Weverse Magazine’s Latest Article Emphasizes Stray Kids’ Achievements But Netizens Have Extremely Mixed Reactions

Some netizens think it’s discrediting their success.
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Koreaboo

Weverse Magazine recently published an article about the success of “K-Pop in America after BTS,” and netizens have very mixed reactions.

The article starts by sharing a statistic from “the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)’s annual Global Music Report, [that] BTS has been the best-selling artist for two years running.” The article documents BTS’s immense and indisputable impact on the American market and argues that no group will be able to achieve the same success by following the exact same process.

Such a view positions a number one on the Billboard 200, then a number one on the Hot 100, and then a Grammy as a kind of step-by-step assignment for conquering the US market. That may have been true in the past, but it’s not how things work anymore. The success of K-Pop and BTS with it has led to the expansion of a now more mature music industry.

— Weverse Magazine

BTS

Weverse Magazine expresses the change in the industry by documenting fellow HYBE artist TXT‘s long-term success on the Billboard charts.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s minisode 2: Thursday’s Child debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 shortly after it was released in May, landing finally at number 179 for the week of August 27 after spending a full 14 weeks on the chart. This kind of performance can’t be achieved through sales that are concentrated in a one- or two-week period.

— Weverse Magazine

TXT

Although, understandably, Weverse Magazine would talk about HYBE artists or even K-Pop idols who use Weverse, fans were incredibly confused when the magazine then began to speak about Stray Kids‘ success on the Billboard charts, focusing on the accolades mentioned in a controversial Billboard article about the group.

Stray Kids recently made the cover of the September 8 digital edition of Billboard, and the magazine put out a separate collector’s edition package for $35 dollars as well. As the subtitle on their feature article says, ‘With a No. 1 project and two mega-labels behind them, the K-Pop group and its fans are here to STAY.’ The article covers their recent US concerts and their April release, Oddinary, that debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

— Weverse Magazine

Stray Kids

The article then focuses on Imperial Music, which they note is a label under Universal Music Group (whom HYBE is working closely with), promoting Stray Kids in America through different strategies.

[Stray Kids’] label, JYP Entertainment, is also working with Imperial Music, a label under Universal Music Group. According to the article, Imperial had started planning six months before the release of the EP to sell the limited-edition album package at major retailers in the US with the intention of reaching the top of the Billboard 200.

— Weverse Magazine

The article even reports that Imperial Music “[plans] to target the radio waves starting with [Stray Kids’] next album.”

The article then praises NewJeans, who debuted under one of HYBE’s labels, for their success internationally and in South Korea.

Similarly, NewJeans were noted for their performance on both the Korean charts and Spotify’s global weekly and daily charts.

— Weverse Magazine

NewJeans

The rest of the article focuses on how K-Pop distinguishes itself, identifying the demographics that consume K-Pop music and using TWICE (labelmates to Stray Kids who are also not on Weverse) as an example of determining “who to target” in the American market.

Let’s look at the concerts TWICE put on there back in February. The group put on nine performances in the US this year, with over 100,000 people coming out to see them and making over $16 million in revenue. It was a stunning turnout for a girl group in the US. TWICE doesn’t have the strong image that’s commonly known as the ‘girl crush’ style in Korea, meaning they were meticulous in planning who to target and how. That’s not to say it all happened overnight; TWICE spent two or three years carefully responding to the US market and targeting its consumers appropriately. What is this if not the very definition of success?

— Weverse Magazine

TWICE

Although the article highlighted the success of many different groups while focusing on proving that success in the American market can be achieved in different ways, netizens had extremely mixed reactions to the article, specifically the discussion of Stray Kids.

Many netizens felt that the discussion of Stray Kids was actually meant to discredit the group’s success, arguing that the article was trying to discredit Stray Kids’ immense achievement on the Billboard chart by downplaying the numbers as coming from the “limited edition album packages.”

Some fans pointed out (and joked) that they hadn’t heard anything about Stray Kids using radio play for their upcoming album MAXIDENT, so it was odd that the article mentioned it.

Netizens also felt it was unfair that the article would focus on Stray Kids and not the success of ENHYPEN (who are under HYBE), who also deserve credit for their achievements.

Still, other netizens believe that the article was complimentary to Stray Kids and TWICE as it did highlight their impressive success in a difficult industry, arguing that they want JYP Entertainment to praise their groups in the same way.

What are your thoughts?

Source: Weverse Magazine

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