From SM Town to Hybe's multi-label system: the evolution of the K-pop family collab

From SM Town to Hybe's multi-label system.

The "family" spirit that united K-pop fandoms under SM Town in the late 1990s has undergone a paradigm shift in 2026, giving way to what might be called the Hybe-style multi-label alliance. Breaking down the boundaries between individual labels, Le Sserafim, ILLIT and KATSEYE have joined forces — and the latest K-pop family collaboration is poised to set off another round of carefully engineered chemistry.

Hybe subsidiaries Source Music, Belift Lab and Hybe x Geffen Records announced Monday that Le Sserafim, ILLIT and KATSEYE will simultaneously release their collaborative single "ICONIC BY MISTAKE" worldwide at 1 p.m. Friday.

The three-way meeting is a one-off event, but it has drawn considerable attention precisely because it brings together groups that have each carved out a distinct sound and musical identity while dominating English-language charts.

"The three teams have been in touch through challenge shoots and other exchanges, and they often said they hoped to share a stage together someday," a Hybe representative said.

The collaboration brings together three genuinely distinct artistic worlds. Each group's musical foundation and narrative are entirely different, and the encounter — between acts that have grown independently under the multi-label system — looks set to reframe each group's individuality in a more layered way.

Le Sserafim, the most senior of the three, has built its identity around an unyielding drive that turns adversity into fuel and an uncompromising sense of agency. The group's second full-length album "PUREFLOW" Pt. 1 debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, making it their fifth consecutive album — excluding singles — to crack the top 10. The Latin house rhythms and commanding stage presence on display in the title track "BOOMPALA" remain the group's strongest weapons.

Belift Lab's ILLIT has built what fans call "ILLIT-Core" — a sound and aesthetic that taps directly into popular intuition. With their debut single "Magnetic," the group became the first K-pop act to enter both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Official Singles Top 100 simultaneously on debut, and in the shortest time on record. Their fourth mini-album "MAMIHLAPINATAPAI" reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200, confirming the group's rapid ascent. ILLIT's music trades in the subtle psychology of teenagers and a catchy pluck-driven sound.

KATSEYE, born out of a joint audition between Hybe and Geffen Records, has had the North American mainstream market in its sights from the outset. The group has placed "Gnarly," "Gabriela" and "Internet Girl" on the Billboard Hot 100 in succession. At last May's American Music Awards, they swept three prizes, including New Artist of the Year, cementing their standing in the North American market. Able to deliver both the polished vocal blending that Western pop demands and the precise synchronized choreography that defines K-pop, KATSEYE is expected to serve as a catalyst that broadens the new single's global reach.

The "family album" tradition — in which artists from the same agency pool their talents for a joint release — is an enduring fixture of K-pop history. What makes it particularly interesting is that each generation has seen the format evolve in both shape and purpose, tracking the structural changes within the agencies themselves.

The origins of the K-pop family album trace back to SM Entertainment's "SMTOWN" project in the late 1990s. Starting in 1999, SM released seasonal compilation albums every summer and winter. A lineup that ran from H.O.T., S.E.S. and Shinhwa through BoA, TVXQ and Girls' Generation drew fragmented fandoms together under the SM "mega-brand" — the reason SM holds a label-wide fandom known as "Pink Blood," a phenomenon unmatched elsewhere in the industry.

Around the same time, YG Entertainment released "Famillenium" in 1999, establishing the "YG Family" brand. Where SM emphasized a company-centered sense of family, YG stressed a shared identity and musical roots as a hip-hop crew, with acts including Jinusean, 1TYM and Perry.

Entering the 2010s, the family album shifted toward digital singles. JYP Entertainment released "This Christmas" in 2010 and "Encore" in 2016, emphasizing organic vocal collaboration between senior and junior artists under the production hand of founder Park Jin-young. Cube Entertainment's "United Cube," which opened with "Fly So High" in 2011, pursued a festival-style sound featuring all of the label's artists.

Starship Entertainment's "Starship Planet" series, which began with "Pink Romance" that same year and dominated the domestic streaming charts every winter for years, was another success story. The chemistry between powerhouse vocalists and idol acts — K.Will, Sistar, Boyfriend and Monsta X among them — was a reliable chart-topper. FNC Entertainment also experimented with its own distinct identity in 2018 through "It's Christmas," blending its band acts with dance groups.

The family-collab format eventually evolved beyond seasonal songs and compilation albums, breaking down group boundaries entirely to produce what became known as "Avengers-style" superunits. SM Entertainment led that charge with SuperM and GOT the beat.

SuperM, the boy group that debuted in October 2019, assembled seven members drawn from across SM's roster: Taemin of SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai of EXO, Taeyong and Mark of NCT 127, and Ten and Lucas of WayV. Partnering with Capitol Music Group, the unit set its sights on the North American mainstream market from the outset. Their debut mini-album "SuperM" hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon release — the first time a debut album by an Asian artist had ever done so. It stands as a landmark case in K-pop marketing: by consolidating dispersed global fandom data, the group struck the top of the market in a single move.

In January 2022, "GOT the beat" — the first unit under SM's female artist project "Girls On Top" — picked up the baton. Led by BoA, the seven-member lineup brought together main vocalists and main dancers spanning K-pop's first through fourth generations: Taeyeon and Hyoyeon of Girls' Generation, Seulgi and Wendy of Red Velvet, and Karina and Winter of aespa. Their debut track "Step Back," an intense hip-hop R&B song in the classic SM Music Performance tradition, held the top of the domestic streaming charts for an extended run without any conventional broadcast promotions. It also reached No. 25 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 9 on the Billboard Global Excl. US.

The coming together of Le Sserafim, ILLIT and KATSEYE represents a strategic alliance among groups that have grown independently within the multi-label system. In a fragmented platform landscape, it is a sophisticated marketing play — one designed to trigger algorithmic cross-pollination between fandoms that each hold distinct strengths on English-language charts. Le Sserafim, ILLIT and KATSEYE will make their first live performance of the new track on Mnet's "M Countdown" on Thursday.