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The era of nationwide hits
i find it interesting how much things have changed in kpop and i guess music in general. despite not being alive during the 90s and being a kid during the 2nd gen and 3rd gen of kpop, i still love listening to the classics. of course i enjoy learning about older kpop groups, i remember coming across wonder girls "tell me" which sparked a massive dance craze in korea in the 2000s. i was even more interested to learn that not just teenagers were dancing to the song, we had grandparents, military men, toddlers and anyone else you can think of doing the choreography to this legendary song. there's still videos out there of people dancing to this song, you have to do some digging though but you'll find some. another song that comes to mind "gee" from snsd. this song also had everyone in a chokehold, the choreography was easy, the girls were super cute and it's iconic because it goes over everything that a cutesy kpop concept is supposed to have. a lot of people were dancing to this song, and even copied their iconic colorful skinny jeans. Kpop had genuine nationwide hits from group that defined a generation, now, kpop doesn't seem to have these sorts of hits anymore. Thanks to tiktok for instance, a song can go viral on the platform where a lot of gen z and millennials use the platform. this may look good on paper, but in actuality a song like that isn't a viral sensation. If you ask a random group of middle aged people on the streets of seoul if they know fifty fifty's "cupid" they'll likely look at you with genuine confusion. Despite the fact that the song was a tiktok phenomenon and had massive global numbers, the song went completely unnoticed by the general public whom are non fans or casual listeners of groups. however, if you ask that same group of people about older groups such as girls generation or wonder girls, they'll know exactly who you're talking about. It really feels like the last time kpop has had a genuine nationwide hit was from momoland's bboom bboom which completely blew up and is actually a catchy song.
the legacy of a daesang and the natural importance an of a domestic fanbase
back then, youtube and steaming wasn't as prominent as it is today. Groups were able to achieve massive historical milestones without global streaming numbers or people constantly bugging others online to stream their music. To put this into perspective, take dsp's finkl, who were created to the be the exact rivals to SM's s.e.s. despite the the fact that s e s sold almost a million copies from their debut track, finkl sold a little hit over 290,000 - 330,000 copies of their debut. for a girl group and during the asian financial crisis at the time, these were legendary numbers. yeah, 200,000 may not seem like a lot of numbers nowadays but it's a number that holds up today and is still impressive for a girl group. Finkl even sold almost a million copies with their next album "white" which went on to sell around 594,000 copies which were considered massive boy group type numbers. Finkl are even the first kpop girl group in history to win the prestigious daesang award, which set the standard for other ggs after them to show that even girl groups can have massive numbers and large fanbases akin to boy groups. Finkl had their nationwide hit with the song "eternal love" which is the epitome of the ethereal fairy concept in kpop. after finkl, lee hyori went on to become a legendary soloist, joohyun went on to become a massive theater actress and both lee jin and yuri went on to become prominent actresses. all four of these women have successful careers after their activities with finkl.
the tiktok illusion
i really hate tiktok and especially the kpop side of it. rarely does the platform see any Ws from me and even more so on the kpop side. People seem to misuse the word "viral" a lot to describe when a song from their favorite group goes viral across the platform. that isn't viral, that's tiktok viral. there's a difference and i explained the difference above. Tiktok and other platforms are completely changing how people discover kpop. there's nothing really wrong with that, but i think for all of these newer kpop fans who just got into kpop are going to think a group selling 100,000 copies through the entire year are disappointing numbers or a girl group gaining gaining nationwide attention for a funny dance in an music video and marking that group off as a if their music video doesn't see 20 million views in two days...it's ridiculous how fans nowadays have these warped expectations. which means that these are the same type of fans to dismiss older groups with a scoff since they clearly don't have the same standards as they do with see newer groups. i know why this is different now. back then, millions of koreans used to watch the same tv channels all the time around a group of family members. they'll see multiple idols interacting with other idols and generally having fun on these shows. this created special interest from people of all ages who weren't fans of these groups but knew their songs and the names of the members. nowadays, people live in isolated bubbles. with network tv dying, people simply don't watch the same shows anymore and it's all divided. sure middle aged and elderly people can use streaming sites like netflix or hulu, but you defintely won't see those sorts of age groups scrolling through instagram or on tiktok for random kpop dance covers.
ignoring the domestic market
I have talked about this before but it is very important for kpop groups to build up a domestic fanbase in their home country. sure your favorite 4th gen group may be famous internationally but what does that really mean for your favorite group? especially boy groups! they are actually the ones with this issue more than the girl groups. a lot of these modern boy groups have larger recognition overseas than they do in their home country, which isn't good. it gets to a point where those bg idols have to attend their required military service. One thing about kpop is that it moves very fast and especially the international side. i remember taking a break from kpop for a year and a half and when i decided to check back on it, sooo many new groups debuted and things have changed that it genuinely overwhelmed me. you can bet that these international fans would abandon that previous group for a new fresh group. however, domestic fans are different. for male idols away on military service, they'll come back and see their fandom has welcomed them back with open arms and with a massive wave of support. Shinee, 2pm, super junior are just a few groups who are still thriving years later thanks to their strong domestic footprint. groups like ateez have admitted they were genuinely shocked to find out that they have a domestic footprint at home despite being huge overseas. i think even enhypen's leader jungwon, have admitted to being scared of having local university concerts in korea as they know they don't have a big enough domestic fanbase. Every idol reaches a point where their peak is slowing down, contract expirations with leaves to a group disbanding or loosing some of its members and as i mentioned before, military service. these are factors that are going to prove if that group is truly successful enough in its home country. idols from past groups are able to have lifelong careers in solo work, acting, and tv hosting thanks to their companies prioritizing their home country first above all else. it's how groups from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd gen are able to be remembered and talked about years later.