It’s so
hard to have a conversation with k-pop fans without the topic of YouTube views
coming up. There are so many people in the varying subsets of this fandom who
believe that YouTube views are the most important indicator of popularity. In
some ways, yes, YouTube views can show that a song or group is popular. On the
other, bigger hand, it’s complete and utter bullshit.
Yes, that’s
right; the hours you have spent refreshing YouTube to make sure your bias is
getting the most views in 24 hours means relatively nothing.
For the
sake of transparency, when I’m talking about general popularity and success I’m
not talking about worldwide popularity. I’m talking about domestic popularity
in South Korea and international fans. International k-pop fans, of course, not
being representative of the music tastes and sensibilities of their respective
countries. If any k-pop fans are actually using the YouTube views of their
favourite group to boast about true international popularity they’re fucking
stupid.
This is Ellin. She has nothing to do with this editorial but look at her anyways.
In the 21st
century, YouTube is the main platform for streaming music videos. In the past,
television was used to distribute music videos, and, honestly, music videos
before the age of internet (and especially before the age of easily streamable
online video) aren’t anything important; it was just a tool to showcase the
lead single for an upcoming album. How many times a particular music video was
watched wasn’t really all that important; it was album sales that was
important.
This is
still true in k-pop. Does any k-pop fan actually expect their faves to get
anything from their 24+ million views? Because they don’t. Actually buying the
album and merchandise and attending concerts are still the best way to support
your favourite idol financially. This is true of any music industry worldwide.
An
argument, however, can be made about views translating to popularity. This is a
slippery slope to discuss, truth be told, because popularity is very hard to
accurate translate. For instance, Monsta X is one of the more popular new boy
groups internationally, but less so in Korea itself. But due to their
international popularity, they have awesome YouTube views. But are they
actually getting any money because of that? No.
This song has over 18 million views. That used to be pretty good for k-pop standards.
“But Nine”,
you say, “the more views something has the more popular it is”. Well, not necessarily.
A great recent example is Nu’est; they have the most watched debut music video
of all male k-pop artists. Did anyone besides their fans care about them up
until a few months ago? No. Absolutely not. If they were anything like me, they
only cared about Ren and his beautiful, beautiful face. While Nu’est generally
fared a lot better than many other 2012 debuts, it’s EXO, VIXX, and B.A.P who
are seen as the more successful groups.
67 million views is nothing to sneeze at. Too bad no one cared about this song until 2 months ago.
This is not
to say that YouTube views mean nothing when it comes to popularity. Big Bang
gets high views on all of their MVs not just because of a strong fandom, but
because of their public recognition. But because both of these factors are in
play, their YouTube views are generally higher; the views are more representative
of their success as a group.
This song has over 300 million views. Big Bang is probably the most successful k-pop group of all time though
But why the
sudden obsession with YouTube views? Well, there are many factors that come
into play.
First of
all, the k-pop fandom is built on infighting. By that I mean the various fans
of different groups fighting each other. A current famous example is EXO-Ls (fans
of EXO) versus A.R.M.Y (fans of BTS). While it’s hilarious for those of us who
are multi-fandom, the reality of the situation is that those involved in the
fighting take it very seriously. As there is a constant need to best other
groups, or prove that their favourite group is the best group, there comes with
it a need to find various ways to complete this goal that can show hard
numbers. One of the simplest ways to do this is to count YouTube views. If it
wasn’t so simple to do fans probably wouldn’t be so obsessed with it.
Because of
this, fans are constantly inflating views. They want to be the fastest to reach
a million views, 50 million views, 100 million views. They want to use it as a
bragging right.
Another
reason why views are so stupidly important in this godforsaken fandom is that
companies endorse this shit. If fans are able to get the music video views to a
certain number they’ll get a reward. Usually the reward is something like a
dance practice video, sometimes it’s a video of EXO’s Xiumin dancing in a
penguin suit as an adorable baby. It’s a nice little incentive to get MV views
up due to the third reason why views are getting inflated.
Okay, but look at that random number Wannables had to get the song to though.
The third
reason is that music video views are being inflated is because it’s a damn
qualification for points on some music programs. That’s right. In order to have
a better chance of winning what basically amounts to a meaningless trophy for
most bigger groups you need to have higher YouTube views. This is not standard
across all programs, but is a part of the chart system for both M Countdown and Show! Music Core. Ergo, companies want their videos have higher
views so that the group has a better chance of winning more trophies.
Basically
this all boils down to bragging rights.
But why is
it bullshit? Because it doesn’t mean anything anymore. Let me give you an
example.
f(x) is a
very well-known and respected group in the k-pop industry. Formed by SM
Entertainment in 2009 they are one of the most recognizable girl groups in the
industry. One of their major hits is a song called Electric Shock. If you haven’t heard it yet, I’m sorry but you’re
still too new to this fandom. At any rate, in 2016 MeU’s (the fans of the
group) were trying to get the music video to 100 million views, to make f(x)
the third girl group to reach that milestone. Even just a year ago it was a
huge, huge deal to make it to that many views. However, they were in crunch
time because rookie girl group Twice’s debut song Like Ooh-Aah and their follow up release Cheer Up were gaining speed.
“But Nine,”
you say, “Isn’t it perfectly natural for popular songs to get many views?” I
mean, yes, but not in this way. The problem was that Onces (fans of Twice)
weren’t letting the songs gain views naturally; they were inflating the views
as quickly as they possibly could.
Now, there’s
nothing inherently wrong with inflating views because it’s none of my damn
business what fans decide to do with their time. And f(x) didn’t necessarily
deserve their spot as the third girl group to reach that milestone (which they
eventually were) more so than Twice. It’s when fans artificially inflate views
and then use the numbers as proof as their groups superiority over others that
the milestone loses its meaning.
Probably
the biggest offender of this view is A.R.M.Y. Although BTS has yet to have a
true hit song with the public (though they’ve gotten close), their YouTube
views are through the roof. And I’m not talking basic growth in views between
months, I’m talking about leaps in views from month to month in the millions.
This is
becoming a growing pattern with fans of the new generation of k-pop groups
(though it’s seeping over to most of the big groups). All they do is stream the
music video over and over and create new milestones for their group. But due to
this these milestones are essentially meaningless. Is it a true milestone if
you’re just going to make sure that they surpass it again during their next
release?
Let’s take
a look at the top 10 most viewed videos as of September 1, 2017.
10. Dope
(2015) – BTS – 205 248 775 (up 12 819 592)
9. Cheer Up
(2016) – Twice – 207 778 201 (up 10 503 268)
8.
Boombayah (2016) – BlackPink– 211 040 349 (up 18 850 034)
7. TT
(2016) – Twice– 254 710 800 (up 15 368 923)
6. Bang
Bang Bang (2015) – Big Bang – 258 779 261 (up 7 728 179)
5. Daddy
(2015) – Psy ft. CL – 298 510 775 (up 8 495 919)
4.
Fantastic Baby (2012) – Big Bang – 313 622 359 (up 5 829 137)
3. Oppa is
Just My Style (2012) – Psy & Hyuna – 701 082 753 (up 3 895 786)
2.
Gentleman (2013) – Psy – 1 108 553 614 (up 9 619 227)
1. Gangnam
Style (2012) – Psy – 2 943 692 206 (up 27 096 092)
Look at the
increases in views since August 1, 2017. I’ll give a pass to Gangnam Style
because, you know, it was literally one of the songs of 2012 worldwide. But
look at the increases for some of the other groups and tell me that they still
mean something. Also, by this chart, there are now over 45 songs with over 100
million views. Last year at this time? 17.
What about
September 2015?
8. There
were 8 songs with 100 million views only 2 years ago.
And you’re
still going to tell me that all these views are an accurate measure of relative
popularity?
Anyways,
the point of this is that YouTube views were always a shitty measure of
popularity. There are plenty of k-pop songs that are incredibly popular but don’t
even crack the top 100 most viewed. It’s just now it’s an even shittier measure
because fans insist on inflating views.
Sure, some
of it is fueled by the entertainment companies themselves, but in the end it’s
all about bragging rights.
And
bragging rights don’t mean shit.
Anyways, get Doo Doom Chit to 3 million views.
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