Do you think kpop would be popular if idols could freely and openly date from the moment they debut?

nope, it will be just like any other music genre

no stan, no obsession, no streaming culture, no nothing

most people wouldn’t openly date by their own choice when starting a career anyways

Quote from strawhatcrew

nope, it will be just like any other music genre

no stan, no obsession, no streaming culture, no nothing

tbh some western artists have that anyways

not to that extent ofc but

Quote from Minlix15

tbh some western artists have that anyways

not to that extent ofc but

They have it to an even greater extent.

Quote from Minlix15

tbh some western artists have that anyways

not to that extent ofc but

ofc some top pop western artist have it

but not to the extend majority of parasocial relationship kpop group have with their fan

Simply put, NO. Kpop thrives on the whole boyfriend/girlfriend fantasy.

Quote from cxsey

Simply put, NO. Kpop thrives on the whole boyfriend/girlfriend fantasy.

sadly this is true

a huge chunk of kpop stans have this mentality that they “own” their idol and that’s what pushes them to mass buy, send sh*t loads of expensive fan gifts to them etc. most idols who have gotten ‘exposed’ for dating have seen a significant decline in their popularity

Probably not but I'd love it if idols dating publicly was normalised.

I'd love to know what type of people my faves and other idols go for lol.

it would be very different...maybe a bit less popular but still pretty big imho

i think the culture of gossip/speculation is just as strong if not stronger than this corny "purity" clause in kpop. Imagine if BTS had been dating around to different idols/artists after their 2nd year or so and writing songs specifically about those significant others, the amount of chatter that would've generated would've been huge. Look at Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Rihanna, et al

I would argue that the hugest western stars' dating reveals and drama are what launched them into the stratosphere. People like to gossip, basically. If Kpop took advantage of this, they would find that the connection to the top idols would be just as great, if not greater, from fans.

Quote from _Dalnim

it would be very different...maybe a bit less popular but still pretty big imho

I agree with this

Quote from HyungHunter

Probably not but I'd love it if idols dating publicly was normalised.

I'd love to know what type of people my faves and other idols go for lol.

Lol, due to the nature of their job it might be disappointing. However, the assumed backlash of fan loss for dating would last only a couple generations and it would be a norm. I think there is much more awareness of an idol's job and what it requires now which helps with that transition.

Nope. That won’t work because of the age demographic and target audience.

Nothing to do with popularity, I reckon

No, at least the marketing would have to be very different as delusional fans are the key to kpop success as a group.

You could attract a whole new subset of fans who love the gossip/drama that might happen if idols openly talked about their sex life. Daring labels might even try to use this as media play, like how American companies do it, remember all the footage of Camilla and Mendes dating? Hell, we could even see labels collabing to spread fake dating rumors to garner more headlines, having idols pretending to be together.

But i dont think the new fans that might get sucked in would be as hardcore in terms of spending. You'll just get more casual fans, more clicks and views but not the bread and butter stuff you need like album and merch sales.

"kpop is not famous for dating, but only for obsessive fans reacting to dating."

the only thing that interests me is when, how and why this negative attitude towards dating arose.