4th Gen Kpop is Very Lackluster

My view is that this is because the rush to declare this a new generation was perhaps erroneous i.e. "too soon".

3rd generation top players are still at the top. Nothing fundamentally has changed. (Many point to international focus but this really began in earnest with 3rd gen.)

The fanbase and media jumped to declare a new generation and act like all these groups are somehow of a new guard than 3rd gen.

But are they? Why? What event or fundamental shift occurred to warrant a generational shift.

New groups debuting are not in of itself a shift in generation. Debuts waves can occur within generation.

There usually needs to occur a more substantial act, like an industry shift, or large passing of the torch to new players.

It's not clear to me why we are in 4th gen for any other reason that isn't just an arbitrary. "Let's split it here to keep these groups in different heats."

If we are shifting generations, I'd say we are more like at the tail end of 3rd. This current crop of groups perhaps will rise to be the harbringers of 4th. But I'm not entirely sure we are there yet.

The top 3rd gen players have not yet come to pass.

Quote from Alex_Murphy

Here's a few reasons some media and observers suggested the arrival of the 4th generation.

source:

http://www.munhwa.com/news/vie…no=2020062301031612069001

Papago translated:

▲ Stray Kids, IZ*ONE, (G)I-DLE, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, who are drawing attention as fourth-generation idols.

K-pop-led idol generation change

Stray Kids, (G)I-DLE, etc.

Ability to write, compose, and produce own songs

Hundreds of thousands of pre-orders before the release of the album.

There is no official standard for dividing the generations of idol groups. However, among the two groups in their second year since their debut, Stray Kids, IZ*ONE, (G)I-DLE and TOMORROW X TOGETHER are among the most outstanding. Stray Kids' latest comeback, "GO LIVE," had more than 200,000 pre-orders (based on Gaon Chart) before its official release. TXT's album, which came back last month, also sold more than 240,000 copies. IZ*ONE and (G)I-DLE, who made their comeback in the first half of the year, sold 400,000 and 150,000 albums, respectively. They rank first and second in sales of girl group albums released in the first half of this year. Considering that album sales volume = size of fandom, their influence is proven by figures.

One of the characteristics of fourth-generation idols is that their self production abilities have increased. Stray Kids released a mix tape that they wrote and composed before their debut. Many of the members have the ability to produce, and there is a producing team called "Sriracha" (3RACHA) in the group. Most of the title songs were written by themselves, including their new song "New Menu." Member Changbin said, "I will only include what I want to share with my fans and what I really wanted to say," and Hyunjin said, "The members planned the concepts, themes, and keywords for each song."

(G)I-DLE has the best producing skills of leader So-yeon, who is called a "genius producer". Their debut songs "LATATA" and "HANN" were also self-composed, and she produced all the songs of their third mini-album "I Trust".

The "border crossing" is also a prominent feature of fourth-generation idols. If the existing group has established its presence in Korea and has targeted overseas markets, they will take the world as the stage from the beginning. This is because K-pop has established itself as a genre and is accessible through various SNS platforms. For this reason, some groups have more overseas fans than domestic fans.

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Perhaps the most prominent "self-producing" group is a 3rd gen group. BTS. And BLACKPINK was "border crossing" from the get go.

Both groups are still at the pinnacle of the totem.

I agree that self-producing has become somewhat more of a thing among groups. And that that feature along with a more targeted and early focus on international markets will be a defining feature of what comes to be seen as 4th gen. I just don't know that it has reached the point to mark a delineation yet, as the behemoths from 3rd exhibiting these same features are still reigning.

I see these groups as "4th gen" groups, in that I think they will be the main players in this next gen. But i don't think their actual 4th generation as a time period has quite come. They haven't pushed out the previous players yet.

Or we are in some kind of overlapping period where the 4th gen groups are at their outset, but haven't actually ended the 3rd gen phase. Like they're both existing at once.