Depends on who you ask.
For me, it's not 100%, but it's 98%. 98% for the music alone. The other 2% is reserved for songs w/ good choreo (visual entertainment) -- even with this, though, I'm rarely just sitting down and watching MVs over and over, so it's not as important. Most important is the music for me.
Agreed. I'm also very into visual art/fashion/costume/choreo/music video production/stage performance, so that is a significant highlight for me as well that I enjoy analyzing. The only difference with Kpop is that their budget for these things are way higher than western artists. But yes, primarily I would just listen to a song I like on it’s own.
There's only 3 groups I follow (in varying degrees depending on how deep I've dived into their discography) because I actually enjoy their music.
I'm definitely not invested in the whole parasocial aspect. I've never personally believed in idolizing anyone, and meeting celebrities has never really excited me the way it does for some people. At the end of the day, I don't know these people or what they're really like outside of their public persona, so I don't really feel a strong emotional connection.
I've watched entertainment and meme videos because they show up on my homepage, and it's often enjoyable and funny to watch to pass time. I sometimes even watch content from other groups too, but I never end up following them because I'm not into their music.
At the end of the day, if all their content just disappeared and I was only left with their music, I'd still listen to it and not think twice about it.
