Time for #TinfoilHatTime!

The Secret Music Industry War Over BTS: What Happens When Would-Be Gatekeepers Lose?

DISCLAIMER:

This thread, as with all TFHT threads, is meant as speculation. That means a lot of opinion-based assertions.

Even if something sounds plausible, I invite you to take it with a pinch of salt!

INTRODUCTION

So first off, when I say "secret music industry war," I don't mean record label execs are sneaking out of their homes in the dead of night to engage in street fighting. Although that would be cool to look at.

What I mean is that it's been clear for a long time that there was a divide within the entertainment industry over BTS, their fame, and what they represent.

Resistance meant double-standards and attempts to block their rise at every turn.

The US music industry is made up of enduring institutions that still consider themselves global tastemakers. They believe influence on the world stage flows from West to East, with English as the dominant music language.

Therefore, their reaction to BTS was predictable.

Even more disturbing, in recent years, the very idea of a superstar has faltered. Today's pop acts feel temporary, with many rising and falling within a few short years of breaking out. For all the talk of "legendary," few endure, and even fewer profit long-term.

Tastemakers and gatekeepers might have seen their influence waning, but the real test (and ultimate humiliation) presented itself in the form of BTS.

These supposed kingmakers were blindsided by the high pitch screams for BTS, both at the Billboard Music Awards and AMAs of 2017.

They were not prepared for such a visceral reaction to a group of seven Asian men, singing in a language the furthest thing from American English.

A few years later, with BTS more popular and profitable than ever (even in the midst of a pandemic...), we're seeing the outcome of the decision by various parties to either challenge BTS's place in the American market or throw their support behind the septet.

It's not only clear that BTS members aren't going to poof away from the minds and hearts of millions...but that they represent the kind of star power some didn't realize was possible: Star power obtained *and* maintained outside the clutches of major American record labels.

Now, with BTS as the most stable music artists in a market that's been heavily hurt by coronavirus and quarantines, I think we're starting to see the dust settle as regards to years of pushback against BTS...and who the winners and losers REALLY are.

I. HOW AMERICAN NETWORK TELEVISION UNDERMINED A RIVAL KINGMAKER IN US RADIO

It used to be that if US radio never heard of you, Americans didn't hear you, period. I went into this during my three-part series on the fall of US radio as a music industry kingmaker.

P1: https://twitter.com/sweetbtstea/status/1246637084061941761
P2: https://twitter.com/sweetbtstea/status/1247721230859452421
P3: https://twitter.com/sweetbtstea/status/1250632141156876289

During that series, I mentioned the strange division between American radio and network TV over BTS.

Radio DJs unironically tell ARMY that BTS just hasn't done enough to earn spins. Meanwhile, BTS has appeared on SNL, perhaps one of THE HARDEST gigs for a musician to land.

BTS has earned a pathetic number of spins since breaking out in the US.

The group's spin history, per @bybrianbyrne: https://twitter.com/bybrianbyrne/status/1293323553476153351

Their treatment by American TV networks has gone much better, with multiple networks competing to have their own Ed Sullivan moment. Stephen Colbert went literal, but I have to give it to SNL for now. The Tonight Show's "ON" performance nabs silver.

I think American TV declaring BTS to be superstars at every turn SEVERELY undermined American radio as a tastemaker. US radio stations ok boomer'd themselves; their irrelevance to BTS's success was embarrassingly apparent when BTS managed #4 on Billboard without airplay.

When it comes to BTS, American radio is on the losing side of a tug of war game the industry probably only just realized it was playing. The universal response to Columbia Records' olive branch will be revealing. If not potentially damning. We shall see! https://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=322642&title=BTS-BUS-BONANZA-BUILDS-BUZZ%2C-BUDDY

II. IRRESISTABLE SUPERSTARDOM

I opened with the contrast between TV and radio to demonstrate just how deep the divide over BTS really is in the American entertainment industry. TV gets it. Radio doesn't.

You'll find similar divides between ex-music channels, journalists, and even award shows. Some value BTS merely for clout while others see the value in them as artists and voices for their generation.

But perhaps what stirs this division the most is their undeniable star power.

BTS are the first major superstars to:

- Originate from Asia
- Rise to global stardom with non-English-speaking albums
- Conquer America without the invitation or universal approval of the US music industry

As BTS have earned their global stardom without any real help from (and a lot of hindrance by) the US music industry, some will refer to their success as proof it's possible to do well in the US market without relying on shady tricks and kowtowing to industry gatekeepers.

This observation could have serious implications at a time when there's a simmering resentment over the increased exploitation of artists who are being scammed into reducing their careers to Tik Tok soundbites and praying for stability this move simply cannot provide.

I think the organic nature of BTS's success and their undeniable star power will FINALLY reveal the true cost of fakery. It's a reveal that many have desperately tried to sweep under the rug, even going far as to question BTS's success and their lack of artificial hype.

There are those that have spent years desperately trying to undermine BTS's success in America, to push the narrative that they don't belong, that they're a problem, or that they're destined to lack influence.

But this approach has aged nightmarishly bad.

BTS is demonstrating a couple of hard truths:

(1) You can't manufacture superstardom, and those who have it will be stable than those who don't.

(2) It pays to have a foundation built on real sales and success, while fakery can be costly.

I almost feel like much of the effort to block BTS and deny their star power was due to a fear that their popularity would eventually reveal what COVID ultimately exposed anyway: Industry hype costs more than it pays.

CONCLUSION

I feel like the push and pull over BTS's place in the US music industry is coming to an end as BTS are simply too popular, too successful, and too organically situated to be denied by anyone other than the delusional and out of touch.

I think that there was an unspoken "war" over BTS over the past few years with some desperate for them to go away and others clinging to them and the progressiveness they represent.

And that war is about over. The losers? Knee-jerk egoists with their eye on the short-term.

Many of the same people who mocked them as teen pop idols in 2017 probably couldn't have foreseen that they'd last this long.

...Or that BTS would remain financially viable while many other "respected" acts are forced to sit on the sidelines.

Whoops.

/THREAD

So sorry this took forever! Thank you for reading.