🇰🇷 K-Pop: When Fans Take Over

Remember PSY's "Gangnam Style"? The parody song and its crazy choreography took the planet by storm in 2012. Ten years later, it's clear that this hit with a catchy chorus defined its era and the music industry. Its clip will remain legendary for being the first video in history to reach the symbolic threshold of one billion views on YouTube. With such a huge success, PSY opened the door for other K-Pop artists and shifted the influence of streaming platforms in the music industry. From then on, the Internet became K-Pop's playground.

The game has its own rules: a band of ultra-stylish boys or girls, catchy choruses, slicked video clips and precise choreographies, but also great communication with an ultra-connected community of fans, or "fandom". While the birth of K-pop as we know it today dates back to the 90’s, the phenomenon has made a spectacular entrance into the global music scene thanks to the rise of social media and the tremendous enthusiasm of its fans.

The numbers speak for themselves. 7.8 billion: that's the number of tweets about K-Pop posted on Twitter in 2021. The most popular girl band, BLACKPINK, has nearly 51 million followers on Instagram and no less than 83 million on YouTube, while their male counterpart, BTS, has more than 69 million followers on Instagram and 3 million more on YouTube. The online presence of these communities, as active as they are numerous, plays an essential role in the exposure and success of their idols, to the extent of becoming the symbol of a generation.

The term "stan culture" was coined in the early 2000s, inspired by Eminem's eponymous song, which tells the tragic story of a fan named Stan who goes crazy for the American rapper. Since then, "to stan" has found its way into the English dictionary, and generally refers to unconditional support and admiration of a celebrity to the point of widely promoting them. K-Pop fans' devotion on social media thus became an emblematic example of "stan culture".

While any worthy fan must wave their favorite band's colored lightstick at every show (each group has their own), and collect records and collectibles, the true "stan culture" of K-Pop fans can be found online.

That's right! ARMY (BTS fandom) or BLINK (BLACKPINK fandom), to name but a few, are developing real strategies to promote their idols beyond traditional media, such as creating their own hashtags on social networks. They even go so far as to set numerical goals for the number of YouTube or Spotify streams. Their daily challenges are similar to sports drills! The goal is simple: to break all streaming records and contribute to the popularity of their favorite artists. Their latest achievement to date: in August 2022, BLACKPINK's YouTube channel became the most watched in history, with over 25.7 billion views.

It's no coincidence that K-Pop bands have been winning a lot of music awards in recent years. While their talent and success are undeniable, it is also due to the dedication of their fans. Fandoms have turned collective intelligence and group strength into a way of life, to say the least! Proof of this is the record-breaking 300 million votes in 2017 that earned BTS the Top Social Artist award at the U.S. Billboard Music Awards - a trophy the band would win again for the next four years.

The dedication of K-Pop fandom can be quite fascinating and it manifests itself in unexpected places, with some surprising consequences! It's not unusual to stumble upon fan-bought advertisements in the Seoul subway celebrating the birthday or debut of their idols. Similarly, in Thailand, Bangkok's tuk-tuks are often adorned with banners featuring K-Pop bands, purely on the initiative of the fans, which provides a new source of income to the drivers.

In August 2021, it was the South Korean publishing house, Hyohyung Books, that became the lucky winner of the fandom effect. It all started with an ordinary photo posted on the Instagram account of RM, the leader of BTS, in which a book titled "Early Death" appears on a table corner. This book, which had fallen into oblivion, had been out of print for ten years before Hyohyung Books saw hundreds of fans lining up in front of their headquarters in search of a precious copy. "Early Death" was immediately reissued, and its sales soared, becoming the best-selling art book in South Korea for a few weeks.

Although these few examples may seem anecdotal, they are a testament to the considerable influence of K-Pop fans, which has now extended far beyond mere musical considerations. Armed with the knowledge of their craft, fandoms rule over the Internet and social media, and use them ever more to take over societal issues.

You'll find proof of the K-Pop fans' commitment in an upcoming article! Stay Tuned...