BTS' Influence and Western Media
“manager armys keep saying nct are gonna take the spotlight of bts in america because bts dont speak english (besides namjoon), release songs in english or they only worry about korean fans and dont promote like a western artist, do you see this happening to bts?”
“Anonymous: any predictions for NCT127 promotions in America next month? will they hit it big as SM is expecting? possible competition for BTS?”
Not to sound like an asshole, but do these “manager armys” actually pay attention to BTS? They promote like western artists and they don’t only worry about Korean fans… if they did they wouldn’t be on a World Tour, they wouldn’t have done any international work at all, they wouldn’t do al of these talk shows where English is the only language spoken. Also, the ~western~ demographic doesn’t actually care that much about English. That’s more of a WHITE AMERICA sort of thing where “if yer in merica you best be talkin rite” which doesn’t really extend to the millennial generation. Like… some of the most popular songs in the US have been non-English dominant songs.
Just to be real, BTS has the media’s eye in the US because they have a hold on the internet. In comparison, there are no other groups that have equal influence and therefore they do not hold the market like BTS. They can still do well, but it’s not going to be more than BTS simply because they put out English songs. That’s doesn’t make them unique. BTS are extremely unique to the Western public no matter how mainstream their sound gets because they grab the attention of the public because they look, sound, and perform differently than what is typical. Contrary to what a lot of BTS fans like to say, BTS are not actually conforming. they wouldn’t be successful if they were, people in America especially would hate them if they did. Like, there’s been horrible US debuts for Kpop artists because of that.
The millennial generation in the West does not want conformity.
I’ve noticed a lot of companies are trying to ride BTS’s coattails and trying to “one-up” them by not going in with the hair and the clothes, straight up ripping off American music, or just doing English music. That doesn’t make them unique, they’re just another boy/girl band that the West has seen a million times and got sick of back in the 2000′s. When you take away those unique bits you get blatant conformity and manufactured nonsense that does not vibe well with a lot of American audiences. That’s why the “boy band” and “girl band” died out before One Direction revived it and redefined it as just some dudes running around on stage rather than the matching outfits, hair, and dancing like what we had in the 80′s, 90′s, and early 2000′s.
BTS is well received and well liked because they present something quite old, but completely refreshed and interesting. It’s familiar but it’s also fucking insane how flamboyant they are compared to western artists. People are more culturally aware as well, so the fact that they have Korean lyrics makes them even more of an interest and it’s great for promo because some people will google their shit just to find out what they’re saying.
I’m sure NCT will do just fine in the US, but I don’t see them taking the spotlight away from BTS because, honestly, they’re not really on the same stage as BTS to begin with.