Reality TV K-pop act rocks music scene while raising questions of fairness

I could maybe be sympathetic if the profits weren't going to charity... but since that's not the case ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯... next week you get that #1 Somi girl or whoever is competing against them

Hey, they can't help that they're super rookies!!

Why are people so mad that they're popular? The general public dgaf about idols, it's mostly middle schoolers that stream their songs. Rain, Hyori and YJS are known among the older generation and general public, it's no surprise that their songs are successful. Let them have fun for a few weeks and then you can go back to mass-streaming your oppas songs and fight with other fandoms over who is getting that number 1 on music shows.

That's all this is, 3rd gen fans salty that these older celebs are far more popular with the public than any of their faves. It crushes the delusion that everyone in Korea actually gives a fuck about their group. These kiddies really fooled themselves into thinking large fan base who mass streams = tens of millions of Koreans love their fave's music lmao

Are people gonna be this upset when Lee Hyori, Uhm Jung Hwa, Jessi, and Hwasa debut?

i don't really understand the criticism. yes, ssak3 was basically guaranteed instant success because it's 3 huge stars in one group, but they've all put in work over the last 10-20 years??? plus, consumers can support more than one group at a time lmao

lol idc i love their song, it's fun but very easy on the ears

this is such a non-issue. are the ones who are unhappy mainly idol fans? these 3 are like big names so of course they will make a big splash. and it's a project group, so don't worry they'll be here for a while and your idols can continue dominating the charts

This is so dumb. I feel like YG or another company planted this story tbh. Idol fans and companies do unfair shit to game the charts all the time (mass streaming, releasing multiple album versions, fan meets, etc.) that's accepted as normal, but suddenly it's only a problem when when younger groups can't benefit from it? It's not SSSAK3's fault they're successful at variety and beloved by the public. Maybe if these greedy ass companies hadn't oversaturated the market in the first fucking place, newer idols would get spots on these shows too instead of resorting to content only hardcore fans watch like Vlives and YT vlogs 🙄

"I do think the popularity of the band stems purely from the power of television, as opposed to that of music," said pop music critic Chung Min-jae.

This kills me. As if idol groups' popularity has ever been about the music

i think that very little of popular music stems purely from the power of music, like it or not!

great article OP, thank you for sharing this

personally, i don't understand why there are people upset with it. people need to read about what a music show is: a music show. not a (struggling) idol show. they really need to get over themselves.
also, having the backing of a national tv station doesn't make people enjoy a song, doesn't make them buy it, doesn't make them listen to it.

i'm just super happy for them and all the more because everything goes to charity! i'm so glad they did such a great job and i'm really loving it. it's so refreshing to see something this chill, not overly choreographed and serious, and just pleasing to the ears in stead of loud music.

Idol fans are dying to throw the s-word but they can't since SSAK3 aren't exactly nugus so they came up with this kind of ~fairness~ narrative instead lmao.

Like the Kpop industry was ever fair in the first place?

The proceeds are all going to charity, so this isn't the example to pick to showcase unfairness imo

i see the comments only say about the public, but i think i read a few days ago that industry people are also complaining, which is I agree with OP, cry harder. yes, this is Infinite Challenge Song Festival problem all over again. but like, they dont release songs every month, let them be. also, one of the critics was that they're not an actual group, but there's rain and hyori who are actual singers. so ugh. just shut up and enjoy some fun summer songs.

I am cackling at how pressed people are at how successful SSAK3 has been. Of course they were were bound to be popular, they are all veterans in the industry who are loved by the GP. It's just like when Infinite Challenge did their collabs and all of those songs became hits. They're such a breath of fresh air in the over-saturated idol industry because they're literally just having fun on stage being themselves and the song is a summer bop. I already like Hyori, Rain and YJS individually and I like them together as a group. Their dynamic is wonderful. It's not hard to stan them even if you weren't a fan previously. I also admire that the proceeds are going towards charities.

Fans need to realize that the more well known your fave is to the GP (whether through variety, hosting, dramas etc), then the more likely they are to have an impact on the charts. As I said before, fandom power does not necessarily equate to the average crowd being aware of your existence. You have fans streaming their faves' music, bulk buying and voting on all these platforms just to feel some sense of accomplishment when their fave wins an award, so they think their fave is popular...Only to realize that outside of the kpop bubble, no one actually knows or cares about them. It does suck but that is how the cookie crumbles. It's also funny how you can tell which songs on the charts are songs that the GP actually listens to vs what kpop fans are listening to. That's why OSTs, ballads and songs by veterans are so popular, because that's what the GP wants to hear. Plus, the drastic drop in the kpop songs at certain times of the day pretty much cements that fans go out of their way to stream. You have to accept the facts at some point.

Now let SSAK3 do what they came to do and slay away, then you can go back to fighting over which kpop idol is on top once they're done promoting.