why did korea abandon gfriend and mamamoo? are we never going to escape the clutches of the "big 3"?

Everything will change when Weeekly becomes the nation's girlgroup

I'm manifesting

Quote from Minazuki

Everything will change when Weeekly becomes the nation's girlgroup

I'm manifesting

yes weeekly domination incoming

I still don't think they have abandoned mamamoo yet they just released songs that didn't appeal to general public. Gfriend's case was different imo

stayc's future looks bright though

Koreans are success stans they shitted on aespa until next level now they're using aespa to token stan and shit on itzy

Quote from prodigy210

yes weeekly domination incoming

They are such an amazing group, one of my favorites since I got into them. I think Weeekly has everything to hit big, I hope Korea gives them a chance

I have no idea haven't been around long enough but sometimes an artist just falls out of fashion with the GP i guess

one day you're on top and the next your not

Gfriend was left behind like in 2017. Mamamoo's case is wrong songs. Where is the bop like hip?

Also i don't know what has this gotto do with big3?

Quote from aclassyteaparty

i've just been thinking, the way mamamoo and gfriend were pretty much abandoned by the korean "general public" is so weird to me. both were top 5 girl groups during their respective peaks and after one "miss" comeback they were dropped like hot potatoes outside of their fandoms. no explanations for this make sense to me.

meanwhile, new big 3 groups get the benefit of essentially automatically sliding into these open spaces in the girl group hierarchy. aespa and itzy are easily top 10 top ggs currently without even batting an eyelash.

the future looks bleak for non big 3 ggs. not only is it harder for them to get any attention in the first place, the public is quick to turn their backs on them. big 3 ggs have been #1 and #2 for the better part of a decade with 2ne1 and snsd passing the torch to bp and twice.

just some thoughts. feel free to weigh in.

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Well I disagree tbh.

Yes it's harder but Gfriend and MAMAMOO's cases are different. MAMAMOO is not releasing any public-friendly songs since their last last comeback, they're focusing on their fandom, which means that while they have less results, their fans (and I) like the music they've brought because it's more young MAMAMOO than older MAMAMOO.

Gfriend switched their concept, their most popular songs all had a similar public friendly feel like Rough, TFTM, Navillera, but as the time went on they evolved and the fandom no longer stayed the same.

It's just like 2pm! JYP's boygroup 2pm went through the same thing where they were extremely popular during their generation but mostly forgotten when it's time to take a look back

Also people forget Apink is going quite strong for a 2nd gen group.

tbh I haven't liked Mamamoo's past couple of songs

I liked Where Are We Now but they barely promoted it.

Meanwhile boygroups have never escape from BTS' shadow that is much more of a concern than the tussle for supremacy between Aespa, Brave Girls, Oh My Girl, StayC, Itzy, Twice, BP and Red Velvet.

Quote from atropos

Gfriend was left behind like in 2017. Mamamoo's case is wrong songs. Where is the bop like hip?

Also i don't know what has this gotto do with big3?

they were left behind in 2019 because they still getting hit in 2018

anyway even both group were dropped by the gp pretty quickly but they also have an awesome career and super popular during their prime days considering both come from small and unknown company

It’s a sad reality that the Korean public prefer fresh new faces of GGs. Even Twice, who are more beautiful than ever, with bops after bops, are not clicking the way they were with the Korean GP.

And don’t remind me of Gfriend. Mago was such a bop, the girls were so beautiful and sexy.. but it charted really bad in Korea

Quote from girlgroupstan21

they were left behind in 2019 because they still getting hit in 2018

Time for the moon night? I forgot it was released in 2018,though it was 2017. So 2018 was the last time. Even their albums sales never grew by much.

Quote from quarkie

This is a really good point. I definitely think Mamamoo have reached a transitional point in their careers. All of them are establishing their own careers outside of the group because that's where they're going to have the most longevity. I've always felt like if any group is gonna go the distance it would be them because I can totally see them all doing their own thing and then coming back to do a Mamamoo album for the fans like once a year (I mean that's basically what Super Junior does.)

Mamamoo I think has accepted the trajectory of their group, so rather than doing something more public friendly, they're doing something (I think) suits them more, especially in their own music tastes and are pursuing their own styles as well solo. Hip was a deviation from their traditional vocal-packed songs.

GFriend had several "miss" comebacks: Fingertip, Sunny Summer, Sunrise, Fever, Crossroads, Apple, and Mago. Even though their final trilogy literally had some of their best music, that's a fuckin shame. They also never broke 100k, they got close a couple times.

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Mamamoo is the one I find weird. Maybe it's due to all of the solo comebacks. The almost year-break between HIP, a huge hit, and the Travel album killed their momentum. Dingga actually did decently, but I think AYA killed all hype they had, that song was terrible imo. Then they released Where are We Now....

HwaSa has the solo hype, Solar has her successful YT channel, WheeIn isn't signed to RBW anymore, and idk what the hell Moonbyul is doing.

Quote from SendFoodPics

Well I disagree tbh.

Yes it's harder but Gfriend and MAMAMOO's cases are different. MAMAMOO is not releasing any public-friendly songs since their last last comeback, they're focusing on their fandom, which means that while they have less results, their fans (and I) like the music they've brought because it's more young MAMAMOO than older MAMAMOO.

Gfriend switched their concept, their most popular songs all had a similar public friendly feel like Rough, TFTM, Navillera, but as the time went on they evolved and the fandom no longer stayed the same.

It's just like 2pm! JYP's boygroup 2pm went through the same thing where they were extremely popular during their generation but mostly forgotten when it's time to take a look back

Also people forget Apink is going quite strong for a 2nd gen group.

I think gfriend's popularity was momentarily. I hate to say it but I knew once BP debuted the attention will go to girl groups from the big 3. Mamamoo's target demographic was different than typical girl groups, so they are seen as talented and good performers, which made them appeal to the GP. Imo, the reason why they aren't doing well lately is because of bad song choices.

Quote from atropos

Gfriend was left behind like in 2017. Mamamoo's case is wrong songs. Where is the bop like hip?

Also i don't know what has this gotto do with big3?

They had a chance when Time for the Moon Night did well, but Sunny Summer wasn't it.

They weren’t abandoned though. Mamamoo got a big hit with HIP after several failed hits after Egotistic. Gfriend got another hit with Time for the Moon Night in 2018 after several failed comebacks in 2017. Mamamoo and Red Velvet didn’t really blow each other out the water digitally.

Both aren’t as strong for various reasons and not every group will be the top group for years and years and everyone has their time. It’s all a trend. Gfriend we’re a victim of changing trends and Mamamoo probably ran their course. I don’t think their title tracks are distinctive as their prior years and Hwasa’s solo success doesn’t seem to translate into the group gathering attention.

(I also challenge that big 3 have been 1 and 2 for the better part of a decade. 2ne1 weren’t always considered #2 on several occasions. SISTAR, T-ara, and APINK unseated them at times and Sistar was probably considered the bigger act in Korea by the public post-2011.)

if i recall, Egotistic and Wind Flower also kinda underperformed for their standard, after the big hit Starry Night. But luckily they were able to recover with Gogobebe and then their biggest hit HIP. I do hope they can continue to release music like HIP cause that's so enjoyable.

For gfriend, it has always been a rough journey. Starting from Navillera, they have been going downhill and Fingertip sealed the deal. But luckily love whisper and TFTMN kinda reboot their popularity but that didnt last long. Their last trilogy albums are some of the best GG albums of 3rd gen but sadly people just dont want to give them a 3rd chance. Mago will remain the best 'last song'

Each time i come on akpop i learn something new about my favs

Solar & Hwasa are on TV every week since several months, Moonbyul has plenty of guests every week on his radio show, An san (who is the person who won the most gold medal for Korea) mentioned on national TV that his favorite band was Mamamoo, they have offers of featurings with lots of artists, OSTs, and ads all the time since the beginning of the year.

But yeah the GP don't care about them. Just because Mamamoo has a small fanbase and we don't have much of an international presence doesn't mean the band isn't popular in Korea.

Quote from gerrard174

if i recall, Egotistic and Wind Flower also kinda underperformed for their standard, after the big hit Starry Night. But luckily they were able to recover with Gogobebe and then their biggest hit HIP. I do hope they can continue to release music like HIP cause that's so enjoyable.

For gfriend, it has always been a rough journey. Starting from Navillera, they have been going downhill and Fingertip sealed the deal. But luckily love whisper and TFTMN kinda reboot their popularity but that didnt last long. Their last trilogy albums are some of the best GG albums of 3rd gen but sadly people just dont want to give them a 3rd chance. Mago will remain the best 'last song'

Egotistic was a decent hit though, it has 595M points. Gogobebe flopped in comparison

Quote from Slayurfaves

I think gfriend's popularity was momentarily. I hate to say it but I knew once BP debuted the attention will go to girl groups from the big 3. Mamamoo's target demographic was different than typical girl groups, so they are seen as talented and good performers, which made them appeal to the GP. Imo, the reason why they aren't doing well lately is because of bad song choices.

I think Gfriend struggled because they had no it girl/something that would make them relavant besides fandom + songs

Quote from citron-icy

Each time i come on akpop i learn something new about my favs

Solar & Hwasa are on TV every week since several months, Moonbyul has plenty of guests every week on his radio show, An san (who is the person who won the most gold medal for Korea) mentioned on national TV that his favorite band was Mamamoo, they have offers of featurings with lots of artists, OSTs, and ads all the time since the beginning of the year.

But yeah the GP don't care about them. Just because Mamamoo has a small fanbase and we don't have much of an international presence doesn't mean the band isn't popular in Korea.

Exactly, they're not only maintaining their popularity but expanding it, it's just that they've been taking a more fandom focused approach to their music, which makes sense. This only applies to Gfriend tbh and there were a lot of reasons why.

Quote from MassiveKpopFan

Egotistic was a decent hit though, it has 595M points. Gogobebe flopped in comparison

Really?? Oh my

From the way, it seems like Gogobebe was more popular compared to egotistic (though i prefer Egotistic by miles).

Quote from gerrard174

Really?? Oh my

From the way, it seems like Gogobebe was more popular compared to egotistic (though i prefer Egotistic by miles).

It was more popular internationally, but not in Korea.

Quote from citron-icy

Each time i come on akpop i learn something new about my favs

Solar & Hwasa are on TV every week since several months, Moonbyul has plenty of guests every week on his radio show, An san (who is the person who won the most gold medal for Korea) mentioned on national TV that his favorite band was Mamamoo, they have offers of featurings with lots of artists, OSTs, and ads all the time since the beginning of the year.

But yeah the GP don't care about them. Just because Mamamoo has a small fanbase and we don't have much of an international presence doesn't mean the band isn't popular in Korea.

Relax... i think OP is referring to the way their latest songs charted... Of course hwasa remains as IT girl and other members have their activities, but that doesnt take away the fact that their last few songs didnt resonnate with the GP

wdym? mamamoo is very popular in korea tho?

Quote from gerrard174

but that doesnt take away the fact that their last few songs didnt resonnate with the GP

Their last 2 albums made very stable sales. Unfortunately you all look through the prism of statistics without ever caring about what is called the target audience of a group.

If a song like baby shark gets a lot of views on youtube it's because it targets kids who are great streamers, just like teens and young adults. This is absolutely not the case for the following age groups who are busy working and doing various activities, and who has other things to do than be interested in who is the first in the rankings on Melon. There are of course exceptions that affect absolutely all age groups like BTS & IU but they are very rare.

The popularity of a band is not measured by statistics alone. That's what I'm trying to explain.

Quote from MassiveKpopFan

They had a chance when Time for the Moon Night did well, but Sunny Summer wasn't it.

So they were given a chance. After that if ppl didn't vibe it's not their fault that they didn't like the songs.

Someone mentioned Koreans are success stans... That might actually be true lol

Quote from HardcoreBLINK

Someone mentioned Koreans are success stans... That might actually be true lol

Then why is not the new bts song instantly #1? or is justin oppar just too strong?

Quote from HardcoreBLINK

Someone mentioned Koreans are success stans... That might actually be true lol

To be honest, it's not just the Koreans, it's the whole world. If the subject interests you I recommend you to do research on crowd psychology.

True.

But I don't think the Big 3 groups have a free run.

Oh My Girl is doing very well, G-Idle is a strong contender and among new groups, Weeekly show high promise.

But yes, the big 3 groups have a deeper buffer in that public puts up with them longer, even if few comebacks fail, whereas for others any failure could mean extinction.

That's the brand value.

the 3 cents they earn from melon weren't paying the pills.

Quote from citron-icy

Their last 2 albums made very stable sales. Unfortunately you all look through the prism of statistics without ever caring about what is called the target audience of a group.

If a song like baby shark gets a lot of views on youtube it's because it targets kids who are great streamers, just like teens and young adults. This is absolutely not the case for the following age groups who are busy working and doing various activities, and who has other things to do than be interested in who is the first in the rankings on Melon. There are of course exceptions that affect absolutely all age groups like BTS & IU but they are very rare.

The popularity of a band is not measured by statistics alone. That's what I'm trying to explain.

you may have your points, but i stand by my points that the OP didnt put any group in wrong light cause to me chart is the best gauge of a music act popularity in term of music.

Edit: and OP clearly mentioned korean 'general public' not fanbase

Quote from atropos

So they were given a chance. After that if ppl didn't vibe it's not their fault that they didn't like the songs.

Actually the next release sunny summer kinda ruined the momentum (despite it being a special release). Sunrise was released afterward with similar vibe as TFTMN but it flopped miserably (and not logical at all given it is a damn good song).