4th gen is not really taking off - unless IVE pulls through

    idc what 4th gen stans say, there are zero groups who have consistent success in every area (except IVE, but they're such a new group)


    Back in 3rd gen, EXO may have flopped with Mama but after Growl they quickly became the #1 boygroup until BTS took the crown, selling like crazy for the time and also doing well on Korean charts. And BTS literally won AOTY every year for like 6 consecutive years lmao, that should tell you enough. For girl groups, Twice went on to get eight consecutive #1s after national hit CU and sold millions of albums. BP have literally never missed digitally in SK - even KTL is a hit by today's standards - and have dominated western metrics for ggs since 2017. And RV may be hit or miss, but they usually chart high initially, proving they are well known with the GP.


    I just don't see any 4th gen groups with the same trajectories. Aespa flopped with their debut, got lucky with mega hit NL, declined slightly digitally with Savage, and are now struggling to stay top 15 with Girls, all with almost zero international growth in 2 years looking at their streams. Itzy were looking like the next BP for a bit there, only for Sneakers to not even enter Spotify Global. Their k-charting has also been a hot mess since Icy, but at least they finally have another hit. StayC and G-idle don't really stand a chance, and New Jeans is making zero noise internationally despite the good charting in Korea. And I don't keep up with bgs much, but from what I read on here TXT, Enhyphen, and Stray Kids basically don't chart in Korea and are wildly inconsistent on Spotify.


    Maybe IVE will prove me wrong, but it seems to me like 4th gen really isn't taking off as much as 3rd gen did anywhere and we'll see KPOP gradually lose more and more steam over the years

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    Approved the thread.

    I'm curious about why you think Stray Kids is inconsistent on Spotify. Since God's Menu, all their eras are bigger than the previous one on the plataform. I'd argue they are the most consistent 4th gen generation group so far internationally.

    im surprised newjeans didnt even make it to spotify global or bb 200. they just a local fad?

    3rd gen acting like 2nd gen. The life cycle continues.

    At the end of the day you are right OP. Out of all 4th gen groups IVE and Stray Kids are the only one in 4th gen consistent enough, they are the only ones takking off, the others except for maybe Itzy, NJ and TXT are doomed to be a fandom driven force group only.

    Like 3rd gen the top 5 is 3 ggs and 2 bgs being the ONLY stars of each gen.

    IVE, SKZ, TXT, Itzy, NJ.

    Quote from Basted Rice & Mammoth (216)

    They are not the most consistent it’s IVE, I’ve charts longer everywhere and much much higher in bb global and bb jpn hot 100

    I'm not saying IVE is inconsistent, but they only had two releases so far, It's hard to tell. I'd need to see around 4-5 back to back releases, but they didn't had the opportunity yet.

    To be honest I expected skz to take off more than they have by now. Like cool, they are selling a lot like many others and got decent streaming on global platforms... for kpop standards. It still feels extremely mid, I thought they could be the next ones to break out from the kpopper bubble but I guess not.


    I am not even gonna mention txt cause they fell off immensely, both momentum and musically wise. As for ggs itzy are aespa are doing okay on their own but considering they were at some point called the "next bp" you can only call them disappointing.


    Right now the promising groups are IVE (consistent all around so far) and newjeans but they just debuted.

    The kpop landscape and marketplace is a completely different world than it was 2012-2015. Even the metrics used are different and the way people consume media, whether it's watching TikTok or using streaming platforms like Netflix or Viki. Kpop is more diverse than ever - content comes in many languages right from the company (compared to waiting for fans to translate), kpop albums are easier to buy and we now have the growth of more groups who do the bulk of their business (streams, concerts, album sales) outside of Korea.


    We see this shift even now in the way people undervalue groups from past generations because they don't meet today's metrics (smaller album sales or lower Spotify streams, the ongoing national hit discussion about legacy vs charting). The industry is continually changing and so are the success metrics.

    Quote from Brined Mustard & Thyme Horse (928)

    To be honest I expected skz to take off more than they have by now. Like cool, they are selling a lot like many others and got decent streaming on global platforms... for kpop standards. It still feels extremely mid, I thought they could be the next ones to break out from the kpopper bubble but I guess not.

    were you expecting them to break out like BTS or something? If you did then it's your problem and you're delusional at the same time.

    Quote from Stewed Almonds & Avocado Ostrich (50)

    The kpop landscape and marketplace is a completely different world than it was 2012-2015. Even the metrics used are different and the way people consume media, whether it's watching TikTok or using streaming platforms like Netflix or Viki. Kpop is more diverse than ever - content comes in many languages right from the company (compared to waiting for fans to translate), kpop albums are easier to buy and we now have the growth of more groups who do the bulk of their business (streams, concerts, album sales) outside of Korea.


    We see this shift even now in the way people undervalue groups from past generations because they don't meet today's metrics (smaller album sales or lower Spotify streams, the ongoing national hit discussion about legacy vs charting). The industry is continually changing and so are the success metrics.

    Nice observation!

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