That will change since SKZ looks like it will have the largest album sales. It is going after that title this year.
Dreamcatcher was a minor act in Korea to begin with so it never expected to gain any traction in there
You have always said that i-fans get confused to learn that "some domesticist block their global superstars at home", similarly whatever be the global success if they learn that the group has little favour at home, that will remain a sore spot.
Now here are some K-pop folks truly quitting Korea.
Korea will always be the main demographic
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They debuted aeons ago and not really relevant for the discourse of Kpop
But newer acts' connections with Korea are weakening
Korea will always be the main demographic
Market-wise S.Korea is no more the main demographic. And BTS is not an 'average' to judge kpop industry.
However S.Korea will always be the 'prestige' demographic, which will have an outsized influence on the tastes and trends of Kpop.
This is sports, a successful team has to win both at home and away games. Not one of the other, it does not matter if the home is some hick tiny village and the away is some great cosmopolitan city.
Market-wise S.Korea is no more the main demographic. And BTS is not an 'average' to judge kpop industry.
However S.Korea will always be the 'prestige' demographic, which will have an outsized influence on the tastes and trends of Kpop.
This is sports, a successful team has to win both at home and away games. Not one of the other, it does not matter if the home is some hick tiny village and the away is some great cosmopolitan city.
I have compared this situation with the players who play in the English Premier League whose players do not really figure too much in their local leagues which fewer people watch and everyone wants their local champion to do better in EPL or one of other larger leagues (Spain, Italy, Germany or France).
Korea is the only country on earth whose acts are supposed to do well in its own country as well as outside of it. I don't think people like Abba or Shakira or Rihanna thought too much about the countries they left behind once they became secure in USA. Few people paid attention about who was the leading singer of Sweden or Colombia or Barbados when they were hot.
Yet BTS and others were supposed to do well in Korea, and although Korea's most famous local act, IU, did not promote outside it except for a brief stint in Japan in 2012, she became known to virtually all Kpop fans around the world, something which is quite unique. Who watches Egyptian soccer because of Sala? Or Norwegian soccer because of Haaland?
And the tradition is now occurring. With the significant decline of IU's power to hold the domestic scene, Bibi or not, acts are no longer worrying about the domestic scene already saturated by trot and people like Day6 and qwer, and APT.'s rise, with no Koreans involved , exposed the weakness of the domestic scene , something people cannot unsee anymore.
Display MoreI have compared this situation with the players who play in the English Premier League whose players do not really figure too much in their local leagues which fewer people watch and everyone wants their local champion to do better in EPL or one of other larger leagues (Spain, Italy, Germany or France).
Korea is the only country on earth whose acts are supposed to do well in its own country as well as outside of it. I don't think people like Abba or Shakira or Rihanna thought too much about the countries they left behind once they became secure in USA. Few people paid attention about who was the leading singer of Sweden or Colombia or Barbados when they were hot.
Yet BTS and others were supposed to do well in Korea, and although Korea's most famous local act, IU, did not promote outside it except for a brief stint in Japan in 2012, she became known to virtually all Kpop fans around the world, something which is quite unique. Who watches Egyptian soccer because of Sala? Or Norwegian soccer because of Haaland?
And the tradition is now occurring. With the significant decline of IU's power to hold the domestic scene, Bibi or not, acts are no longer worrying about the domestic scene already saturated by trot and people like Day6 and qwer, and APT.'s rise, with no Koreans involved , exposed the weakness of the domestic scene , something people cannot unsee anymore.
I don't think that is a comparable analogy.
EPL is a valued brand, but music has no such specific brand and is still highly tied to the cultures.
Yes there is lesser degree of cross cultural success, that still limited by the language - Spanish or English.
Even ABBA, they had to switch to English/Spanish to continue in Western markets, yet did not achieve the degree of assimilation as native English/Spanish speakers.
It will be even more tough for Korean acts.
If they start in Korea, and they haven't impressed Koreans, that will be a point made throughout their careers.
But take cases like VCHA, Katseye, dearALICE- that would not matter to them at all.
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