Sensitive Fans need to buy stuff/support an act. vote for the fave girl on a survival show ect.. (1 Viewer)

[RandAlThor]

i was shocked at how poorly Lightsum sold and that brought this on.

Lets take a few examples of extra noisy fans. in the past 5 or so years.
they love to blame the company / a company anyone but the fans or the artist. As if any of these companies get into the business to fail.

me u / f(x) nothing but group physical releases ever sold
Sm gave amber a solo before Taeyeon (heck had Taeyeon feature). Luna's solo was 2016 a solid mini with music shows ect. there were many station releases in 2016.
very few ppl bought/ streamed /cared it was what ever.
What ever the internal dynamics that led to them never doing concerts or touring during the first contract we will likely never know.

CLC - they had 2 of 11 physical albums break 10,000 units sold. 8 under 6,000. Sure Cube f up alot but someone has to buy the music.

ill go a tad more current.

many were upset over Kaeun and pd 48... yet her single got zero traction. the only solace there is i hope she got a check for teh same amount as the izone members.

Same with Chowon (although her i am also looking side eye at Cube spend some of that free money you got from pd 48 on songs for albums)
While lightsum is selling better than CLC 40k for the first album and 2 k for the next is not a great trend.... FYI that was the death of Pristin another vocal fan group. who actually did a bit better

gp 999 is the most recent example with folks whining about the voting rules favoring k voters.
All they had to do was vote a comparatively tiny number of people pick the team .
When the top vote getter had 525 k votes over what amounts to 9 voting days. aka only 58,300 or so ppl voting a day


And FYI Covid is making it worse Lovelyz could thrive with 40k sales, gfriend could be dominate with under 100k.

That looks to be no longer the case.

so fans want to emotionally invest in a group be prepared to invest time and money and pray enough other people do also.

Feel free to add others.

like say gugudan
Weki Meki
ect.

 

[Ahsoka]

Ngl that may be easy for older fans but you can’t expect younger fans to have the means to do so. Nor should there be pressure to do so in order to be considered a “real fan” imo which some people like to imply. It’s all good and well if you have a good paying job that allows you to have the extra to spend on albums and merch but not everyone has that.

 

[RandAlThor]

Ngl that may be easy for older fans but you can’t expect younger fans to have the means to do so. Nor should there be pressure to do so in order to be considered a “real fan” imo which some people like to imply. It’s all good and well if you have a good paying job that allows you to have the extra to spend on albums and merch but not everyone has that.

they can watch the videos and other free content.
but its a money making business. it only exists to make money and if they cant make money then the acts will not last.

 

[Ahsoka]

they can watch the videos and other free content.
but its a money making business. it only exists to make money and if they cant make money then the acts will not last.

Of course, but if they already do then I think they should be considered a fan just as much as someone who monetarily supports them. That’s what I’m saying, since some people would disagree with that.

 

[RandAlThor]

Of course, but if they already do then I think they should be considered a fan just as much as someone who monetarily supports them. That’s what I’m saying, since some people would disagree with that.

i do not disagree with that at all.
I was not trying to separate those fans out of the mix or make them feel bad.

But i get tired of ppl complaining about things when it is obvious that there are serious money issues at play.

With out engagement of many types that the companies can measure they are going to pivot.

 

[Mangoey]

Yeah I agree it gets annoying sometimes to see people complain about groups failing when they do nothing on their own to support (if they can I mean).

But it's kind of just how it goes I guess, there's not much we can do about it. Plus fans don't necessarily owe their idols any support. Especially when I personally see buying albums or kpop merch as a waste of money as there's not a whole lot of value I'd personally get out of them. That kind of stuff would likely just be sitting on a shelf collecting dust for me.

 

[RandAlThor]

Yeah I agree it gets annoying sometimes to see people complain about groups failing when they do nothing on their own to support (if they can I mean).

But it's kind of just how it goes I guess, there's not much we can do about it. Plus fans don't necessarily owe their idols any support. Especially when I personally see buying albums or kpop merch as a waste of money as there's not a whole lot of value I'd personally get out of them. That kind of stuff would likely just be sitting on a shelf collecting dust for me.

i actually rip the cds / and play them at home ect so they have value there .

Now with RV and IZ*ONE i went way way over the top into collector mode which is an expensive place to go. :)

 

[VillageIdiot]

Lightsum just doesn't seem to have a lot of fans. Most midtier companies just don't have the following to get a predebut fanbase and rely on a lot of heavy pushing. Idle got that in spades and that really saved them from being like CLC. Lightsum has pd48 but as we've seen with pretty much every group that's come from it, that's just not enough.

I'm still hoping CB can crack 50k after the GP999 bullshit

 

[RandAlThor]

Lightsum just doesn't seem to have a lot of fans. Most midtier companies just don't have the following to get a predebut fanbase and rely on a lot of heavy pushing. Idle got that in spades and that really saved them from being like CLC. Lightsum has pd48 but as we've seen with pretty much every group that's come from it, that's just not enough.

I'm still hoping CB can crack 50k after the GP999 bullshit

They have yet to break 20k so 50 would be a miracle.

k fans hosed em saying they should go back to cb. FNC is at best giving them one more shot.
Which is really sad both group that i made it to fan signs of are gone or almost gone.

For lightsum I thought all the very vocal Chowon stans might make a difference, but what it shows is the IZ*ONE antis are not fans of any one and just wanted to bitch.
They look to even be transitioning to Nayoung as the face/star. She was ending fairy or thumbnail girl an awful lot this cb.


Rocket punch is another group that has to be on the edge. hanging in 20 k land.

 

[Jimimis]

II don’t stan anyone who needs support (bts and luo yunxi are doing just fine) but yeah

most of these ppl just want to complain. Ill only whine about popularity for ppl that I’ll pay for lol

 

[LeeHoseok]

Nope, no, not in a million years. Music is not meant to be like this, and that kpop has made it this way is actually disgusting. Music is supposed to be something you enjoy, for many it is an escape.

I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times: No one is at all required, nor should they feel obligated to make promoting their faves a job. That is literally what their companies are supposed to be doing but they're exploiting the kindness and devotion of fans while simultaneously treating their artists as if they are commodities and disposable if they don't make a certain amount of income. Not only that, but now they've got fans pressuring and harassing other fans to stream, vote, buy. Telling them if their faves don't make it, it's their fault. It's not, this is 100% the companies and the culture they've created. Be mad about it all you want, but the second you start telling people how to support, shaming them for not, you need to step the hell back and take a good look at the toxicity you're playing into.

We're in the middle of a pandemic. People have bills, work, school, health & mental health issues, etc. Buying merch, especially as an International fan, is really expensive. Shipping is often more than the purchase price. Companies could fix this by teaming up with overseas distributors, but for the most part, they don't. That's a big issue right now, people are already stretched thin, they're not about to pay twice the cost of an album to get one. Worry about how YOU support your faves, not call out others for not doing it "properly". Being involved in fandoms is mentally taxing enough. This thread, these attitudes, it's why I walked away from KS & pulled back on my support of Kpop as a whole. I'm sick of seeing people so obsessed and invested in these groups that they're willing to start telling people how to be fans. There is no "right" way to be a fan. If a group isn't making money, the company needs to do better, tap into what fans want, because obviously what they're offering isn't it. Not only that, but if they want these groups to be successful, they need to pay attention to fan demographics, pricing, and accessibility. The Korean entertainment industry's thirst for overseas attention is being negated by their reluctance to make the industry more accessible to fans in those markets. There's demand for subtitles, better access to merch, albums, etc. The reason HYBE dominates is because they actually take the time to be inclusive of all fans, despite it being obviously only for business reasons.

 

[VillageIdiot]

They have yet to break 20k so 50 would be a miracle.

k fans hosed em saying they should go back to cb. FNC is at best giving them one more shot.
Which is really sad both group that i made it to fan signs of are gone or almost gone.

For lightsum I thought all the very vocal Chowon stans might make a difference, but what it shows is the IZ*ONE antis are not fans of any one and just wanted to bitch.
They look to even be transitioning to Nayoung as the face/star. She was ending fairy or thumbnail girl an awful lot this cb.


Rocket punch is another group that has to be on the edge. hanging in 20 k land.

From the way it sounds, FNC diverted a large chunk of CBs budget to that stupid Japanese show that's tanking right now.

I hope they comeback soon to capitalize off the momentum but with Haeyoon and Yujus schedules, its gonna be different

 

[RandAlThor]

Nope, no, not in a million years. Music is not meant to be like this, and that kpop has made it this way is actually disgusting. Music is supposed to be something you enjoy, for many it is an escape.

I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times: No one is at all required, nor should they feel obligated to make promoting their faves a job. That is literally what their companies are supposed to be doing but they're exploiting the kindness and devotion of fans while simultaneously treating their artists as if they are commodities and disposable if they don't make a certain amount of income. Not only that, but now they've got fans pressuring and harassing other fans to stream, vote, buy. Telling them if their faves don't make it, it's their fault. It's not, this is 100% the companies and the culture they've created. Be mad about it all you want, but the second you start telling people how to support, shaming them for not, you need to step the hell back and take a good look at the toxicity you're playing into.

We're in the middle of a pandemic. People have bills, work, school, health & mental health issues, etc. Buying merch, especially as an International fan, is really expensive. Shipping is often more than the purchase price. Companies could fix this by teaming up with overseas distributors, but for the most part, they don't. That's a big issue right now, people are already stretched thin, they're not about to pay twice the cost of an album to get one. Worry about how YOU support your faves, not call out others for not doing it "properly". Being involved in fandoms is mentally taxing enough. This thread, these attitudes, it's why I walked away from KS & pulled back on my support of Kpop as a whole. I'm sick of seeing people so obsessed and invested in these groups that they're willing to start telling people how to be fans. There is no "right" way to be a fan. If a group isn't making money, the company needs to do better, tap into what fans want, because obviously what they're offering isn't it. Not only that, but if they want these groups to be successful, they need to pay attention to fan demographics, pricing, and accessibility. The Korean entertainment industry's thirst for overseas attention is being negated by their reluctance to make the industry more accessible to fans in those markets. There's demand for subtitles, better access to merch, albums, etc. The reason HYBE dominates is because they actually take the time to be inclusive of all fans, despite it being obviously only for business reasons.

Love your comment

Where did i say anyone has to make it a job?

I will admit to some confusion with the vote thing i was purely referencing shows like gp 999 not year end awards or weekly music shows.
Have i voted some of both in the past sure, but i would not be expecting that of people.

i do not care how someone supports an act, but putting all the blame on the company is awfully coinvent.

Music is a business it has always been a business someone else may have paid for it but someone always pays. If its the rich supporting Mozart , teens buying Beatles/Elvis stuff, caravans following the dead around, ppl buying boxes of akb albums or folks streaming or mass buying now.

Pretending that kpop is just about the music like the 100's of acts that have come and gone in just my music life is over simplifying it.
Kpop companies do far far more prep to get an act to the stage the the vast majority of labels who just sign an act and do some sort of promotion.
Some are trying to do broader research like the people behind YOURS. but the vast majority of crashed groups are from under funded companies.
How many stories are out there of the ceo going into massive debt for an act and those are the ones who survived.

If as a fan they are invested in the group they know the group has to make money to survive. If not from them then from someone.

You say the company should rebrand and re work the act. To a point that is true, but take CLC ill bet cube would say they tried all that.

Part of the problem you touched on is they are just not sure where to focus. Many clearly would prefer to focus on Koreans and let other fans come at their own risk. Others have seemed to be trying to blow off the domestic market but the pandemic left them flat footed and unable to respond. And that is really hard on the group members who are mostly Korean and feel bad that they are not wanted in their home similar to say T-ara post scandal.

The kpop model is somewhere between akb's idols you can meet, and the western just throw stuff out there or tour a zillion little clubs and if ppl buy it cool. With far more opportunities to meet and interact in small setting than anything in the west but tiny no name groups doing the bar tour deal.

Smaller groups Lived on smaller shows / events that which would be clubs or bars in the west, but that revenue stream evaporated.

ironically the pandemic has helped physical sales in kpop fly thru the roof. Far from hurting the big companies it has helped them make free money.

Small companies/ acts its crushing. Even gfriend gave up with hybe support.

Kpop offers a unique fan experience far more than the music to many. I find that good in many ways, but also there is bad.

 

[Poetry]

I didn't vote during YGTB but now I:

• Have multiple Yochi-related items
• Paid to view Treasure private stage
• Bought a copy of Treasure full album
• Have a Treasure hoodie

 

[Cris]

Idk i just dont feel very comfortable with this rhetoric. It's the job on the company to be able to advertise a group well enough so that people are interested/incentiviced into buying albums or even voting. International fans especially have to pay egregious amounts of money on shipping if they want to get one album and it's still not easy to afford and doesnt honestly have a ton of practical utility unless you're someone who has that much money to burn.

People will buy albums if they want to buy albums. Feeding off of people's benevolance and parasocial love to get them to buy albums out of the guilt of seeing an artist fail just does not sit right with me. There will be groups who do well, and there will be groups who dont, most of the time it's up to the company to come up with songs and concepts that will get their group to sell. The fans are in no way, shape or form obligated to do anything for a group, not in the least spend their hard earned money on them. And I dont think there is any issue in them complaining about the group not doing well. If you cant afford to spend your money or time (with regards to streaming and such which is non monetary) but still want to hope that the group you stan does well, there's nothing wrong with that.

I'd rather have fans who dont do anything complaining about groups failing than see fans shame and/or guilt trip each other into spending their money or time (both of which are very precious commodities) into doing something for a kpop group of all things.

 

[Kamistar]

I don't think any fan is forced to buy anything, ofc, but I guess I understand what you mean
After all it's a business, if nobody is buying albums, watching content or going to concerts money won't enter and the group will fail. If I have a bakery and nobody is buying my bread it will obviously close
Anyway I hope everybody have in mind that you aren't forced to buy anything you don't want and that for us, fans, kpop is for fun, it shouldn't cause any pressure sadly a few groups work and others don't