kpop's popularity is (somewhat) dying off

  • *These are MY opinions. please take this post with a grain of salt*


    I joined the K-pop fandom a few years ago in 2019 when K-pop was getting really popular and the pandemic left us really bored. I think that the pandemic was a part of making K-pop go global and really popular, but after things started to get normal and people were going back to school, things changed... a lot.

    Most fans are teenagers who were really bored during the pandemic and could slack off because, well, it was the pandemic and what were the teachers going to do? Send you home? It was also a time when you couldn't meet the people in your grade face-to-face and no one really had an irl relationship. Those who didn't even have online rizz were left to being lonely. That was when everything happened.


    Humans really are a visual species, because soon enough anime was getting popular (and we know how many hot dudes there are in anime). Some people who didn't like anime attempted to find irl pretty people. And tbh, K-pop is really the only type of music industry that really, really prioritizes visuals over everything else. So guess what we, the species who want aesthetically pleasing things did? We turned to K-pop.


    But really, that was in the past and I want to talk about now. People are going back to school and developing new experiences and relationships. There's a lot of dating going around (again) and people don't have to rely on Asian-people-who-are-pretty-and-are-literal-people-from-your-dreams. We're getting faced with reality again instead of slacking off and everything is put to a stop.


    We know how time never stops for us now. When the pandemic happened, I was in Elementary school and just hit my double digits. Now, I'm about to finish Middle school and I'm a teenager. Since time never stops, we're working harder to create new relationships and strive for our futures so we can make a mark.


    This is why kpop isn't as popular. I'm not saying that kpop isn't popular at all, just that it isn't as popular. We want a taste of real life now, to prepare ourselves. Not to scream over beautiful women while daydreaming about marrying them. We don't have time to do it either.


    People used to be extremely devoted to kpop. Like "OMG I WOULD DIE JUST TO GET THOSE ALBUMS" or "I'M GOING TO GO BURN DOWN (insert company)! DON'T MISTREAT MY BABIES!". Now you really just see. "they really have THAT kind of rizz" or "she's kinda hot. she sings nicely too" or "I really love that song!"

    Kpop is more popular globally now. but not like die-hard popular.


    And that concludes my rant about kpop while needing to pee. if anyone wants to know why my "kpop"'s are spelled differently, it's because of Grammarly. (Yes, I use it. Don't judge me)

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  • I understand your point and agree with the fact that kpop is losing the fandom it's built over the last 15-20 years (??) but mainstream-wise I think it's actually growing at a steady pace. Granted, I doubt we'll ever see a sharp rise like BLACKPINK and BTS had ever again, but to say that it's losing popularity as a whole is quite a broad statement. Look at the success NewJeans have had within half a year of debuting. Having the most monthly-listeners over any other female group (currently sitting at 22 million), each member having been signed to at least one luxury brand, all but one song surpassing 100 million monthly streams on Spotify and becoming the fastest K-pop group in history to land multiple entries on Billboard's Hot 100. TWICE being the first female group to perform at the MetLife stadium. BORN PINK becoming the highest-grossing tour by an asian-female artist in history whilst Pink Venom and Shut Down both debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200. Jungkook having released a song for the world cup that peaked at #1 on US Digital Song Sales.

    All of the above are events that are yet to/have happened within the last year or so. As afore mentioned, I do understand your point. I just think it's a bit of a stretch and, whether intentional or not, is undermining the success of the current groups dominating the industry and beyond. Just because we won't see a replica of BTS's success does not mean that kpop's mainstream popularity has died out.

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    Sakura Miyawaki (宮脇 咲良, Miyawaki Sakura, born March 19, 1998) is a Japanese singer and actress based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group LE SSERAFIM.


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  • People aren't paying attention but Jpop is rising actually thanks to Tiktok and anime openings getting proper treatment. Investing in music eventually pays off.


    Kpop has been investing in anything but music. Like I don't think when they produce albums they think about making a hit song anymore.

  • people might hate hearing it but bts hiatus played a part in it too. There were lot of armys which become bts fan first then start checking out other groups too bit after hiatus news looks like they just disappeared. :eyes:

    Kpop is slowing down but I don't think its popularity will die down completely, who knows some other group might blow up like bts or BP in future.

  • No popularity boom lasts forever but I do feel like kpop has made its mark on the mainstream at this point and it wont disappear anytime soon. Like we had Twice performing on the Tonight Show last week. That's nuts.

  • Of course it is declining


    I talked about this before


    Without BTS , and with the newer acts not there yet, a big backlash was expected and it is quite huge.

  • kpop is far from dying or slowing


    Stream are increasing, kpop groups sales are increasing, more and more artist perform in big concert venue, even nugu group are doing better in spotify and in the chart now

    there's nothing showing any sign of kpop slowing


    to me sounds more like HYBE is pushing this narrative to give the feeling that kpop fans can't live without bts

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  • ur right.


    Kpop peaked with 3rd gen.


    These "streams", and "sales" kpop stans want to constantly flex about are all simply just 13 year olds mass streaming. None of it is organic.


    While kpop hasn't it a decline yet, it'll eventually become incredibly saturated, people will get bored and find a new country/thing to rave about leaving kpop in the dust.


    With average talent these days, parasocial relationships between fans and idols, haters, and overall nothing new or original being brought to the game, most people are starting to grow out of kpop.

  • Hey. I read all of your replies and I honestly think you guys are right. Kpop is declining in one way, but in another way, it's growing. Since I joined the fandom in 2019, I'm like a "toddler" fan. It really helps to read your opinions and learn more from older, more experienced fans.

    Thanks for sharing your opinions!

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  • I can only give my own opinion on this one. I feel it has as well in recent years, dominance by one or two girl groups has become somewhat boring and there's no excitement anymore. The prominent groups of second gen in particular have declined in terms of music quality but still manage to hang on. Comebacks are often disappointing after having to wait so long in anticipation to find the title track to be a bit ordinary and often the B side the better song. Twice seem to be the only girl group that's consistent as far as albums go. I'll always revert to second gen music as least there were some quality groups and songs back then.

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