How popular were 2nd gen?

Man 2nd gen was the best

bigbang, snsd, shinee wow

Nugu, no-one has ever heard of any 2g groups

You sure do love to talk about album sales lol

Second gen was huge worldwide and was the most iconic era in which I became a fan in.

If you have to ask, it sucks to be you. You really missed out on a whole moment. But 2nd Gen was huge.

2nd gen was the cringed era in kpop and the majority of america hated kpop due to 2nd gen until 3rd gen arrived

Quote from quark12395

idk how to tell you this, but the majority of America still hates kpop.

At least few of them become fans. For example me, but then again some stans are still crying about how kpop blocked their favs.

2nd gen

- The most popular Kpop Gen among Korean GP

- As a whole, they're the strongest Kpop gen in Japanese market up this date, a lot of 2nd gen group have a big following in Japan (TVXQ, Bigbang, KARA, SNSD, SJ, 2PM, etc), while 3rd gen are being hard carried by BTS and Twice (also maybe Seventeen to some extent).

- They're the one who opened Kpop market in SEA

Also might be controversial

- If BTS didn't exist, 2nd gen would be the peak of Kpop both domestically and internationally imo.

SNSD's 1st Japanese album sold +600k copies in Japan in 2011.

Quote from Mark-Lee

SNSD's 1st Japanese album sold +600k copies in Japan in 2011.

It was 1 million, they were one of the biggest selling ggs in the world at the time along with akb48

Quote from harambelives

It was 1 million, they were one of the biggest selling ggs in the world at the time along with akb48

In 2011 only or...? I was sure they didn't surpass the 1M mark that year.

I know I know, people will never understand how big SNSD were in Japan.

Quote from Mark-Lee

In 2011 only or...? I was sure they didn't surpass the 1M mark that year.

I know I know, people will never understand how big SNSD were in Japan.

It was mid 2012 because I remember that milestone was achieved around when paparazzi was released. Same thing for The Boys, it became the outright best selling kpop album of that era, at least on gaon, in 2012.

Yeah new kpop fans kinda forgot or ignore just how big SNSD was in Japan. They were news stories in Japanese TV about them and how they really different to the Japanese ggs (SNSD had a girl crush image in Japan) and they were heavily praised for their music and talent, especially dancing. They took Japan by storm including record tours too

Plus because of SNSD - and Kara, can't forget them - massive success in Japan it opened the floodgates for everyone else to go to Japan for quick bucks. Even groups that weren't that popular in Korea already started to try Japan lol

As popular as 3rd gen without internet

Pretty popular, i guess the album sales decline was due to the physical - digital shift. Kpopies now are just way more obsessed with album sales achievements than before

2nd gen groups would have been just as big if not bigger if social media was as widespread as it is now.

Quote from quark12395

idk how to tell you this, but the majority of America still hates kpop.

all the blame goes to 2nd gen. 3rd gen has somewhat a foothold in america now due to BTS, no thanks to 2nd gen for the worst era in kpop.

Quote from quark12395

Actually BTS probably gets more hate than in the US than any 2nd gen group. Now that more people are aware of it in the US, there are plenty more people who see it as a low form of music.

You're just making shit up now.

I mean I wasn't there so I can only make assumptions based on the things I am seeing. And I'll say "2nd gen" is the most overhyped era in kpop.

Physicals as you can see were as bad as they could have been. "1st gen" & "3rd gen" did way better than them.

Digitals are difficult to judge you know since this was a transition phase. Because they say "physicals are bad because of digitals" but their digitals are also not far better compared to "3rd gen".

I mean the most ULs for a song by "2nd gen" group are 4.9m, 'Bang Bang Bang' by Big Bang. And this was released during "3rd gen". "2nd gen" song with most ULs is 'Lies' by Big Bang with 4.5m ULs. I mean I understand Melon didn't have as many users when it started as it has now but if all these songs are supposed to be legendary then why didn't they gain ULs as the Melon userbase increased. Like 'Cherry Blossom Ending' by Busker Busker which was released in 2011 but still has 7.2m ULs, 'Good Day' by IU released in 2010 with 6.4m ULs. None of the legendary "2nd gen" songs crossed 5m ULs on Melon which is the biggest digital service in Korea and till 2019 it had more than 60% market share.

I also get the downloads point but their downloads also don't compare with other acts of their time like streaming does of these newer groups with their peers.

Kpop was bigger in Korea digitally during 2012-18 but other korean music was also gaining traction during this time hence we couldn't see kpop dominate charts as it did during 2006-12. I think "2nd gen" looked big digitally during 2006-12 mainly because kpop was the main consumption of all the korean music during that period. All in all it wasn't the peak of kpop in Korea imo.

Impact wise "2nd gen" was really influential. After BoA, kpop also needed someone else to succeed in Japan which is why TVXQ! is one of the greatest groups of all time. SNSD also showed girl groups that they can also succeed in this industry and dominate if they make good music. Big Bang resonated with the people hence went on to became as great as they are. They are still as relevant as ever. Kara were huge in Japan. SJ opened up SEA & LatAm to an extent. Wonder Girls also came and made some noise in USA. So "2nd gen" influence in undeniable.

I personally don't like this "generation" thing that kpop has. But I don't think kpop was at its peak during "2nd gen" was the peak of kpop domestically or internationally. I think Seo Taiji was the peak domestically, if not him it was H.O.T. BTS is the peak of kpop internationally. Overall 2012-18 is the most important period for kpop imo. Now decide which "generation" falls under that category. Peace.

This is from 2009 annual melon chart. When will 3rd and 4th gen be this revelant

They inspired your 3rd gen and 4th gen faves to become idols they paved the way

Only knew about bb and suzy ( because of being lee min ho fan )

Here it is 3rd gen which made waves.

Though i am discovering highlight and sistar. Good music

I can only tell from my experience. K dramas and some 1st gen groups like HOT or Shinhwa introduced Kpop to SEA countries. Second gen popularized Kpop there. Kpop became big in SEA during 2000s but not well known in western countries.

Some second gen groups tried to break into the US but they didnt make any noise at all. Until Gangnam style happened, that was when I was shocked when I heard a girl played Gangnam style in Germany. And I think Gangnam style did a big job introducing Kpop to the west.

The third gen popularized Kpop in the west which second gens failed to do so.

Music wise, Kpop music is not respected by gp anywhere even in Korea or SEA countries where Kpop is very popular. Kpop fans here in SEA are looked down often as a bunch of kids who are obsessed with shiny cheesy girls and boys with noisy and childish music.

Personally, I think second gen songs are more catchy and their choreos are more iconic and memorable. Its iconic because its really Kpop but it was also cringy because its too Kpop. The third gen is less cringy with their concepts and music so they appear more to the west.

I dont know why some of you glorifying second gen like they are superior than other gens. Every gen has their moment.

So overall, if we take out BTS and BP, then the second gen was bigger but if we include BTS and BP, the the third gen is the biggest and the most popular Kpop era till date.

You can't really compare physical album sales very well across the generations as a sign of popularity:

1st gen: Fully physical, digital platforms not even invented yet. Oh hey, did you know the tech guys just invented a phone that lets you browse the internet? Wonder if you can use it to play music as well, instead of buying an MP3 player? But then again, South Korea is just coming out of a deep financial crisis. Who has that much money to spend on music?

2nd gen: Digital blossomed, 90% of the physical CD market was lost. Napster, Kazaa, torrents, digital piracy was rampant. No one had any idea how to control kids from stealing and copying music illegally. Oh hey, did you hear about this Youtube thing on the internet? Apparently it's getting to be a really good way to show off our artists to people overseas.

3rd-gen: Legal distribution channels for digital music started to become prominent. Hey, you can buy music on iTunes now, for cheap, legally! Physical CD sales started to recover through album packaging, bundled merchandise, and limited edition copies.

2nd gen paved the way

2nd gen were popular in the sense that they dont have a big fanbase like the 3rd and 4th gens, but some of their songs get very huge that even non kpop fans would've heard them.

Quoting some examples - Gee, The Boys, I Am the Best, Sorry Sorry, Fantastic Baby, Bang Bang Bang, Roly Poly etc

As compared to now, not many kpop songs are really THAT popular/memorable bar the few groups like BTS and BP, but generally kpop has gotten much bigger that the newer groups are all having relatively biggee fanbase

2008-2012 was the digital age. None of the groups sold well physically compared to 4th gen. You didn´t discover anything new.

you guys must be young..

during 2nd gen, physicals lost relevance due to digital music and most of the digital music was accessed illegally.. also people here comparing streaming numbers and saying 3rd gen is still better lol... that time it was mostly downloaded cause people didn't have access to the internet all the time to stream without any problems and lags.. also these downloads were also mostly done illegally.. these numbers you throw make no sense whatsoever because the digital market was not organised..

The access to platforms now is very easy but it was never the same so these official numbers you are throwing does not prove any point

Quote from quark12395

How many times has the words "EXO revived the physical market after the 2nd gen decline" been said on this forum?

I think the only country that was still moving significant physical numbers in the mid-2000s to early 2010s was Japan. Everyone else pretty much shifted to digital downloads and streaming.

2nd gen kpop MVs still have messages on them advertising Genie's music app.

They did not. It has been proven wrong based on data again and again. Physical sales for the whole market started rising only after BTS started competing with EXO and skyrocketed after BTS opened the global market.

People should really stop repeating this myth, it has nothing to do with reality and data contradicts it.

2011 top albums sold 300k+, 2012 top albums sold 300k+, 2013 top albums sold 300k+, 2014 top albums sold 300k+.

Top album got more than 400k only in 2015 and then there was a huge jump to 700k+ in 2017 with WIngs.

Just because 3rd generation is bigger in numbers, doesn't mean 2nd generation wasn't popular and impactful. Different eras, different standards. There were many milestones that were achieved in the 2nd generation which had obviously been unimaginable, like holding concerts in America (South and North) and in Europe. It's stupid to overlook these successes just because they now became easier to achieve.

2nd gen groups are still relevant to this day and the remaining groups are selling well both digitally and physically, that should give you a hint about their popularity