Idol soloists NEED to rely on a big group fanbase, a top acting career, or OSTs to make it big

This is true.

The only soloist that really doesn't need a big group fanbase is IU. Even Taeyeon is still carried by her SNSD legacy. But TBL is just setting Somi up, at this point. And it pisses me off because shes extremely talented.

I think her image has been tarnished, and she no longer seems like the person Koreans perceived her to be during the audition program. I don’t really know exactly why people’s interest in her has faded, but that’s how it looks to me. Yes, I think you’re right you kinda have to already be a well-known figure, or just be famous for being famous.

Yes, being a soloist does seem a pretty hard and gruelling world out there. From my understanding, the only time soloists have really reigned supreme was the middle period between 1st and 2nd gen, when you had Boa, Rain, Lee Hyori, Son Dambi, Lexi, Ivy and so on.

Yep. It's hilarious watching haters on Kpop social media shading soloists for flopping or for not consistently charting. There are literally only three female soloists that can consistently chart top 10 in Korea. IU, Taeyeon and Jennie.

If you can get just ONE top 10 hit every few years, you're already a success (Somi, Nayeon, Rose, Jisoo, etc). Or if you can chart top 100 with every comeback, that's also proof of your GP popularity at this point (Yena).

Its been over 7 years since 4th gen started with Idle and the only 4th gen soloists that have managed to chart even just one day in the top 100 of Melon Daily are Izone's Yena, Eunbi, and Chaeyeon. Karina's "solo" wasnt an official debut, her song is literally credited to Aespa, not her, so it doesnt really count.

How are we defining success?

There's Yerin Baek who is a soloist with a fantastic discography. I believe her singles still chart whenever she releases and is a known name among the public. Many listen to her music and recognize her music. She also had the ability to tour and I am sure she can fill venues in Korea

There's Heize who is a known name in Korea and created many popular songs. She has the ability to chart and I assume she can fill venues

There's probably more examples, but I feel success is being able get booked and name holds weight. Album sales isn't everything, and if an artist can get booked, then they're doing well imo.

edit: forgot to mention Bibi had success before pursuing acting.

Quote from StanGIDLE

How are we defining success?

There's Yerin Baek who is a soloist with a fantastic discography. I believe her singles still chart whenever she releases and is a known name among the public. Many listen to her music and recognize her music. She also had the ability to tour and I am sure she can fill venues in Korea

There's Heize who is a known name in Korea and created many popular songs. She has the ability to chart and I assume she can fill venues

There's probably more examples, but I feel success is being able get booked and name holds weight. Album sales isn't everything, and if an artist can get booked, then they're doing well imo.

edit: forgot to mention Bibi had success before pursuing acting.

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Yeah I came back in to add Bibi.

I think the OP is talking about Idols only rather than all female soloists (If we really want to branch out, there are so many successful female trot soloists too). So it comes down to who is an idol and whose not. Sometimes it is clear cut (Heize, definitely not an idol), but then it gets less so with IU and Bibi, (Bibi could be considered Tiger JK's attempt at making a pop idol).

Quote from Bottles

Yeah I came back in to add Bibi.

I think the OP is talking about Idols only rather than all female soloists (If we really want to branch out, there are so many successful female trot soloists too). So it comes down to who is an idol and whose not. Sometimes it is clear cut (Heize, definitely not an idol), but then it gets less so with IU and Bibi, (Bibi could be considered Tiger JK's attempt at making a pop idol).

That makes sense. I think the line is really blurred then tbh. I think Bibi and IU for example aren't making the typical pop music that idol soloist creates. I think idols that originated from kpop groups usually aim for more western pop sounds that is trendy among idol groups. Honestly, I can't really think of a soloist that didn't originate from a group that would be considered an idol. I don't want to use terms, but I think there's a difference between an artist and an idol.

Are Bibi and IU considered artists or idols?

I think an idol can evolve into an artist. Take Yves from Loona for example. I'm unsure if I still consider her an idol with her soloist career, and I see her more as an artist. I feel her music is more indie sounding than the typical idol kpop music. I think her presentation has changed and evolved into something that's less of an idol imo. It's hard to measure how much Orbits help with her success, but it does feel like she's branching out from that and possibly found a new fanbase.

I think in general idol soloist relies heavily on their group fanbases for sustained success. I think it's rare for an idol soloist to gains fans outside of fandom. I think it's more common for male idols to have success outside of fandom. There's of course artist like Chungha who doesn't really rely on big fanbase and seems to do well, but she's an outlier.

Lastly, if we're mainly talking about idols that originated from groups, then I agree with OP. I don't think we really have any instances of idol soloist having successful careers if they originated form a nugu or mid-size group. I think that would be interesting to see, but I just don't see it happening in this climate.

Quote from hammerstan

Almost all the successful soloists are from the big groups

Yes, but you have to look at their solo success compared to that of their group, to know if yes or no the success is really that big. If you sell 200,000 albums on your own you will be among the top soloists, but if we compare it to the 2,000,000 that you sell with your group, you only manage to attract 10% of your original fanbase. (this is an example to illustrate, I give random figures). If you don't manage to build enough loyalty in your fanbase, this "success" will quickly fade away.

I think that the reality of solo idols mainly demonstrates the haste of an industry that is still very far from being mature. They made the mistake of thinking that the market for soloists and groups was similar and that they just had to apply the same recipe.

Companies launched their idols into solo careers if the group had a little success, hoping to capitalize on it even more, and what I especially criticize is having made their idol believe that it would be easy and that it was within everyone's reach.

When you come from a group, the first difficulty in solo is to manage to detach yourself from the image of the group, and the image that you send out in the group. Your branding must be completely renewed. Then comes, as I said above, the ability to attract fans of your group while you send out a different image of your group.

There are idols who will succeed because they won't need to change much, their solo image was already the keystone of their group. (like G-Dragon/Jennie for example). And there are also idols who will manage to create a completely new brand image and attract their old fans, but above all a completely new audience (like Taeyeon / Woodz for example).

But the reality is that the vast majority of idols are somewhere in between because very often the company, just like the idol, rushes into launching their solo career without even taking the time to create a real brand image and think about what will actually be offered.

The same goes for promotional formats. How many are content with singles and mini albums like their group, when that has never been what the solo audience is really looking for, although there are exceptions like Sunmi who have succeeded with this format.

All this to say that for me all these solo career launches are shaky because they are too rushed and that in the end, despite some fleeting successes, they give off an image of fast food music where we only seek to take more and more money from the fans and prevent them from going elsewhere.

Industry executives and idols should take a step back and really weigh the pros and cons before debuting solo. Unfortunately, it's not for everyone, and building a solo artist image doesn't happen overnight or with two singles.

kpop is a very cutthroat industry and not everyone can survive...

even harder being a soloist or a soloist not from an existing notable group

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

If you can get just ONE top 10 hit every few years, you're already a success (Somi, Nayeon, Rose, Jisoo, etc). Or if you can chart top 100 with every comeback, that's also proof of your GP popularity at this point (Yena).

There were Bom, CL, Soyou. They all had some very big hits, not just top 10 but couldn't maintain the successful in long-term. So I think there should be a new condition: the top hit must be far after their idol peaks.

The only third-generation soloists I see who could have a successful career both in Korea and internationally are Jennie, Rosé, and Jungkook. As for the fourth generation, perhaps Karina. Wonyoung seems to be aspiring to an acting career.

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

Karina's "solo" wasnt an official debut, her song is literally credited to Aespa, not her, so it doesnt really count.

Not you writing off Karina because “Up” outcharted every single Izone girlies songs.

If crediting under Aespa was the case other girls’ solos would be hits too.