COME JOIN US!
Get your K-pop fix at KPOPSource.com - the ultimate destination for all things K-pop! From new album releases to concert coverage, our site has it all. Don't miss out on the latest news and updates from your favorite artists, and connect with a community of K-pop fans from around the world.
Register Now

Were BTS that worse off? (1 Viewer)

Abeamus

.
.
Joined
18 February 2019
Messages
51,566
Reactions Received
73,398
KS Coins
83,576
Ship
Wreck
BTS has become the poster child of a non big company group struggling and becoming a top group but how much did they struggle exactly?

Most people know how their digitals evolved after the years I feel with I Need U being their first notable song and have released multiple hits since then so I wanted to talk about how their physicals evolved.

For all of these numbers I took them from Gaon charts

In 2013 BTS debut with the album 2 Cool 4 Skool sold 24k in the year end chart while their 2nd album O!RUL8,2? sold 34k which 58k in your first year isn't bad at all. This went on to improve even more in 2014 as Skool Luv Affair sold 86k in the year end chart and Dark & Wild sold 100k before releasing I Need U in 2015 with The Most Beautiful Moment In Your Life, Part 1 which sold 203k in the year end chart and from there only increased more each comeback.

What are your thoughts?​
 

yeji

❧@bulletproof is the noora to my eva
.
.
.
Joined
9 October 2018
Messages
50,689
Reactions Received
142,446
Location
loonaverse into the cosmic world & flover garden ღ
KS Coins
134
Fandom
arianator
Gender
Female
Pronouns
she/her
Ship
Wreck
totally see it like you. the boys always did rather well and grew with each comeback natrualy. they also always got so many passionate fans and that also grew with each comeback.
 
Joined
25 August 2018
Messages
0
Reactions Received
31,955
KS Coins
0
There was definitely blood, sweat and tears (pun intended) behind their work, the struggle to debut is real, so that in itself was a struggle. I do have to say that luck played a big part in their boom. Yes, their discographies were unique, yes, they are showing exponential growth ever since. Plenty of their fans actually came from band-wagoning to the most popular group at the time, but then the bandwagon fans stayed because of the quality. Just so it happens, BTS was at the right place at the right time.
 

bulletproof

✧ @karina is the eva to my noora ✧
.
.
Joined
1 September 2018
Messages
12,423
Reactions Received
54,925
Location
ARMY base 💕
KS Coins
0
Gender
Female
Ship
Well I think it's more about the overall image, they came from a small company and became one of the biggest boygroups worldwide. However, they did struggle, a lot of people asked the members to leave the group and so on. I think this video combines some things
 

Abeamus

.
.
Joined
18 February 2019
Messages
51,566
Reactions Received
73,398
KS Coins
83,576
Ship
Wreck
Well I think it's more about the overall image, they came from a small company and became one of the biggest boygroups worldwide. However, they did struggle, a lot of people asked the members to leave the group and so on. I think this video combines some things
I'm more so focusing on how the group performed as personal hardships are another factor that i'm not gonna judge someone on but for the overall image I get the idea however I think it can also be misleading on how nugu BTS and also Gfriend since they get it too actually were since both of them did well within their first years.
 

potato

☆ Stan Yolkie ☆
.
Joined
22 May 2019
Messages
5,913
Reactions Received
28,281
Location
Under the Earth
KS Coins
0
Fandom
Moa
Ship
They were never the nuguest of the nugus for sure. The difference is just so stark that comparatively it seems a lot more imo.
I agree with this. It's the comparison between how a group such as them normlly would have done to how they are actually doing now. Most of the non big 3 groups that are successful all have their moments to shine but very rarely are they popular for a long period of time, especially with bgs. BTS were expected to come and then fade after a few years but they've just grown even more which I think is pretty admirable.
 

Belgizen

Belgi
.
Joined
4 November 2018
Messages
8,805
Reactions Received
29,065
Location
Doyoung's Bed
KS Coins
10,662
Fandom
NCTzen
Gender
Female
all idols struggle to get where they are. Even the ones in the big companies.
I don't think that groups who have currently 45 views on their MV ever have a shot in becoming "the next BTS or GFriend".
They already had a fanbase but they did come from a nugu company (tho I think the GLAM scandal brought their name out there).
I just think that some people took their story and made it more extreme to give people hope that their nugu's have a chance or just to make their already spectacular achievement more spectacular.
 

maruberry

I offer free hugs
.
.
Joined
18 November 2018
Messages
13,450
Reactions Received
41,651
Location
confusion
KS Coins
50
Gender
Non-Binary
Pronouns
He/They
Ship
Wreck
They were nominated for rookie of the year at MAMA.

They weren't a top group from the start, they struggled a lot in the beginning...

BUT, they didn't struggle more than the dozens of nugus debuting every year.
 
Joined
21 February 2019
Messages
16,036
Reactions Received
44,287
Location
the female gaze
KS Coins
124
Fandom
luoshifemy
Gender
Female
Pronouns
luo/yunxi
Ship
numbers can sound good without actually being good. ex. in 2014 artists only got $0.006 and $0.0084 per play on Spotify . with 86k sales, thats only $516 at best. now, i know this is sales and not streams on Spotify, but im using it as an example of horrible margins since i dont know the percentages behind sales.
 

maruberry

I offer free hugs
.
.
Joined
18 November 2018
Messages
13,450
Reactions Received
41,651
Location
confusion
KS Coins
50
Gender
Non-Binary
Pronouns
He/They
Ship
Wreck
numbers can souns good without actually being good. ex. in 2014 artists only got $0.006 and $0.0084 per play on Spotify . with 86k sales, thats only $516 at best. now, i know this is sales and not streams on Spotify, but im using it as an example of horrible margins since i dont know the percentages behind sales.
I think while BTS didn't have it good in any way, a lot of ARMY seem to act and think like... BTS suffered more than other groups. That what they went through is unusual etc.

While in reality they were just your normal every day nugus and not even anywhere NEAR the bottom of the pile.
 
Joined
21 February 2019
Messages
16,036
Reactions Received
44,287
Location
the female gaze
KS Coins
124
Fandom
luoshifemy
Gender
Female
Pronouns
luo/yunxi
Ship
I think while BTS didn't have it good in any way, a lot of ARMY seem to act and think like... BTS suffered more than other groups. That what they went through is unusual etc.

While in reality they were just your normal every day nugus and not even anywhere NEAR the bottom of the pile.
It only seems like that because more ppl care about bts. Obv you’re never gonna hear much lamenting over, like, idk, 4Ten, because they’re just nugus that literally no one cares about, so there isn’t gonna be any exaggerating
 

dooh

Jensetter <3 Jennie
.
Joined
14 November 2018
Messages
2,778
Reactions Received
11,243
KS Coins
0
Gender
Female
blood, sweat and tears did it .. thats song :sj_weary: made everything possible
 
Joined
21 February 2019
Messages
8,353
Reactions Received
27,109
Location
UK
KS Coins
528
Fandom
MY
Gender
Other
I agree with this.
There is no doubt they have struggled.
If you take a look at Dreamcatcher for example, they had to redebut but even then it was hard to get off the ground and even now, it's hard for them to get popular but they are slowly getting there.
 

Suzy

Hua Chen Yu's #1 Martian
.
.
Joined
21 November 2018
Messages
7,026
Reactions Received
27,660
KS Coins
0
Ship
I mean, I was on forums during their debut year and they were one of the most popular boy groups on the forum. But that was largely due to having very loud and active fans. They had like 2 fans and then those two fans recruited half the forum and before you knew it, everyone was a fan. When they won the rookie award, the entire forum was rooting for them. Which I guess them winning a rookie award also kind of goes hand in hand with your point.
So I guess I can agree with your point but at the same time, I don’t think they simply had that popularity simply given to them. They still had to work hard and majority of their popularity back them was due to all the content they were posting on YouTube. So unlike big companies that come hand in hand with fandoms, we can’t really say they debuted with a fandom. They had a great marketing team who really worked hard to get the boys in the spot light and in the end, it worked. So back to your point, they weren’t “worst off” but I also don’t think they were better off.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread