Why can't female idol soloists seem to stay relevant in kpop?

I think this is true of all soloists in Korea. They have their time to shine for a couple years and then they go out of favor. Paul Kim was huge and now no one even looks at him anymore. Zico had his moments and now he's a nobody, although maybe it was the Golden Phone controversy that might have cost him not his music.

I think solo charting will always be like this. Peaks and valleys all the time.

Baek Yerin has been doing well for herself since 2015 (7 years), and she'll continue to do well for long after. Same with Baek a Yeon, who debuted in 2012. BoA still has a very solid fanbase, and continues to make music while working with other aspects of the industry.

Women soloists do very well artistically and professionally. It's just that they're not normally concerned with making a global impact or appealing to larger groups of people. They make their music for music's sake, and don't heavily rely upon advertisements or flashy concerts.

Basically, yes, they do well. It's just that they don't lead the kind of careers I-Fans will recognize.

Edit: So expanding upon this, the culture / community surrounding soloists is very different from the culture surrounding groups. BG / GG stans tend to orbit around what's considered "new," "relevant" or "popular" with charts, different concepts, even (rarely) introducing new members or keeping up with what's happening in the members' lives, soloist fans tend to be less engaged with discussion or controversy surrounding the singer.

Soloists develop solid groups of fans who like their essential traits as artists. Yerin Baek fans love her crystal-clear voice, BoA her dancing skills, IU her duality and being well-rounded. Because the culture or average fan personality surrounding soloists is less entitled to craze or trend, they don't care about whether the singer expands to new genres or concepts. If IU was making similar songs repeatedly, I would still listen to her, because it works and it works well, and my music tastes don't call for anything beyond that usually.

They stay relevant, but they stay relevant within the audience they cultivate consistently over the years, as opposed to expanding outside of what works for them to experiment with what will potentially become more popular.

Adele is a good example of this.

Quote from LovenRose

Idk but people are losing out on these quality bops from Chungha's latest album

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frfr theyre gold!!!also sparkling was a really good title track

chungha be popping as usual

Solos mainly rely on public and if they release successive songs the public don't like then it's hard to stay relevant especially if don't sell alot of albums or tour to recoup some money in the mean time. If they don't recoup then it's harder to justify putting more money into producing more music/albums.

Quote from LovenRose

Idk but people are losing out on these quality bops from Chungha's latest album

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she won best kpop album in kma award too

Hwasa has 3 hits actually.

Don't Give It, Twit and Maria.

Holding other female soloists to the Taeyeon or, gods forbid, IU standard, is a little unfair.

There aren't many groups, let alone soloists, that can chart like them.

Quote from LovenRose

She did?? I feel like such a bad fan for not knowing that.

But DESERVED

These were the nominees for best kpop album, and she won. Its all based on critics.

Chungha – Querencia
Aespa – Savage

BoA – Better

CL – Alpha

Shinee – Atlantis

Sunmi: can't sing and her music quality dropped hard after Teddy outside of Noir And purple night

Hwasa does fine

Hyuna's success stemmed a lot from her sex appeal and those kinds of soloists/groups just never last long

Chungha: too many comebacks and not all of them were good

Honestly you have to keep making good music but still be willing to switch it up. That's why Taeyeon's 2nd resurgence happened 4 years into her career with Four Seasons

Because Kpop has been turned into a "group" sport.

Before I go into that.. the hits and misses of a soloist on an average, might not be that different from that of group. So I don't think there is anything to indicate that soloists don't last long in Kpop.

But back on groups..

If it is only about music, then soloists have as good a chance. But the whole culture around Kpop is premised on the concept of "group" .

Positions of course.

Choreography - Chungha is indeed a fantastic dancer, but she can't replicate the impact of a group doing point choreography/ synchronized movements etc., just with background dancers.

Group interplay - that brings its own moments

Fandom things like bias, bias wrecker, akagaes etc.,

Soloist can't compete with these things. the group concept brings another level of 'drama' to the sport.

That is why even soloists from popular groups, will not do better than their groups. Taeyeon comes the closest, but even she will not dominate as SNSD did in their peak. Nayeon will not achieve what Twice did.. nor will BP/BTS soloists to come.

Soloists in Kpop are like Doubles players in Tennis.

They also compete at the very top, grand slams etc., yet in public perception they don't matter as much as singles.

In general outside Kpop, soloists are doing very well in Korea. - Hiphop, Indie, Trot, folk etc.

Outside Korea, soloists don't matter much, because that is common across culture, whereas Kpop groups are rather a less encountered concept.

As to IU, there is no explanation for that phenomenon in Korea.

She came at a juncture, where Kpop industry was still experimenting and producing Kpop groups weren't yet a refined industrialized process, churning out groups and songs.

And as with other viral things, for whatever reason has captured the Korean GP like no one else.

But she is an anomaly and will not be repeated by the industry.

Thread

Why IU is not relevant to K-pop?

No I am not writing for @WhyKnock . But against his constant doomsaying about how IU will destroy K-pop.

IU for all her impressive achievements in S.Korea is actually not relevant to K-pop as an industry.

When was the last time a K-pop agency debuted a solo "idol" (not other genres), who already hadn't been a part of group or had some TV fame etc.?

Most agencies would have multiple trainees, with definitely good vocals and distinctive tones, under training etc.
But why don't we see a spate of…

bbgc

Jul 2nd 2022

Groups are far less risky and more likely to succeed, than soloists. So there will be no IUs in the future.

All soloists will either come from groups, or from some other medium TV fame, Social Media platforms etc.

Quote from Daileemidzy

I semi-agree. But if this is true why hasn't it happened to Taeyeon yet? She made her solo debut seven years ago but has shown nothing but growth. She even got her first PAK this year with INVU.

Lots of reasons for Tae.

She was already a household name at debut for her smash hit OSTs and later ones which further cemented her sucess. Her solo debut and music was very well received. It earned her tag "trust and listen to Taeyeon" so public will always anticipate her music.

Her fan base. Even if results are average on charts like in 2017-18 she can still sell loads of albums and hold international tours. That generates a tong of income, even more than album sales which SM will always like and consequently green light further albums as she's a walking ATM.

Her popularity. She's an it girl for 15 years. She ingrained herself in pop culture both as SNSD and individually. For the last couple years she's been constantly on TV part of Amazing Saturday so she's never out of the spotlight when not promoting music. Most female solo idols basically leave the public eye when not promoting.

Any one of those reasons is enough to keep a solo going for years but Taeyeon has an 3 and more. Many female soloists have 1 or 2 strengths and hope it carries them their career but as we've seen kpop is a fast and hard industry, if you don't find new ways of cementing yourself you'll get left behind.