Evaluating Success
Mass Production Beginnings
The four biggest entertainment companies in South Korea are HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. The marketing strategies of each company vary for each group, bolstering and sometimes undermining their own groups.
Due to BTS, HYBE has made a huge brand name for themselves. Once a group debuts from the company, they are almost guaranteed success. After BTS, HYBE debuted the boy group TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT). BTS’s fandom “Army” immediately checked out the group and showed support because they are in the same company. TXT initially referenced BTS in their songs, which I think is a ploy by the company for TXT to quickly gain fans. Just recently, HYBE’s new girl group ILLIT has broken records with their debut album sales.
Brand name also plays a big role in JYP Entertainment. Likely because Twice is such a powerhouse in the industry, JYP announced a “blind album” that fans can purchase for a girl group that has not even debuted yet, relying heavily on fan’s loyalty to the company. When I initially saw this announcement, I thought it would be impossible for the girl group to achieve a high number of sales. I mean nobody even knows the name of the group, so why would anyone want to take the chances of supporting the group when they haven’t even proven themselves yet. To my surprise, the album achieved the highest debut album sales by a girl group in K-pop history back in 2022.
Building a brand name for themselves is also a huge contributor to a new group’s success. It is said that if a group debuts under one of these big companies they are guaranteed success. As we can see with ILLIT and Nmixx, fans become loyal to the company and will buy whatever the company produces. Therefore, companies are likely to mass produce groups because they know whatever they produce will be received well by fans.
These are the current top entertainment companies in Korea.
An X user notes that TXT references BTS's song in their own song.
The new HYBE girl group ILLIT breaks girl group debut album numbers because they are from HYBE.
Before NMIXX was even announced, fans bought albums because they are from JYP Entertainment.
Standing Out...
Some groups are able to push the boundaries of what they are trained to do. While they are not necessarily the most “successful” in terms of the numbers games, I believe they are trailblazers in formulating the K-pop industry. For example, one of the best soloists in K-pop is Taemin, a member of the boy group Shinee. He released the song Move back in 2017 and did not immediately receive success, failing to receive awards on Korea’s music shows. The song, however, is one that has been performed by many other idols. It has a choreography and tune that is distinctive from the other K-pop songs released at the time.
The later sections of this writing project will delve into what I think are important qualities for K-pop groups. I will be promoting my favorite group Red Velvet through comparisons with other well-known K-pop groups. However, success for K-pop groups is multifaceted and depends on more than just technical abilities and talent. I will also be examining other factors that influence success for K-pop groups including promotion factors and gender biases.
Buckle up for Red Velvet propaganda next!
Shinee Taemin's solo song Move.
Aspects of Successful K-pop Groups
Vocal Abilities
As you all know from my little introduction of K-pop, I enjoy heavily vocal groups. If I were to convince you to like Red Velvet, one of the first points I would raise would be their vocal abilities. All of the members contribute to the song as they sing their choruses together and harmonize with each other (Note, I’ve tried harmonizing and it’s super difficult!).
There are YouTube videos that strip the song of all its main vocal parts to reveal the hidden vocal parts, where members are singing in the background but they are more muted. Most of the work is done by the arrangement team, who take recorded parts and layer them on top of each other. However, you can’t deny that Red Velvet was in the studio and recorded these harmonies.
Another K-pop group that has phenomenal vocal abilities is Mamamoo. ALL of them are highly talented singers with great range. I had a Mamamoo phase, where I truly questioned if I liked Red Velvet or Mamamoo better. I have to say that Mamamoo as a group is stronger in singing than Red Velvet overall. One of my favorite Mamamoo performances is Backwoods. They perform this at competition show, where they have to rearrange and sing another artist’s song from the past.
However, since Mamamoo prioritizes singing, Red Velvet overtakes them in overall performance. In almost all Red Velvet songs, there is choreography. Even during their ballads, they don’t just stand at the microphones, but they also play with the stands, rotate positions, and do solo and partner dances while other members are singing. So while I’m biased towards vocally strong groups, I also look for a group’s ability to incorporate a variety of talents into their performances.
Daisey's Ranking:
While they are not the best vocalists in the whole industry, Red Velvet has powerhouse vocals compared to their peers. They have great harmonies and work well with each other. As a group they are very strong, but each member has varying levels of abilities with Wendy as the strongest vocalist.
When I was first introduced to K-pop, my cousin showed me girl group Twice performing one of their earlier songs. She said that they were too “cutesy” and "cringe." Her opinions influenced me to avoid Twice until they released Fancy. My friend Julia showed me the music video. One of my first reactions was how this song was definitely better than their previous ones. The girls were wearing darker colors, signifying a switch from their usual bubblegum and bright colors. Their voices were not as annoying as usual, probably because Twice was singing in a lower register.
Now, this wasn’t what I expected because Twice is known for their cuteness. K-pop groups are designed from the start to have a theme and an audience that their songs target. Twice has historically released sickeningly cute songs like TT since their debut. Their songs appeal a lot to men who are attracted to their cuteness, while women often find those themes cringy like how my cousin felt. When you hear fans at their concerts, you will hear hordes of men cheering for their performances. Twice has a higher ratio of male fans to female fans as their songs in the past are meant to appeal to guys.
In 2019, Twice changed their song themes to a more mature one with Fancy. I suspect it’s because they are becoming more mature, having been a group for 4 years already. However, as they transitioned to more mature songs, their fandom started dissolving, losing their original fandom makeup but gaining more popularity with other demographics.
Another group that sticks to a core theme is Blackpink. Fans often have associated Blackpink with having a dual theme — their “black” which refers to their strong and bolder side and the “pink” which is softer. This dual theme was portrayed when Blackpink released Whistle and Boombayah, representing the “black,” and As If It’s Your Last which is more “pink” and cute. Blackpink's Rosé has said in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel that Blackpink referred to how the name means that they could be “girly” but at the same time “savage” too. While I think they have some variety in their songs (Stay does not sound like their usual discography), Blackpink songs are mostly “girl crush,” meaning that their songs focus on a female audience with the intention of empowerment. Since 2020, Blackpink songs have become more recycled, with their company re-using similar beats and verses, which have turned me off as a fan.
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Groups that can show versatility and attempt different concepts for the sake of artistry and not the charts is something I appreciate. While Blackpink’s duality in their music is created by fans, Red Velvet is intentionally created to show two sides in their music.
The name “Red Velvet” represents the duality in their music. The “Red” are more upbeat, fun songs. Themes in their “Red” music videos might be weird and wonky, but essentially there’s an element of quirkiness, happiness and cuteness.
An example of “red” songs are their summer hits Red Flavor and Power Up. The former song Red Flavor is a love song to someone through sweet foods and drinks during the summer. The vocals in the song are high-pitched with a refreshing rap portion in the middle. The music video is filled with references to fruits, sunshine, and bright colors. The latter song Power Up is similarly focused on the theme of summer, but more emphasis on how hot summer is. The music video plays on the theme with objects such as tables and chairs melting because of the heat. A lot of other “red” songs are similarly related to a bright and love-dovey storyline.
The “Velvet” side tends to be slower songs and contain more mature themes. An example of a “velvet” song is Be Natural, which has a jazzy and sultry tone. You’ll immediately notice how the pitch of the song is lower and tempo is slower compared to their red songs. The dance for the song is also more mature. Another song that demonstrates the “velvet” side is One of These Nights. Thematically, this is a ballad about heartbreak and longing for a loved one who has been separated. The music video takes place on a ship, and the members seem very sad with stoic expressions. The song itself is also slow with a heavy focus on vocals and some string instrumental in the background. Other velvet songs also highly emphasize vocal abilities and darker themes.
A lot of international fans (outside of Korea) tend to enjoy their velvet songs more than their red songs, including myself. I think "velvet" songs showcase Red Velvet’s beautiful vocal abilities, especially their tone and range. A unique thing that Red Velvet and their company peers do is sing the chorus and harmonize together. These harmonies are very apparent in their "velvet" songs. More recently formed groups rarely sing all the lines together, usually letting their best singers hold the fort. Therefore, I really appreciate how Red Velvet members have that synergy to create masterpieces.
Sometimes, Red Velvet’s music combines both themes to create an experimental song. A song that is considered “Red Velvet,” a combination of their concepts, would be Zimzalabim, the song capturing the vibes of a never ending festival. The song is very experimental with melodic verses and then a sudden jarring chanting chorus. I personally did not like this song on my first listen, but I feel that they were able to portray the vibes of a strange festival well. I appreciate their dedication to the theme, even though they worried about not being received well by their fans.
In 2021, Red Velvet released Feel My Rhythm which incorporated Bach’s Air on the G string heavily into the song. While Red Velvet was not the first group to incorporate classical music, their song received high recognition domestically and internationally. I suspect that their song likely influenced Blackpink to incorporate Lizst’s La Campanella into their 2022 song Shut Down.
Daisey's Ranking:
Red Velvet's commitment to trying experimental music, regardless of reception, is one of the reasons I became a fan. They have tried so many different avenues of music, rarely repeating the same themes. I can't give a 10 because sometimes the music just does not hit, which is an inevitable consequence of experimentation.
To build onto Red Velvet’s unique themes, I also appreciate Red Velvet’s commitment to their themes and artistry through their albums. Starting from debut, Red Velvet members have been assigned representative colors, meaning that each member’s clothing, items, etc. all reflect this color one way or another. Representative colors are especially helpful for new fans who will associate a color to a member. When three members of Red Velvet released their solo albums, each of the albums contained a reference to their representative color.
Examples of their cohesiveness is the whole ReVe Festival trilogy. This trilogy contains three albums: The ReVe Festival: Day 1, The ReVe Festival Day 2, and The ReVe Festival: Finale. (There’s also The ReVe Festival 2022 Feel My Rhythm and The ReVe Festival 2022 Birthday but I believe that’s the company milking the theme for more money, so they will not be included in this portion). I will be focusing on Day 1 the most because I think they risked reception to stay committed to their theme.
My first thought about this album cover is how messy and complicated the illustration is. Day 1’s album is bright yellow with what looks like an amusement park, with a roller coaster track diving into the center of a bubblegum machine.
I initially could not believe that all these elements would be tied together. It just seemed like the graphic designer threw everything and anything onto an album cover. However, as I watched the music video for Zimzalabim, I saw how committed Red Velvet was to the crazy amusement park theme. The clothing was horrendous but not atypical for a cult-like park. The girls enter the park through the ticket booth and then take an elevator to the rollercoaster, fall into a teacup ride literally, dance in a mirror maze, take pictures at a photobooth. The dance moves in the chorus look like they’re summoning some evil spirit.
I feel that this theme is atypical in the K-pop industry and risky as the music has heavy electronic dance music (EDM) influence with weird chanting that could drive away a lot of listeners. But, like I mentioned before, I have massive appreciation that they had the guts to try such an odd concept. While a lot of the general public didn’t like the song, Reveluvs, fans of Red Velvet, often look forward to this song during concerts.
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Being the dedicated fan I am, I also took a deep dive into the other songs on the album. Oftentimes, a lot of groups put the most work into the main track that will be promoted and performed to represent the album. It may be the fan in me, but it’s also widely recognized that Red Velvet has some of the best B-side songs (songs in an album that are not the main song). They are known as “B-side masters,” producing very high quality tracks beyond their title track. Some would argue (me including) that some of these songs deserved to be the main, promoted song for the album. Take some time to listen to some of my favorite B-side tracks as you peruse through the page.
Daisey's Ranking:
In my opinion, all K-pop groups have a strong work ethic, practicing night and day. Red Velvet is no exception. They spend hours in the recording studio (seen through their recording behind the scenes) and are heavily involved in the recording process. They also spend time discussing the themes they want to portray in their album. One of the members has made a whole pitch for their company. However, different companies restrict the amount of freedom idols have in their work, with SM Entertainment being one of them.
Themes
Commitment to Their Craft
Background vocals from Red Velvet in their song Kingdom Come.
Mamamoo (left) and Red Velvet (right).
Contrast between Twice's TT and Fancy.
Twice (left).
Blackpink (left).
Red Velvet's Red Flavor (left) and Power Up (right).
Red Velvet's Be Natural (left) and One of These Nights (right).
Red Velvet's Zimzalabim (2019).
Red Velvet's Feel My Rhythm (2021).
Red Velvet members' solo albums match their representative colors.
Red Velvet's The ReVe Festival: Day 1, The ReVe Festival Day 2, and The ReVe Festival: Finale in order of album covers.
Teacup ride and mirror maze in the music video Zimzalabim.
Factors Beyond the Artists
Promotions
HYBE has generally been pretty fair and successful with promoting their groups such as BTS and New Jeans. I feel that they are very strong at marketing which is one of their biggest strengths. We have BTS collaborating with big artists in the United States such as Halsey, Coldplay, Lauv, Megan Thee Stallion, and more. I think the international recognition boosted their domestic recognition as they were representing South Korea. The company is also known to give BTS a lot of creative freedom, allowing members to produce their own songs. Having once been HYBE’s only group, a lot of resources were put into BTS for their success. Now that there are more groups under the company, I feel that there might be more disparity in promotions and opportunities in the future.
Blackpink is notorious for having huge hiatus times, with members only participating in solo activities such as modeling for commercials. Under YG Entertainment since 2016, Blackpink has only released 32 songs. Comparatively, Twice (debut in 2015) has 213 songs and Red Velvet (debut in 2014) has 137 songs in total. While Blackpink falls short of the number of songs they produce and promotions generally, Blackpink has made their name in modeling and collaborations. The members have contracts with Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, and Celine among other big names. Blackpink is also the first K-pop act to headline Coachella.
SM Entertainment is considered an enemy to its own groups from the fandoms standpoints. You would think such a reputable company that produces global phenomena would treat their artists well. At some point, EXO was one of the dominating K-pop groups and has even made a name for themselves internationally. The boy group represented South Korea by performing at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics closing ceremony.
However, with EXO members currently going through army enlistments (every South Korean male between ages of 18 and 35 is required to complete military service for almost two years), there has been inactivity. Furthermore, a few members of EXO have filed lawsuits against SM Entertainment due to contract disputes.
SM Entertainment has also been under fire for treating foreign members of groups worse than Korean members. Early in EXO’s history, three chinese members left the group and filed a lawsuit against the company due to discrimination. Even with their most recent girl group Aespa, the chinese member Ningning was scolded by staff and forced to leave a Versace store event early for no apparent reason. SM Entertainment’s actions left a bad impression for fans.
Red Velvet has also suffered the consequences of SM Entertainment’s bad management. The company often understocks albums, leading to sold out albums with no plan of restocking. Compared to peers in the company, they have shorter pre-order periods (time when fans can pre-order albums), shorter promotion periods, and are left out by the company. Fans think that Red Velvet were a “cover up group,” debuting to cover up when two of their top girl groups Girl’s Generation and F(x) were going through members leaving the group. When they achieved the success they did with little promotion, SM Entertainment didn’t know what to do with them.
I think proper management for groups is a large component to a group’s success. SM Entertainment actively sabotages their own groups, preventing them from reaching their full potential. With poor promotion, it’s difficult for a group to become well known and, quite frankly, presents a view of unprofessionalism. HYBE has much more success with their groups due to mass marketing and proper treatment. YG Entertainment’s unique marketing strategies have helped but also held back Blackpink. Because of their lack of content, fans are desperate for a comeback, oftentimes streaming Blackpink songs and music videos to high numbers during the wait.
I’m also particularly biased towards female idols and groups because I resonate with them as a woman myself. Male idols tend to face less scrutiny and backlash from fans. We see this particularly when it comes to dating. When it is revealed that idols are dating each other, the female idol gets the brunt of the hatred. Just recently, aespa’s Karina was revealed to be dating actor Lee Jae-wook. Karina was pressured to release an apology to fans for her dating news, with her fans disapproving of the relationship even protesting her relationship outside of her company’s building. Meanwhile, there’s silence from Lee Jae-wook’s side.
One infamous couple in the past has been Girl’s Generation Taeyeon and EXO’s Baekhyun. Back in 2014, they were revealed to be dating through paparazzi photos and leaked chats. While both couples received hate messages from the respective fandom, even Taeyeon’s own fans claimed that she was trying to ruin Girl’s Generation’s reputation. Immediately after the dating news was announced, Taeyeon apologized to fans. Both her and his fans did not receive the apology well, and I think they would have criticized her even if she didn’t post an apology. Netizens made fun of her appearance, slut-shamed her, and called her an attention seeker and crazy bitch. Even in 2018, Taeyeon received absurd backlash for even posing with another EXO member.
Another example of misogyny in the industry was when BTS RM was praised for reading a book that describes Korea’s current progress in feminism, Kim Ji Young, Born 1982, while other female idols such as Red Velvet Irene received hate from fans, who cut up and burned her pictures, for doing the same. Bandmate Red Velvet Joy also received hate for wearing a feminist T-shirt that says “We Should All Be Feminists.” Feminism has often been used as a weapon against female idols but viewed as progressive for male idols. One thing to consider is that BTS’s fandom is made up of mostly female fans while Red Velvet has a significant portion of male fans, who felt more attacked by feminism.
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(T/W: mentions of sexual assault)
Even with more serious issues such as sexual assault and coercion, male idols are let off easier compared to female idols. One of the biggest sexual assault scandals in Korea was the Burning Sun Scandal. Many male idols were implicated in distributing drugs, prostitution, sexual assault, and hidden camera footage as well. The main perpetrator of the scandal received 5 years of prison for committing multiple sexual assaults, distribution of videos. Big Bang Seungri was involved in the scandal and was sentenced to 3 years for prostitution, embezzlement, gambling charges but was released after 18 months.
In comparison, a former girl group member Somyi was also sentenced 18 months in prison for false accusations against her CEO. While false accusations are not okay, the sentence Somyi received is equated to the laundry list of Seungri’s crimes. In another case, a former male idol Himchan only received 10 months of prison and 50 hours of sexual violence education courses after sexual assaulting three women.
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Halsey featured in BTS's Boy With Luv. Coldplay and BTS collaborated to create the song My Universe.
All members of Blackpink are ambassadors for their respective brands.
EXO performs a medley of their songs at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony.
EXO Baekhyun forms own company to manage his activities outside of EXO (left).
EXO Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen sought to terminate their contracts with SM Entertainment through a lawsuit (right).
A fan on Twitter/X expresses frustration in how Red Velvet albums are understocked compared to other groups under the same company (left).
Both Red Velvet's and their company's peer NCT Dream's concerts were cancelled due to COVID-19. While NCT Dream's concert resumed, Red Velvet's concert has been indefinitely postponed (right).
Gender Roles
Translated EXO fans' comments on Girl's Generation Taeyeon's Instagram page after the dating news.
Red Velvet Irene's fans cutting and burning photocards after Irene revealed she read Kim Ji Young, Born 1982.
Body shaming is very prevalent in the industry for both female and male idols. Mamamoo Hwasa is at the center of body shaming as she doesn’t fit the Korean Beauty Standards I’ve mentioned in K-pop 101. Hwasa has been called fat for having a curvier figure compared to her peers. Back in 2017, Hwasa caused controversy for wearing no bra at the airport. Despite her excellent vocal abilities, people have focused more on her looks and fashion.
Hwasa's controversial airport photo where she's not wearing a bra (left).
Hwasa's outfit for a variety show was criticized for sexualizing school uniforms (right).
Other popular female idols such as Red Velvet Wendy, Gfriend Umji, and Twice Jihyo have been criticized for gaining weight. Wendy had an extreme weight loss due to the pressure to the point that her ribs were starting to show in 2018. Now that Umji lost the fat in her face (likely due to losing baby fat through age), netizens have switched up and praise her appearance. At debut, Jihyo was even fat shamed by a photographer, who told her to move behind the other members. While she was on the competition show Sixteen to become a member of Twice, the judges called her fat and insinuated that she was lazy. Contestants that were fit the KBS were ranked above her. You can imagine how much these comments break down the self esteem of these female idols especially in their teens and early 20s.
Red Velvet Wendy's weight transformation after years of being criticized for being fat (left).
Twice Jihyo is criticized by a photographer, told to not block her bandmates in a photo (right).
Furthermore, female girl groups are expected to be temporary. As female idols become older, they start to lose their appeal while male idols continue to perform with no questions. There was a myth called the “7 year curse,” which claimed that female groups don’t last longer than 7 years. In Red Velvet’s company, male groups that are older than Red Velvet have continued to perform regularly while the older girl groups are inactive or have disbanded. Today, many of the top girl groups Blackpink, Twice, and Red Velvet have surpassed the mark already, but fans were significantly worried about their disbandment. Meanwhile, a lot of male group fans don’t have much of a worry for their groups.
While female idols follow stricter beauty standards, male idols are not off the hook either. A male idol who doesn’t follow the beauty standards is Super Junior Shindong. In 2019, Shindong revealed that he chose to lose a significant amount of weight due to health concerns and criticism.
Super Junior Shindong's weight transformation going from 255 lbs to 165 lbs.
However, Shindong also has body shamed women in the past. On a radio show in 2010, he said that “If someone had to lose weight, I would tell that person to lose weight. Lose some weight, why can’t you take care of yourself. When I say this, the person might think, ‘Look who’s talking,’ but I would reply, ‘I’m a boy and you’re a girl.” While he apologized for these remarks after being called out, his comments show the sexism that’s so prevalent in the industry. Fellow members of Super Junior have made fatphobic comments to girls specifically, insinuating that larger women are lazy and don’t take care of themselves.
Leeteuk: "I really dislike fat girls. I don't think they take care of their bodies well."
Leeteuk: "Suzy needs to lose weight first."
Yesung: "I think that fat women are lazy."
Male idols are praised for lifting up their shirts and showing off their abs. Some male idol choreography even has thrusting movements. When female idols do the same they are met by criticism and even sued. Once again, Mamamoo Hwasa is unfortunately in the middle of controversy. In 2023, the Student Parents and Human Rights Protection Solidarity sued Hwasa for public indecency at an university festival, school events that K-pop idols are invited to perform at. During her performance of the song “Don’t Give,” Hwasa makes a gesture at her private part. Since it was broadcasted on national television, parents complained that this performance was akin to pornography and kids saw it. Possibly because I’m desensitized by Western performances, I didn’t think that the performance was too over the top. Honestly, I think there are performances done by male idols that make my skin crawl even more.
In history there are many male kpop groups with sexy choreography. EXO’s Artifical Love, Loveshot, and The Eve are the epitome of sexy with hip thrusting and body rolls. There’s also an embarrassing video of Shinee grinding against a glass during a 2018 Tokyo fan meet. Worst thing is that fans voted for the members to do that. BTS have also performed songs where part of the choreography is lifting up their shirt to flash the audience with their abs. But, of course, when a girl group does that they are committing public indecency!
Hwasa's (left) dance move was sued for public indecency.
Jay Park (middle) is known for his sexy dance moves and songs. He often takes off his shirt during concerts.
EXO's Lay (right) performing Artificial Love during a concert.
(Lowkey finding these media in the Language Resource Center... changing my browser every time someone walks by...)
Scrolling through the 12 Explicit Dance Moves Banned By the Korean Government article, take a guess at the male to female ratio. Out of the 12 dance moves, only 2 banned dance moves belonged to boy groups. Remember how boy groups are allowed to perform hip thrusts? When girl group EXID performed their hit song Up Down, which included hip thrusting in the chorus of the song, they were banned from music shows. Another girl group, Rainbow, was forced to remove the shirt lift from their choreography because it was too racy.
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Personality can be the reason why many fans stan a group or the reason why everyone hates you. Imagine getting hate for playing baseball, eating a strawberry, and taking pictures. Imagine getting hate for singing your peers’ songs. Well, these girls are called the “Pick Mes" in K-pop, accused of being attention-seeking.
IVE's Wonyoung (left) and ITZY's Yuna (right) are known as the "pick mes" in K-pop.
As the resident It Girl in Korea, everyone is watching Wonyoung's moves and taking any opportunity to criticize her. Before she was in IVE, Wonyoung was in a temporary super girl group IZ*ONE, formed through a competition show. One viral moment of hers is a video of her throwing a baseball at a game, but netizens bashed her for posing and wanting attention from the crowd.
Even for basic necessities such as eating, Wonyoung receives hate for how she eats stuff like strawberries and pizza. A video of her eating a strawberry with two hands is one of the main pieces of evidence used against her. Netizens have commented saying that nobody eats strawberries like this and accused her of acting cute for attention. In an advertisement video for Papa John's, a behind-the-scenes video of the group showed Wonyoung eating pizza cutely for the camera. Again, she’s criticized for being cringey and attention-seeking.
These two gifs are often used by netizens to illustrate how Wonyoung is a "pick me."
I feel that these criticisms are completely unreasonable. As other users have mentioned in their defense of Wonyoung, the strawberry was pretty big in size. And why should we judge the way people eat? Also, for advertisement PR, you’re supposed to make the food look good and delicious. Actors in commercials should be exaggerating to convince people to buy the food. Absolutely no reason for a girl who is not even 20 years old to suffer all this public outcry over stupid controversies.
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Another similar-aged idol Itzy’s Yuna bears the same critiques of being overly cute and self-absorbed. During one live video with fans, Yuna sneezes and then says “Bless Me” afterward. She also once fell off a chair during a live video with fans. From these two videos, people accuse Yuna of trying to draw attention to herself. Both Yuna and Wonyoung have been criticized for wanting male attention when they emceed with members from male K-pop group Enhypen.
Compilation of moments where Yuna is criticized for being a pick me.
Another It Girl who has also been at the center of negative attention throughout her career is Blackpink Jennie. People have attacked Jennie for her outfits, performances, looks. Anything she does is scrutinized and often met with some sort of negative response. Earlier in Blackpink’s career, she was accused of bullying when she lived in New Zealand, but there was no evidence to back that up. She was accused of favoritism compared to the other members, specifically Thai member Lisa. She also had a lazy dancing scandal during the group’s world tour, but she revealed in an interview with Dua Lipa that she couldn’t dance her best due to injuries.
In relation to double standards, she is often perceived as being too savage and cold because of her resting face. Meanwhile BTS V is also known for his cold resting face. While Jennie is considered rude and mean because of her RBF, BTS’s fandom joke that V’s RBF often is a “vibe checker.” Some examples of celebrities who have not passed V’s vibe check is Charlie Puth, but it’s likely just because he’s awkward with them. While researching this topic, I found a lot of fan-made quizzes that ask if the quiz taker can pass The Taehyung (V’s real name) Vibe Check.
Blackpink Jennie (left) and BTS V (right). Both are known for their resting faces.
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Female idols are viewed under a microscope, dissected to the point that they have to change their looks and behaviors to survive in the industry. One wrong step, you have hordes of your own fans and netizens turning their backs on you. If idols are involved in a dating scandal, almost always the female idol will bear the brunt of controversy. They are critiqued from their appearances to their personalities. People insinuate things about them when they don’t even know them in real life. Comparatively, there seems to be way more hoops for female idols compared to male idols to achieve success. Misogyny and sexism are real issues in the K-pop industry and detrimental for the mental and physical healths of female idols.
Statistics
Statistics are a big deal in the K-pop industry. Some of the ways trophies and awards are measured is through the number of YouTube views, music platform streams, album sales, and fan voting. The percentage of these categories vary depending on the music show. Because statistics are so important for K-pop groups, fandoms have accounts who coordinate fans together to mass stream and purchase.
On YouTube, Blackpink and BTS dominate this list with the top 20 songs being almost solely these two groups. Notably, Blackpink has long periods of time when they don’t release music. Fans cope by streaming their small selection of music videos to high numbers. Similarly, BTS has a large fanbase that can stream their music videos to high numbers as well. Other groups also have fan accounts that coordinate streaming parties (space where fans can stream music videos and playlists together) and create guides on how to stream properly.
Blackpink's most viewed music video DDU-DU DDU-DU (left) has 2.1 billion views.
BTS's most viewed music video Dynamite (right) has 1.8 billion views.
One thing I’ve observed is that these fanbases have extreme streaming culture. Some Twitter accounts guilt trip their fans into streaming music videos. They say that you are not a fan if you’re not streaming X group’s video to an X amount of streams in X amount of time. These fans have their TV, iPads, computers, phones open with the music video, looping playlists 24/7 just so that their group can have high numbers. It really makes you wonder if fans are truly enjoying the music. Also, do the numbers really reflect whether a song is good or is it because the group has a strong fanbase?
Have you ever experienced watching an out of the blue ad for a K-pop music video? Ads are a way for companies and/or fandoms to increase music video views. Not all groups have supportive companies that will pay for ads, so those with the privilege have what are called “inorganic” views. Those views come from a mixture of ads and bots and don’t reflect the true views for that group. Due to this manipulation, I find it unfair to use YouTube as a major means of measuring success for a K-pop group.
Continuing how gender impacts success, there are platforms that benefit girl groups and others that benefit boy groups. Besides YouTube, Korean streaming platforms (Flo, Genie, Bugs, Melon, etc,) and Spotify are used as measurements for digital streaming. The audience for these streaming sites are the general public, meaning people who just casually listen to groups. Girl groups often perform significantly better through these streaming platforms compared to boy groups. I think girl groups tend to have more friendly music that most people can listen to (but I’m also a girl group fan, so that might just be a personal opinion). In contrast, album sales benefit boy groups over girl groups. Boy groups tend to have a stronger and more dedicated fandom who are willing to spend money purchasing albums.
Reflections
Based on so many factors that impact statistics, groups that have high numbers may not be the most successful group out there. Groups from companies like SM, JYP, YG, and HYBE have the resources and name to succeed despite being less talented and/or releasing poor music.
Let’s take a look into BTS’s English discography. Personally, these songs are very hard on the ear and heavily “Americanized.” Permission to Dance is the worst of all the English title tracks. However, this song has a high number of Spotify streams (665 Million) and YouTube views (635 Million), higher than a lot of other groups and their past music videos. When I asked my cousin about her opinion on the song, she said it was honestly very bad. However, she’s still going to stream to support BTS regardless. I know that’s just one anecdote, but this cycle repeats itself not only in K-pop but also in Western music.
BTS's Permission to Dance (2022).
Just recently, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding HYBE groups and their poor live singing abilities. Girl groups Le Sserafim and ILLIT have been under fire for being unable to sing during their encore stages. Le Sserafim, in particular, has been under scrutiny for their Coachella performances and are now accused of lip synching after criticism. Both groups have insane statistics. As I mentioned in the beginning of this section, newly debuted ILLIT has broken the record for the number of debut album sales. Streams and sales do not correlate at all with abilities and potential.
Just so people don’t think I’m just trashing HYBE groups, I think other examples of this phenomenon would include Blackpink. While I’m sympathetic towards Blackpink’s mistreatment by their company through their long hiatuses, their music quality honestly has gone down significantly throughout the years. Songs have become recycled with the same structure and disappointing choruses. Despite all this, Blackpink sets a record each comeback in terms of views or streams.
NCT is a boy group under SM Entertainment that releases extremely experimental music. They continuously set new records for album sales for the company. Historically, NCT’s music does poorly on streaming sites which contrasts with their high numbers of album sales. However, most of these albums literally end up on the streets. Fans mass buy so they can collect photo cards and/or win a fanmeet with these members. So that begs the question of whether album sales are really reflective of how successful this group is.
NCT is one of the best sellers in terms of albums in SM Entertainment, making new records with each release (Soompi). However, their albums are found in the trash on the streets which raises questions about what their sales really reflect.
I know this section contains a lot of shade towards certain groups. However, there’s so many factors that inflate/deflate a group’s statistics. You really have to wonder whether numbers truly reflect a group’s success or not. Furthermore, should we base success on these measurements if they are impacted by bias?
Red Velvet has been a group that has stayed consistent with me since high school. When I struggled with balancing school, extracurricular activities, and the expectations of life, I would listen to their music for a sliver of time for myself. Because of how much I enjoy their music, I want them to be recognized by multitudes of people. It’s upsetting to me when I view online discourse about how Twice or Blackpink is better than Red Velvet because they have higher statistics.
I embarked on this writing journey to prove that Red Velvet is successful. During the project, I ranted about topics that have long bothered me in K-pop. I was able to brag about my favorite group. I learned so much about other groups. Ultimately, I created this wonderful project that teaches others about K-pop while expressing my hot takes.
Finishing this project, I’ve come to realize how the industry is unfair. It’s pointless to lose your sanity and morals over groups who are fighting to survive in a ruthless industry. Most of these idols probably don’t care about their achievement compared to other groups. What matters to them is producing the music they love and sharing it with their fans.
As consumers of K-pop, we can influence the success of these K-pop groups. However, we should remember not to overstep boundaries. K-pop idols are people with feelings too. Music is to be enjoyed and shared, not a breeding ground for hate and excessive criticism.