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SM Entertainment’s fierce new boy group, SuperM, is the company’s latest attempt at pushing their artists into the American music market. Teamed up with Capitol Records, the seven-member supergroup debuted in the U.S. with expectations riding high, only to perform underwhelmingly compared to a typical K-Pop comeback. Whatever success the group did have on U.S. charts was in large part due to bundling, which only serves to fuel the “K-Pop is artificial” stereotype already rampant among the Western general public.

So, let’s talk about it.

SuperM debuted on Oct. 4 with SuperM – The 1st Mini Album, and held their first performance of the title track, “Jopping,” outside the Capitol Records building in Hollywood that weekend. I use the term “debut” loosely here because, although the group as a whole debuted that day, no new members did. Called the “Avengers of K-Pop,” SuperM isn’t a set of new artists from SM but rather an assembly of SM idols that are already known and loved: Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Lucas and Ten from WayV, and Mark and Taeyong from NCT. While this combination of K-Pop stars might seem like a dream team at first, grouping them together is a bit questionable when you take a step back. These seven idols might be the most “well-known” members of their respective groups — a classification that’s already problematic in and of itself — but there’s no balance between them to smooth down the rough edges.

The group’s debut song, “Jopping” is an explosive electronic dance track featuring rap verses and melodic choruses over a groovy beat. It also features cinematic horns that sound very similar to the Avengers theme (perhaps a not-so-subtle nod at the group’s nickname). Overall, the song is enjoyable and full of hype, though lacking in substance. It’s catchy and well-produced, with some parts designed to get stuck in your head. But it doesn’t challenge the casual music consumer’s perception of K-Pop. From the lyrics to the production to the structure, “Jopping” is the epitome of a typical boy group title track. The music video follows the same trend, with an enormous production value powering tons of CGI and drone shots of the boys in front of the Dubai skyline. It’s a lot of chaotic eye candy, which doesn’t exactly make SuperM stand out from any other K-Pop group.

SuperM had a tepid debut on US charts, despite all of SM Entertainment and Capitol Records’ marketing and promotions. SuperM – The 1st Mini Album peaked at #5 on the US iTunes Top Albums chart and “Jopping” peaked at #45 on the Top Songs chart. To put that in perspective, SM Entertainment’s girl group Red Velvet, which SM could easily have chosen to market in the US instead of SuperM (but that’s a whole other conversation), was the first girl group to ever achieve #1 on the US iTunes albums chart with The ReVe Festival: Day 1. Neither American K-Pop fans nor the general public seemed to have that same level of excitement for SuperM.

The Billboard charts told a different, and very confusing, story. SuperM debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with a total of 168,000 album-equivalent units, making them the second Korean act to ever top the chart, after BTS, and the first Korean act to top the chart with a debut album. Here’s the kicker: “Jopping,” the lead single, didn’t even make it onto the Hot 100. Instead, it debuted at #25 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, meaning it essentially sat at #125. In comparison, Summer Walker’s Over It album earned the #2 spot on the Billboard 200 and the lead single placed #16 on the Hot 100 chart, which makes sense. So, why the huge disparity in SuperM’s album and title track sales? Well, that’s where things start to get a little murky.

Besides badgering fans to buy SuperM’s album via automated texts and social media posts, SM also threw in a free album with every merch item or tour ticket purchased. Don’t get me wrong, tons of artists have done something similar to get higher chart positions — everyone from Bon Jovi to Nicki Minaj. Bundling is commonplace among artists as a tactic to boost sales through means other than music. But to have 60 different bundles to choose from, as well as eight versions of the album for fans to collect, is taking it to the extreme. The bundling issue didn’t go unnoticed and ended up sparking the hashtag #MerchIsNotMusic, which reignited a debate about the validity of bundled album sales. Yes, music is ultimately a business bound by the need for profit, but there is also value in organic sales that SuperM’s music, like many other artists’, has lost.

The extent to which SuperM and other popular artists used bundling to earn #1 chart positions eventually led Billboard to change the rules altogether at the end of 2019, requiring any merch bundles sold to cost at least $3.49 more than the merchandise alone, because $3.49 is the minimum price of an album to qualify for the charts. It’s a good step toward preserving the integrity and value of the music itself.

What makes things messier is the accusation of chart manipulation, which gained some plausibility after several sources came forward claiming that albums sold in the US market were actually bought by fans in Korea. The main Billboard charts are American music charts and count sales within the US only. Because the album was only released in the US, it was sold in Korea and around the world as an imported album for a higher price. These international sales were allegedly counting toward the Billboard 200, however, wherein lies the issue.

Neither SM Entertainment nor Capitol Records commented on the accusations, but a representative from SM did tell reporters that Capitol Records was behind all the marketing strategy. A local record importer who chose to remain anonymous told The Korea Herald, “Many of the albums were sold in Korea. My company alone has shipped thousands of albums.” The Herald also obtained emails suggesting “at least one S.M. Entertainment official was aware of the chain of distribution that affects Billboard’s charts as early as early September.” Plus, the SM Global Shop Instagram account stated that all sales would count toward Billboard until it was pointed out and quickly changed.

Frankly, the members of SuperM are too talented and hardworking to now have a reputation of artifice plaguing them, just because of SM Entertainment and Capitol Records’ questionable behavior. The companies together are not only tainting the integrity and value of Billboard charts, but also confirming people’s preconceived notions of K-Pop as something entirely manufactured. And, if you consider the mission statement for SuperM as “the future of K-Pop,” does that mean their vision for K-Pop’s future is simply to fulfill the stereotype? I think we deserve better.