Prologue:
(bc this is a goddamn novel lol)
I didn't want to take up comment floorspace with this one and also it's not specifically about BTS or satanic stuff, it's more just info on the broader landscape of the idol industry for anyone who isn't aware here. So read if you want to:
I wanted to say this since Bighit is gearing up for their IPO, ever since reading the r/kpop subreddit, I've realized a lot of things from a Korean guy who made a thread there. He was originally denouncing int'l fans for generalizing Koreans and being racist, but it sort of devolved into an AMA. Now, I already kew that k-pop (idol groups) in Korea is not even anywhere close to the mainstream. In Melon's year end 2018 and 2019 charts only 3-4 songs out of the top 20 songs that topped the charts that entire year were idol group songs. That's absymally small - a quarter (25%) or less on some years. You'd think idol group's market share of the industry would be more. I also already knew that idol groups are also mainly listened to in korea by middle schoolers, and there's a stigma attached to listening to it in high school or college age (this I can vouch for because back when I went on a really short holiday there to meet a pen pal, I mentioned I was into kpop and she looked at me weirdly and was like "but you're too old for that").
But what I learnt from that thread, and other threads, is that even among the only demographic who care about it (middle schoolers), K-pop is actually decreasing in popularity among youth in Korea. 5 years ago, kids would've said they wanted to be a k-pop idol, now they say they want to be youtubers. The general public listens to soloists like IU, artists like Urban Zakapa and Bolbalgan 4 (not sure if I spelled that right). Korean soloists, Korean hip hop/R&B artists and even Western music is more in line with what the general public listens to. Think of idol music and the idol industry more in line with Disney stars. Hannah Montana sold out actual arenas, but did people take her seriously? Nah she was a manufactured character on a Disney show. And nowadays with the slow and gradual decline of youth listening to Kpop, their tastes are more in-line with the gen-public. The last time kpop was popular with the youth (like really popular) in Korea was 2nd gen (and even then the gen-public was still not into idol music).
This decline in popularity from kpop's core demographic (youth) and the fact it is not popular with the general public AT ALL + the oversaturation of idols means that companies have to expand outside of Korea to survive and start prioritizing other countries but this leads to a vicious cycle because it alienates Korean fans and thus more tune out.
This isn't a fast decline by the way, it's gradual and slow and is only really felt on the ground. It'll take a while before K-pop fades into irrelevancy but all you need to know is that the GP in Korea never cared for it and it's slowly becoming less popular with it's target demographic compared to previous generations (I am SO sorry if this is too long).
Bighit's IPO estimations are 100% overvaluated. They've been acquiring other companies like Source Music to attempt to diversify. I don't know if it's just wishful thinking but given the irrelevancy of K-pop in Korea, and even BTS' fandom not being as large as it was at their peak in 2017... ugh IDK where I'm going with this, I'm just trying to say THIS FEELS LIKE A BUBBLE. They rose way too fast. They're over-valuated. I don't just want a correction and then they debut on KOPSI. I just want the bubble, the entire thing, to pop and come crashing down. I really am tired of Bighit, I'm tired of all K-pop tbh, and getting rid of Bighit with some huge scandal (like a really bad, immoral one) would turn international fans away from K-pop forever and it can be a short trend, kinda like what disco was in the 70s - it was everywhere and then just- poof! That's how bubbles work, they rise fast and pop violently. I know Korean soloists aren't better, and neither are Western ones, but there's just so much immorally wrong about the idol industry on top of being a part of the same sick, perverted shady world-wide music industry. The insane way companies ENCOURAGE sasaeng behaviour and parasocial relationships just to make money off a few more copies of albums selling, the way the idols get hate for dating, for looking the wrong way or breathing in the wrong direction. Goddamn, I hate the music industry but at least Korean soloists don't get this shit on them. The Korean general public are just as rational as the American ones - they don't care if artists date, they don't care if female artists have resting bitch face, they don't give af about these things. Kpop stans are insane and need to grow up and it saddens me that there's an industry catering to this toxic behaviour. It's already losing popularity in Korea, let's have it die internationally too so these companies have no alternative market to lean on PLEASEEE. I'm just praying to the universe, God, whoever just please let the immoral idol industry die already lmao