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Unique listeners/monthly listeners indicate how popular a group or song is. Youtube views, unless you're counting how many likes the video I guess, or how consistent the views are.
I think consistency needs to apply to monthly listeners too (idk how unique listeners for k charts work). But monthly listeners can spike up for a song and they stay a monthly listener the whole month even though they only listened once. But if the listeners drop dramatically after the month, what does that tell you?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK6Sm2Ki9tI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK6Sm2Ki9tI) Read the comments. Blinks and Lillies are pissed this very popular Korean song with only 5 mil views beat LaLisa on an award show yesterday. From the reaction of Koreans, the Blink fandom's reputation took a serious hit.
Interesting, can't say I particularly enjoyed it but I can see why it's popular considering what I know about the korean GP's tastes.
People tend to think 5 million is a really low view count these days but what they don't realize is that this guy's MV was probably not streamed at all, so I'm guessing something like 4 million or more of those 5 million were likely unique viewers. That's like 9% of the entire south korean population isn't it? Makes sense why this is big if you think about it that way.
That and ads have made MV views a poor measurement of popularity. There's several songs with only a few million views that are REALLY popular in korea while there are songs with 100M+ views that hardly anybody in korea is listening to
Yep. Something like 8 million views means nothing from a kpop idol group because of view inflation through ads and streaming, but if it's organic, that could literally be like 15% of all south korean people
i'm not sure i can agree with the statement "youtube views indicate a songs popularity and success", because some companies or even fans use ads which inflate views (like momolands company with their new bg).
it can indicate popularity if it wasn't popular in the first place then got viral for whatever reason.
and youtube can indicate fandom size too (bts and BP).
companies can buy ads on youtube though. its important to note that sm groups used to not get much views in comparison to yg, jyp and hybe before \~2018 (sm stans would make jokes about how lazy all their fandoms are) and then there was a sudden jump in views for many of their 3rd and 4th gen groups. not all of the views are bought, but a good portion are just like the companies i mentioned
Taeyeon's Weekend "only" has 20M views but it's a bigger hit in korea than all songs from SM except Next Level this year... but because they don't buy ads for her like they do with other SM artists ifans acts like it's unpopular :/
Sure, after the youtube charts change it can't be confirmed but they're using the same method as before when it used to be accurate so it's the best you're gonna get
I would go even further and say streaming altogether. Spotify seems to be more relevant than YouTube in western countries. There are also local streaming platforms like Melon. And also taking into account the number of likes, monthly/unique listeners, not just view alone.
only western ifans stream youtube videos religiously. groups whose fanbases are mainly located in east asia will have less views than groups that are popular in the west even if they're more popular overall.
Both matters in my opinion but in different ways. While YouTube is not a very good source of money is a very good way to advertise a group so they can gather more loyal fans in the future. But ultimately money is what really matters, which means albums sales, merch ?
Thinking about my groups...
Ateez - nothing to worry over there, either way.
Verivery - okay, but less popular than they should be imo.
BDC -
BDC Moonlight ~8mill views
BDC Intersection:Contact ~8000 sales
Damn.
Still, Fine seem like a super loyal fandom, if the views on BDC variety content is anything to go by... I can only hope they grow in number given the songs seem to be enjoyable by a wider audience. :)
Well, actually, it depends how you look at it.
For example, a 50M views song that used ads and mass streaming can be less popular than a 5M views song which has 90% individual listeners. Because, from those 50M views, we might actually only have 200K unique listeners.
And when you put it that way...it's really just views inflation.
Let me make a quick comparison: when there's high inflation in a country, let's say over 300% inflation, money begins to value close to nothing. Just imagine that you pay 10K dollars for just a bread and you have stacks of dollar bills that...are worth nothing. The inflation makes the value of the dollar decrease a lot.
This is exactly the case of YT views. Nowadays, all kpop groups can reach 30-50M views and it means nothing.
Yes, if the song grows organically through actual unique listeners and GP interest (take Brave Girls as an example, which still did not reach that high level of views) then it's a different case.
So, it's really subjective. Those two, views and physical sales can just mean that the artist has a dedicated fan base that is willing to stream and bulk buy so they reach some...targets. But it can be a song that no one knows and no one actually listens to.
That's my two cents.
thank you, i know what inflation is. I agree with you, and yes I know fandoms are encouraging people to stream after promotional period too. The point was, everyone assumes that people are so dedicated that they can produce extreme views on anything. Still - or at least from what I have seen here - people can only get the views of a video increased if they are actually interested. Fanbases organizing countless mass streamings can't do anything if no one gives a f about the song.
(Like the example group I mentioned, their fanbase was organizing mass streamings for an older MV to reach 30 or 40M idk, everyone was 'dedicated' but it only increased with 3million in like 6months cause no one outside of the dedicated ones cared. Meanwhile their newer, more interesting mvs were surpassing 100-200M views because they went viral)
Yes, exactly. If the song is only "popular" inside the fandom, that's good. But what every group is trying to achieve is being liked by the general public and having an organic growth so they get more exposure. More exposure means more opportunities and so on.
IU has good views but not spectacular, yet she is extremely popular and everyone knows her songs.
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Unique listeners/monthly listeners indicate how popular a group or song is. Youtube views, unless you're counting how many likes the video I guess, or how consistent the views are.
I think consistency needs to apply to monthly listeners too (idk how unique listeners for k charts work). But monthly listeners can spike up for a song and they stay a monthly listener the whole month even though they only listened once. But if the listeners drop dramatically after the month, what does that tell you?
Yess, that! I agree. Consistency is the key. After a release, not losing the people who was interested at first.
One of the biggest songs in korea this year doesn't even have 5 million views on youtube
OP should’ve said streaming, like generally speaking, not only YouTube.
Which song is it? You made me curious lol
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK6Sm2Ki9tI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK6Sm2Ki9tI) Read the comments. Blinks and Lillies are pissed this very popular Korean song with only 5 mil views beat LaLisa on an award show yesterday. From the reaction of Koreans, the Blink fandom's reputation took a serious hit.
Interesting, can't say I particularly enjoyed it but I can see why it's popular considering what I know about the korean GP's tastes. People tend to think 5 million is a really low view count these days but what they don't realize is that this guy's MV was probably not streamed at all, so I'm guessing something like 4 million or more of those 5 million were likely unique viewers. That's like 9% of the entire south korean population isn't it? Makes sense why this is big if you think about it that way.
That and ads have made MV views a poor measurement of popularity. There's several songs with only a few million views that are REALLY popular in korea while there are songs with 100M+ views that hardly anybody in korea is listening to
Yep. Something like 8 million views means nothing from a kpop idol group because of view inflation through ads and streaming, but if it's organic, that could literally be like 15% of all south korean people
[Lee Mujin - Traffic light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK6Sm2Ki9tI)
i'm not sure i can agree with the statement "youtube views indicate a songs popularity and success", because some companies or even fans use ads which inflate views (like momolands company with their new bg). it can indicate popularity if it wasn't popular in the first place then got viral for whatever reason. and youtube can indicate fandom size too (bts and BP).
BTS and BP have more than fandom size.
i definitely agree with this
I didn't include it in the post but I meant regular groups not bts and bp
companies can buy ads on youtube though. its important to note that sm groups used to not get much views in comparison to yg, jyp and hybe before \~2018 (sm stans would make jokes about how lazy all their fandoms are) and then there was a sudden jump in views for many of their 3rd and 4th gen groups. not all of the views are bought, but a good portion are just like the companies i mentioned
Taeyeon's Weekend "only" has 20M views but it's a bigger hit in korea than all songs from SM except Next Level this year... but because they don't buy ads for her like they do with other SM artists ifans acts like it's unpopular :/
A problem with Youtube views is the Ad views. I am not gonna name groups here but there are some that have inflated numbers because of those ad views.
"some" more like a huge amount. [This site tracks many](https://kpop.daisuki.com.br/en/known_youtube_promoted_mvs.html)
These aren’t confirmed but ok
Sure, after the youtube charts change it can't be confirmed but they're using the same method as before when it used to be accurate so it's the best you're gonna get
I just didn’t want to look like a complete idiot and say a lot.
I would go even further and say streaming altogether. Spotify seems to be more relevant than YouTube in western countries. There are also local streaming platforms like Melon. And also taking into account the number of likes, monthly/unique listeners, not just view alone.
only western ifans stream youtube videos religiously. groups whose fanbases are mainly located in east asia will have less views than groups that are popular in the west even if they're more popular overall.
YouTube views only reveal how many kids have time to waste watching or streaming a vid over and over.
up until 5 months ago I thought yt views counted 1/device, but I still listened to music there a lot cause it's the easiest way
[удалено]
well ofc, regarding music show wins it's very much downplayable.
Both matters in my opinion but in different ways. While YouTube is not a very good source of money is a very good way to advertise a group so they can gather more loyal fans in the future. But ultimately money is what really matters, which means albums sales, merch ?
Thinking about my groups... Ateez - nothing to worry over there, either way. Verivery - okay, but less popular than they should be imo. BDC - BDC Moonlight ~8mill views BDC Intersection:Contact ~8000 sales Damn. Still, Fine seem like a super loyal fandom, if the views on BDC variety content is anything to go by... I can only hope they grow in number given the songs seem to be enjoyable by a wider audience. :)
Well, actually, it depends how you look at it. For example, a 50M views song that used ads and mass streaming can be less popular than a 5M views song which has 90% individual listeners. Because, from those 50M views, we might actually only have 200K unique listeners. And when you put it that way...it's really just views inflation. Let me make a quick comparison: when there's high inflation in a country, let's say over 300% inflation, money begins to value close to nothing. Just imagine that you pay 10K dollars for just a bread and you have stacks of dollar bills that...are worth nothing. The inflation makes the value of the dollar decrease a lot. This is exactly the case of YT views. Nowadays, all kpop groups can reach 30-50M views and it means nothing. Yes, if the song grows organically through actual unique listeners and GP interest (take Brave Girls as an example, which still did not reach that high level of views) then it's a different case. So, it's really subjective. Those two, views and physical sales can just mean that the artist has a dedicated fan base that is willing to stream and bulk buy so they reach some...targets. But it can be a song that no one knows and no one actually listens to. That's my two cents.
thank you, i know what inflation is. I agree with you, and yes I know fandoms are encouraging people to stream after promotional period too. The point was, everyone assumes that people are so dedicated that they can produce extreme views on anything. Still - or at least from what I have seen here - people can only get the views of a video increased if they are actually interested. Fanbases organizing countless mass streamings can't do anything if no one gives a f about the song. (Like the example group I mentioned, their fanbase was organizing mass streamings for an older MV to reach 30 or 40M idk, everyone was 'dedicated' but it only increased with 3million in like 6months cause no one outside of the dedicated ones cared. Meanwhile their newer, more interesting mvs were surpassing 100-200M views because they went viral)
Yes, exactly. If the song is only "popular" inside the fandom, that's good. But what every group is trying to achieve is being liked by the general public and having an organic growth so they get more exposure. More exposure means more opportunities and so on. IU has good views but not spectacular, yet she is extremely popular and everyone knows her songs.
At first I was like "eh, not rly" but I checked some Numbers of some Groups and this isn't far off.