entertainment in a statement. “I hope the audience enjoys watching the journey of new stars being born in Hollywood, that will be promoted as NCT-Hollywood in the global market in the future.”

The general public's response and my personal point of view

The general public's response was, to say the least, intense: the fans are divided and felt mixed feelings. Some arguments popped up more often than others such as: "Take care of the current members before adding new ones to the list", "Sungchan and Shotaro haven't been properly introduced yet", and "stop wanting to please to everyone, let K-pop be". I do agree with all these points and I will elaborate on them right now.

From a fan's perspective, here's what I would say:

Currently NCT is made of 23 members. When you have that many members in a group, it is evident that the work distribution will be unequal. Some members (like WinWin and YangYang) barely get one or two lines in a song, when others get a whole verse. Some members are even overworked by being in almost every single unit (like Taeyong and Mark). So SM, keep adding members and you'll see that the more you add people the less efficient they'll become. 

Next, we have to talk about Shotaro and Sungchan. Both of them have made their "official" debut in the "Resonance" era with Make A Wish for Shotaro and 90s love for Sungchan. However, both songs were promoted under NCT U, which is not a fixed unit (the lineup keeps changing). So SM, please, put them in a fixed unit before creating a new one!

As for the "stop trying to please everyone", I totally agree with this. Following BTS's huge success in the US market, every other company wants to achieve the same thing, and for long-time Kpop fans it kind of sucks because it makes Kpop lose its spark. And this issue makes us ask ourselves: What is Kpop? Is it only pop music sang in Korean? Or is it more than that? I don't really have an answer to be honest, because of all the boundaries that are being crossed. 10 years ago, I would've said that Kpop is music made in Korea, sung by Korean people (or asian people if we include the japanese/chinese members that were in groups back in the days) within the asian continent. Because that's literally what it stands for, "Korean pop music". And that's why I like to make the differentiation between Kpop and Kmusic, because Kpop only refers to the pop genre.   Nowadays, the music is not only in Korean. They've been doing English, Japanese, Chinese versions of songs. Plus, they've been promoting all over the world, including Europe and America. So the previous definition becomes obsolete. And so it really depends on your own definition of Kpop. 

Now, from a business student's perspective, here's what I would say:

It's a smart move. I'm going to compare the situation to brands/product lines/portfolios but I'm not dehumanising NCT. What SM wanted to do back in 2015-2016 was literally creating a new brand (here NCT) in their portfolio of brands (Shinee, EXO, Girls Generation, etc.). And that brand would have different strategic business units, aka NCT dream, NCT 127, NCT U, WayV and NCT Hollywood. Each of these units would aim at targeting a different market (here the criteria are socio-demographic aka age of the fans, location of the fans, the language they speak, etc.). So yes, business-wise, it's something all big companies do in our everyday life and it's something smart to do in the Kpop industry.

I really look forward to see how the show will look like, what will be the training the participants will go through, and if current NCT members will be part of the unit because SM didn't give much information regarding the composition of the unit. Again, let's not forget that the ultimate goal is to make money, and that conquering the US market is still not an easy task, and that you need a very specific "product" to please that very specific market.

And this, my friends, is the end of the article! I would love to know your own opinions, so feel free to comment it down below! 

Take care and I'll see you soon ^^ 

Love, Swan