why the music industry is terrified of bts

[@soop5414]

Middle-aged me never paid for music before. Spending $60 on a BTS album was my way of thanking them for hours of free therapy.

[@reginaholloway7083]

Me too and I'm 47

[@rlwise6]

Same. I'm 54. My best friends tell me they've never known me to be into any music as much as I'm into BTS music. Besides the few songs here and there, no other music catalog has touched me as much as BTS's catalog of music. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[@candicesmith-mackenzie6303]

Me too. 55

[@maryannbaxter73]

Same

[@norainid.2970]

Same. I'm 39

[@erume5776]

right now yoongi is on solo tour and I am so proud and amazed when I hear armys singing korean lyrics like NOTHING! we actually just love the music, we listen to it, we enjoy it

[@chaoticboredom6842]

Army should make a private telegram group chat or something and post all of our goals and achievements there at this point cuz I swear billboard be stalking our methods 😭

[@Jurnalist_]

They will have a spy. It’s best to do it in the open as well as it will hurt the group effort Edm the effort to support becomes too multi layered.

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

@@Jurnalist_ yup being honest, as stupid as it makes it, is best. Still the fact they kill it in spite of all this ya know

[@Yeonkimin_]

The fact that they’re making bundles count again for billboard

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

I like your screen name 🤭

[@Yeonkimin_]

@@weakanklesfornamjoon thank you and I’m alway weak for Namjoon lmaoo 🤭

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

@@Yeonkimin_ TY I love how you get me. I feel seen! 💜🤣

[@FujimineYukiko]

BTS needs to do bundle again for billboard to ban bundle again lol

[@tinarangel34]

​@@Yeonkimin_ Same 👀🐨🧎🏽‍♀️😌🤭🤭💜💜💜💜💜💜💜🇧🇷

[@rafaelsmith5737]

ARMY'S are generous as f, my sis was a new BTS fan and when her classmate found out, they gave her a legit ARMY bomb and even gave her 4 BTS photo cards for FREE!!!!

[@rafaelsmith5737]

New update: Now they gave her a legit BTS official album!!

[@erume5776]

I think the major point is not only that we know the money from sales will go to BTS, but more so that we know this kind of support is what allows them not to depend on industry and indulge into freedom of artistry and expression. we love their authentic music and we create an environment for them to make it without looking back

[@explore.express.love.3483]

You are absolutely right with the army culture....what the west fails to realise is this is hard earned money. And these albums are NO WHERE cheap. So if we are willing to buy it then we have a direct purpose to do so. Especially considering the vast majority of armys are middle class. I am not a big merch fan so i dont indulge in it. Even not bts. And am not sorry because i have a budget and i rather prioritise it on the albums i love owning. And how can that be less organic than someone shoving some artists music right down your throat thanks to their massive payola. There is more autonomy in my choice to indulge than majority of westenr artists tactics. Besides, armys are not blind in their handling of money and when they feel frustrated with pricing. An example is hybe's recent shift to dynamic pricing with concert tickets. As of now only in US, but they hinted to eventually make it a thing for other countries and all hybe artists. Dynamic pricing works with artists that have less demand, or are still growing so it makes sense for many of the 4th gen hybe groups. But for bts, where the demand if anything is far more than what bts can even provide, dynamic pricing becomes unaffordable based on your luck. And many faithful armys, who to date actively make bts content and celebrate every small or big success or event, openly discussed their dismay towards such pricing. And clearly that has nothing to do with the love for the group but an absolutely fair raise of concern. Thereby, if we are talking about autonomy, maturity of adulthood, the understanding of the value of ones own hardwork, and prioritizing with what is needed most, there cant be anything more organic than armys with comparison to the state the west is in. So the hypocricy is wild when they speak about manipulation. The only one manipulating here is billboard itself!

[@Litzth5406]

💜💜💜💜

[@eileencritchley4630]

Thankfully they can't do it in the UK due to our Consumer rights laws and as we'll be buying on line for the ticket we are also protected by the Distance Selling Regulations. So the price first seen is the price you pay at the end it can not be increased. Advertised at one price means it can only be reduced not increased when you get to the check out.

[@Dani.Torres]

BTS physical albums and merch still don't reach many ARMY in far corners of the world. I was chatting with ARMYs in Argentina, and they were telling me how they have never seen a BTS physical album in real life and that I was lucky to be able to buy them all in Japan. After 2 seconds of shock I realized, of course there's no company/label/music store chain distributing BTS albums in South America yet, I mean, they just got the Geffen distribution deal for North America only few years ago. So far, LATAM ARMY have to pay shipping fees that cost more than the album if they buy from the Weverse store. Shipping an album from Seoul to Buenos Aires is insanely expensive, still some people do it, very few, is my guess. So, what we did is that we bought a suitcase full of BTS albums in Korea and Japan, and someone brought them with them to South America for selling or giveaway to the ARMYs they know, so they can see the real thing with their own eyes. Little efforts like this are very common. I wonder when LATAM will get a distribution chain that cuts the prices of shipping and make those albums available there.

[@MarianaI306]

I’m from Colombia and this is a Fact, is so difficult, I only have 2 albums for that reason, is so expensive, one of the albums I have was an album I asked my mom to buy for me when she went to United States and the other album I could buy, was when they had a distribution deal with Universal for Proof, still it cost me a lot, it was so expensive. I wish I had all their albums, but for us, Latin army, is so difficult to buy one, although sometimes our countries fan bases help us so we can buy the albums

[@TooLittleInfo]

That is so cool that y'all did that. And yeah, even today I still see that on social media, people just doing giveaways to armys who can't get the albums, or doing fundraising for armys who can't afford them, so that it not only helps the charts but actually gets albums into the hands of armys who wouldn't be able to get them otherwise

[@TooLittleInfo]

@@MarianaI306 Do any of the Korean stores (not weverse) ship to LatAm at all? I'm in Malaysia and I bought albums from Kpop stores online and the shipping is much more reasonable than buying from weverse, and if i buy from stores that are registered with Hanteo it still counts for the charts

[@ZariDV]

I would say they're tracking by emails too but one ARMY had that realization, there was a mass push to change emails with each purchase. Which isn't difficult since many ARMYs have anywhere from 10-50 email addresses used for BTS related activities. So when this stuff keeps happening and the fandom is warned of changes in rules, we have to start wondering how things are now being tracked. They love to gaslight and tell us and we're doing XYZ wrong as if we aren't one of the most informed and up to date fandoms when it comes to anything related to helping BTS succeed. If a rule is changed, we know about it and we shift gears to suit. It's been a cat and mouse game from all different sides for over a decade. It's not our first or last rodeo and they keep acting like we're silly fans who just don't know how things work. The idea of such a big powerful industry being scared of BTS can seem silly on the surface. I think it doesn't really hit until you lived in the midst of the BTS take over. There was no doubt in anyone's minds who would sweep awards. No one even considered that anyone else stood a chance because no other fandom was riding as hard as ARMY was. It was exciting to watch and sort of overwhelming to see in real time. If BTS got 97% of votes or whatever was needed to win, every single other person up for consideration was holding a tiny 0.something% next to them. It truly got to the point where it was severely out of control and Western and Korean artists didn't stand a chance in some of these shows because they knew the moment BTS was a nominee, it was over. I think it got to a point where the BTS craze stopped being cute and started being a cause for concern. I would imagine that many execs would be hella pissed if they're playing in the circus, forking out cash, doing the song and dance yet their artists are getting streamrolled because there was no real fandom backing to fight against a global fandom superpower. You know things got insane when one musical act can gain approximately 800 awards in 10 years when the first couple of years, they were still fighting for their life in a home market as small as Korea's was. They were probably messing with these folks' money since they're paying for these #1s and getting dust in return.

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

And the rule makers fail to admit just exactly how Western corporate-backed artists get ALL their desserts. Hmmmm payola be fun 🤔

[@amberpearce710]

Just curious when did ARMY figure out to use multiple accounts? Just curious on the timeline

[@erume5776]

@AMBER PEARCE bb made a new rule that limits the amount of purchases by one email per week that count toward the bb hot 100 and bb 200 charts. it happened 12 January 2022. after that armys started to rotate emails

[@shotglassoftear]

We are still getting those #1 in bb soon enough. They can't stop us forever. They will try but we are gonna find new ways.

[@crystlk123]

We spent weeks testing-we know what they did. Buy in MAMA mode

[@KARMA_Camilla]

The one thing that REALLY pisses me off about the 6 spins that 'Life Goes On' got on the radio was that BTS had the number 1 song on the charts when LGO dropped. Dynamite was the #1 song on Hot100, had been for a while and was actually getting some attention on radio and yet radio stations absolutely refused to give LGO a chance. Had it been any other artist who dropped a new single while already being on top of the charts, radio would have been chomping at the bit to play the new single...but all 'Life Goes On' got was 6 fucking spins.

[@quatzxice]

Yeah, it's infuriatingly stupid.

[@erume5776]

we still have an inside joke "let's go for 6!" after fighting for each radio spin to happen lmao

[@mae__]

If they track email addresses we use different email adresses so that's why it has to be payment information that they collect to filter... and just filter 90% of sales there's just no explanation to the extent they go to! Deleting 100k sales (US) is just unheard of And Proof standard album (last BTS album) was $51... and the compact version $18... that's why she says if they really wanted to really boost sales as their 1st logic, these prices would be cheaper in the first place...

[@crystlk123]

We tested, its not payment. Buy in MAMA mode

[@AngelaSealana]

I definitely think she's being a bit idealistic by saying BTS' company doesn't have sales in mind when they make multiple versions. However, the fact that BE and several other albums were only 1 version (besides selling a cheap version and an expensive version) does support her point.

[@stunningchick2]

Our fandom thought of the email issue a while ago and already started purchasing music through different emails which was why we were so shook when Like Crazy dropped. The new theory like Boracity said in the video is that is doesn’t matter if you purchase BTS music through different emails as long as the billing address is the same the numbers get deleted. For example lets say an army buys music through 4 different emails as long as they have the same billing address the sales will get deleted. Like she said that’s illegal but its one of the few theories that seem plausible. We need to move our ass to discord bc I’m ready to start a riot

[@superwho9458]

Oh how I wish bts albums were $15.99, $19.99 for my sake. Being army means you like the music and you like who they are as people. I literally have at least one version of all of their albums since I joined the fandom (luckily because of bday presents/christmas presents). Even then, if I'm in target I always go to the music section to see if I can get a new era of music that I don't have yet. It feels so good to physically have their music and I've never felt that way about other artists. I only have a cd or two from artists I like before my bts days.

[@brelynn1236]

bora city coming through with another well done educational vid. It's insane some of the things the industry does.

[@wmk0945]

bangtan will always thrive. they are happy and fulfilled. they've stated multiple times that they consider concerts the most important part of a singers' job and as we've seen from how much money they were able to make from their 11 sold out shows last year, i think they are and will be doing fine. im proud of them and i will always be here to support any shape or form. thank you for a great reaction and all the input

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

literally I wish this part of the convo would go away bc my fave music for decades was always middling on the charts. dgaf. But I respect Bangtan’s goals and support charting when it matters to them. When we fckg sit together BTS+ARMY like family and sing, laugh and play with no concern to this industry noise is the day I can die happy and fulfilled. 💜

[@wmk0945]

@@weakanklesfornamjoon literally. I have not been able to go to any bangtan concert but even just watching clips online, I've never been this happy. I felt it a lot with yoongi on tour and staying up late to watch livestreams and vibe with the crowd even from home. I burst into tears when yet to come in busan ended when I watched it at the cinema with other armys. it was a surreal experience. I love this community sm 💜

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

@@wmk0945 oh lawd I HEAR YOU my army chingu!! 💜 💜💜 TY for saying. I was lucky enough to be at D3 Vegas but it cost. I do not have free spend for Agust D even though I planned. I get JOY out of livestreams so f all the other noise. We armys understand each other. Everyone else do not.

[@seec4856]

I definitely bought the albums not because I wanted to own them. I bought them to make sure BTS gets the revenue, and to compensate the lack of, or zero radio play and unfair filtering on streaming platforms .

[@lennyanyn]

they act like buying bts' music is easy and cheap, like NO MF I live in brazil the shipping price and dollar conversion here is INSANE, in my experience, if armys are buying multiple albums they usually give them away to armys who cant afford to buy it themselves (like me for example).

[@lennyanyn]

oh wait you talked about it in the video i hadn't seen that part yet

[@mamejoe2043]

You are right

[@ann-archist7172]

😂😂😂 15.99 for an album? I wish! Proof standard was $100 in Canada. The compact version was $45. All the solo albums have been $30.

[@soop5414]

Yup, I've never owned an album before BTS. Now I willingly pay for pricey albums - my way of thanking them for hours of free therapy. 💜🇨🇦 I spent $60 on BE just because Suga's painting was in it!

[@cnot4948]

This 👆 If the albums cost the numbers he was quoting I would easily own 3 of everything by now. One to open, one for display, and one to gift.

[@giakulasa]

​@@cnot4948 ijbol cos I feel called out 🤣🤣 sometimes I do buy multiple copies of album or merch - for using, for display and for selling/ gifting

[@butterflysuki7772]

Compact version of proof was only $19.99 for me. That's about the NORM for their albums unless it's like, BE or PROOF Standard or Skool Luv Affair SE. All the LY Series were 19.99. MOTS 7 was more but the albums were huge! haha

[@diatima]

They usually have a cheaper "standard" version for albums, and then pricier ones where you get more perks... I always buy the cheaper ones 🤣 proof was 15£ for me, and MOTS7 I think was 18£... OhRUL82 was just 10£ Lol maybe it's a bit more expensive on weverse, not sure. They don't ship to the UK so I buy from resellers 🙄

[@BoraBlooded]

You're not wrong about ARMY trying to spread BTS' music. In the past, I've given music to friends and other ARMY who couldn't afford it. And currently, I'm not in a great financial situation- so some of the albums I've gotten have actually been from other ARMY. My copies of D-Day and The Astronaut were both because very kind ARMYs gave them to me. It was as easy as "You're going without and I have an extra copy, let me send it to you." And it's absolutely beautiful. It just inspires you to try and do extra when you can, because you know you can help out. ARMYs have giveaways and even go an hand out albums at concerts just as gifts to one another. We got this big because we wanted to spread BTS' music. There's a lot of us who have been really impacted by the messages in BTS' music and just who they are as people, we've always wanted to share that. Being fans of BTS and being a part of ARMY, depending on your level of involvement, can be a really enlightening experience. You can learn about the music industry, video production, different cultures all over the world, wordplay through different languages, psychology, mythology, nature... like the list goes on for MILES. But even if it's /just/ the lyrics who take to heart, you can really grow as a person. And I think that's why most of us are here and do this. It can change someone's life or just make their day a little better- it's worth it and it's worth supporting the artists who help it happen.

[@annedolan2493]

You’re definitely right about merch. I can’t afford to go out and buy albums all the time, but I do own one “Map of the Soul: 7” album and one “Love Yourself: Answer” album, as well as a t-shirt I got in Newark at BTS’ Speak Yourself tour. I feel like most ARMYs own at least one piece of merch. Heck, I think I also have a Mang keychain I got from a local bookstore that had a little BT21 stand and I remember buying a J-14 magazine when they were featured just because at the time I didn’t own an album and wanted the poster (that was somewhere around 5 years ago). Now if only my local target would restock “D-Day” albums I would also get one of them, cause I rlly wanna play it in the car without bringing my portable speaker (my car has no Bluetooth or aux).

[@e.l.1342]

Oh no the situation with US radio is the biggest example of payola and industry tactics I have seen in my life. Every most requested poll has the BTS (solo or group) song at 90+% but they rarely play it. I personally gave up on them a few years back because they did everything possible to break through with very little in return.

[@e.l.1342]

@@graceb.334 exactly and it doesn’t matter who you put them up against either.

[@maryannbaxter73]

In the end records are sold, music is heard and ARMY keeps growing. I wish there could be another platform to stream music

[@crushedflora2696]

I think you're right on the initial reason Army buys multiple albums, to get the music in hands. There were Army organizations where you could send your extra albums for less unfortunate fans. I'd never heard of anything like it before or since

[@thv6013]

armys use different emails to buy. we perfected this after the rule change in 2022 and charted better with every other release since then till like crazy to reach #1. we contacted new buyers this time from facebook in huge numbers and donated money to those new buyers. but- anyways

[@CL-cn8wt]

Yes! We've always followed the Billboard rules. Before you could buy 4 tracks per email address and after Butter was #1 for weeks they changed it to one song per email, so army adjusted. We created more emails. Once Jimin went #1, they changed it again but haven't announce what they filtered.

[@crystlk123]

Buy in MAMA mode

[@hurtbutnotafraid6885]

I loved your commentary as usual, I am from Atlanta Ga , I’m a mom of a teen Army. We both have every album, I bought hers when she was younger now she buys her own. My husband and family members have bought mine. I have bought 15 albums to give away to reactors, and to folks coming to movies premieres. I will always happily support our guys. No shame to be found! OT7 everyday all day!💜💜💜

[@Ana-id6uk]

Absolutely, I agree about your take on why we buy the music and how we share it. Another aspect to it is that we get so much content for free. Soundcould music, free mixtapes (RM literally shared a google disc link when mono dropped like), variety content like Run bts has like over 150 episodes, they vlog regularly. It feels like you get so much, that you want to give back. And you dont want to give money to the industry, thats why bts gets to use direct platforms - weverse/vlive for videos, recently music too, we buy merch and music from their official shop, etc. Even when they release content like documentaries or travel series behind a paywall, it gets shared for free among fans. We CAN watch it for free, but many decide to pay for it (and then we share with those who cant pay)

[@TooLittleInfo]

I 100% agree that armys mass buying is a flex and is nothing to be ashamed of. As if any other artist wouldn't KILL to have a fandom that actually spends their hard earned money and buys multiple copies of their albums. They talk shit about army bc they know their artist doesn't have that kind of power.

[@blupand4]

Yep. I have almost every BTS album, digitally AND CDs. It’s my way of supporting them plus some other merchandises 😂

[@monsoleiloff]

these kpop groups making 13 versions to make the fans bought bc of photocards are the ones that throw thousands of albums on the street, they bought just for the pc and thats it, while the company gets what they want: top bb 200 and ifpi

[@Litzth5406]

Cierto es común en Corea encontrar discos de K-pop tirados en la basura , si no mal recuerdo algo relacionado al K-pop fue prohibido en china por que pasaba mucho esto y era mucho desperdicio que había

[@AngelaSealana]

This essay's ending assumes BTS will not be playing the industry's games in the future. The way HYBE is playing these days, I can't be so sure.

[@Litzth5406]

Yo pienso lo mismo, confío en bts pero en HYBE no , HYBE se volvió tan grande que ya no están en la empresa muchas de las personas que guiaban a bts la forma en la que actúa actualmente deja claro que no es big hit que conocíamos

[@giakulasa]

Sadly, you might not entirely be far off the mark 😞

[@pinkdove8377]

I have never in my life bought merchandise or an album from an artist i like. Once I got into BTS best believe im buying albums and merchandise.

[@Ana-id6uk]

Hell yeah, I have a physical album. I have two, but I only started working a stable job this year. Im getting myself another for my next bday or something. Or Im getting that bts book that is being rumoured for June.

[@AlexaOleksa]

35:55 you are absolutely correct, we buy cause we support boys. How many artists who are ob top of charts built multibillion dollar company?

[@maycisne]

Not only do we collectively buy a new release, we buy BTS's back catalogue! That's even crazier! 😅 Their music is worth buying from beginning to end.

[@giakulasa]

💯💯 every new ARMY be scouring Facebook sales for their back catalogue - and not just of their albums, but also concert DVDs, Blurays, summer/winter packages, memories etc. all the way back to 2013. That's how you know it's love

[@rosiem3760]

I'm guilty of this! 🤭When I became an ARMY early 2020, I started collecting BTS albums and even their DVDs and Bluray (concerts, winter/summer package, memories). Been an active buyer of BTS merchandise ever since (even rare Merch from debut year) and never regret spending my money.

[@saaripolku]

That is so true. As a fairly new army I recently bought Skool Luv Affair and O!RUL8,2? 😀 And had to pay the ridiculous shipping fees of the Weverse shop. I'm glad that there are a couple of local music shops that I can usually buy their CDs from, but not always the older ones - and even then you can see the shipping costs kinda added to the price. Maybe it is because I'm older, but I always buy CDs of the bands and performers I like. I got used to buying music before any streaming platforms existed. (Vinyl and cassettes, anyone?) And since I also listen to quite a lot of metal, I've noticed that the metal crowd at least here in Finland still buys CDs. (Just my observation, I haven't looked up any actual stats.) So buying CDs is the normal thing to do for me. Streaming platforms can come and go, but if I buy a CD I still have access to the music I like. And yes, of course I use Spotify, because it's easy, but I want those physical copies too.

[@Dani.Torres]

@@saaripolku I’m a metal vinyls buyer myself. I just started buying CDs with BTS. I really wish BTS releases more vinyls in the future. I bought Jack in the Box and Indigo Vinyls as soon as they were available. Greetings from Tokyo.

[@saaripolku]

@@Dani.Torres In general I buy CDs these days, but I just had to buy the Jack in the Box LP in addition to the digital album. I need my physical copies, dammit. 😀

[@erume5776]

okay hear me out, we are not dismissing that bts offering 2-4 album versions is a way to raise sale numbers and profit. the things is though, it always comes with benefits. bts albums are highly conceptual, so the filling is different from version to version in a way that reveals the concept from different perspectives, and it's disclosed what kind of aesthetic you will get inside the album before buying it, so you can choose if you need. often for buying a set you will be given extras. which is, yes, an encouragement to buy more than 1, but it's a deal where both sides are getting benefits so yes ofc bts use steroids but they never half ass it, they give it artistic spin and they make sure the purchase is worthwhile :)

[@dawn9752]

I’m 50 and bought their albums. It’s my way of saying thank you for their hard work and I really appreciate how they make me laugh and forget the troubles of the world for just a little bit.

[@leticiam6727]

39:32 These are Army Bombs :) Bts´s official lightstick.

[@TiaIela]

Being an Army is tough😮‍💨.. on top of all this, we now have to fight hybe. I trust Tannies, but hybe is now doing exactly what bts would never want to happen to us. We already have a lot of work to do without having to fight #NoDynamicPricing. Hybe puts us in an unpleasant situation where we have to choose a) just pay more even though it's annoying b) refuse to support Hybe and at the same time make BTS vulnerable because other fandoms get to call them "flops" when we don't buy albums and concert tickets

[@ashneetk4901]

Funny thing is that they do all do this openly ,cuz when they abruptly deleted more than 60% of jimin sales without any prior notice ,weeks later they announced bundling rule again and two days later someone who we know as artist with most bundle tactics announced their comback and everyone was not even surprised 🤣Suga -haegum song had enough streams and sales to enter the top 10 on billboard global200 but they somehow made his song debut out of top 10 when his streams and sales were more than the artist at No.10. Spotify and KZbin everytime fucks with us to the point they always have more likes on the mv than the views which doesn’t even makes sense . How other artist especially K-pop groups have more than 70M views with less than 1M likes but bts gets less than 500k views with 1M likes 🤣 they even filter out views after months and months but surprisingly doesn’t happen with other artists especially K-pop groups ,it’s quite funny and annoying at the same time .but bts sill stay winning ,in 2022 bts earned more than $118M only from 7 concert shows ,while other artist did the same numbers with more than 50shows .

[@SnapCracklyPop]

6:13 We know this, Army knows about emails for awhile, but new info leaked that they’re looking at IP now - this was during Jimin’s 2nd week of streaming. How despicable.

[@erume5776]

we were aware of bb rule that only limited number of same purchases by the same email are counted towards the chart per week. armys know this and armys have a lot of emails the thing is, in bb rules it's stated that the record of purchases is reset every week. so if you buy 7 albums by X email on the 1st week, it's going to be filtered and count as 1 (or 0 I don't remember), but next week you can buy again with X email so there are two scenarios: 1. BB altered this rule and made it "1 purchase per email per LIFE TIME" instead of "1 purchase per email per week". but ofc they haven't disclosed anything so we can only guess and use trial and error method, again 2. they are tracing payment data

[@mickieb7417]

You are correct, ARMYs will continue to purchase albums and support the guys. I purchase two albums many times, one to use and one as a collector's item. Waistful, perhaps, but I also feel BTS is a once in a lifetime group. As far as sharing the music, absolutely I do. Some purchase for others to receive, but I am far too cheap to do that. My way is to bother my officemates by making them listen to at least one BTS song each work morning followed by some other artist daily. We are hitting Mamamoo+ this week (subunit of Mamamoo that is comprised of Solar and Moonbyul). It is so much fun to see others discover the music. Thanks for checking this song out.

[@nen3040]

I've always been an indifferent fan. Even if I really like an artist, whether it's music, movies/tv or art - I've never been the type to buy tapes/cds/dvds/vinyls or digital copie. I don't buy or collect their merch. I don't follow their socials. As a holdover from my poorer days, I still sometimes stream movies illegally just because I can. Why pay if the internet has it for free? BTS is the ONLY artist that has gotten me to blindly open my wallet and part ways with my hard-earned money. I feel COMPELLED to buy all versions of their albums, I NEED to buy all their exclusive content even though there is so much free content I've yet to consume. I would gladly drop thousands of dollars on concert tickets, plane tickets accommodations & merch if I could. The only thing stopping me is I have yet to succeed in getting tickets to a live concert of theirs. Their last online concert I paid for all dates even though I knew I had work during some of them and wouldn't be able to watch. And I don't feel bad about any of it. I don't feel like I'm wasting my money at all. BTS works so hard and give so much of themselves to ARMY. Their honesty and vulnerability in their music and in their constant communications with ARMY have truly changed my life for the better. How can I not want to give back to them? I'm often too busy with work to keep up with streaming and charting goals, so I support them by buying. And they deserve every single cent I've given them. I'm fully aware that a lot of it goes into the massive corporate entity that supports them. But they need that support system so that they can keep on making amazing music and content. And I don't ever want them to stop.

[@Dani.Torres]

I was and now I’m exactly the same as you! I only got Disney+ after they announced the documentaries. And then I bought the documentaries on Weverse too. Am I going to watch them at the cinema? Of course, why wouldn’t I? And no, I’m not rich, I’m middle class, but it’s worthy. What I received from them is immeasurable, money is so cheap in comparison.

[@TheErosinda]

I got 3 albums at the suga concert, FACE, D-day and BE lmao. ARMY was literally skipping down the line, handing out free albums.

[@rosiem3760]

Radio spins have always been an issue. In the past, US ARMY have been passionate in requesting BTS songs in radio and even gave gifts to radio DJs. However, radio stations constantly ignore ARMY requests. This is why US ARMY have studied BB chart rules, shifted the focus on sales. They are very aware about BB chart rules, such as the maximum number of purchases (songs or albums) allowed for each email account. Was a HUGE surprise on why Jimin's album sales was filtered to 90%, about 100k sales were not counted by BB, even when we followed the chart rules. 😞Regarding the multiple album versions, it is quite common in K-pop. ARMY usually buy several versions of BTS' album for collection and for gifting to other ARMYs who can't afford it. However, BTS is always heavily criticized when it comes to having multiple album versions or song remixes when other artists (even Western artists) do the same thing. Buying and streaming songs or albums is our way to support BTS. ARMY and BTS have fought with a corrupt music industry for YEARS. No matter what, ARMY will do our best to help BTS succeed.

[@JJordan19821]

Never in my life have I ever bought an album for an artist. But I purchased Indigo Face and D3 just to support them knowing fully well (due to research) that this is ARMY s best way (for who have the means to do so) to support them. I spend my hard earned 20 USD plus weverse shipping. If I decide to buy for my friends like why shouldn't it count? Billboard acts like ppl are doing illegal shit like funding a terrorist group. Like come on

[@DaughterOfFiji]

Before bts blew up... army would be giving out albums in public and pasting qr codes/poster for ppl to listen to bts.

[@mamejoe2043]

I know right

[@rohanamohd8379]

BTS may hv different version, max 4 BUT they do not sell it with t-shirt, sock or anything just to get the numbers.

[@e.l.1342]

Direct support is absolutely a part of it yes, but also the albums are beautiful works of art with interesting concepts. If you don’t have one, you should get one just to see what they are doing. You will get it. I recommend Map of the Soul 7 or Love Yourself Tear. I love that people don’t just horde extra albums or resell them, they give them away all the time to those who can not afford it. But yeah, the music industry has definitely riled ARMY up.

[@Dani.Torres]

Those two albums are the best recommendations.

[@LizzyRants]

41:45 I have a physical album of every album they have released even though I joined the fandom only 5 years ago. Map Of The Soul 7 is my favorite album and I bought 10 physical albums for all of my family members. I will do that for their next album as well. I can’t wait for my biases JK and V to release their albums because I will buy at least 30 albums each to give to people. I’ve already set up 30 different email accounts for this purpose…🖕 you billboard.

[@crystlk123]

Buy in MAMA mode

[@ddddmegadddd]

I wish bts albums were $19.99 😭 the cheapest album i got was like $30 and some of their deluxe and even standard albums go up to $60-$100. They rlly put a lot of effort and design into the physical albums themselves and i assume that they pay manufacturers a good amount of that money for that bc usually their albums have more than just a cd in there but a photo/lyrics book, exclusive photocards, posters, ect.

[@ddddmegadddd]

Yea the 6 spins for life goes on was super disheartening but at least it gave birth to one of the funniest armytwt memes. At that time we only had 5 spins on us radio and a random army acc quoted that achievement with a gif of drake celebrating at an nba game with the caption LET'S GO FOR 6. You just had to be there 😭😭

[@MsSaby97]

19:40 oooo i remember everyone on twitter going: LETS GO FOR 7 SPINS hahaha it is still an ARMY meme hahah

[@monimuppet6132]

I own at least one physical version of every BTS album. Didn't become a fan until 2018 so I bought all their past albums. Buying physicals is definitely not the norm for me. BTS really got me out here actin different. 😅

[@NathiM03]

I’m South African and it would make sense for us to send our money to 1 person in order to buy bulk, which often works out cheaper and then give it to us because of importing taxes and costs. I think the American Music Market needs to understand that because they don’t often regards the Eastern world especially Africa, Australia and South America so we have to make ways in order to consume entertainment even if it’s not the traditional manner. We don’t have the Walmarts or the Targets where you can buy physical copies so we make do with what we can.

[@rauhinawinitana540]

I really appreciate your feedback, especially about the music industry. I'm starting to think I'm not really ARMY now, and there's no way I would do a deep dive and research the 'Whys' about BTS continuous hardships. The only thing that I can add to ARMY, is that I watch, AND listen to BTS everyday. ARMY members that go over and beyond, astound me, and I hold them in high regard because of their love for those seven talented young men from South Korea. ARMY! You all rock!!!

[@onenottwoorthree]

We all ARMY in our own ways. :) You'll know in your heart if you're one, and not necessarily by comparing yourself with what you see other people do. 💜

[@Jurnalist_]

love and support for all 7 and enjoying the music is all thats required to be army from what ive learned. you are just as much army as someone who does a deep dive. there's no barrier to entry to army besides support all 7 from what ive learned.

[@erume5776]

"I'm on the road paving that bitch" 🤣🤣🤣

[@psychokitty71]

BTS albums are not $20, they're $60 each, often more, although the solo albums are about $25. And yet, they will still sell out the albums on their Weverse shop. The albums include photo cards, photo books, posters, and stickers in addition to the actual physical albums, which, to us, justifies the price. Also, there is usually some special event like a fan meet or, nowadays, a zoom call from one of the guys. Your name is entered into a raffle, one entry for each album purchase. BTS's label is a business and like all businesses, they want to make money. Because of that, they use marketing strategies, but the strategies they use are ones that ARMY willingly buys into. It is a K-pop thing for a group to have "light sticks", those lights you see in the crowd at a concert. Those are also about $60, but a LOT of non-Korean ARMYs have them, including myself. We collect their merch and I've lost count of the number of people who have a bookshelf or wall full of BTS albums and merch. When J-Hope's solo album came out, it was originally only going to be available digitally but ARMYs were very unhappy about that. We actually want the physical copies and literally told Hybe that and they ended up releasing a couple of versions of a physical album. You're right about us sharing the music. That's because most BTS music has a message or theme and their music helps a hell of a lot of us when we're going through something and genuinely need support. Their music often gives us that support, so, yeah, we want to share it with people. BTS' music has literally saved lives, giving people the strength to keep going when things are tough. At the beginning of 2021, I was extremely sick and had a fall. I was so tired of being sick, I didn't want to make the effort to get myself up. A BTS song helped me to find that strength and get myself to the hospital, where I was admitted for critically high blood pressure. I came way too close to have a heart attack and did have a series of mini strokes. We love the guys, their messages and their music. I don't have the money to buy albums for other people, but I have loaned my physical albums to people and have shared music videos with my friends. Why wouldn't we want to share music that has had such a major impact on our lives?

[@anitaherbert1037]

We are renovating so are short of money .... but I had to have INDIGO as a cd because I firmly believe its a future cult classic so I needed it for my curated collection. I just needed it in a physical form. I will buy the other physical solo cds later

[@Jurnalist_]

Blessings to your reno firstly. Secondly just allot the price you paid for your indigo physical to your partner and say buy what ever you want. That way it’s fair and we stay equal or both happy to have something we wanted at that price point. 😂😂

[@anitaherbert1037]

@@Jurnalist_ did that. However he virtue signaled. Refused and offered it for my Christmas present. All presents had been agreed as materials for Reno..... I think I was meant to decline. For once I did not.

[@HAzana27]

They really want BTS to disband but it's a shame there are so many ARMYs around the world😂

[@jessicapierce3027]

Look at BTS' top songs in US, Dynamite and Butter. These are the only 2 songs that Columbia records openly promoted for BTS, probably because they were the only ones in English. But they really rolled out tour busses to schmooze with the big radio stations, and the CEO of Columbia co-wrote Butter, so he had heavy pockets because of that song. So yes, the only songs by BTS that were backed by the industry are the ones that gave them their biggest successes in the West, even though they aren't even close to their best songs. It's unreal.

[@mishka0613]

First physical album I've ever bought was a BTS album. And it's not even available in my country. I had to pay additional intl shipping to get it. Same with every BTS album I've bought ever since then.

[@miaumiau3194]

the way despacito exploted with justin bieber was so funny for latinx ppl, like it was a cute popetón song we danced during the summer and then completely forgot about because it sounds like all other pop reggeaton, and suddenly it became a massive thing in the us

[@joy518]

the music industry is having a fit'' right now due to suga. his album ''d day sold over 1 million physical albums on the day of release...in 24 hours. his concert tour in asia sold out in 5 days and all 10 of his u.s. concerts combined sold out in 1 day. suga and company will get the money and no entertainment co. will profit off of him. suga said, the same production team that bts used for their busan concert in korea is the same production team who designed his concert, fyi if you have a chance look on you tube at some clips, the stage production and lighting is amazing. armies just has to stay active and keep fighting against the industry. by keeping bts and the members on the top and having them break world records constantly, hopefully the powers that be will get tired or will really be outed' and exposed for their games. in reality what we see happening to bts is not new, it has happened before when black music artists struggled to get heard on radio, win awards and be respected by the music industry. today, bts has a fan base that is greater in numbers than michael jackson and the beatles together and the fans are watching the unfairness. american artist like justin bieber or taylor swift even beyonce are not on the same fandom, concert, production or merch level as bts. i am not trying to diss' anyone but bts is 7 young men who are extremely musically talented artists, to not only sing and dance but to also write, compose and produce their own music is a very rare thing. yes, the industry is fearful, the individual bts members have totally owned this year with constant back to back albums, collaboration songs, performances and concerts. the independence'' is also a factor, bts is completely ''in house'' with their own label 'big hit and multimedia corporation 'hybe which takes care of business and everything else that a artists needs to succeed in this 'crazy world of music .💜

[@kara-karina8530]

I love how we saw media clips from multiple Chicago media stations talking about how BTS fans are camping in a queue for Suga's concert. I find it so funny how surprised they are every time !😂🔥💜

[@vartite]

Not only do we buy CDs, many of us do it despite having no CD player! 😂

[@FujimineYukiko]

I just wanna inform that after this video uploaded, blink, the fans of blackpink doxxing bora and bully her on twitter for speaking fact, i h4te them so much for this

[@Bellmomongan]

Artista making music for Industry or to get listenrrs will love their song then become fan... So.. Singer will be happy if listener buy their music.. But Industty want that singer organic success because of their marketing strategics which the singer pay for it...

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

ARMYs ‘on the street’ handing out BTS albums! 🤣 why does that make me laugh even when it’s true and awesome

[@doraaaa0613]

it is more of a culture of ownership, but id say it’s more like a collectible. and because they’re so well designed and come with extra stuff it feels nice to be able to own an album. and yes, a lot of mass buying is to boost sales but also to simultaneously distribute the albums to people who can’t otherwise afford it. if you went to an agust d concert chances are you might find at least one person who has a big bag full of jimin’s ep or yoongi’s album that they’re giving away to people for free. it’s a really interesting phenomenon in army culture. and this happens with other merch too, ive seen a good amount of tweets over the years of armys at concert venues going ‘find me, i have copies of so and so album that im handing out to people!’ or they’re giving out photo cards and other merch. i dont know if this happens in other fandoms or not

[@artist-scopes8357]

I've never bought an album either until bts. Totally shipped. First time to ship anything in my life. Heck. I'm learning things because of them.

[@philomenebour780]

I saw a tweet from France army asking Armies who couldn’t get Jimin Album “Face” doe to money issues to contact them in oder to send them. I guess they mass buying it and send it to does who couldn’t afford for free and it’s not the first time they have done it

[@giakulasa]

Same! I saw someone on twitter who bought 4 Face albums on Target everyday (Max. 4 daily to count in sales charts) and literally they had 2 shopping carts worth and asked Army to send in their addresses

[@ann-archist7172]

We use multiple emails yet they still got filtered

[@95mangafan]

I think they begun to not count every time people were buying multiple songs in an unique transactions. For example like crazy and people pt 2 together. At one point on the BTS store there was a change and now it's possible to buy only one song per transaction and this is what gave the idea that this was the problem. From what I understand from the more informed twitter accounts it's okay to buy with one email all the songs one time but with different transactions, before changing email. In the end it's all up in the air, what works and what not and when they change things.

[@kara-karina8530]

Last time I spent money on music was many years ago before streaming platforms. Now I spend money on BTS online concerts despite being able to watch them for free anyway to show my thanks. If I could push my husband to listen to BTS I would buy BTS physical albums too as the only place I can play them is in our car. No one has CD players anymore in their devices. 😂😂😂💜💜💜

[@eileencritchley4630]

I tend to break things or scratch them so I do sometime's end up buying an album twice. When I bought records and tapes I used to use the original to record a new tape or CD then safetly store the original because I knew at some point I'd have burn another CD copy as I'd break or scratch the one I'd burn previously. All my records, original tapes and CD's are even to day as new.

[@jessicapierce3027]

Strarting last year Ive been making it an effort to use any extra cash I have to purchase BTD physical albums. The only one I wasnt able to purchase is Jack in the Box, but the rest are all at local retailers. But I'm not buying multiple versions of the same album, because I agree with you, no matter how you twist it it's steroids.

[@purple428]

im 24 and the only albums i’ve ever bought is from bts lmaoo

[@weakanklesfornamjoon]

Aw you’re cute.😆🫶💜 you should see my cassette tape collection LOL

[@andreannmichot3095]

While its not exactly a bundle, the photo card "lottery" is an extra incentive to buy multiple albums for some. The first album of there's that I HAD to buy twice was "Dark & Wild" (I managed to break the first CD because it had been so long since I had bought a physical CD that I forgot how to remove it from the case.) That's when I found out about the different photo cards for each album, not just different versions. But I wont buy more than one unless its different versions and only if I have the money to do so. J-Hope's solo album was only available in the digital version for a while, physical purchase but the music was only available through their app, so I couldn't download it to listen to it in my car, that's why I bought the vinyl album when it became available.

[@eva.nvrmnd]

Thanks for watching this! I really loved how boracity put this one together. XCeleste will give you more of a timeline and details and her focus was different so it’s worth watching on top of this for sure.

[@candicesmith-mackenzie6303]

I recently got rid of all my physical CD's except for some favorites. I kept every single BTS album. I consider it a collection. I may not have every version but I do have a copy of every album. Alicia Keys sang Life Goes On in the middle of a perfomance, but only 6 radio plays because it's only half in English. Beyonce says she listens to My Time repeatedly but not one radio play. 🤯 I have watched so many KZbinrs get huge boosts in viewers because of ARMY and they say we are bots. You know. It's crazy. Once again love your insights. And to try and explain what it is like to have the energy of an audience come at you and to be able to accept it and return it, is the reason we do it. I still don't have the words to describe it, it's a feeling. 😘💜💜💜💜💜💜💜🫰🏻 BTS shares like no others.

[@carolinesch.]

Remember when Proof came out and all the songs from cd3 where cd only. My entire twotter timeline was disscussing which cd player to buy amd almost all of then have multiple albums already at home😂 And then there is me with a car old enough to not have bluetooth but a really nice cd player. Listening to dday on full volume on the car, 10/10 would recommend

[@derrikaclements4331]

Army buying albums is true. I had not gotten a album since tlc and destiny’s child last albums came out until I became a bts army last year and now I have every solo release since proof lol it doesn’t feel like a release until I have it in my hands

[@zbeamu1020]

i save money all year round just to buy bts albums i have been doing this for seven years. I call it bts money. I use that money to buy albums for their comeback and solo releases. Yes physical albums. And over the years together me and a fellow army have been able to send 10 albums from different comebacks to fellow army around the world that can't afford it. Sending albums to other army after shipping cost is so expensive. So expensive we can only do it every now and then but we do it so more army have a chance to own one. I don't make a lot of money but i do what i can and I make sure bts always gets the financial support from me. There are so many army out there who do the same thing. Plus i have been to two of bts concerts in new jersey and new york. we army step up and support the boys. we are extremely loyal to them. not many artist have that kind of support.

[@mamejoe2043]

Borahae💜💜💜💜

[@elbarosacoronel3411]

Un despropósito.💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 BTS

[@auracampos6409]

I know you say steroids and I totally understand your point but I must add that for a BTS fan or rather, for a K-pop fan in general, several copies of the same album are not the same. Why? Well because a big part of being a K-pop fan is collecting photo cards, different physical versions of an album, etc. Kpop fans in general for many years are used to having at least two versions of an album because the "concept" in each one is different, different Photoshoot different photo cards sometimes different, posters, covers, etc, and again it sounds like steroids and basically it is but for a kpop fan it is not, we have been used to this for several years. That's why it's hard for us to count it as steroids because we're used to it to the point of getting annoyed when an album has only one version. the difference is that we are making a conscious purchase, we choose to buy the records for their different versions, whereas people who buy a shirt for another artist's tour 98% of the time have no idea that it also comes with an album. I hope this message doesn't sound offensive in any way or that we don't know it's a tactic to sell more, we now it is, but we set a very clear line when it comes to steroids or bundles because BTS specifically doesn't put this into practice.

[@leles8422]

Always enjoy hearing your take on music and the industry. Even if you don’t agree you give your reasons why and that’s it. Much success to you.

[@tracydowd4013]

If you have ever bought a BTS album, you will see that it's worth the 15 to 25 dollars you buy it for. They have different concepts, and they offer a lot of inclusions. They have a poster, a photobook, lyric books, and photocards, and postcards. Some also have notes that connect to their Bangtan Universe. Everything they do is intentional. Seventeen and Stray Kids are examples of groups that have used that concept of pictures of each member on one album, so they have 8 to 13 album versions, based on how many members they have. BTS has NEVER done that. But, do we see those groups with their albums songs in the charts and winning awards? Getting nominated? I haven't seen it yet. And you are correct, BTS ARMY will collect money to buy albums and have giveaways for ARMY's that can't afford the $20 for the album, so those ARMY's can have an actual album to hold in their hands. Also, some ARMY's cannot purchase albums because of shipping or lack of stores in their country that sell their albums.

[@Bustory07]

Let's enjoy 🇧🇩

[@cherylloper7320]

So I was naive in thinking that anyone's fans purchasing albums help it get a rating, like radio station plays, etc., helped the artist get their ranking. Now I'm finding out the industry rakes in the dough when they manipulate and control the charts????? What a racket!!! So even more kudos to the guys as a group and individually, they are doing twice as much as other artists just to get any recognition on music charts! I ha v e no respect anymore for Award shows!!!! Criminal Investigation for sure!!!!!😡

[@emmamcintyre6997]

I own every single piece of Merch, Clothing & Physical Album & Vinyl that BTS have released since 2013 to current (August 23) as well as I have pre-ordered my Jack In The Box Physical Album & Tae’s Layover Album Set which will arrive in September 23. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[@FujimineYukiko]

Yeah, i have indigo cd and BE album despite the high price of weverse shipping fee 🙃

[@Stefi.Kitsune]

Lol idk why but i find it funny he keeps saying 15-25 bucks for bts albums 😅 😅😅😅 we def out here paying 3-5 times that xp

[@Litzth5406]

Un álbum de bts en mi país llega a costar como mínimo 50 dólares 😭 ese fue el precio más barato que vi la última vez que fui a la tienda

[@ellen3973]

Its not email tho? Ppl don't use the same email to buy. Ever since bb changed the rule the last time bts were at no 1, armys change emails. they don't use the same emails to buy.

[@Jurnalist_]

An email is used at check out. Even it it’s a new one it’s still attached to a numbered purchase with cart items.

[@TheRita200]

@@Jurnalist_ we evolved to using newly created accounts with new emails not connected to previous ones, after the last BB rule change. That's y we're theorizing them checking on the actual credit card/IP and filtering that which should be illegal

[@Jurnalist_]

@@TheRita200 the new email for the new account still is an email that comes with one order of multiples of the same item. This is still a filter they can easily use I think to sort out and have it hyper focused to only affect Jimin as it has.

[@Jurnalist_]

@@TheRita200 the other theories could be correct and may be the actual way they did it.

[@TheRita200]

@@Jurnalist_ The amount of effort they put in just to be shitty when they could just be lazy and have organic success be properly reflected 😮‍💨

[@giakulasa]

You're right about all the reasons we buy multiple copies of albums (sharing, support the boys directly and physical token of actual music that we love). Also Kpop is unique in that every album version has different photobook concepts and random photocards. Collectibles are a HUGE thing in kpop, idk what it is but we are just COMPELLED to buy everthing they release 😂 This is why to some extent I get why the Carat fandom fork out for all 13 versions (Seventeen has 13 members and i guarantee you fans won't half ass and not buy the whole hog). They just broke BTS' long standing MOTS7 record on Hanteo chart 2 weeks ago with 4.63M preorders of the 13 versions and thats a great tactic. Lots of ARMY and kpop fans have album/merch shelves (im baby Army & have a small one) or ROOMs. Merch releases are always pre-announced by the agency a day or few days before the drop and it's war. Case in point, Hybe announced suga's Tour merch drop on Monday, dropped it on weverse website yesterday 11am KST (1st P.O./preorder) - SOLD OUT in seconds/few minutes despite the eye-watering international shipping fees and this afternoon they dropped the 2nd P.O. But not all tour merch was released on the weverse site so you bet your ass Army still be camping out overnight at the concert sites to get first in line at the merch queue when it opens at 6a.m. 😆

[@evancangas8466]

My first time installing Spotify is crazy, i search bts songs and make a playlist for my favorite BTS song ....damn I'm so mad because there's a song that i dont know pop out of my BTS playlist. I just want to listen BTS song only for that day coz I'm so mad and want to relax. But out of nowhere this damn anonymous music came in my playlist out of nowhere what the heck is that Spotify? U recommend a song that we dont want to listen? Crazy huh.

[@iduli02]

When she said bts would prize it lower if they were trying to sell more, she wasn't playing. Your head probably went to like 20-50$, but for example the other version of their album proof (collectors version) was 275$ lmao. Idk how many extra albums they are selling when the other album version costs around 400$ with shipping included and the stock being quite limited.

[@Jurnalist_]

When your fan base is acclimated to these numbers as army seem to be. They still shift major units no issue. Look at any luxury brand that still sales is mass despite a ticket of 1k minimums. We could say if they wanted to sale more lower prices would in theory lead to more sales but it then confuses the system you’ve built. I sale it high and you buy high and I still do astronomical numbers.

[@mamejoe2043]

I bought one album including shipping for 45$ just last month. Buy it from weverse

[@mamejoe2043]

Most of it is free I can send you q link shared by RM where all those who can't afford can get all of it for free tho I watch and share for free I still buy it just I help them and also for appreciation of the years their music has help me to go through hard times

[@ellen3973]

I don't own an album yet. No money. But I will real soon.

[@giakulasa]

Hope you get it soon! Where are you based and which album are you first after?

[@ellen3973]

@@giakulasa I live in Canada and I'm trying to get the MOTS 7 album first. Or the BE album. I joined after the release of Mots 7 and BE was my first album comeback.

[@bapsi]

I've been collecting albums, merch and photocards for a while now and I saw a lot of different strategies to raise sales but I would say that multiple album versions aren't even the most effective. If you think that different album versions are steroids then let me tell you that's nothing compared to what the whole kpop industry does nowadays. They literally went crazy the past two years and tried to maximize the shit out of their physical album sales. There are fansign raffle events where you need to buy a certain number of albums to even enter, for a chance to win (about 300+ albums for popular groups), dozens of pre-order benefits, exclusive photocards and so on...Because of these steroids, the group with those 13 versions (actually 19) that boracity mentioned, recently broke bts' record for the most pre-ordered albums. In comparison the previous album with that record was: > BTS MOTS7 (2020) - Pre-order sales: 4.06 million - physical album versions: 4 - Album photocards in total: 32 - Pre-order benefits: 1 store (you had to purchase a set of 4 albums) - No fansign event New album with highest pre-order sales: - SVT FML (2023) - Pre-order sales: 4.64 million - physical album versions: 19 - album photocards in total: 182+ - pre-order benefits: 195+ (over 17 stores) 1 regular album = one pre-order benefit - fansign events: 4+ (I was too lazy after those numbers to count if there were more, hence the +) That's what I'd call steroids. These methods are the reason why fans have recently thrown away dozens of Fml albums because they don't have the space to store these anymore...The kpop industry knows how to increase physical album sales and so far bts didn't have a lot of steroids compared to others but hybe has gotten greedier so I think they will do that for all of their groups in the future (that includes bts) PS: May hybe rot in hell (not bts or other artists) I could literally write an essay about all of the reasons why I hate hybe nowadays and why they are useless but yeah... That would be too long xd

[@Stefi.Kitsune]

Also xp cellphones? Army bombs are whole as alive and connected interactive experience with the concert.