Is a group still nugu when selling 100k albums or more?

nugu is relative concept they are nugu for top groups but not nugu for smaller groups

the term nugu literally means "who?". i don't think there is a definition of popularity that everyone accepts so i would say groups that aren't known outside of their fandom can still be considered nugu. we all know bulk buying is a thing in kpop. 100k sales =/= 100k fans and it doesnt equal public recognition either

The top nugu authority nugu promoter draws the line at 10k sales

Quote from trollacc

The top nugu authority nugu promoter draws the line at 10k sales

External Content twitter.com

Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.

Display all external content

Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

thats for ggs wonder what the line for bgs

is there nugupromoter acc for bgs? i know that acc only do ggs

If you think someone selling anything more than 50K albums is a "nugu" group you're delusional. Just because a group isn't popular and selling millions or hundreds of thousands of albums doesn't mean they are nugu.

I think a lot of newer K-Pop fans (post 2015) are used to really high sales due to bulk-buying and people buying multiple copies of the same album (which you shouldn't do & idc about your opinion on it) which have inflated the true number of albums sold. A lot of 'nugu' K-Pop acts in 2010-2014 that I stanned like Tahiti sold maybe 30k units total while they were active. I would find it quite insulting if I'm a member of an idol group that sold at least 10K copies of an album and someone online would call me a 'nugu'. Even just 10K albums sold at ~$25 is a revenue of $250K and assuming a 20% profit margin that is $50K for physical album sales alone excluding profits incurred from other gigs across Korea, Japan, etc.

A lot of K-pop legends like KARA, T-Ara, SHINee, 2PM, etc. regularly were under 100K sales in the early 2010s/ late 2000s. I see people saying things sometimes like "Everglow is going to fall into nugudom". I'm sorry, but you're genuinely delusional. There are a plethora of groups that have under 10k monthly listeners on Spotify and are really talented who are at real risk of disbanding due to abysmal album sales and are likely being kept afloat by wealthy CEOs who have enough capital to sink into non-profitable groups. Imagine being in a group like that and being thrown in the same category with an idol group that is selling like 87K albums that might even have music show wins.

Quote from screamingbanshee

If you think someone selling anything more than 50K albums is a "nugu" group you're delusional. Just because a group isn't popular and selling millions or hundreds of thousands of albums doesn't mean they are nugu.

I think a lot of newer K-Pop fans (post 2015) are used to really high sales due to bulk-buying and people buying multiple copies of the same album (which you shouldn't do & idc about your opinion on it) which have inflated the true number of albums sold. A lot of 'nugu' K-Pop acts in 2010-2014 that I stanned like Tahiti sold maybe 30k units total while they were active. I would find it quite insulting if I'm a member of an idol group that sold at least 10K copies of an album and someone online would call me a 'nugu'. Even just 10K albums sold at ~$25 is a revenue of $250K and assuming a 20% profit margin that is $50K for physical album sales alone excluding profits incurred from other gigs across Korea, Japan, etc.

A lot of K-pop legends like KARA, T-Ara, SHINee, 2PM, etc. regularly were under 100K sales in the early 2010s/ late 2000s. I see people saying things sometimes like "Everglow is going to fall into nugudom". I'm sorry, but you're genuinely delusional. There are a plethora of groups that have under 10k monthly listeners on Spotify and are really talented who are at real risk of disbanding due to abysmal album sales and are likely being kept afloat by wealthy CEOs who have enough capital to sink into non-profitable groups. Imagine being in a group like that and being thrown in the same category with an idol group that is selling like 87K albums that might even have music show wins.

maybe people wouldnt care that much about numbers if their faves would release good music like t-ara does.

Quote from 3ne

Nugu doesn't mean they're at risk of failure, it means means most people say "who?" when you mention them (since "nugu" literally means "who").

For better or worse, it's undeniable that the environment has changed a lot since 10-15 years ago. There are groups selling 100-200k albums these days that most people have barely heard of. In 2022 kpop, a group can be successful and nugu.

My point was that it is overused. I concede that the environment has changed but I think it is ABSURD that a group needs to sell 100k not to be considered nugu by some people. It takes the same album sales to qualify for platinum in Korea (7th largest music market) as it does in Japan (2nd largest music market) despite physical album sales being dominant in Japan. Album sales are a poor metric for determining the success or knowledge of a group, there is not a single metric to determine how successful a group is and trying to find a single quantitative measurement is futile.

Quote from neigl

maybe people wouldnt care that much about numbers if their faves would release good music like t-ara does.

The obsession by albums sold is so weird across every genre like your faves can still be good with "bad" album sales. Britney and Mariah don't sell the same number of albums they did in the 90s and 00s but we don't treat them like they're washed up music industry hags due to poor album sales lol.

Quote from screamingbanshee

The obsession by albums sold is so weird across every genre like your faves can still be good with "bad" album sales. Britney and Mariah don't sell the same number of albums they did in the 90s and 00s but we don't treat them like they're washed up music industry hags due to poor album sales lol.

there is one metric to determining the success or knowledge of a group tho.

yes but its enough to make money and avoid disbandment!

i think nugu should only be for unheard of groups.

Quote from jinaland

thats for ggs wonder what the line for bgs

is there nugupromoter acc for bgs? i know that acc only do ggs

YEET

What they post is based on what tier they consider a group to be in, but I think it’s based more on social media metrics as opposed to sales:

06C1CECA-1CC0-44D9-B76B-7777F3EDC714.jpeg

Ah to answer the question, i feel there’s different levels of nugu? Like the group i posted above withus has like 100k views on their most viewed mv and their company is like… close to bankruptcy… but then you have groups like, for example, Mirae who has like millions of views and are from a more mid tier company. Still though, their metrics are peanuts compared to big4 groups so like… i guess in that sense they seem nugu, you know?

If an Idol appears on a Music Show it means they aren't nugu due to how difficult it is to get on one for the majority of Kpop Idols.

So it's highly unlikely that an Idol that sells 100k albums has not been on a Music Show.

Quote from jimeous

If an Idol appears on a Music Show it means they aren't nugu due to how difficult it is to get on one for the majority of Kpop Idols.

So it's highly unlikely that an Idol that sells 100k albums has not been on a Music Show.

You don't consider the most unknown idols appearing at the start of music shows or only on Simply k-pop to be nugu? (ex. Pink Fantasy, Makamaka, Beauty Box. or Nine.i, Fifty Fifty, NTX, Irris on this ep of Simply K-pop)

I mean on AKP it is news that these groups debuted or their MVs were released, you only consider the ones not even on AKP or wikipedia.org (maybe only on Kprofiles) to be true nugu?

reading the above the discussion seems more to be

"what is one's definition of nugu"