Are you surprised by the headline? I’m not. Of course they have formulated pop songs and coordinated dance routines down to a science, but The K-Pop boy band has an army that helps them conquer charts.
The BTS army is like a paramilitary group with advanced equipment. They have the ability to mobilize large number of fans from making banners and buying ad space in Times Square to coordinating streaming parties to spike numbers on Spotify and YouTube. This leads to media headlines like “BTS gets the most views in 24 hours”
Surprisingly, the army also targets radio and award shows. When it comes to indicators and boosting rankings, they’re on it. Heck, BTS is mentioned an average of 600,000 times on Twitter per day, reports Brand Watch. They won best social media artist, but how could they not?
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how fans could pull this advanced weaponry off and turn this k-pop boy band in a cultural phenomenon. For a second I’m thinking does the South Korean government have a play in this?
I mean, BTS is worth more than US$3.6 billion to the South Korean economy every year — on par with the contribution of 26 mid-sized companies.
But no. The government is not. In fact the BTS Army launched an appeal to have the members spared for serving in the army, but the PM isn’t having any of it. Despite an appeal by the BTS army, the PM ordered the members of BTS to serve in the army which is a requirement for all citizens. In fact, the oldest member of the group Jin who is 27 would be the first to go off and join the army. All members will have to serve in the near feature which means BTS has peaked and the clock is ticking. But don’t worry, a new group is on the way. Let’s see if they come with a well organized army like BTS.
Look out for Nashville based Nick Fabian and the track Steady, you may like it. He draws inspiration from a variety of artists including John Mayer and Allen Stone. Listen, he has a good voice, that kind of voice where he sings on NBC’s The Voice and the chairs turn around. Give the track a stream and let me know what you think.
He’s a true phenomenon, Harry Styles that is. Broke off from a boy band, made a psychedelic rock album, and became the hottest artist of the summer. Who would’ve ever thought? Not me. Why? Because former members of boys bands generally have it rough. Although they achieve mainstream success and all the accolades that go with it, still, history doesn’t look favorably upon boy/girl bands. They are faced with a stigma of being manufactured – songs written by a committee of songwriters, image created by fashion consultants, and to top if off, the association with Simon Cowell’s The X Factor.
But Harry Styles pulled it off. His voice is superb, the songs are excellent, and he’s a born performer. Harry made a rock record and it’s huge, he’s played on every radio format, except for rock radio of course, speaking about backwards. Can someone give those guys Darwin Awards?
I thought I was listening to a new version of Bee Gees ‘Stayin’ Alive‘ when I first popped on the track, but no, it was Summer Nights by ZIMINY. Although the trend is 80’s now, David Amezcua has been doing this for years. Type in Hot Streets in the search bar or listen to them on Spotify and listen to tracks like Dr. Doctor or Sleep Machine. The tracks are more relevant now then 10 years ago. His new project is excellent, again, if you love the 80’s. David Amezcua is based in Los Angeles and former member of Awolnation.
Former Coasts frontman Chris Caines dropped a new track Home under a new project called The Forever. It’s an indie rock track, but it was the harmonies that stuck out. I don’t know too much about the Bristol based singer-songwriter other than he went through some dark times which fueled his new project that he describes is filled with love, angst, hope and fear. Give it a listen.
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