DISCUSSION 3A

Question 6: Why do fans have more power in K-pop than in many other fan situations in other countries (sports fans, fans of actors or pop stars in other countries, etc.)? It can seem like fans exert control of stars, even sometimes subverting the desires of an agency. How did the fans end up with this much power in the Korean context? Consider cultural factors, the changing celebrity culture vis-a-vis SNS, the expectations for idols in Korea v. stars in other contexts, and anything else.  Your essay should consider the different ways that fans can “flex” their muscles to control an idol. Finally, is this an illusion?Do the agencies, in fact, want fans to feel empowered because it makes them more invested in their fan activities? 

Hi, my name is Rachel, and I will be leading this week’s discussion on why K-pop idols have to be more devoted towards their fans compared to other pop stars, and that all of this is not an illusion because both the fans and the companies achieve what they want in the end.

First, the idea of having a big fandom is equivalent to being famous. The more fans, or SNS followers one possesses, the better sponsors he or she will get. For example, K-pop fans are known for their group actions and activisms both online and offline (Kim 2018: 36). This signifies that some die-hard fans will do whatever it takes to maintain their idols’ images positive, buy their albums, and gift expensive presents to project their love. However, to satisfy them, it is necessary for the K-pop idols to react by taking injeung (confirmation) shots (pictures) with cute gestures. Fan services such as inviting fans to their live concerts, hosting fan meetings, and streaming SNS live shows are also crucial when it comes to communicating with their fans. By doing so, fans get to learn more about their favorite idols and feel connected which creates bigger fandoms.

Unlike other foreign singers, K-pop idols get exposed much more in media by participating in entertainment shows, CFs, or K-dramas and it is also a fact that everything is fan based. According to one research, “Given such constraints, it is only logical to hire celebrities with the widest possible fanbase, and crucially, it is only chaebol that have the financial means to do so” (Turnbull 2017: 129). For instance, a K-pop singer who recently became famous, Lee Hye-ri from Girl’s Day, modeled for 15 different brands and became the ‘Commercial Film Queen’ (Turnbull 2017: 130) only after showing a short aegyo through an MBC show, “Real Man”. Although her group was already well known, Lee Hye-ri’s wave added enormous amounts of fans after this show. K-pop live reminded me of a program, “Produce 101” when stating this quote, “Many support their stars by voting for [their fans] via pay phone, which allows them to debut or raise rank on the music charts” (Kim 2018: 8). Throughout the whole process, trainees have to appeal their talents to their fans for the votes. Showing good images, making oneself attractive, and fan services determine who the fans will select to debut. They have to be “always ready and alert” (Ibid., 64).

In conclusion, I do not think that fans empowering over K-pop idols is an illusion, although it is somewhat true that companies or agencies intentionally make idols constantly appealing in media to invest money. However, this does not mean that companies have the power to control them because in reality, the fans are the ones who spend the money to make idols break through. If agencies are the ones who train and help their idols to first be introduced to the public media, fans are the key to achieve fame and stardom. Fans certainly play a crucial role in the process as both spectators of the shows and consumers of content on multimedia platforms (Kim 2018: 59).

Bibliographies:
– Kim, Sukyoung. K-pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2018.
– Turnbull, James. “Just beautiful people holding a bottle: the driving forces behind South Korea’s love of celebrity endorsement.” Celebrity Studies 8, no. 1 (2017): 128-135. https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcel20.

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COMMENTS

Shannon: The Korean survival show “Produce 101” completely relies on viewers to decide who will be the final winners of the show, and eventually, idols of the new group. While editing plays a part of a contestant’s screen time and attention received, it is up to the viewers to take what is shown in the program to build the contestant’s popularity. Like an election, posters are made and even billboards are rented to promote their favourites, escalating the scale of the competition. After the show ends, fans try to find updates on the eliminated contestants to support them if their companies are planning to debut them soon. This “pre-hype” adds pressure on both the idols and their agencies; many of the contestants come from companies that are not well known, like Nextar Entertainment, and they rely on fans who learn about them through the show. If the group does not live up to the fans’ expectations, they will not make back the money, and there may not even be another comeback.

K-pop as a whole depends on its consumers enjoying their product to become successful. This means they must cater to their demands to avoid obscurity. Without continuous support from its fans, everyone employed in the industry will not be able to make a living anymore.

I would say minor controversies/scandals in K-pop are actually strategically used to keep idols relevant, especially to Korean fans. With so many idols in the same industry, they have to find a way to be memorable. Since many fans are so invested in the idols’ lives, any minor news quickly spreads like wildfire. This type of news can be used so idols become recognizable. For example, there was some news that BtoB’s Sungjae and DIA’s Jooeun were in a relationship. The rumour was confirmed to be false. The girl group’s leader Huihyeon also expressed concerns on how their next comeback would be received, but DIA actually ended up winning their first music show award for their next comeback.

Amy: Produce 101 and many other survival reality shows are definitely a clear example of the fans’ power in K-pop industry. I think although falling in love with an idol or a group is up to your own preference, and that is when you started to perform your “power” to that group by devoting time and money for them. However, at the same time, I think the power that K-pop fans are assumed to be holding is not created by themselves, but rather is given to them by the idols, the companies, and the K-pop industries through producing several kinds of fan services and entertainment contents such as albums, concerts, fan meetings, reality shows, CFs, etc.; then all the fans need to do is to perform that power by consuming, supporting and promoting them.

Zoe: I definitely agree that Produce 101 started the trend of this fan-based power in the making of K-pop idols. Although there were quite a lot of survival shows before Produce 101, such as WIN: Who is next or No Mercy, although those programs also had fan involvement throughout the process. But Produce 101 accentuated on the power of fans over an idol’s career by referring the fans as “National Producers”. The Korean term “매력 어필”, which stands for “charm appealing” is shown greatly through this program. The trainees would have to show their appeal to the fans, which rises their popularity to vote for them. In this case, the fans posses all control of the trainee even before their actual debut. And by looking at nowadays, this kind of system is actually becoming the popular in the industry whereas there are other shows like this like mixnine and unit where fans are taking over control of the progress and results of program.

Amy: One more thing to add around this topic is I feel that the delimitations between fandoms of K-pop artists are clearer than any other music industries. The terms like official fandom name and official fan color appear so frequently in K-pop. Along with the question “Who is your favorite K-pop idol?” with a direct answer like “BTS”, we can also hear such question in the conversations between K-pop fans like “Who are you?” and the answer “I am an ARMY” would still make you realize immediately that one’s favorite artist is BTS. This delimitation inevitably results in the competitions between K-pop fans from different fandoms that motivate the fans to support and devote their best for their idols, and this eventually leads to the power that we are talking about.

Diego – Shannon and Rachel bring up very important points about how fans are able to “flex” their influence on kpop idols and their behaviours. Shannon talks about the importance of fan influence in a direct way via voting for their favourite groups / trainees in the popular show “Produce 101,” where the fans have the power to determine who stays on the show and who gets eliminated. Rachel brought up the importance of fans correlated to an idol’s lifeline, where the idols take injeung (confirmation pictures) of the gifts they receive. The importance of of injeung is very similar to Shannon’s points where injeung creates a bidirectional cycle of support that generates popularity, success, and influence. If the fans are pleased, the idol will rise, and when the idol rises, the fans will continue to support the idol. 

The textbook talks about the importance of exposure for idol and idol groups, because the more popular the idols are within the contemporary public sphere, the more likely they are to be showcased on television broadcasts, which in turn means that idol and idol groups get more exposure (Kim 2018: 64). This bidirectional relationship creates a cycle, but fandoms having stronger influence on this cycle because it is up to the fans to choose which idol or idol group they want to support (i.e. throw their money towards).

I argue that ultimately the fans are the most important part of any kind of idol or idol group, because without the support of the masses it doesn’t matter how amazing, original, or talented an idol or idol group is. Without the support of the masses and fandoms, idol and idol groups are just people and groups of people creating music and videos, which is okay if your goal is not to create profit.

Zoe: Thank you for your essay Rachel. The entire Korean entertainment industry, especially for idol is very dependent on their fandom. Just like what Rachel said, having a big fandom basically means being famous. It’s not just the idols that attracts the fans, it’s the entire package, from concepts to looks and music and all the exposure that they get. The artists are just one of the elements in the entire package, therefore they don’t really have the independent persona when being an idol. Fans become the determining factor of their career.

Zoe: Also in addition, I want to compare this kind of fandom to the fans in the western entertainment industry. I personally feel like in K-pop, everything about an idol is all considered as one whole thing. Music, personality, personal image, the way your dress…etc. One thing goes wrong, you become controversial in your fandom and fans might leave you. But for Western entertainment, the music is the main focus for the fans. There might be times where people don’t like you as a person but still listens to your music. Everything doesn’t come in a whole package. Whereas in K-pop, if I dislike as a person or just maybe one thing in that “package”, low chances that they will like the music that they produce.

Francis: I can certainly agree with the point Zoe made about the cultural differences in how an artist’s music and their character can be more segregated in Western entertainment. It’s clear by now that a lot of the artists in the Korean entertainment industry are much more than a musical artist but as someone with “higher moral standards than the public, necessitating yet further micromanagement and control by their entertainment companies.” ( Turnbull 2017; 132) As much as these companies have physical control over these artists, more and more groups debuting among recent years have turned to a more fan-centric approach; giving them (or making them feel that) power over the artists in some way or another.

Several of my group members bring up an excellent example of this with the show Produce 101 and many groups such as TWICE, WANNA ONE and IOI shared similar methods in fans engaging and voting through apps to determine group member lineup for their debut. However, even with this approach, it’s certainly up to the management company to manage these groups schedule and performances.

Francis: Rachel brings up a good point with how this situation isn’t just a illusion but when you really do think about it, it’s the fan’s investment that make these idols career possible in the first place. If the fans didn’t pour in any money or attention, these idols won’t be the idols that they know and love today. As Kpop is a for-profit industry and many practices are centric around developing and maintaining fan relationships like what Diego said, I think there’s also a sense of moral obligation that underlies this entire process. As these idols are supposed to be our role models of what a perfectly good human being is, giving back is a good moral that many idols want to portray. With so much money invested into these idol’s career, they have a sense of obligation to deliver upon that promise with a better persona, performances, etc. Thus, with new mediums of gaining feedback from fans directly through fan-cafe message boards, it could be more likely that these artists fulfill requests in order to giveback and strengthen their support between them and their supporters.