What do you think is the single most important measurement of success for a K-Pop group?

Whatever my favs are good at duh.

Trolling deals

thebadguy currently has an exclusive contract to troll Wonyoung and BTS

All of the above

I think touring

Honestly? Only how rich the members become. I always tied success to money. You're making an insane amount of money, you're successful. Doesn't matter how you got that.

Quote from YamaChwan

So think about the question in this context.

If your favorite group could be the industry best and leader in one category, and you had the power to choose which category, which would it be?

I will include options in the poll

In payola times the only true measurement is touring. Entertainments can't fake a real life audience yet

anyway voted touring. It’s the only thing you can’t fake your way into.

To me success = money

Popularity = social medias engagement

Touring, because that's what these labels want for their groups more than anything. It makes the most money by far.

Touring and longevity, that's all that matters, everything is else is pretty much meaningless.

Music wise: discography, versatility and talent in everything they do. If a group have all these, they will be successful long-term.

My faves excel at every categories so it doesn't matter to me

Stans of rival groups/artists trying to sabotage you.

How deep their company's wallet is

I didn't vote for Other, I should of have

Touring.

It earns the most money and can’t be artificially inflated.

Touring has some relevance to GP appeal but cmon, does anyone think Backstreet Boys touring in their 40s is somehow relevant to their GP popularity now? . Folks going to them are fans of them from when they were younger, no 16 year old kid has posters of them on their walls. Same with rock bands like Rolling Stones and all my fave 80s bands that somehow still do tours in rando nightclubs and theaters.

Twice, BTS and BP can sell 40-60k tix here in the US for one stadium show, much more than Olivia, Ariana, Weeknd, but cmon, do folks really think our fave GG idols are more popular than these local acts in the US?

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

Touring has some relevance to GP appeal but cmon, does anyone think Backstreet Boys touring in their 40s is somehow relevant to their GP popularity now? . Folks going to them are fans of them from when they were younger, no 16 year old kid has posters of them on their walls. Same with rock bands like Rolling Stones and all my fave 80s bands that somehow still do tours in rando nightclubs and theaters.

Twice, BTS and BP can sell 40-60k tix here in the US for one stadium show, much more than Olivia, Ariana, Weeknd, but cmon, do folks really think our fave GG idols are more popular than these local acts in the US?

where does it say u.s on the poll?

popular and success doesnt have to go together

my high school friend is more popular than me. im more wealthier tho

are your rando rock bands and backstreet boys a kpop group

i think it depends on what you see as succesful?

from the listed options, i would say touring. You can only manipulate it to a certain extend and it also clearly shows the different levels of succes.

but if you see GP relevance as succesful, i would say "how known is your name/brand".

you can be known in the kpop bubble, the stan culture bubble, casuals or real locals. people don't have to like you or even know a lot about you. if they have heard about you, it says a lot about your succes imo (with Michael Jackson being the top of the scale).

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

Touring has some relevance to GP appeal but cmon, does anyone think Backstreet Boys touring in their 40s is somehow relevant to their GP popularity now? . Folks going to them are fans of them from when they were younger, no 16 year old kid has posters of them on their walls. Same with rock bands like Rolling Stones and all my fave 80s bands that somehow still do tours in rando nightclubs and theaters.

Twice, BTS and BP can sell 40-60k tix here in the US for one stadium show, much more than Olivia, Ariana, Weeknd, but cmon, do folks really think our fave GG idols are more popular than these local acts in the US?

Yeah if you have only tiktok hits and can’t tour you aren’t successful this isn’t hard to understand.

Success doesn’t just mean how famous/infamous you are.

Mmm, how you know Mamamoo is succesful?

I always find funny the disregard to music success, we're in the music industry. Gonna try to make some points but this is just my opinion after all.

For me it's digital sales, because it's the legacy the artist leave. Yes in the short run money is always the most important thing, but in the long run the success of the music is always what people remember the most. If Sistar are remembered as legends and no one ever talks anymore about for example U-Kiss or even groups that were considered pretty big 10 years ago like Infinite, is because their music didn't leave a big relevant impact unlike Sistar's. I'm pretty sure Sistar's members are really proud of themselves when they see summer coming and all their songs rise on the charts and see people playing them every year. Also, if you are a digital monster you will for sure be wealthy enough and have decent numbers in other aspects too, you might not be as rich as other groups that can tour more but I'd personally prefer it. It depends on what people value more or what you consider to be "succesful"

For people that only care about money, I have no idea why they put touring above CFs and public recognition. I don't have the exact numbers but touring only applies to the groups while they're active as groups, the public recognition change the artist' whole career. If Jennie, to put an example, is going to be a wealthy person for all her life, is not because of the tours she has done with BP but because of the popularity she got and the brand deals she has and she's going to have for years even after BP disbands. Touring might make more money now (And I'm not sure about this because when you see some reports idols make a crazy amount of money with other projects), but if you care about the ARTIST the popularity of the artists, as a person, and not the group, will always be more important because the person will continue there, the group might not.

Not exactly the point of the topic but related with the point above and regarding idols' lifes, sometimes I have the feeling that fandoms act like if they're the CEO of a company instead of actual fans. The one that benefit the most out of the groups' success is always the company. We've seen how members of insanely popular groups had to look for solo projects after the groups are not active anymore. For example Yoona and Hyoyeon were both in SNSD and obviously toured together but if we could compare now their bank accounts... Well I don't think I need to explain it lol. I understand people are proud that their favs can make huge tours and indeed it's going to help them a lot but I think we don't have the proper perspective to analyze all this, I'm not sure if that is going to make a really big impact on idols' life.

Edit: I really think many people voting for touring just vote because it's what their favs are currently doing lol.

The revenue an artist makes for their label might be the most relevenant stat in kpop, at least for the industry.

For fans though I'd say it always changes depending on the context of the discussion. Whatever measurement of success they can use most effectively and easily to win a specific argument will be the most important one; so basically it can be anything.

Quote from LCJK

Stans of rival groups/artists trying to sabotage you.

Lmao, you might have a point.

I don't think you can put one definitive metric anyway, since everyone will say:

"What is selling albums without streams?" "What are streams without making money from touring/albums?" "What is touring without engagement and interest on social media?"

Your metric someone transcends this.

Quote from YamaChwan

Because they have hit great heights in all of those categories and are still going strong in year 10

Well, there you have.

All of the above (because my fave ticks all the boxes)

Some people are definitely lying

We all know K-pop Stans only care about melon. BG have always been touring no one cared until BP and Twice started doing stadiums.

Touring

Groups even last long bc they can still tour and bring money even if they are old