fan base K-Pop: New Year, New Us

[Delirious]

8 hours ago, rapperjennie said:

Yes but also kpop has definitely dipped in popularity globally, people lost interest and currently there's no big global kpop group everyone knows that is active (dunno what's happening with New Jeans)

I saw this take a lot actually on reddit, twitter etc that kpop in dying. I don't know how true this is but it's interesting.

 

I wonder why people think kpop is dying 

[Delirious]

8 hours ago, Sailor Moon said:

globally almost all groups have fallen hard.

 

but IVE and GIDLE still managed to get big hits this year in South Korea. ITZY and STAYC on the other hand .. yeah  

everglow is pretty much shelved, and billie and nmixx are doing their own thing, but are being overshadowded severely.

 

the market is already very saturated, and it won't help the groups wite the big4 debuting new groups this year.

 

 

 

Its the kpop industry's own fault for the dip in popularity because of the oversaturation. I can't keep up with literally any groups release nowadays except for the big big ones. Even then I miss their comeback by like a week or so

[Sailor Moon]

37 minutes ago, Delirious said:

Its the kpop industry's own fault for the dip in popularity because of the oversaturation. I can't keep up with literally any groups release nowadays except for the big big ones. Even then I miss their comeback by like a week or so

yes, every comapny tries to monopolize and dominate .. which results in quick, uninspired and forgotten groups.

[Sheep]

48 minutes ago, Delirious said:

I wonder why people think kpop is dying 

It objectively isn't, 3rd gen is dying though and those stans are becoming the new bitter gen 2 hags. 

 

 

Also a "successful" group is doing 2-3x sales and touring gross that a "successful" group used to, there are still moderately successful groups but the top groups are casting a bigger shadow over them than ever. During 3rd gen NMIXX would have been a top gg by pure numbers.

Edited Friday at 10:12 PM by Sheep

[ItsJustMe.]

correct me if I'm wrong but for 4th/5th gen GGs I feel like only aespa had a really good year?

NewJeans lost popularity, but for obvious reasons

LSRFM started strong but hasn't been the same since the coachella outrage

IVE has slowed down

ILLIT had a viral smash but makes no noise anymore after the HYBE drama

 

and then there's countless groups like HITZY (  ), NMIXX, STACY, BABYMONSTER etc etc that just keep flopping no matter what they do 

[Sheep]

28 minutes ago, ItsJustMe. said:

correct me if I'm wrong but for 4th/5th gen GGs I feel like only aespa had a really good year?

NewJeans lost popularity, but for obvious reasons

LSRFM started strong but hasn't been the same since the coachella outrage

IVE has slowed down

ILLIT had a viral smash but makes no noise anymore after the HYBE drama

 

and then there's countless groups like HITZY (  ), NMIXX, STACY, BABYMONSTER etc etc that just keep flopping no matter what they do 

See this is what I mean, if aespa and peak nj are your measuring stick, everybody is a flop but that's an unrealistic standard. Same thing happened in 2nd gen where other than a couple cute hits no group could stand up to SNSD and 2NE1's stats until Twice debuted, not even big 3 debuts like fx, miss a, etc. It was a solid 5-6 year period. 

 

If you take the global superstar elephants out of the room:

• nmixx are doing a steady 7-900k per release
• 2024 was griddle's biggest sales year by FAR and they have completely eclipsed all other cube groups
• Itzy is the same story but just barely edging out 2023 for their biggest year 
• IVE didn't really decline so much as they normalized(switch moved similar numbers to the full album and after like)
• LegendFM is the only real decline and that's not people losing interest in kpop that was a massive orchestrated hate train.

 

NMIXX are literally irrelevant and selling better than Twice was before their global domination/korea flop era. aespa didn't just have a killer year they were one of the most successful female acts globally, magnetic was a global smash, Rose has a top 20 IFPI track. The market is bigger than its ever been, it might not feel that way depending on the artists you stan but numbers don't lie.

Edited Friday at 10:47 PM by Sheep

[ItsJustMe.]

1 minute ago, Sheep said:

See this is what I mean, if aespa and peak nj are your measuring stick, everybody is a flop but that's an unrealistic standard. Same thing happened in 2nd gen where other than a couple cute hits no group could stand up to SNSD and 2NE1's stats until Twice debuted, not even big 3 debuts like fx, miss a, etc. It was a solid 5-6 year period. 

 

If you take the global superstar elephants out of the room, nmixx are doing a steady 7-900k, 2024 was griddle's biggest sales year by FAR, Itzy is the same story but just barely edging out 2023 for their biggest year, IVE didn't really decline so much as they normalized(switch moved similar numbers to the full album and after like), LegendFM is the only real decline and that's not people losing interest in kpop that was a massive orchestrated hate train.

i did not say that. fandoms keep buying albums but for most of these groups the actual songs don't seem to do much neither in korea nor globally
it's a given the popularity goes up and down over the years

a couple of years ago everyone thought kpop was over when only OST ballads were hitting the charts

but then GGs were having hits after hits and now that seems to have slowed down again

I guess companies will not care because they sell albums and tours but it's just something I wonder about 

[Sheep]

6 minutes ago, ItsJustMe. said:

i did not say that. fandoms keep buying albums but for most of these groups the actual songs don't seem to do much neither in korea nor globally
it's a given the popularity goes up and down over the years

a couple of years ago everyone thought kpop was over when only OST ballads were hitting the charts

but then GGs were having hits after hits and now that seems to have slowed down again

I guess companies will not care because they sell albums and tours but it's just something I wonder about 

I went way beyond your point and just generally explained the current trend, sorry if I put words in your mouth along the way.

 

idk what more we could ask for other than IFPI placements, high monthly listener rankings, and the circle year end chart being infested with idols(it will be). Sales are down across the board but the majority of the industry's stars just didn't drop albums. When the biggest success story is a niche act like aespa, that just means that the mass appeal artists made way for them tbh.

Edited Friday at 11:00 PM by Sheep

[Eternium]

1 hour ago, Sheep said:

See this is what I mean, if aespa and peak nj are your measuring stick, everybody is a flop but that's an unrealistic standard. Same thing happened in 2nd gen where other than a couple cute hits no group could stand up to SNSD and 2NE1's stats until Twice debuted, not even big 3 debuts like fx, miss a, etc. It was a solid 5-6 year period. 

 

If you take the global superstar elephants out of the room:

• nmixx are doing a steady 7-900k per release
• 2024 was griddle's biggest sales year by FAR and they have completely eclipsed all other cube groups
• Itzy is the same story but just barely edging out 2023 for their biggest year 
• IVE didn't really decline so much as they normalized(switch moved similar numbers to the full album and after like)
• LegendFM is the only real decline and that's not people losing interest in kpop that was a massive orchestrated hate train.

 

NMIXX are literally irrelevant and selling better than Twice was before their global domination/korea flop era. aespa didn't just have a killer year they were one of the most successful female acts globally, magnetic was a global smash, Rose has a top 20 IFPI track. The market is bigger than its ever been, it might not feel that way depending on the artists you stan but numbers don't lie.

This is why stats are important to know. The idea that K-Pop is dying is laughable. The market is so much bigger now that NMIXX is outpacing BlackPink at the same point in their careers despite having no large hits nor even a fraction of BP's relevancy. Fourth gen is far and away the most successful that there's ever been and they're still nowhere near done. 
 

I think the ATRL girls are just surprised that album sales didn't stay at the consistent 2M+ level we had for a while. The girls here would not have survived 2nd gen when 6k sales was considered a smash  

[Eternium]

On 1/2/2025 at 1:59 PM, Pluto6 said:

According to a user a few days ago: "MY fAvE iS dEstrOYing yOUr fAvE on spOTifY"

 

Stray Kids after 1,604 days - 3 billion Streams on Spotify

 

Aespa after 1,508 days - 3,420,132,492 streams on Spotify

 

Stray Kids after 2,552 days - 14 100M+ streamed tracks

 

Aespa after 1,508 days - 12 100M+ streamed tracks

 

Aespa did it with fewer releases, fewer tracks, fewer albums and fewer comebacks. I have no idea if this was aimed at me, but I'm guessing it was so I'll bite  

[TaylenaStan]

im still so obsessed with this, kinda SOTY 
need them to have proper solo debuts asap, but they set the bar so high with this

Edited Saturday at 12:10 AM by TaylenaStan

[Butters]

 

 

[Zack]

2 minutes ago, TaylenaStan said:

im still so obsessed with this, kinda SOTY 

This tea! Especially with the live performance stage! 

 

I was shook as soon as she premiered it during 2024 aespa LIVE TOUR - SYNK : PARALLEL LINE

 

[TaylenaStan]

2 minutes ago, Zack said:

This tea! Especially with the live performance stage! 

 

I was shook as soon as she premiered it during 2024 aespa LIVE TOUR - SYNK : PARALLEL LINE

 

And Winter isnt even my bias. Not that i dislike her (love all aespa members) but i probably prefer the other 3 members over her personally but she fully got me on board with this performance/song
It just fits her perfectly
Sometimes it feels like kpop artists dont fit certain concepts at all and it feels very very cosplay-ish, so i appreciate that they gave every aespa member a song that fits them
Hopefully Winters solo debut will have an ethereal vibe like this 

[Eternium]

9 minutes ago, Zack said:

This tea! Especially with the live performance stage! 

 

I was shook as soon as she premiered it during 2024 aespa LIVE TOUR - SYNK : PARALLEL LINE

 

I'm going to go see her the day after Valentine's Day. I'm beyond excited. Last time they got pissed because nobody had a light stick so now I have to buy one  

[Zack]

4 minutes ago, TaylenaStan said:

It just fits her perfectly
Sometimes it feels like kpop artists dont fit certain concepts at all and it feels very very cosplay-ish, so i appreciate that they gave every aespa member a song that fits them
Hopefully Winters solo debut will have an ethereal vibe like this 

I like that WINTER went in a different direction and came through, because after the first round of solos, she released the worst/most boring solo imo, whereas the other members delivered bops like 2HOT4U, Menagerie and Wake Up. 

 

SM also let her participate in the production/co-writing and she's officially credited for it. Plus it's with a producer from THEBLACKLABEL which is interesting/different. 

 

She was in her Kylie Minogue bag with this one and it really suits her and does her vocals justice!

[Eternium]

1 hour ago, Zack said:

I like that WINTER went in a different direction and came through, because after the first round of solos, she released the worst/most boring solo imo, whereas the other members delivered bops like 2HOT4U, Menagerie and Wake Up. 

 

SM also let her participate in the production/co-writing and she's officially credited for it. Plus it's with a producer from THEBLACKLABEL which is interesting/different. 

 

She was in her Kylie Minogue bag with this one and it really suits her and does her vocals justice!

In terms of performance: Wake Up > Menagerie > 2Hot4U > Winter's first song.

 

Up = Spark > Dopamine > Bored

 

I didn't even know Winter's song's name from Hyper Line  

[stochastic]

2 hours ago, Butters said:

 

 

It is so funny that PN blew up and now Crazy blowing up because of the gaming community (read: incels) 

[MonsterNavy]

11 hours ago, TaylenaStan said:

APT just reaching #1 in Germany now.. oh the longevity of this global smasha 
Only the second song by a korean artist to go #1 EVER (Gangnam Style is the other one)
longest running #1 song of 2024 on the Billboard Global 200
About to reach a new peak (#4) on the H100 aswell, sadly #1 is too unrealistic at this point but that would be the icing on the cake

at this point its pretty much the second biggest k-song ever after Gangnam Style

its still crazy to me how rosé surpassed all blackpink members dddd

 

she's always been my bias and I knew she was always gonna be sucessful but never bigger than jennie and most especially lisa

[MonsterNavy]

confession time: i've been enjoying red velvet's discography the past few months for some reason 

 

[MonsterNavy]

"kpop is dying"

 

meanwhile APT on its 77th day:

 

 

 

 

 

top 15 on IFPI 2024 Global Singles with just 77 days of tracking

 

 

 

770M views on youtube & 800M streams on spotify

 

 

[newaespa]

 

 

 

 

[youresotoxic]

 

[MusicFan98]

1 hour ago, MonsterNavy said:

"kpop is dying"

 

meanwhile APT on its 77th day:

 

 

 

 

 

top 15 on IFPI 2024 Global Singles with just 77 days of tracking

 

 

 

770M views on youtube & 800M streams on spotify

 

 

How the hell is that terrible Gata Only song there though? 

[MusicFan98]

Anyway, came to post this absolute masterpiece