Is K-Pop not as popular as it used to be?

Article: People aren't interested in idols anymore, agree or disagree?

Source: Idol Issue via Instagram

1. [+175] I think people are just getting older and you're seeing a shift in generations now

2. [+151] If people aren't interested in idols anymore, then why are the fan signing cuts getting higher!!!!!!!!

3. [+112] I think the idea of a 'national group' is gone now after Big Bang (excluding BTS).. People may have heard of groups like EXO, Seventeen, or Wanna One but it's not like they know the members or any of their songs. I also think the agencies are more to blame for turning K-Pop from a major genre into a niche genre more so than the consumers...
- [+24] I don't think the public is that aware of BTS as individual members either
- [+5] I actually think the public is to blame for turning K-Pop from mainstream to niche. They were the ones judging this and that about K-Pop without spending a cent of their own money in consuming it, which is why agencies started spending more focus on targeting the markets that actually do spend the money like international fandoms or core domestic fandoms. The idol groups that the public claims to "know nothing about" are still bringing in millions every year from niche markets.

4. [+74] I guess now I know why I'm the only fangirl I know around me... 😢

5. [+55] I think this is more relevant for boy groups because people still seem interested in girl groups judging by how popular IVE or New Jeans are? 

6. [+24] Really? I was thinking it was the opposite...

7. [+38] It sounds about right... People only know of the few famous groups but don't know a thing about any of the other groups...

8. [+1] I think it's wrong to write about this as if it's a problem. Idols these days are making way more money than they were when they were more "mainstream". No point in catering to the mainstream public when they don't spend money on consuming idol content. There's nothing special about the public when international or core domestic fans will spend more money at the end of the day. The public's the one complaining about digital song costs while passing the most intense judgments on the idols whenever anything happens. They're of no help to these idol groups anymore.

9. [+7] Or maybe people have just become better at cosplaying as non-fans

10. [+22] More specifically, people are less interested in boy groups... I think girl groups are still going strong

11. [+1] I think it's just the idol market becoming more diversified. The market's the same but it's just been divided more into different niche categories...

12. [+9] I don't agree. A lot of the groups popular in 2022 were doing just as well in 2018. Maybe people think idols are on the decline because it's only the girl groups that are getting fame like IVE, New Jeans, and Le Sserafim? But if you look at those groups, there is still a ton of support and interest in them. I think it's only the adults who are showing waning interest... because teens are still going crazy for idols 🔥

13. [+17] From 2000-2010, the entire nation used to know the most popular songs by idols... nowadays, idols seem more focused on producing provocative content over good music (and I think fans are to blame for this by putting too much emphasis on which group has the best dance moves. Look at how Aespa's songs are riddled with too many highs and not enough lows, it's fun to listen to but a lot at once). I think people are back to wanting to listen to easy-going songs like New Jeans, which is why they're so high up on the charts. There's a reason why people aren't as interested in the other idols after New Jeans debuted.

14. [+3] Honestly, there's a stigma attached to being a boy group fan these days. People don't view it positively. Too bad because there are a ton of great songs that I wish muggles would acknowledge.

15. [+4] K-Pop is more popular overseas now, Korean fans have become the 'foreign cockroaches' of K-Pop

16. [+15] K-Pop can't go back to how it was before, it's become too grotesque of a market after it expanded internationally. All agencies are only chasing the money in the international markets while Korean fans become nothing more than people who buy albums if they put any out. Korean fans are becoming the minor in our own genre now...

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