The K-Pop fans buy shares in BTS

Ownership is often at the heart of what it means to be a fan. Maybe you are shopping for merch or setting your alarm early to buy tour tickets. Maybe you do fan cams, learn dance routines, or invest in special edition vinyls. But what if you could literally Do you own your favorite band?

That was the question BTS fans were asked back in October when Big Hit – the label behind the K-pop superstars – went public. The listing on the stock exchange was the biggest financial event in South Korea since 2017 and made label founder Bang Si-Hyuk a billionaire. Fans concerned about the fate of BTS were relieved to discover that Bang had also donated multi-million dollar shares to RM, Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, and owed them the label to have turned into the Juggernaut that it is today. But while there was a lot to celebrate, BTS fans – collectively known as ARMY – were rightly cautious too.

BTS are the epitome of underdog history. When they debuted in 2013 after recording their first album in a garage, the market was dominated by K-pop’s influential “Big Three” talent agencies. Now Big Hit is worth more than these three agencies combined.

This meteoric rise has as much to do with the charisma, commitment and chemistry of BTS as it does with their deep relationship with the ARMY. The group is a love affair that arose out of shared needs. She regularly recognizes ARMY’s passionate efforts to address their drawbacks both on the home turf and in the global pop market. Not only have fans broken countless YouTube records and voted them Billboard’s Best Social Artist for years, but also sent flowers to radio DJs in an attempt to overcome the band’s xenophobia.

According to Bora, ARMY is also incredibly knowledgeable about BTS financial affairs. Bora uses a pseudonym Fan Twitter Accountand has translated articles on the impact of BTS on the South Korean economy for over 140,000 followers since late 2018. “It’s an intersection of my personal interests and I just found it very interesting to share that with fandom,” she explains. “It is really important to have accurate information rather than the misinformation that is often from a western point of view and lacks context about Korea.”

Bora personally invested in Big Hit, but “only a few stocks”. She tells me it doesn’t change how she sees her role on ARMY, and while she thinks the agency is a good investment, it’s not about any potential gain. “It’s more like owning a very small piece of history,” she tells Dazed. “Kind of a collector’s item … albeit quite expensive.”

“It’s more like owning a very small piece of history. Kind of a collector’s item … if quite expensive ”- Bora

Other fans share their opinion. On Weverse, a social platform operated by Big Hit, a user named TaeTime7 tells Dazed that he wants to invest for one simple reason: “I support everything he does.” Although this sounds like fans are distributing stocks as merch At the elite level, it actually reveals a deeper truth: ARMY doesn’t need stocks to take a seat in Big Hit’s boardroom. The group’s ownership of BTS manifests itself in other, arguably more powerful, ways.

Aside from the fact that stocks are prohibitively expensive for most fans, buying stocks doesn’t lead to the immediate, quantifiable successes for BTS that ARMY is accustomed to. The goals of the fandom for BTS ‘new album due out in November would intimidate the most seasoned sales force: seven million album sales worldwide, simultaneously number one on five Billboard charts – including the Hot 100 and number one iTunes album in 100 countries.

It is precisely this clout that makes ARMY so suspicious of bad actors who take advantage of their relationship with BTS. Fandom is currently at odds with Jason Derulo for demanding 10 million likes from ARMY on TikTok while repeatedly downplaying BTS’s contributions to his number one single, Savage Love. You’ve fought this behavior for years, especially from Western radio stations calling for astronomical social engagement in return for the BTS radio play – a problem Western artists don’t face.

Fandom’s protective spirit is certainly justified, but sometimes this sense of ownership goes too far. Earlier this year, a small group of fans decided to protest for Jin without being asked. Sensing that it was underutilized in the music video for “Dynamite,” the BTS hit hit, they posted a billboard on a truck to broadcast their claims outside of Big Hit’s Seoul headquarters. The rest of the fandom were appalled and labeled the stunt patronizing and overly controlling.

The ‘JinTruck’ stunt didn’t get recognized by Big Hit, but it speaks for a long history of fandoms trying to manage their favorites. For example, in 2005 a group of Super Junior fans used the stock exchange to protest against the addition of new members to the band. Although they managed to buy 0.3 percent of the large agency SM – no small matter – their complaints were ignored.

It’s not impossible for ARMY to band together to buy up a serious percentage of Big Hit, but – simply put – they don’t have to. Fandom is already an expert when it comes to wrestling with the machines of the pop industry. This month alone, ARMY has challenged false reporting from Reuters and filed for Spotify for inaccurately labeling BTS on the streaming platform, which is acting more like a global conglomerate of agents than your average fan base.

“It’s not impossible for ARMY to band together to buy up a serious percentage of Big Hit, but – simply put – they don’t have to. Fandom is already an expert when it comes to wrestling with the machines of the pop industry. ”

Instead, Big Hit’s public listing has made it clear how artists are valued under capitalism – and it’s about their fans. Investors are indebted to ARMY’s strong commitment to the art of BTS without respecting fans’ purchasing power and Branchen-Know-how, there was nothing left for these shareholders.

During BTS’s most recent record breaking digital concert, held just two days before Big Hit went public, ARMY members were streamed into a huge arena in Seoul, their faces forming the entire backdrop of the stage. The fans ’emotional interactions with members created an infinite feedback loop that was broken by BTS’ own cameras. It’s this symbolic, symbiotic relationship between artist and audience that seems so lucrative to investors – but ultimately, it makes those same investors powerless. As Bora puts it, “How fans use this leverage is a question that has not yet been answered.”