Over the past 27 years, SM has built the world of SM Culture Universe under the leadership of former Executive Producer Lee Soo-man. The era from H.O.T.'s debut in 1996 to 2010 was defined as 'SM 1.0,' and the era beginning with EXO and Red Velvet up until last year as 'SM 2.0,' during which every idol group passed through the hands of the former executive producer. The 'SM 3.0' era, starting this year, is distinguished by the absence of this former executive producer.

While SM, heading into a new era, received abundant encouragement, there were also concerns. A critical point is how to break away from the absence of the former executive producer who led the SM Culture Universe. This is because the world view is deeply ingrained in the artists' songs. However, aespa cleverly unraveled this from the start.

aespa, known to have been the sacrificial lamb during the management conflict between SM founder and former executives, with their comeback being delayed, was assigned even more significance as it was their first comeback without the influence of the former executive producer. SM's decision to position Espa in this challenging place reflects the company's strong determination to succeed with the new producing system.

In fact, there were worries about aespa's 'change.' More than any other group affiliated with SM, aespa's music has been highly evaluated as the group that best reflects the SM worldview. They even have a unique fandom for the SM worldview. The prediction that changing their music style could lead to an exodus from their existing fandom followed.

However, aespa cleverly escaped from the virtual world 'Kwangya,' the existing worldview, by simply changing the setting to the 'real world.' They managed to transition into a new world while maintaining continuity with the existing worldview.

The result of this clever choice has been successful. Their third mini-album 'MY WORLD' broke through 1.8 million pre-orders and exceeded 2 million sales just two weeks after release, breaking their own best record with a 394% and 121% sales increase compared to the first mini-album 'Savage' (510,000) and the second mini-album 'Girls' (1.65 million). This led to results such as the highest first-day sales of a K-pop girl group, first-week sales (chodong) for girl groups, first place on domestic and foreign main album and music charts, and winning four music programs.

No matter how symbolic aespa is, SM's ability to present them as the first runner of the new multi-producing system is based on their trust in the group. From their debut, they were recognized as a group with standout vocals and actually digested high-difficulty music with ease. With skill as their foundation, they were able to interpret any music in their style. Needless to say, their visuals are more AI-like than AI itself. This is why Espa's recent success cannot be evaluated solely as a result of the new producing system.

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