There are infinite topics that can be discussed in relation to any group or fandom of a group, but for now we’ll just do a rough outline to get started. The topic of the day is the South Korean girl group, Girls’ Generation, or SNSD, which is short for So Nyeo Si Dae. The translation of the Korean is, of course, “Girls’ Generation”. This group is made up of nine women- Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, and Seohyun. As in almost all South Korean groups, Taeyeon, the eldest, is the leader.
Fanclub
As for most idol groups in South Korea, SNSD has an official fanclub, and their fans have an official title they go by. Fans of Girls’ Generation go by “Sone” which is pronounced “so one”. This seems a bit odd until you find that the meaning comes from the first word of the first line of their single “Sowoneul malhaebwa (Genie)”. “Sowon” means “wish”. The official fanclub for the group is written as “S♥NE”. A quick search online shows that many Sones agree on the meaning of Girls’ Generation and their fans being one, thus, “so one”.
Industry Relationships
The group debuted in 2007 under S.M. Entertainment, one of the big three agencies in South Korea, the other two being Y.G. Entertainment and J.Y.P. Entertainment. This means that they had the support of a well-recognized juggernaut behind them from the start, although that never means any group is guaranteed success. As in many cases in the South Korean pop industry, all of the members trained for several years before debuting.
Because Girls’ Generation debuted in 2007, this tied them to a couple of other groups in the industry. Firstly, as an SM artist, the group’s debut date was very close to that of the male S.M. group, Super Junior. Super Junior officially debuted in 2006, making them a sort of “upperclassmen” (think in terms of school) in Korean society. Members of both groups were in training for years together before their debut and they can often be found teasing each other comfortably when put together on TV shows.
Secondly, this tied them to 2NE1, a female group from Y.G. Entertainment that debuted in 2009. The reason for this relationship is that even though 2NE1 debuted later, they encountered fairly immediate success, while Girls’ Generation had a more muted reaction until their breakthrough with Gee in 2009, putting them on the same timeline. Since then the two groups have become the two senior girl groups that dominate the pop scene in South Korea, making them rivals of a sort, especially since they come from two different agencies.
Activities
Oftentimes groups can release several singles before finding that one big break, and SNSD’s was “Gee”, as previously mentioned. Since then they have had a number of successful singles and gained attention overseas as well. In 2009 they went around Asia for the first time with their “Into the New World Tour”. In 2010 the group made their Japanese debut, and have continued to release singles there as well as in South Korea.
In the past few years, they have held “The 1st Japan Arena Tour” and “Girl’s Generation 2nd Asian Tour” in 2011, appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and French show “Le Grand Journal” in 2012, had their second Japanese tour with “Girls & Peace: 2nd Japan Tour in Kobe” and won the Best Music Video award for the YouTube Music Awards in 2013, and headlined the convention KCON in Los Angelos as well as conducting their third tour in Japan, “Girls Generation ~Love & Peace~ Japan 3rd Tour”, in 2014. They have also performed alongside their label-mates several times in the “SMTown Live World Tour” series. These are only the highlights.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, the group found time to debut a subgroup called “Girls’ Generation- TTS” or “TaeTiSeo” in 2012. The group is named after the first syllables of its members’ names- Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. This subgroup has been one of the more successful subgroups of any of the idol groups. Their first single “Twinkle” ranked quite well in music award shows, and TaeTiSeo is expected to release new material sometime later this year.
SM Girl Groups
Girls’ Generation is not the only girl group to come out of S.M. Entertainment by far. The first girl group from S.M., called S.E.S., is well known as one of the most popular girl groups of the time, and as a respected forerunner to the modern day K-pop craze, along with Fin.K.L and Baby V.O.X from different companies. You may notice a trend in the naming. Funnily enough, male groups of the time, such as H.O.T. and g.o.d, also complied with the naming theme.
While S.E.S. ran its course and disbanded in 2002 after around 5 years, other S.M. girl groups that debuted before Girls’ Generation number M.I.L.K, Shinvi, and The Grace. The former two have also disbanded while the latter is still technically together, though it has never enjoyed the success of acts like S.E.S. and Girls’ Generation. For the time being S.M. has just one girl group that has debuted since then, f(x), which has done quite well. Incidentally, Jessica’s younger sister, Krystal, is a member of f(x).
More
Obviously a heck of a lot needs to be said just to hit the basics of any idol group. It may be noticeable that the members, who we know to be the most important part of any idol group, were barely mentioned here. We will, of course, explore their personalities and chemistry more later on. The lesson we have re-learned and that we recommend for you to take into your heart, is that idol groups are a marathon, not a sprint. Possibly a sprint-like marathon if you have the endurance for it.
We covered the bones of the group Girls’ Generation here, and we hope it wasn’t too dry. It tends to be dry when it’s all facts (that we compiled from Wikipedia and random Google searches). As we explore this new horizon of fandom more, we’ll try to find the heart of their appeal, but this will take time, so next week expect a treaty on the machine that is the South Korean idol industry. (We are also too knackered right now to add pictures, so expect them tomorrow.) (Update: Look at that- we actually kept our word ;D)
1st Pic (Girls’ Generation) found: http://popdust.com/2014/06/05/girls-generation-release-first-greatest-hits-album-july/
2nd Pic (Sone nametag) found: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/so-nyuh-shi-daes-s%25E2%2599%25A5nes%25E2%2599%25A5/images/31535464/title/sone-photo
3rd Pic (2NE1) found: 2ne1- http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/33045/20130701/2ne1-comeback-single-falling-in-love-july-8.htm
4th Pic (SMTown) found: http://thekpoprage.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/random-rants-sm-town-la-2012-retrospective/
5th Pic (S.E.S.) found: http://www.9ori.com/store/pictures/ses/6.html
We do not claim any of the cited images as our own and would appreciate notice if the owners would like them removed. Thank you!
Hyena Harmony Official Site 