The $1 billion question - why Hybe did not run a BTS Unit, composed of the younger 4, and run world concerts?

Given the behavior of various newer Hybe acts not expressing any respect to BTS, it seems Hybe is not waiting for its return.

TWS and Illit do not know BTS, and it is unlikely that they will show any respect on it.

This being allowed to occur means there is no preferential treatment for Big Hit acts (BTS and txt) over other a under the Hybe umbrella, and while Pledis, an acquired label, now has a new group TWS, who is competing against IU for the Yearly #1 in Melon, there are no new acts coming out from Big Hit. It seems given the way things are going, TWS will become Hybe's newer generation boy group (whatever Zico is doing has been buried, no one really caring about it, and Zico himself seems to be more interested in his own activities)

The question some people had asked is

"Why Hybe did NOT run a unit, composed of the younger four, while the older three were in the military?"

They could have dragged their military service till 2025 and given that the ruling party, more keen to send them to the military, lost badly in the general election earlier this month, it is probable that with the rise of Taylor Swift the younger four would have gotten the exemption. Instead, Seventeen (and by corollary probably TWS too) will get the exemption. (SVT has 2 Chinese, 2 Americans and the leader who got his exemption so 5 of 13 members won't attend the military, making it possible to do tours when the other 8 members might serve in turns)

As a result Seventeen became the act which sold the most albums in last year, although its reaches outside of Asia are still quite limited. Will Seventeen or TWS respect BTS now? I doubt it.

The younger four, or yioungest three depending who you ask, were the 'core' of the group, and the older three, I have to say, were less essential. It would have been possible to do world stadium tours with the younger four, "RJVJ", which would have kept Taylor Swift from having the biggest tour of all time and out of the Person of the Year title, which won't be surpassed by any singer, ever.

Now anything BTS might do after they are discharged is meaningless since they can never defeat Tahlor Swift again. Never. I have debunked the longer run theory some Koreans had floated around, showing the collapse of IU earlier on this year, although IU did maintain her positin thanks to Yoon Mirae and Tiger JK pulling a Fifty Fifty on Bibi.

Once the momentum is lost, it is only a slower decline, like Drake playing second fiddle to Taylor Swift during the last November battle between Jungkook and Taylor Swift, with Drake, SZA and Doja Cat, plus the Beatles, becoming sidekicks for the UMC singer.

I do think that the RJVJ unit would have kept the BTS fervor going. Now it will have to start from scratch, ridiculed by TWS and Illit.

Quote from ellenote

Super insightful from you why knock.

I honestly agree with you about hybe not respecting the older acts in big hit, txt is being overshadowed by tws which I agree on. Bighit did mess up big time with the youngest members and I still think that will be what causes their popularity to sink. I mean I'm not and never will be a fan of Taylor but she has kicked all other acts to the curb with her tour. BTS and Bighit missed out big time. All because they wanted to serve together, which I get, brotherhood and all, but damn the things we could've gotten from them. Army would've grown bigger with the 5th gen and BTS would still be on top.

Like now hybe is just relying on seventeen and new jeans and in the long run we'll have to see how that plays out for them.

Brotherhood and all meant nothing in real world. It might mean something in comic books written for teen boys, but in real world, out of sight, out of mind.

Taylor has basically made all acts in the world obsolete, and will rule the world like Michael Jackson did before his indecent behaviors.

The correct thing for Seokjin to do was to leave the group for the time being, since he being the oldest dragged the group into this, and ask to be re-admitted later. He did not do that.

The opportunity cost of BTS is simply incalculable.

The rise of TWS cements the fact that Pledis will be the future of Hybe's boy groups, while the three divisions, Source, Ador and Belift, will fight for girl group supremacy, and all of them shunning BTS as someone who belonged to the past.

It has been 2 years from BTS' last cost in USA, and 5 years for the rest of the world. Long time for most Armies to have move on to other acts, most blatant in Korea who voted New Jeans over BTS last year.

Quote from Afriyieau1

Because the members decided that

Y’all act like Hybe forced BTS to enlist on their terms when they would have rather benefited off a BTS unit.

This was a decision made by the members themselves. You can call it brotherhood or whatever but I remember during chapter 2, how every single member wanted to go on a tour together as a whole

What they say and what they do are different since after all they did not go together

With Taylor Swift having built an unscaleable wall around them, it would have been much better for the younger 4 to have kept her in check and deny her world domination

With the new congress in Korea, with the rabid conservatives largely silenced and the incels having no political power , their exemption would probably have been granted and they would be ruling the world. Too bad for the older 3, but such is life.

Instead, with their absence, txt was not able to keep the domination of Big Hit in Hybe itself as Bang started more and more projects, including buying a share of UMC and making sure BTS does not fight Taylor Swift, and Big Hit not raising any new acts and letting Pledis' TWS to run around Hybe with nothing stopping them.

World Conquest is done without such quaint notion as brotherhood.

Quote from Owned_by_Irene

Or maybe the youngest members did not want to

Probably RM, who felt he was the leader, and the younger 3 following RM's orders. It will create a lift in 2026 as they find things would NOT be like what they had expected and the ethos of the world having moved on from them, and all but RM and JK (who Bang will hold on to) leaving Hybe by end of 2027

Quote from Kitty_Saurus

So that there will be another hiatus again?

BTS are close with each other but it's obviously because they just want to get over with the military enlistment. Delaying it further is just like waiting for a bomb to explode.

By that time there would have been a new Big Hit act to carry the mantle, instead of TWS who does NOT share any tradition with BTS.

And Taylor Swift would have gotten older and would not have had the chance to conquer the world.

Read my comments to others. If they could have dragged it till this summer it would have been likely that they would have gotten the exemption since the faction which was more keen to send them to the military lost badly and have lost most of its power.

Quote from Owned_by_Irene

RM was only important for the early phase of BTS. They'll want to keep V and Jungkook the most

RM has some symbolic value to Bang since he was the first of the current BTS members to join Big Hit and appears to be the most loyal. Bang is still holding on to Lee Hyun, the very first Big Hit artist, even though the latter is good for not too much.

Quote from Owned_by_Irene

Not kick him out but if HYBE had to focus their energy on the members they want to stay the most, it's for sure V and Jungkook, and BTS are at a level where they don't need amazing songs to give HYBE great profits

RM was influential for controlling other members and if he leaves others will probably leave

Quote from qamar-atti

what does Taylor 's popularity has anything to do with bts???

And why should have seokjin leave the group you darn idiot?? Bts members are themselves biggest ot7s, and i am pretty sure they would not want a world tour in the absence of other members.

Taylor's world domination would NOT have taken place if BTS, or at least RJVJ, were there to stop it

Instead, without BTS, she is running around the world without any restrictions, having claimed the #1 singer title of the world

Which means whatever BTS will do after 2025 will take second page after Taylor Swift

Keeping him in cost them at least $1, probably $2 , billion dollars since others did not begin enlisting till mid 2023

They will never reach the height and the potential they had in 2022 and worse they will have no legacy as TWS has become Hybe's premier boy group for the next generation and it shares no Big Hit tradition.

It is like the throne of a Great Emperor passes to the line of his stepbrother. TWS is BTS' step-nephew since SVT is BTS' stepbrother, and TWS' success means more marginalization of Big Hit acts.

Quote from SerendipitousYun

I always expected that we'd get that kind of subunit when the older 3 left (espcially since they are the most popular members from my understanding) and was pretty surprised when when we didn't.

I did wonder for some time if it was because they don't want to promote the idea of BTS as any group number less than 7, but I don't think they're so short sighted, and they already all have solo projects so being against subunits seems pointless. I'm sure Hybe has no issue pushing out a subunit (espcially one that would clearly be lucrative), but I guess the members didn't want to do one, as that's the only thing that makes sense (either that or them actually being super short sighted about the group's longevity).

They might have thought that arranging a way to compensate the older 3 would be difficult, but they did not expect Taylor Swift to grow this big to make whatever they will ever do in the future completely irrelevant.

Longevity does not mean anything, as seen in the sorry sights of Bruno Mars and Sam Smith who visited Korea in 2023, where they received warm welcome which they had worn out elsewhere.

The subunit would have kept Taylor Swift from becoming the #1 singer of the entire world and earning the Person of Year title from TIme

Quote from Jackah

BTS made the decision together . In fact, i think hybe wants at least the 3 maknaes to postpone it esp jungkook since his solo album did so well .They cant force BTS and its probably part of their ask when they signed again with Hybe.They are already doing it for more than 10yrs and they know they already reached their peak. IMO, they are taking the military enlistment as a break from their daily lives. Something they need to do. And they deserve that " break".

For Hybe, its a corporation. Like all else, it operates on how to get more profits , and u cant really just rely on one product to give u earnings. They shld act based on hard data and use all opportunities to expand and widen their sources of earnings. Even if bang pd is running the show, hybe is a public corporation, he needs to satisfy the board and makes sure he brings more profit despire BTS being absent. I dont get it why people are getting upset over it. Isnt it the right thinking of a highly skilled business executive?

Probably RM made the decision. We won't have the full story many years after the whole thing has passed, but the way Hybe is trying to distance itself from BTS seems to be quite bad to watch.

Quote from Jackah

what does it even mean? what do u mean show respect? its not wrong to be successful nor it is disrespectful.

It is like TWS and Illit will show BTS no respect and treat them as some kind of used baggage when they see it for the first time.