LogFAQs > #941904603

YamaChan posted...

Physical sales are an indication of fandom size only. It's vitally important for the long-term health of the group, but it's not the most important measurement of popularity with girl groups particularly.

Id highly disagree, this was something that maybe rang true in the 2nd generation where girl groups besides SNSD couldn't even hope to measure up to boy groups in terms of physical sales and fandom size but not anymore. And yes while the absolute biggest boy groups sales still dwarf the girl groups, only 3-4 boy groups can outsell groups like Twice, BP, and IZ*ONE who are all putting up record sales numbers that no one though were possible for girl groups. From 2007- 2014 only 3 girl groups that debuted in that time ever broke the 100k mark for an album, it was basically seen as a nearly unobtainable benchmark, a "golden standard" of sorts and any group that could hit it would be seen as one of the legendary groups of the generation. From 2014-2020, there have been 8 groups already that debuted in that period and have hit that number. The situation is no longer that girl groups need to rely on digital/public relevancy to be successful.

The public is finicky and cant be relied on for long term success in all but a few cases (mostly just Sistar). I'm sure Momoland thought they were gonna be the next big thing after Bboom Bboom but then the public decided they didnt care anymore and Momoland fell back into being only slightly less unknown/unpopular than before they released it, same story with Crayon Pop and Bar Bar Bar. In kpop large fandoms are king, even for girl groups. Hell JYP himself recognizes this and has changed the whole culture around how his company functions to put a focus on cultivating large fandoms, especially for his girl groups, instead of trying to pander to public tastes.