The competition between YG and SM Entertainment to reach audiences beyond Korea is starting to escalate at an unprecedented rate. This week, the markets that each agency is attempting to dominate were more clearly defined than in recent months. SM Entertainment has placed an emphasis on their market within Asia, most specifically China, Japan, and Korea. SM artists Heechul and Key are the focus of season two of We Got Married Global Edition, with f(x) Amber and Tasty's Soryong hosting the related web program WGM-TV. In addition to current promotions by Girls' Generation, SM has launched the unit group Toheart and prepared Super Junior-M for their comeback. To substantiate their accomplishments within their trainee pool, SM released the first recording from SM Rookie's Wendy.  While this may mark progress for SM within Korea, it may not be enough to overpower the attempts by YG Entertainment to achieve global dominance.

With Super Junior-M and 'We Got Married Global' SM Entertainment is furthering their reach into China, Taiwan, and Japan.

While YG has promoted within the Chinese market, the agency did not specifically recruit from China.
Earlier this month, YG launched the first recruitment effort in the region entitled '2014 1st YG AUDITION in Greater China'. YG lags behind SM Entertainment in the training and recruitment of Chinese artists who will also perform in Korea. With Super Junior-M and EXO-M, SM already maintains a reach into the Chinese Mandopop industry. Swing will be the third release from Super Junior-M and SM's last Mandopop EP since EXO-M's Miracles in December.

The couples pairing of the upcoming We Got Married Global Edition is also of interest. Season one of We Got Married Global Edition featured FNC Entertainment's Lee Hong Ki paired with Japanese actress Fuiji Mina along with JYP Entertainment's Ok Taecyeon and Taiwanese idol Gui Gui. The female performers of season one were successful within their home markets and the additions to season two are no exception.

As a pop idol, Puff Guo maintains a following beyond Taiwan that extends throughout China.

Super Junior's Kim Heechul is paired with Taiwanese acting idol Puff Guo. Puff Guo starred in the Taiwanese hit drama Just You opposite Fahrenheit's Aaron Yan and is a member of the pop trio Dream Girls. Her comical facial expressions helped Just You become one of Taiwan's breakout hits for 2013 and will surely lend themselves to We Got Married Global Edition.

SHINee's Key is paired with the stunning Japanese beauty Arisa Yagi, helping to make season two of We Got Married Global Edition another potential success for SM.

YG is looking past ill-destined collaborations to work with some of the best musicians and producers in the world. 

While the strategy for SM in 2014 has been to release a large number of comebacks and related projects, YG Entertainment has diverged in a completely different direction. With artists such as Lady Gaga taking an interest in K-Pop, the strength of YG may be in the strong relationships that have been established with American music powerhouses such as Diplo, Skrillex, and Pharrell Williams.

G-Dragon describing what it was like to work with Major Lazer and his wish to work with Pharrell Williams for 'FUSE'.

Beyond on their careers as dubstep artists, Diplo and Skrillex are two of the most sought after producers in Western pop music. Diplo, who also performs as Major Lazer, has previously worked with G-Dragon and T.O.P on the songs Knock Out and Bubble Butt. Unfortunately, these were Korean releases, not international releases. The unique nature of Dirty Vibe was that is was released internationally as part of the Skrillex album Recess.

The Skrillex, Diplo, G-Dragon, and CL collaboration Dirty Vibe has performed well on international charts serving as a testimony that YG is at the forefront of delivering K-Pop to a worldwide audience.

Producer and pop artist Pharrell Williams delivered a shout to to G-Dragon.

Along the same lines, the developing friendship between G-Dragon and Pharrell Williams has the potential to become a brilliant musical relationship. Beyond his recent release Happy, Pharrell Williams, was part of the Grammy Award winning production duo The Neptunes. The Neptunes were responsible for some of the highest selling songs of the nineties and the 2000s, including Snoop Dogg's Beautiful. Rather than falling into the pitfall of random collaborations that have plagued K-Pop for years, YG Entertainment has built working relationships that appear to be based off of mutual admiration.

Debate remains as to who emerged victorious in the battle between Girls' Generation and 2NE1.  However, 2NE1 demonstrated greater international success with their record breaking placement on the Billboard 200 chart.  simmering down, the focus will shift to the comeback activities of artists such as PSY, INFINITE, and Big Bang. Both SM and YG have learned that it is necessary to change marketing tactics in order to conquer audiences outside of Korea. With entirely different approaches, both agencies maintain their stance as industry leaders and have helped to further global interest in K-Pop. With artists such as Jackie Chan's Double JC capturing the attention of American press, it may become necessary to K-Pop to adopt the best practices from both YG and SM to remain globally relevant.