This will be a pretty long post 😇…
BOYNEXTDOOR debuted on May 30th, 2023, as the first group under KOZ, a company created by Zico, which later became a subsidiary under H*BE. At first, their debut got off to a slow start, and many people claimed they were flops and questione whether their compnay had overestimated Zico’s appeal by branding them more as a “Zico boy group” than a ” big company boy group.” Their first album sold 30k in the first week, and only one song from the album barely made it into the 900s on Melon’s daily chart.
However, the first thing KOZ did particularly well with BND from the beginning was to emphasize their stage performance. They used hand mics from their very first debut stage (though they did rely heavily on backtrack at that time, which has gradually diminished with each performance). Now, they are known as one of the very few groups that consistently sing live, even on music shows. The company’s conscious effort to showcase this has greatly contributed to BND’s rising popularity. It also helps that the boys are amazing performers who always look like they’re having the time of their lives on stage. From facial expressions to singing, energy, and dancing, you would never catch any of them lacking. With each stage, they seem to improve and get better, which has gained them more popularity and fans.
A second thing KOZ did well with them was allowing them to heavily contribute to their creative output. Some members have had songwriting credits since their first debut album, and that contribution has only increased since then. Even their group greeting was created by one of the members, Taesan. Riwoo, the main dancer, contributes to the choreography and gives feedback and adjustments for most of their performances. They always have the freedom to add various adlibs and switch up things whenever they perform as well.
A third thing KOZ did was to allow the members to freely express themselves and their personalities. They could laugh, be energetic, say funny things, show their excitement, be goofy, and things like that. They were never afraid to show it.
I would say that these three factors are the major reasons for BND’s growth in popularity, both in Korea and internationally.
On the Korean side, they quickly gained traction for being an incredibly funny and down-to-earth Gen Z group, known for their memes and fun personalities. This made them go viral many times. I’m not even joking when I say that whenever BND goes viral on K-twt for something, 97% of the time it’s because of something funny or interesting they did or said. On the international side, it was also pretty similar. Myung Jaehyun consistently went viral for his energetic and happy personality. I would say he was probably the gateway to BND for many international fans. Moments like him dancing happily at award shows, reacting to performances, getting startled by confetti, crying easily, being a huge Jungkook fan, his song covers (such as “Smart,” “I Need a Girl,” and “Standing Next to You”), and many other instances have endeared so many people to him and made him go viral multiple times.
As a group, BND soon became known for their constant live singing, stage presence, and energy. Their stages were always so fun, and even if you weren’t a fan or didn’t really vibe with their songs, you just couldn’t help but admit that they were incredible performers.
Contrary to what some people initially thought, them being marketed as more of a KOZ group actually worked well for them. Not saying they didn’t benefit from debuting under a big company, but being known more as a “KOZ group” allowed them to fly under the H*BE negativity radar for a lot of people. Additionally, since they were the first artists under their label, they didn’t have the pressure of being a “junior group” to anyone. They also didn’t come from a survival show, so their fandom grew without negativity or infighting like survival show groups often face. Basically, a lot of people who became their fans did so for “them” (if you get what I mean). This allowed their fandom to steadily grow and remain dedicated.
I also noticed something interesting about them on this subreddit. If you search BND here, you would see that they are probably the most positively discussed 5th gen group here. And interestingly, the majority of the posts about them are about their music, their performance skills, their personalities, etc. For the most part, when it comes to other 5th gen groups on this subreddit, you mainly find discussions about their charting, something bad the fandom did, hate they got, their company, etc.
In terms of growth, they went from having 30k first-week sales with their debut album to 600k first-day sales with their most recent album, which later became their first million-seller album. They went from scraping the 900s of Melon daily with their debut album to instantly debuting 3 songs on Melon Top 100 from their recent album (within its first hour). Their Korean fandom growth is genuinely insane, and I’m not even joking when I say they tripled the size of their fandom there this year. Their Japanese fanbase also grew incredibly well, and they are becoming really popular there too. Their follower growth and view count across various social media platforms have also been incredible to witness. From Youtube, to Spotify, to weverse, to instagram, to Twittter, their following has increased tremendously compared to last year. I was rewatching their MAMA 2024 performance recently and I saw it was sitting at 1.8m views which is insane when you consider that their 2023 MAMA performance only has about 1.4m views.
They continue to grow and increase in popularity with each comeback, and as a fan who has been there since the day the group was announced, it’s been really surreal to see. It also makes me incredibly proud of them! And since they are just barely a 1.5 year old group, they still have a lot they can achieve and more room for growth
Edit: Censoring company name cos it kept taking down my post
submitted by /u/ilovemeeeeee
[link] [comments]
