Which Kpop Idols Are Really Recognized Globally & Which Ones Are Faking It

[@sharonlahaye5803]

I live in the Southern USA. When I fell down the rabbit hole of BTS in 2018, i started looking into other K-Pop groups, but none of them appealed to me with the exception of one or two songs, certainly not enough to follow them. I told friends and coworkers about BTS. Some listened to them casually, but every single person knew who they were. I also asked about Blackpink because the K-Pop shows were claiming that they were a global sensation. Yet not one friend or coworker had ever heard of them. Strange, I thought, since SK acted like they made it big in the West. Today in 2024 you’d have to live under a rock to not know at least one song by BTS or know that they are one of the most popular groups in the world. Sorry but Stray Kids, Ateez are not known at all except by fervent K-Poppies and that is very much a niche in the US. This is not to hate on or demean other groups. It’s just my experience and I’m curious enough to check around to see if K-pop groups are truly “global sensations.” The answer is No, but BTS is.

[@MzBella875]

Global is more than the US

[@dubistdaslicht9314]

The 2 guys from Germany are 2 very famous singers. The one on the left is Peter Maffay and the other is Herbert Grönemeyer. They are also popular in Austria (the Country I am living in), Germany and Swiss. This guys have a very long career for decades and it made me smile when I saw their pictures and immediately knew who they are (knowing this guys for over 30 years) but I never consumed any of their music because I don't feel connected to them. I am an Army since the beginning of 2024 and I already have 2 shelves full of BTS and the members Albums. Fame is a funny thing. Not everyone who is popular makes his way into peoples hearts.

[@michellesantiago820]

Plus, don't forget BTS never ever have any free tickets handed out, except for the Busan concert. What I am pointing is that, BTS never handed down any free tickets to influencers to gain traction .

[@OnnaL]

2014 during American Hustle Life, V, Jungkook, and Jimin was given the task of handing out flyers for a 200 audience free concert where they showcased.

[@BluEyeBeauti]

​@@OnnaLthey said they never handed free tickets to influencers to gain traction. Not doing a free concert

[@babettesilva5980]

@@BluEyeBeauti it’s the same thing any way you spin it but who cares we love the music no matter who they are or what they do to fill the empty seats so let’s just praise their artistry

[@SpringPetrichor-et8sq]

​@@OnnaL and that's y at that time they were not global superstars. And that's y unlike many artistsbu see today, BTS's career is most organic. They are not giving free tickets when they are called Global Superstars, but they did that when they were no ones. The topic is are tge so called global superstars really global? 2014 BTS is not a part of discussion But post 2017 BTS is and post 2017 BTS didn't sell any tkt for free.

[@SpringPetrichor-et8sq]

​​@@OnnaL it was free concert, not free tkt, and that's y at that time they were not global superstars. And that's y unlike many artistsbu see today, BTS's career is most organic. They are not giving free tickets when they are called Global Superstars, but they did that when they were no ones. The topic is are tge so called global superstars really global? 2014 BTS is not a part of discussion But post 2017 BTS is and post 2017 BTS didn't sell any tkt for free .

[@ethelinthewild]

I absolutely love how you explained everything, specially when they (any artist) come to US and they are introduced as “global sensation”. The station they are appearing at most times don’t even know their names or what type music they play. The anchors are paid to to read a script and that’s that.

[@Ltor00]

I think the Grammys are also an old institution that people have held onto that is gatekeeped and everyone is still striving over that validation. Maybe BTS should hold a concert in LA on the nite of the Grammys?🥴

[@ЛюцияШакирова-ь8щ]

Отличная идея. Но не дадут это сделать.

[@donitapolk9413]

Oh my, that certainly would prove a point!

[@mickieb7417]

😂

[@Karen-ig4qu]

😂 Wouldn’t that be eye opening❤👏👏💜

[@jserv9421]

There's no way the powers that be in music would allow that to happen.

[@christinebaukus8281]

This was a very enlightening video, thanks!

[@angiee1603]

One day it would be nice to see ARMY praise BTS without trying to tear down other artists.

[@mimydiallo]

@@angiee1603 thank you. Some people are so delusional and litteraly saying Beyonce isn’t a global artist?? Ma’am please

[@leticiaq7576]

You know when someone is a huge star if they play their music on the radio. In the republic of Panamá 🇵🇦 the music of BTS is plaid on the radio.

[@eileencritchley4630]

Do people listen to radio in your part of the world. Its seems in many places to be dying out due to the ability to stream music wherever you are. I know people might use it for traffic up date's and weather forecast updates if when driving or if they want to hear the news reports and are driving.

[@angiee1603]

Radio in the US is not democratic. There is a lot of gatekeeping. In the past the DJs got to decide what to play, now they are told what to play so the only Kpop I've heard on the radio in the US is BTS. That said, radio is dying in the US. Most people are streaming their music on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music or Sirius satellite radio

[@eileencritchley4630]

@@angiee1603 I think the same is happening regarding people using radio in the UK it's something one might use when driving. I can't even remember the last time I listened to a radio station.

[@alipotter0613]

GLOBAL CONCERT TICKET SALES. If this was the metric for success very few would be in the running. I can only think of Coldplay, Taylor Swift and BTS. Not just US but GLOBAL. We have J Hope selling out Lolla Sunday,100k tickets+. The first time in history. We have Yoongi selling out his big (but limited) tour when we all know he could have sold out stadiums. He should have come here to UK Wembley, I GUARANTEE he would have sold out! There should be a new way to measure success but many in the industry want and need the old way, or they may be seen as redundant!💜

[@TheRita200]

Beyonce too

[@eileencritchley4630]

@@TheRita200 Is she able to sell out large Stadium concerts worldwide. Sorry but don't listen to her music so have no idea.

[@TheRita200]

@@eileencritchley4630 np, yes she is the first female artist to do so infact

[@khinwutyikyaw7224]

Twice and SVT if you talk about concert sales

[@eileencritchley4630]

@@khinwutyikyaw7224 have they managed Stadium concerts now if so well done to them.

[@Littlevisser]

Only BTS

[@Belbecat]

Oh, is this why I found on Reddit there's a crowd of people who believed whole heartedly that Christiano Ronaldo was more famous than Michael Jackson, because he's the most followed twitter account or something like that. They swore that no one they knew would know who Michael Jackson was and called MJ an American star that was not well known in the rest of the world, but were adamant no one in the world would not know a football player. I was confused beyond belief at how people could have that perspective.

[@Belbecat]

I say people, but now I'm relatively sure they must have all been children.

[@AlexaOleksa]

BTS collabs were never about getting more exposure in terms of numbers but to get to particular audience as a biproduct of the collab, just look how many hip hop heads turned in for jcole collab, it was one of the biggest gains of the local audiences during the chapter 2 also a way to break stereotype and get traction with not so accepting hip hop audience

[@alondranguyen6928]

I don't think BTS collabs were about targeting a particular target audience, either. Did it work that way? Yes, but I don't think that was their goal. I think BTS chose those artists because they respect their music, which is why the collabs were so well-received, not only by Armys but also by fans of the other artists. The collab songs fit nicely into BTS's discography, as well as the collab artists' discography, unlike songs that are clearly just for hype. I think by now BTS can reach out and collab with almost anyone, especially the artists they have named during interviews. But that hasn't happened simply because they don't have the right song yet.

[@mimydiallo]

Also, I would like to add that I am Senegalese living in the UK and my cousins in Senegal have never heard of BTS. They have heard of Beyoncé though. For me it’s undeniable that Beyoncé is a global artist even though people haven’t heard from her in Vietnam and same with BTS even though people I haven’t heard from them in some other parts of the world. that is just undeniable. I think that BTS are more likely to be known in Vietnam because it’s in Asia and Beyoncé was more likely to be known in Senegal because in West Africa they got a lot of TV channels broadcasting Afro American artists. But again that doesn’t take away the fact that BTS are juggernauts. It was an interesting video though

[@andreadawson72]

I am from Chile, and here you need to be really huge to be known down here. K-pop is known only by very young people, in a specific way, in the sense of who they are, the music etc, however, 30-year-olds and older, to be honest, do not know any k-pop music. THe only artist known if you say k-pop, its BTS, but they would not be able to pin point their music or the members, but they have heard of them, in some way or another, but really no other k-pop artist. However, there are a lot of many American artist that have no known in Chile, for example shawn mendez Kendrick Lamar or even the Weeknd, many don't know them here, at the most the music maybe be heard but not the artist. The saddest thing is that nowadays talent is not the priority, and you can be an amazing artist and not be so popular or a global success and there are so many bad "artist" that are known and even win awards, so its not even correlative, a real authentic artist, real singer, to global success.

[@Mefistosteles484]

I don't agree with the sales though. SEVENTEEN holds the record of the best selling album by a K-Pop group in South Korea history. They surpassed the best selling BTS'S album on South Korea. However, if we compare to charts and streams, those sales have no sense at all. I mean, BTS for that album where they sold 5M units have 11 freaking billion streams on Spotify. SEVENTEEN for that album with 7M units sold only have hundred of milions of streams on Spotify, i don't even think that they have surpasses 1 Bilion overall streams on Spotify yet. And let's not forget, they can't compete with BTS with tickets sales. This band can't sell out a stadium in the US as BTS can. So, where all this sales come from? Also, there's a lot of K-Pop groups that debut they albums at number 1 on Billboard 200 yet the songs of this albums are nowhere to be seen on Hot100. And we are talking about 200-300K, which are massive sales. Let's compare this situation with Jimin's. Jimin's Muse debuted at number 2 on Billboard 200 with 96K. His main single "Who" peaked at number 12 at Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for weeks. His second single algo entered the Hot 100. Who's streamed has more streams that all the combined songs streams of this K-Pop groups by itself. Clearly there's something wrong here.

[@mamorumobushi2217]

That's because of the photocards in their aIbum. They boost their sales , even tho the streams remain the same.

[@Imme_begin]

JK's album had multiple songs on in the top 5 of the Hot 100 and massive sales. Some songs are still charting on the 200, and his album has more streams than any of them. Just pointing out there are more comparisons from BTS than just Jimin.

[@erika-g4mer_yoongi207]

​@@Imme_beginIt was an example, calm down

[@eileencritchley4630]

Jimin debuted at number 1 on the Billboard hot 100 Charts they only then Korean solo artist to do that with 'Like Crazy' from his FACE album Jung kook was the second to do it with 'SEVEN' from his album Golden. Make's sense as Jimin's FACE album came out first. That means BTS and 2 solo BTS artist are the only South Korean artist's Group to debut at Number 1 on the USA Billboard Hot 100 chart. that's 8 songs altogether. Yes other kpop artist can get a 1 number album on the USA billboard 200 (albu) charts but where are the tracks from those albums on the Hot 100 board? and how long does the album remain within the top 100 albums on the 200 (albums board)? The Bangtan songs hang around for not just days but weeks and months.

[@Rory_Elder_28]

I remember last year when industry analyst showed that “charts” use the number of albums shipped by the label not the actual amount of physical albums sold to fans, which is retail sales and also counted, but in a separate chart. The closest comparison at the top was Jimin for FACE at 89%. He actually had more real sales than many other artists. For other solos and groups, the comparison dropped dramatically with many groups like SK, seventeen, TXT, and NJ having less than 50% - so all those millions of albums are sitting on shelves or on sites waiting to be sold or trashed. We’ve see albums in the garbage before. Now that’s fakery and not at all organic. I think charts should use retail sales. But until they do, we will still see high BB200 but no Hot 100. And lots of claims of global success with not much proof.

[@AlexaOleksa]

16:54 there are local stars specifically musical artists who are best selling in their country and considered generational legend, like Okean Elsy in my country Ukraine - 30yo band - legends, like third generation grows on them and their popularity never declined, every stadium concert is sold out in minutes, i would say they are the sound of our nation and they do successful tours even in US sire they are not in 40k stadiums like they do in Ukraine but still, but they are nowhere a international stars and actually not all local stars want to be international like that or have the need.

[@Ha-young_is_Just_Too_Fine]

Bang Si Hyuk said it once Kpop isn't Mainstream and Kpop is relying too much on BTS number's

[@marbakamki4850]

Kpop still needs some time to be globalized but its on the pathway to be global but will need time .

[@victoriavierrawong9687]

Global is only BTS

[@1968ajm]

You know BTS 😊

[@user28221]

I live in SEA. To me, I consider an artist is a Global one when news abt them appear in our free mainstream TV station and the headlines appear in the front page of our respectable mainstream media (digital or printed). Otherwise, gp wld not know them.

[@natashambulo3510]

Makes sense

[@markwall1548]

I really enjoy watching your channel and have nothing against you, but I want to share my opinion. Your take on the meaning of "global star" is interesting. Fans love categorizing music into countries like K-pop, J-pop, P-pop, and US Global Pop, but this can be misleading for some artists who have gained popularity in certain countries. My question is, how many countries must an artist be popular in to be considered global? I respect your perspective on what defines a global artist, but limiting it to those who can sell out arenas and albums is too restrictive. Many artists in the US can't sell out arenas anymore, not necessarily because fans don't want to see them, but because many fans can't afford to attend their concerts; just like me, streaming them on platforms like Spotify is sufficient for me because I enjoyed listening to them when I am driving or want to listen to music. I am a casual fan. Suppose we limit the definition of a global star to those who can sell out arenas and albums. In that case, we might end up with fewer than 100 global stars, which seems unfair to many artists, especially those who lack the support of large corporations. Regarding K-Pop breaking into the global scene, it's clear that BTS and Blackpink are considered global stars. However, if artists are recognized in Asia, Europe, Australia, the Americas, and Africa, they should also be classified as global artists even if they can't sell arenas.

[@1968ajm]

I am not surprised

[@CMAGCJ]

In Colombia and other countries in Latin America, young people hardly know who Beyoncé or BTS are. They know Bad Bunny and all Reggaeton artist as well as popular regional singers. KPop, especially BTS, is still a small niche that has a lot of potential.

[@stargazing2628]

Maybe in Colombia, but in Brazil, argentina and a few other countries, BTS are huge, especially Jimin has a large following in SA, especially Brazil, the amount of streams, sales he gets from these countries are insane, along with USA, Japan, UK and SK.

[@CMAGCJ]

@ yes, I know that in Mexico and Brazil they have a big BTS fandom, and in Argentina, Chile and Peru are growing. But they still aren’t in the top artist or songs in streaming. They still have the opportunity to grow so much more. The competition is really hard because, as I mentioned before, younger people in Latin America listen to Reggaeton and regional artists, like Karol G, Bad Bunny, Feid, J Balvin, Rauw Alejandro, Peso Pluma, etc. many of them are in the top 50 worldwide in Spotify. That’s why us, ARMY, have to work harder to conquer more fans. (Side note: Columbia: USA; Colombia: country in South America 😉).

[@namubiruhadijah2348]

Beyonce where

[@s.pe.7587]

15:59 I know these artists. They are very well known. I can sing along to songs by Herbert Grönemeyer, have a listen: "Männer", "Halt mich", "Bochum"! 😊

[@ndcoach29]

I never knew Mr. Beast was an actual person but used to order his burgers when they would available here, LOL!!

[@Emma.00.00]

Bts only

[@lsurshipros2720]

Seem like people only like reality show type entertainment. Maybe we should separate them into a different style category. Give the people who really invest in themself and have high level as a singer, dancer and actor skills the original platform like Grammy, etc. Then call the other ' Reality Stream' and give them another type of award. For me I don't care for this number counting to classify a group or person as great. Just the way I feel

[@Yairalynn]

Please don’t use AI art 🙏🏼

[@meemac4709]

Namjoon once said in an interview, "Thanks to our ARMY fans from all around the world. I mean, ARMY's real people, not AI's. No, no ARMY is AI. 👏"

[@lealarsen2017]

most kpop groups is only succesful in the "world of kpop", that have fandoms all over the world. but if you talk about global reach and success you need to think about who the gp actually head about outside the kpop spectrum and what songs they know. and that is only BTS. i have watched so many new people reactors of BTS because they think they want to react to kpop but the only group they know is BTS so everyone os starting there. some walk out again after dipping their toes in that world. others stay for BTS alone or others ventures and become kpop fans. for me i stay only for BTS no other groups has been giving me what BTS gave me. my daughter who dont like kpop was humming butter for months and when i told her who sings it she was chocked same for my college at work. many dont listen to the songs on tik tok or whatever many have blocked kpop content so when gp is actually using butter or dynamite for unrelated content people hear the song and love it. others use it in movies like netflix Bridgeton. i saw reaction to that show and people stopped at every song their hear and guess what song it was and everyone knew dynamite even if it was a very short play. that is how you know it´s popular putside the kpop world

[@angiee1603]

When you talk about streaming numbers you missed a major issue. There is a lot of questionable streaming in Kpop generally. Streaming culture in K-pop is based on using multiple devices and accounts to raise numbers. This IS NOT AUTHENTIC POPULARITY. K-pop also has fake streaming, but fans also use BS tactics to inflate streaming numbers. ARMYs are just as guilty of this as anyone else. Not all of BTS's streams are authentic. Also, you absolutely need to achieve a certain amount of success before you get to Cochella or Good Morning America. A morning or late night talk show is both a way to market yourself to a larger audience and a measure of current success. No nobody just off the street is getting a spot on GMA. Also, it is notable that when BTS achieved these milestones, getting on US talk shows and Hobi at Lollapalooza, that meant global success, but when others do it it doesn't mean anything.

[@XG_Ah-Wo0-wOo-WoO]

Did i hear 'global group'? XG (Xtraordinary Girls) is about to make a lot of noise on a global stage in 2025.

[@mimydiallo]

@@XG_Ah-Wo0-wOo-WoO 100% and new jeans have done that xxx CL is also extremely popular

[@tuulonyoutube2226]

I live in Mongolia. I've intentionally entered into k-pop fandom to know what my teenage kid is spending time on She used to keep photo of a boy band on her desk. I know that's not BTS. I started with BTS, it took 7 days total to memorize their names and faces, and have my own favorite one. Then I asked my kid about her band "Stray Kids" and started to know them, listen to their songs.... 4 years since, I myself became harder Stay than my kid. There was not a single day that I didn't listen to Stray Kids. BTS really paved the path. BTS is big, I respect them. But I love Stray Kids.

[@Littlevisser]

Nadie conoce a esos

[@nailju28]

What has this to do with the fact that there's only one big global group, which is BTS? I love SKZ as well, but facts are facts

[@Tomandjerry-u8q]

fact:- bts is global while kpop is not

[@angiee1603]

That is definitely not a fact. Stray Kids sold out their US tour, they performed on the BBMA, they got a song on the Deadpool and Wolverine OST, and had multiple albums in the Billboard 200 chart. Ateez also had multiple albums on the Billboard 200, 3 of the members threw the first pitch at a major league baseball game and had very successful US tour. Edit: Also Black Pink is hugely successful worldwide.

[@stargazing2628]

​​@@angiee1603They're still niche, popular among who are already into the kpop niche. They're not mainstream, not even BP. Worldwide, if we actually look at it, the locals don't know about Kpop, and some even associate every single Korean and at times even asian thing to BTS, because they're the only ones as if rn who are actually mainstream. The acts you mentioned, doesn't have an impressive performance on the global charts, sure they do have a couple big achivements, but a truly global, mainstream act like BTS, they do well with everything, on every chart.

[@Cat-Tiger-Taegi-Cult]

Scooter Braun discovered Justin Bieber from Justin's KZbin channel

[@jenniferhearn4117]

I would definitely put Straykids as known globally superstars they are on a world stadium tour at the moment and their American leg was sold out in hours and more shows had to be added plus they just broke the all time record for the most consecutive no 1 albums to debut on the Billboard 200 with 6 albums achieved in under 3 years They also in 2023 were second only to Taylor Swift in Album sales in the US and 3rd worldwide

[@Ha-young_is_Just_Too_Fine]

Not at all, they got where they are bcos of BTS, their has been a lot of Media Play, JYP as example putting SKz As Next BTS, Twice is but not SKZ, Kpop wouldn't be pushed by West if not for Bangtan

[@meemac4709]

With all due respect to SK, has YG able to put up a show for SK at Wembley, London? Wembley concert goers would hail from all over Europe as in the case of ARMY fans who went to BTS concerts at Wembley.

[@Ha-young_is_Just_Too_Fine]

You also forget many of those #1 Albums managed to suspiciously get #1 Album's without charting any song's which make's many of those invalid

[@cicibingham6217]

​@Ha-young_is_Just_Too_Fine They're valid in terms of numbers. They sell the most albums. That's how they chart as #1 on BB. It's based on the number of units sold. It has zero to do with "songs" charting. It's albums.

[@jenniferhearn4117]

I knew as soon as l posted this all the insecure little Army’s with their pathetic slogan BTS paved the way would come crawling out lol It’s like no other group is allowed to have any kind of success and heaven forbid if their fans want to enjoy the moment Well l love BTS but l don’t like you lot of small minded and of course lm generalising here because all fandoms including SKZ have toxic fans But one thing l have noticed is that for every article that comes out about SKZ there you all are like flies buzzing around with your negativity and l don’t understand why SKZ does not want to be the next BTS Straykids Stand On Their Own

[@michaelmcloughlin3733]

Blacpink and its members are popular around the world, even in China I think. You Tube subscription and views are enormous. If they reform they could set stadium records

[@Starlight-qo7kx]

Except they're not, they're actually not that big anywhere, not in SK, or the US. Their songs are tanking on the charts except a few occasional hit that they achieve by collaborating with a 100x artist, The weekend, Bruno Mars, Selena Gomez etc. Their views are thanks to the paid ads and personal blog category, their followers ratio never matches with their likes or comments, their streams, sales, chart position are mid everywhere.

[@ZareSamo-cn8pr]

Yes BLACKPINK 😎with no problem fhile stadiums in evry country in EUROP ...

[@michaelmcloughlin3733]

Blacpink are the biggest act on KZbin, far bigger than Bruno Mars or Selena Gomez or even Taylor Swift. No need of collabs. But not so big on Spotify, etc. They are more of a visual act

[@hanneke4810]

No because they all are copying what BTS is doing nobody is doing anything new it is annoying. They can go global because of that

[@EverRoxas]

Tone down the superiority complex. Not everyone is always copying BTS. Fans like you are what's annoying...

[@rosie-h1f]

​@@EverRoxasdon't lie that none is copying what bts does but they all are following what bts does step to step .

[@ZareSamo-cn8pr]

Global , sales end reach BLACKPINK 😎

[@Littlevisser]

Fantasmas

[@meemac4709]

JK's recent online appearance in weverse and youtube garnered 20.2M in barely 1hour, not to mention that it was unannounced. #Jin and #Jhope Xmas Online appearance in weverse broke KZbin when more than ARMY started to flock in thousands until it reached 10M in barely 10minutes. Have you heard of any global superstars to have reached views? BTS is undeniably the thing. In our midst, only BTS could stand at par with the likes of The Beatles, Elvis, MJ and Madonna (at least in her era). One indication of a global star is he must have at least performed at Wembley in London. BTS had a 2 nights full house concerts in Wembley twice already. And, BTS' latest 4-Day concerts in Las Vegas painted the entire City purple as early as two weeks before the show started because ARMY were already flocking around the City, waiting for BTS' appearance at Grammy's.

[@roseran431]

not MJ BTS are very known but not as much in parts of South America Africa MJ is the bar that no one has come close to imulating when it comes to popularity

[@meemac4709]

@roseran431 obviously, you did not get my point.

[@WINGRIOT]

No, realize its the directors, producers, published corps that push the arrow through the music market. FINAL 🩻

[@BluEyeBeauti]

Very true