discussion HYBE admits to payola - is Spotify fake?

[Eternium]

HYBE has formally announced that they have been payola-ing charts. Their company is home to BTS, a K-pop group who has never secured a hit and has no famous members, yet seems to be doing incredibly well on the charts globally.

How does it make you feel that "Seven" was a faster streaming hit than anything Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, etc. could manage, but that bomb couldn't even go 2x Platinum in the U.S.? Do you still trust the Spotify charts knowing that a label is openly admitting to defrauding them? Please discuss.

[Sheep]

The entire industry is pay to play worldwide, what do you think "promotion" is? Payola/sajaegi is a form of marketing, marketing is a form of sajaegi/payola. 

Edited April 29 by Sheep

[Gorjesspazze9]

I was with you until you said BTS has never had hits or famous members 

[RoseGold]

Did MHJ say that? Where is that quote even from?

[JO1s]

I think what's more concerning is hybe is linked to an actual cult not some arbitrary manipultiable numbers.

[playboi]

this is not what payola is  this is just a label doing normal label things 

 

still **** HYBE free newjeans and MHJ

 

[Expensive Taste]

Wow, is it to pretend to be surprised or to stream BTS as a form of protest? This payola thing has been so blatant for so long... but let's pretend we just discovered fire in a surprising way!

[tsukumo]

14 minutes ago, RoseGold said:

Did MHJ say that? Where is that quote even from?

it's from a korean forum so people are taking this as an official HYBE statement, which it is in fact NOT, and K-Pop fans don't fact check so they're all falling for it 

[Taylena]

It's a fact that HYBE, Kakao, Starship, YG, SM, and JYP are all part of it. While some companies are doing it more than others, they all wield considerable influence in the industry and enjoy enormous privileges that small companies don't.  It's like how these days everyone is crazy about the NewJeans and ILLIT sound and style, and anything with from them automatically becomes a hit. But let's ponder this - would those groups have achieved the same level of success if they were from a smaller company? Highly unlikely, and that's more disappointing than any payola or promotional tactics.

[Taylena]

5 minutes ago, tsukumo said:

it's from a korean forum so people are taking this as an official HYBE statement, which it is in fact NOT, and K-Pop fans don't fact check so they're all falling for it 

Yeah, I could tell that's user quote from TheQoo. 

[Nightingale]

This is literally what every label even the ones in the US are doing

[Kodak Energy]

What does booking award shows and a spot on lollapalooza have to do with Spotify? 

[Rev8]

Tbh we all knew HYBE out of all labels, would have payola

 

 

I mean, not saying anyone else doesn't do it..

The Music Industry has largely been pay-to-look-big, especially in the last decade when streaming is so easily manipulated

(and not as easily tracked for fraud, or streaming platforms themselves do it)

[babyforlife]

so you want you fave to flop instead of promoting them? got it.

[Katamari]

Queen mhj causing all of this convo! 

[Archetype]

Where is the payola?  All I'm seeing is that they pay for coverage and promo, which is what any good label has done for major artists since the 90's.  
 

True payola is becoming a resident on Spotify's TTH for months even if a song never takes off, or paying for insane radio play even if audience scores are low.  Don't confuse that with promo, they are not the same.

[armink]

1 hour ago, Eternium said:

Their company is home to BTS, a K-pop group who has never secured a hit and has no famous members, yet seems to be doing incredibly well on the charts globally.

Your endless attempts at pretending like BTS are nobodies is highly embarassing for a kpop fan and if you really ARE that dense they mean you either need to get out from under your 3000-ft-under rock or to start taking your dementia meds 

 

Also in what world is doing their JOB of promoting their artist = payola 

[Odette Violet]

all companies does it, wbk

 

It's just a matter of time who this artists will lasts once the payola runs out

 

[Mitsuki]

I love to see fans of BIG3 groups crying over payola, because finally a Corporation in K-pop Industry has more connections than their faves' companies. Peak comedy. 

[Papi Juancho]

2 hours ago, Gorjesspazze9 said:

I was with you until you said BTS has never had hits or famous members 

Did she lie?

[Windy Day]

 

some of yall are trying to shift the narrative but there's a court document confirming the charts manipulation 

 

[Gorjesspazze9]

4 minutes ago, Papi Juancho said:

Did she lie?

Well yes. BTS was famous and selling millions years before they Blew up and became the biggest Kpop group of all time. Kpop fans just think the west dictates sucess. BTS were on Exo's level in 2016. 

[Windy Day]

2 minutes ago, Gorjesspazze9 said:

Well yes. BTS was famous and selling millions years before they Blew up and became the biggest Kpop group of all time. Kpop fans just think the west dictates sucess. BTS were on Exo's level in 2016. 

that's what the news i just posted is about. it says they used charts manipulation as a marketing strategy around that time 

[MonsterNavy]

HYBE and BTS has always been proven to use payola, autoplay, fake spotify streams & fake sales this isn't anything new

 

[Gorjesspazze9]

1 minute ago, Windy Day said:

that's what the news i just posted is about. it says they used charts manipulation as a marketing strategy around that time 

I was a fan in 2016 and didn't care about charts. I bought thier albums because the music was genuinely just better back then🤷‍♀️ users in her implying that they didn't have hits tho is wild. Dope was an organic hit in the Kpop community in 2015. In fact that song had crossover appeal and is what started to increase thier fanbase. That song had Kcon on lock. They most likely used chart manipulation cuz everyone did, along with zombie Stan's manipulating melon back then so much they had to change the whole system. But garnering that kinda of fanbase to rival EXO in thier peak alone is proof that had a massive following before Spring Day became one of the most known songs in Korea.