does having a foreign member really help with a group’s popularity in a country anymore

hmm I think where an idol is from can have still have some effect nowadays.

Leia from Blackswan for instance has a solid Brazilian fanbase since that's where she is from.

But idols can get popular in countries they aren't from regardless so I don't think it's like they need to be from those countries, but it can help a little I guess.

Depends on their visual

depends on the feeling of nationality in a given country. hit or miss

i mean it depends on the idol themselves. V is the most popular idol in Japan and has the biggest fanbase in China because he happens to have the looks and vibe that appeal to a lot of markets. Or the most popular Izone members in Japan are not all Japanese. Karina is more popular than Ningning in China because her looks fit their vibes more. But generally, if u can find someone from that country and also fit that country’s vibes then you will hit big, otherwise the country will not be that interested.

Lisa's popularity has nothing to do with there not many SEA idols. It's because she's Lisa. Her popularity is once in a gen.

Also, you do realise Tzuyu is a foreign idol too right?

Are Sana/Momo really the most popular members now? In SK it's always been and still is Nayeon by a lot, although Tzuyu was really huge in 2016 too. I thought Nayeon was the most popular with ifans too because of how her fancams have the most views this year, but I don't follow Twice that much beyond just listening to their music.

Quote from bbb988

i mean it depends on the idol themselves. V is the most popular idol in Japan and has the biggest fanbase in China because he happens to have the looks and vibe that appeal to a lot of markets. Or the most popular Izone members in Japan are not all Japanese. Karina is more popular than Ningning in China because her looks fit their vibes more. But generally, if u can find someone from that country and also fit that country’s vibes then you will hit big, otherwise the country will not be that interested.

China is a bit different. You can hit big later even if you don’t start off as super popular within a huge group. Krystal initially had the biggest cbar but with more promo, Victoria hit big.

Lay wasn’t really popular in China at first, compared to Luhan who was closest thing to a Chinese it boy in kpop, and Kris who had tons of fans for his visuals, but with his work and exposure, he’s now so popular a birthday livestream has millions of views or something crazier idk.

If you have variety skills, it’s a HUGE plus. China thrives off solo stans and several good appearances will lead to a good career. Ie Meiqi va Xuanyi, now ofc with meiqi’s scandal things have toned down but Xuanyi and Cheng Xiao are visuals, not Meiqi but Meiqi was 1st in Produce and ended up being bigger because of her skills and personality.

Cbars for sales ofc will be skewed towards visuals, but Chinese members are quite useful for profits after in solo careers. Victoria still has ties to SM, she brought in a ton, Lay brings in a ton to SM, there’s money that is made. Heck even Zhoumi is doing better than a Suju member with a similar popularity level to him in Korea. Similarly WJSN girlies. Even Miss A has Jia and Fei who are getting moderately popular now. Especially Jia after that variety show. The problem is that you really need to establish yourself as the industry moves fast, but it is far more worth it.

Irene has the biggest bar out of all 3rd gen idols and many 2nd gen idols but the biggest revenue won’t be from Irene but a member in the c-ent field. Ofc album sales are very heavily boosted by bars like Irene Bar but the profit is different.

Quote from bartkun

well Secret Number wouldn't ever had 1.3M subs on their youtube account if not Dita

they will be another nugu group which can't attract viewers

yeah I know that they don't have sales etc. but still at least they are going viral from time to time when Indonesian fans make some buzz bout them

They have Dita, they have Soodam too who is a visual and that always gets popularity. My personal favorites are Minji and Zuu. Yeah they’re doing better than I thought. They don’t have a ton of sales but idk how much going viral helps them.

Quote from SendFoodPics

China is a bit different. You can hit big later even if you don’t start off as super popular within a huge group. Krystal initially had the biggest cbar but with more promo, Victoria hit big.

Lay wasn’t really popular in China at first, compared to Luhan who was closest thing to a Chinese it boy in kpop, and Kris who had tons of fans for his visuals, but with his work and exposure, he’s now so popular a birthday livestream has millions of views or something crazier idk.

If you have variety skills, it’s a HUGE plus. China thrives off solo stans and several good appearances will lead to a good career. Ie Meiqi va Xuanyi, now ofc with meiqi’s scandal things have toned down but Xuanyi and Cheng Xiao are visuals, not Meiqi but Meiqi was 1st in Produce and ended up being bigger because of her skills and personality.

Cbars for sales ofc will be skewed towards visuals, but Chinese members are quite useful for profits after in solo careers. Victoria still has ties to SM, she brought in a ton, Lay brings in a ton to SM, there’s money that is made. Heck even Zhoumi is doing better than a Suju member with a similar popularity level to him in Korea. Similarly WJSN girlies. Even Miss A has Jia and Fei who are getting moderately popular now. Especially Jia after that variety show. The problem is that you really need to establish yourself as the industry moves fast, but it is far more worth it.

Irene has the biggest bar out of all 3rd gen idols and many 2nd gen idols but the biggest revenue won’t be from Irene but a member in the c-ent field. Ofc album sales are very heavily boosted by bars like Irene Bar but the profit is different.

Yeah you’re right China is different because there’s massive amount of money to be made if you’re Chinese and you’re a Kpop idol in a popular group. It sucks that being Chinese is so controversial tho. Big Hit groups don’t even accept Chinese trainees and don’t try to appeal to Chinese much so they have to play their cards right with Japan.

It still does but it's better if it's from Japan and a group from a big enough company (yeah I know it always is but you know), smaller groups with foreign members don't get that much clout or if it's from a country where idols rarely come from like Dita, Leia and Fatou.

Quote from SendFoodPics

China is a bit different. You can hit big later even if you don’t start off as super popular within a huge group. Krystal initially had the biggest cbar but with more promo, Victoria hit big.

Lay wasn’t really popular in China at first, compared to Luhan who was closest thing to a Chinese it boy in kpop, and Kris who had tons of fans for his visuals, but with his work and exposure, he’s now so popular a birthday livestream has millions of views or something crazier idk.

If you have variety skills, it’s a HUGE plus. China thrives off solo stans and several good appearances will lead to a good career. Ie Meiqi va Xuanyi, now ofc with meiqi’s scandal things have toned down but Xuanyi and Cheng Xiao are visuals, not Meiqi but Meiqi was 1st in Produce and ended up being bigger because of her skills and personality.

Cbars for sales ofc will be skewed towards visuals, but Chinese members are quite useful for profits after in solo careers. Victoria still has ties to SM, she brought in a ton, Lay brings in a ton to SM, there’s money that is made. Heck even Zhoumi is doing better than a Suju member with a similar popularity level to him in Korea. Similarly WJSN girlies. Even Miss A has Jia and Fei who are getting moderately popular now. Especially Jia after that variety show. The problem is that you really need to establish yourself as the industry moves fast, but it is far more worth it.

Irene has the biggest bar out of all 3rd gen idols and many 2nd gen idols but the biggest revenue won’t be from Irene but a member in the c-ent field. Ofc album sales are very heavily boosted by bars like Irene Bar but the profit is different.

Also if you’re familiar with Cent can I ask? Does basically every ex Kpop idol in popular groups that come back to China make a lot of money? I always see them filming so many movies and doing so much endorsement, while ex Kpop idol that stay in Korea never seem to get that much prominent work anymore. Guess China just has more opportunity.

only in the big3

For example the only A list Thai idols are Lisa and bambam they are huge in Thailand but groups like gidle and clc who have Thai idols aren’t that big even if minnie is a little bit popular in Thailand.

secret number is a different case Dita is hard carrying the group but they only high views which doesn’t bring that much unless you have BP’s numbers.