The South Koreanboy bandShinhwa has released fifteen studio albums, three live albums, five compilation albums, one box set, three EPs, thirty-four singles, and sixteen contributions to multi-artist compilations. Shinhwa was created by SM Entertainment and debuted in 1998 with the albumResolver. Under SM Entertainment, Shinhwa released six full-length studio albums and contributed to numerous SM Town compilation albums featuring other SM artists. Sixteen promotional, not-for-sale singles were also released. One greatest hits compilation, My Choice, was released by SM Entertainment in 2002 in South Korea. After expiration of their contract with SM Entertainment in 2002, Shinhwa moved to Good EMG. Following discussions and compromises regarding the group's right to continued use of their name and to perform the music and choreography created while at SM Entertainment, Shinhwa released their first album under Good EMG, titled Winter Story, in late 2003. Winter Story was the first of two albums and two EPs Shinhwa would eventually release with "Winter Story" in the titles. The albums are considered "special releases" and are usually not counted when assigning ordinals to Shinhwa's studio album releases in the media and by the group itself. Thus, it was Shinhwa's next album release, Brand New in 2004, that was publicized as their seventh album, though technically it was their eighth. The success of Brand New brought the group two prestigious Daesang awards for the year 2004, a first for the group. Shinhwa went on to release a total of eight albums and EPs under Good EMG, plus thirteen promotional singles. In 2006, they contracted with Nippon Columbia to release an album, Inspiration #1 and single "We Have the Sun in Our Hearts" targeted for the Japanese market. Shinhwa's first six Korean albums were released to the Japanese market in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and Avex Trax released three Korean-language greatest hits compilations in Japan and one in Taiwan. 2008 signaled the beginning of a four-year hiatus of Shinhwa's group activities, as five of the six members were required to fulfill their mandatory national military service. During the inactive period, Pony Canyon released a multi-disc box set collection of Shinhwa's Korean albums in Japan in 2009. In August 2011, in preparation for their post-military return to the music industry, Shinhwa established Shinhwa Company, a joint venture to oversee Shinhwa's group activities. Since 2012, Shinhwa have released three full-length albums and four promotional singles, distributed through CJ E&M Music. They are one of the only Korean pop artists currently who continue to release full-length albums instead of a multitude of EPs and maxi-singles. They are also considered the longest-running idol group in Korea, having existed for 22 years with no changes in member lineup.
