Usually, fans would like to listen to music, buy albums, buy merchandise and watch concerts or fan meetings. Being a K-pop fan for more than five years, I would like to tell you some fandom cultures of K-pop in this blog. So, let’s start!
Fandom words
You should understand some words if you are a K-pop fan. So let me first introduce you to some that we always talk about.
1. “All-kill” which means that a song reached no.1 on all real-time charts.
2. “Comeback” which represents artists releasing new music.
3. “Visual” is a term that refers to the prettiest or the best looking member of a group.
4. “Maknae” is a Korean word that represents the youngest member of a group.
5. “Sasaeng” refers to fans that act like stalkers who try to follow the idols all the time to invade their privacy, making them feel uncomfortable.
Albums Sales & Streaming
K-pop fans love to buy more than one copy of the same album although they have never listened to them. The main reason is that there are several versions of the same album with different gifts, for example: photo books, photocards, posters etc. For the gifts, they would be randomly distributed into the albums. More than that, buying albums is a way for fans to meet their idols in person. The more you buy, the greater the chance to be selected to join fansign events! These are the strategies from those entertainment companies to stimulate fans’ desire to buy more to increase album sales. (For me, I love to buy all versions of the same album.)
Streaming culture is also essential in K-pop fandoms. K-pop fans are willing to stream music videos that are uploaded on YouTube to increase the views or streams in chart apps such as Melon and Gaon Chart for higher positions in charts. There are different awards, by looking at album sales, views and chart positions, you can see how crazy K-pop fans are about buying albums and streaming, which is a different way to show their love to the idols. (I also stream music videos when my idols have comebacks!)
Advertisements
K-pop fans support their idols by placing advertisements at subway stations to celebrate their birthdays or anniversaries. We can also leave messages by sticking memos on the advertisements. You can see enormous advertisements in stations when you are travelling in South Korea. Actually, this advertisement culture has spread out all over the world. Not only in subway stations, you can also see more and more of those commercials in coffee shops, other transports and even the world's most expensive ad space- Time Square! These promotional campaigns can also gain attention to let more people know about K-pop idols.
How do you think of K-pop fandoms? If you are a K-pop fan, is there anything you would like to add to K-pop fandoms? Welcome to add your comments below!
A detail and interesting article about kpop and I make me learn more about kpop fandom. :)
This article is so useful!!! As K-pop fan, I definitely could use this article to introduce my friends to the K-pop world. I think it is really necessary to list the different wordings because there are many different roles in the K-pop groups. I think you could also include the anti in the article to let people know
What a detail and useful article!!! I really learn many new fandom words in this article. The Korea culture does influence the world like the fans celebrate the idols' birthday or anniversary that many countries follow this action nowadays.
Very clear and detailed article. As a k-pop fan, I did a lot to support my favorite idol. For example, all men in South Korea must go to the military, and hordes of fans will wait outside army headquarters to see their idol. For me, I also went to South Korea to see my idol being discharged from the army. That moment was extremely touched and happy as I can feel the delight of fans around the world.
As a K-pop fan, I can see many familiar words that used in the fandom. I think this blog can be useful for the people who are newly enter the K-pop fandom or interested in fandom culture. This can also help to promote K-pop.