'Yaho~!' RESCENE, Psykus, 82 Major, and nine other groups selected as the first recipients of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's support program for global growth of small and medium-sized agencies

Ten groups, including RESCENE, Psykus, Tunex, Kira's, Cant Blue, 82 Major, Big Ocean, Youth Sphere, Axin, and Eight Ton, were selected as the first recipients of the 'Support for Global Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Agencies' project, jointly promoted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency. This project selects ten small and medium-sized agencies annually, providing up to approximately 300 million won per agency each year. Through performance evaluations, support can be continued for up to three consecutive years. The funds can be used autonomously for areas such as producing export albums and music videos, overseas marketing, and overseas performances. The selected groups will promote performances and marketing in Japan, the United States, India, Malaysia, and other countries. Cant Blue plans to expand overseas touchpoints by being selected for Spotify Radar. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, while K-pop's sales revenue increased by 15.8% and export revenue by 32.4% in 2025 compared to 2024, the average annual music production cost for large enterprises was 43.11 billion won in 2023, whereas small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) averaged only 1.49 billion won. The number of overseas performances also showed a significant gap: 83.4 times annually for large enterprises versus just four times for SMEs. Choi Sung-hee, Director of the Content Media Industry Division at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "Although K-pop has established itself as a mainstream global culture, sustainable growth requires the growth of small and medium-sized agencies, which form the backbone of the industry. Through this new project, we hope another 'miracle of small and medium-sized enterprises' will be born, leading the future of K-pop."