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informalmajesty · 1 year

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Jimin is not being sabotaged by his own label

This tag used to be (mostly) fun and now all I see are large text posts pitting Jimin and JK against each other and, look, it’s not as complicated as many of you are making it out to be, nor is there some grand conspiracy to *checks notes* pit JK and Jimin against each other or *keeps checking notes* a SPECIFIC vendetta against ONLY Jimin, their artist who *scrolls scrolls scrolls through notes* went number 1 on Billboard.

So here is a large text post on the woes of American capitalism (yes. Really).

Here’s the reality

Billboard DID Sabotage Jimin

Let’s get the big sabotage that did happen out of the way — BILLBOARD (and friends. Will circle back to this) ARE RACIST SNAKES AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN.

Billboard has a history of keeping Black artists off of the pop charts. One example, R&B was largely created as a separate chart to move a category of Black artists from the Hot 100 pop charts. It was a big deal—as (1) example—when Boyz II Men crossed over to the pop charts multiple times.

And then what happened? The American music industry caught up and started cranking out white boy bands that wrote and performed R&B but. Funny. Somehow it was now considered JUST pop on the H100 POP charts. They weren’t pushed immediately to R&B and had to work their way over.

This was considered R&B for the R&B charts that was a “crossover”

And this was considered mainstream pop that needed no crossover.

Yeah, Billboard have always been racist snakes.

So flash forward to 2023. We know they tried HARD to keep BTS from the H100. Going into Proof, BB limited digitals, reduced the weight on sales and upped weight on radio. Why? American music labels can control radio. They cannot control sales and it’s legally far more messy for them to do so.

But then. JIMIN happened.

ARMY got Jimin to H100 #1 with the rule change and the American music industry lost their collective shit.

Why do I say COLLECTIVE and not just Billboard? Well.

This is so essential to the punch line of this rant.

American capitalism only cares about its friends.

What does that mean?

I work in Silicon Valley. You want to know why there is a major diversity problem in Silicon Valley? Yes. There is explicit and obscene misogyny and racism, but the biggest problem is less explicit albeit just as systemic.

White men tend to hang out and befriend other white men already in their “circle.” When some rich person or VC firm’s buddy is like “hey I need money for this thing” they are like “yes, of course, buddy, here you go!!” And they get tons of cash without having to prove anything.

I will not say the startup I worked at but it’s valuation was in the billions and their funding was in the billions with NO product built yet. How they got those billions? A well known stunt performer was besties with the then CEO of a major major tech company and he said “hey bestie give my friend over here hundreds of millions of dollars.” And then this startup got hundreds of millions of dollars. Was there due diligence done? Absolutely. But would the CEO of a major tech company give a crap if his best dude didn’t vouch for the startup? No.

Humans are extremely relationally driven. Merit is basically bullshit. Merit is so so rarely considered in anything. Who are you friends with? That’s how most things are done.

So, Billboard has a lot of friends. Those friends are in major record labels. And those friends only care about making as much money as possible while retaining the status quo.

What goes against all of that? A group of non-white, non-American men that they make very little money from because their label is completely seated in a different country.

So when Like Crazy—a solo record by a Korean artist under a Korean label with a Korean songwriting team—comes in and dethrones FLOWERS, Columbia Records’ darling for the year (no hate to Miley or the song, it’s solid, love Miley), oh my god were they SEEING SOME RED.

The MONEY they PAID to see Flowers on top of radio, of playlisting, of cultural consciousness and a NON AMERICAN NON WHITE MAN just dethroned that.

My GUESS (I don’t know, also keep in mind BTS didn’t seem to have the friendliest exit from the Columbia distribution deal) is that Billboard’s BFFs at Columbia threw a fit. And Billboard responded by saying “of course, bestie, we’ll remove the problem.”

And there goes 100k sales in the next week. Deleted. Gone.

Who is going to call them on that? Hybe could propose an investigation, sure, but here’s the thing — it’s not illegal. Billboard didn’t break any law. It’s THEIR completely made up chart that they can change at any time depending on what labels want (this is how Wall Street works too, btw). Everything is made up to appease the same 50 white men. Bleak but true. Music industry is far from the exception.

Okay so moving forward — now we have Jungkook’s Seven coming out. And Billboard a week before release finally decides to tell us the rule they CREATED BECAUSE OF JIMIN (it’s a shitty rule of course but damn Jimin’s power)—D2C sales no longer count.

Jungkoook makes it to #1 anyway because ARMY is freaking amazing AND yes. Yes, Jungkook got more US promotion, help on Spotify, general promo, radio etc than Jimin.

BUT THIS DID NOT HAPPEN BECAUSE BIG HIT FAVORS JUNGKOOK AND SABOTAGED JIMIN

Remember — everything is determined by rich men in power and who they are friends with.

What did Jungkook do? He went to an American producer who is besties with Scooter Braun (Andrew Watt has worked with several of Scooter’s artists including Justin Bieber, namely on Peaches) who has power to contact his besties at Spotify and wherever else.

And what does going to an American producer unlock for Jungkook? A pop track highly likely to do well in America. So then what does Bang PD do? Recognize that because the dude is a billionaire and he likes money and he says (and we know he said this) “this is going to be a hit.” And there you go, you have the Seven marketing campaign that Like Crazy didn’t quite get.

This isn’t “oh my god BigHit / Hybe hates Jimin.” This is “Jungkoook took an easier, more commercial route.”

If Jimin wants to go get a song like Seven….he can go get a song from an American producer who is friends with the right people.

Instead he wanted to work on a personal project with Korean producers and it’s amazing and beautiful and also went number one and was also a huge success.

And Jungkook wanted this really great and incredibly commercial pop song.

Both are valid. Both are going to unlock different resources for the artist. And both Jimin and JK know this. They chose what they chose. That’s it. End of story.

As for Seven v LC album stock— stock is highly likely determined by basic predictive analytics models (exponential smoothing, maaybe a regression, maybe even something as simple as moving avg idk). LC was a sizable increase from Astronaut and other BTS singles. So then Seven likely adjusted to that increase. Again. That’s it guys. That’s literally it.

So can we please have the tag back and stop pitting JK and Jimin against each other and respect that Jimin chose to do a more artistic, personal project while JK (at least for now) did not?

If you want to be mad at something, be mad at American wealthy white men and their friends.

#jikook #jimin #jungkook #seven by jungkook #like crazy #jimin and jungkook

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venusvity · 6 days

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Jung Yoonah (Korean: 정윤아, born November 16, 1998), known professionally as Baebi (Korean: 배바이; Japanese: ベビ), is a Korean singer, dancer, and actress based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Venus, formed by Angelico Entertainment in 2018. She is portrayed by Im Youha & Go Minsi.

Yoonah was born on November 16, 1998, in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea as an only child. Her mother taught art at a university while her father worked in sales. Yoonah began dancing at the age of three, being put in ballet by her mother.

Yoonah trained in ballet from a young age, having practiced it for eleven years before debuting with Venus.

Yoonah would attend the School of Performing Arts Seoul (SOPA; Korean: 서울공연예술고등학교 / 서공예), where she would be scouted by Angelico Entertainment.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑 : 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬.

While attending SOPA, Yoonah would be scouted by Angelico's CEO, Son Jinhwa, and COO, Jeon Jihan, through an open audition the pair hosted at the school. She was scouted for her visual and dancing skills.

Yoonah would become a frequent feature in Priority music videos, acting as a love interest to the boys or as a backup dancer. She would also model for various CF brands and commercials.

In Januaray 2014, it was announced that Yoonah would debut in Angelico's first-ever girl group, Emphasis.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕: 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Yoonah debuted with Angelico Entertainment's Emphasis on May 21, 2014. Emphasis officially debuted and released their first mini album, EMPRINTSIS, accompanied by the title tracks "Symphony" and "Road Trip."

Emphasis would have their first and final comeback with their second mini album, EMPATHSIS, promoting the title tracks"Love Bomb" and "Wee Woo!" before falling into a year of inactivity.

On May 24, 2016, Emphasis was officially disbanded. Angelico Entertainment announced that Yoonah would be staying with the label.

Following Emphasis's disbandment, Yoonah would return to training and join Angelico's pre-debut team, "Angellies." The group would rotate trainees and perform around South Korea. The team would operate on a ranking system voted on by the fans they would garner from their performances and live streams.

Yoonah was a prominent member of the Angellies, often being voted as the fan favorite in their monthly rankings. By the end of the group's run, Yoonah was the second-most-voted fan favorite.

In 2016, Yuuna would officially take on the stage name Baebi.

In 2017, Angellies would be discontinued to prepare for Angelico's new girl group debut.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖: 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒

On March 17, 2018, Baebi would officially debut in VENUS with the release of their first extended play (EP), SHE DEVIL, and its lead single, "SHE DEVIL."

She is the group's leader, main dancer, main vocalist, and lead rapper.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗: 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭

In late 2019, Baebi made her debut as a solo artist with the EP Bubble Pop!. She released her debut extended play (EP), Bubble Pop!, in June 2019. It peaked at number two on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, and charted atop the US Billboard World Albums. As of 2023, it has sold 360,000 copies in South Korea.

Bubble Pop! 's commercial success was the main contributor to Angelico Entertainment's leading music sales. The song peaked at number one in South Korea, where it has sold over 2.5 million digital units. To accompany her solo release, Baebi held a series of small concerts called Baebi's Summer Splash. She was awarded Best Female Artist at the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards and at the 2020 Golden Disk Awards.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 - 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

She made her acting debut in the 2021 Netflix K-drama Squid Game, in which she played Han Doyun, an unpaid intern at an unnamed company, alongside her husband, Han Wonil, played by Jang Kiha of Priority, who need money to pay off their ever-mounting debt.

Doyun became a fan favorite, and Jung was called Squid Game's breakout star by critics. For her performance on the show, Jung won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Baebi has had a controversial relationship with Mydol CEO Son Jinhwa. An anonymous source revealed the pair's relationship to the public in 2022, resulting in a wave of backlash that led to Jinhwa stepping down from his position as CEO of Angelico Entertainment and Baebi going on a brief hiatus. The pair never confirmed their relationship.

In 2023, Baebi would confirm her relationship with Kim Juwon, the lead vocalist of the boy group Priority. The pair had been dating for three years before the announcement, silently putting the rumors of her and Son Jinhwa's relationship to rest. Baebi and Juwon would break up in 2024 after spending five years together.

Baebi has been a vocal mental health advocate, being very open about her struggles with depression and anxiety. She often donates to mental health charities and volunteers at children's hospitals in her spare time.

𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

In 2019, Baebi became the face of Gentle Monster, a sunglasses and optical glasses brand founded by Hankook Kim, choosing Baebi to represent their brand due to her "hot and cool" image.

On February 2, 2021, Baebi was announced as the face of Chum Churum, a soju brand under Lotte Corporation.

On March 8, Baebi became the advertisement model of HOT6ix, an energy drink brand under Lotte Corporation.

On April 8, Etude House introduced Baebi as their new brand model.

In September 2022, Baebi became a model for the Japanese bathing suit brand KŌRARU.

Baebi has walked in runways for Burberry, Miu Miu, Jason Wu, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Giambattista Valli, Bottega Veneta, Emilio Pucci, Prabal Gurung, Jacquemus, and Tory Burch. She has also appeared in advertisements for Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, and Bottega Veneta and on the covers of Vogue Korea, Vogue Japan, CR Fashion Book, and Harper's Bazaar Korea.

#╰ * venus : profiles ⧽ burn it to the ground .#fictional idol group #fictional idol community #kpop fanfic #idol oc #kpop oc #fake kpop oc #kpop au #idol au #kpop addition #idolverse #oc girl group #bts addition #fake kpop girl group #fake kpop idol #oc kpop group #stray kids addition

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lokisasylum · 2 months

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BTS' Jimin dominated the entire Billboard chart, showing off his world-class presence as a solo singer.

According to the latest chart (dated August 3) released by Billboard, an American music media outlet, Jimin's "Who" ranked 14th on Billboard's main song chart, the "Hot 100," demonstrating its potential to achieve the highest K-pop ranking in 2024 with only streaming and sales, without any radio promotion, on a chart filled with hits from powerful pop stars.

With this, Jimin has achieved the feat of entering the charts with a total of 6 songs in just over 2 years since his solo activities, including “Like Crazy,” the first K-pop solo to reach No. 1 on the “Hot 100,” along with “Set Me Free Part 2” (No. 30), “Angel Part 1” (No. 65), “Vibe” (No. 76), and “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” (No. 88).

‘Who’ is the third K-pop artist to simultaneously top Billboard’s ‘Global 200’ and ‘Global (Excl. US)’ charts. Along with ‘Who’, ‘Smeraldo Garden Marching Band’ (60th), ‘Be Mine’ (123rd), ‘Slow Dance’ (159th), and ‘Reverse’ (187th) also entered the ‘Global 200’ chart. On the ‘Global (Excl. US)’ chart, all of the songs on the album successfully entered the chart, including ‘Smeraldo Garden Marching Band’ (22nd), ‘Be Mine’ (74th), ‘Slow Dance’ (96th), ‘Reverse’ (112th), ‘Closer Than This’ (123rd), and ‘Interlude: Showtime’ (200th).

Not only that, "Who" also topped Billboard's "Digital Song Sales" chart, making Jimin the K-pop solo artist with the most number-one hits (six) on the same chart. Jimin also made it to the chart for the 14th time with "Be Mine" at number 21.

Jimin, who became the first and only K-pop solo artist to top Billboard's "Artist 100" chart with "Face" last year, rose to No. 2 this time, achieving a total of 12 weeks on the chart, and "Who," which ranked 25th on the "Streaming Songs" chart, recorded the highest ranking solo song by a K-pop solo artist in the past 10 years.

The new album 'Muse' ranked 2nd on the main album chart 'Billboard 200', and also ranked high in the detailed charts such as 2nd on 'Top Album Sales', 2nd on 'Top Current Album Sales', and 2nd on 'World Albums'. In particular, it ranked 48th on the 'Top Streaming Albums' chart, making it the first K-pop artist album to enter the streaming chart this year.

Also, on the Canadian Billboard, “Who” debuted at No. 32 on the “Hot 100,” making it the highest-ranking K-pop song of the year, and took No. 2 on the “Digital Song Sales” chart, while “Muse” debuted at No. 24 on the “Album Chart.” It debuted at No. 6 and No. 19 on the German and Italian “Album Charts,” respectively, breaking “Face”’s previous records of No. 7 and No. 28.

In Brazil, the song debuted at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, setting a new record for a K-pop artist since the chart was reorganized in August 2023, and was the second song to enter the chart after Smeraldo Garden Marching Band at No. 84. In Argentina, the song also entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 71, and in the Philippines, Smeraldo Garden Marching Band entered the chart for the third week in a row at No. 74, along with Who, who reached the highest K-pop solo ranking of all time at No. 11.

In Japan, Jimin's activities did not stop either. Who rose to No. 53 after ranking No. 21 on the Hot 100, No. 20 on the Streaming Songs, and No. 6 on the Download Songs in its first week. ‘Muse’ ranked 6th on the ‘Hot Albums’ after its first week at 3rd place, and 8th on the ‘Top Albums’ after its 3rd debut, and ranked 2nd on the ‘Download Albums’ chart after its first week at 1st, and 15th on the ‘Artist 100’ chart.

#jimin news #Who by Jimin #MUSE by Jimin #jimin records #jimin #park jimin #bts jimin #bts #jiminie #pjm #bangtan #pjms

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lachlmomama · 2 months

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#1 - Billboard World Digital Song Sales.

#7 - Billboard Global Excl. U.S

#88 - Billboard Hot 100

The formula to organic success by Park Jimin:

🌻💐🩷🩵💚

1. Don't promote the song. Not even the barest minimum.

2. Don't release pre-order links until much later. Instead, have a top executive from your music label troll fans who ask for said pre-order links.

3. Have 0 radio airplay.

4. Pay no payola.

5. Have only 1 version of the song.

6. Have one hell of a loyal, passionate and supportive fandom that will turn the world upside down to hold you up and carry you.

7. Have a Korean joyful, boppy song with clean lyrics composed by you and a bunch of genius friends who know you best as an artist.

NOT BAD FOR A SONG THAT WAS, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, IGNORED BY THE COMPANIES THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO PROMOTE IT. NOT BAD AT ALL PARK JIMIN! 🌻🤩

So proud of you Jimin!

👏👏👏🫰

Please continue to stream Smeraldo Garden Marching Band 👇👇👇 for longevity in the charts

And please include her sisters Closer Than This and the queen Like Crazy 👇👇👇

#jimin #park jimin #jimin bts #jimin_muse #smeraldo garden marching band #Spotify

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jimin-updates · 1 month

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A look at Jimin on this week’s Billboard charts:

Please keep up the good work, everyone!

#jimin #park jimin #bts jimin #who by jimin #muse by jimin #billboard digital song sales chart #billboard artist 100 #billboard world albums #billboard album 200 #billboard global 200 excluding us #billboard global 200 #record breaker jimin

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btsx50states · 7 months

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Check out BTS' stats on the Billboard charts!

#bts #jungkook #billboard artist 100 #billboard 200 #golden jungkook #billboard global 200 #seven jungkook #standing next to you #3d #like crazy #digital song sales #world albums chart #face jimin #proof #billboard hot 100 #🐞

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doyoulikethissong-poll · 20 days

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Adele - Rolling in the Deep 2010

"Rolling in the Deep" is a song by English singer-songwriter Adele from her second studio album, 21 (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was composed by Paul Epworth and Adele in a single afternoon following Adele's breakup with her boyfriend. It was her reaction to, "being told that my life was going to be boring and lonely and rubbish, and that I was a weak person if I didn't stay in the relationship. I was very insulted, and wrote that as a sort of 'fuck you'."

"Rolling in the Deep" received widespread critical acclaim with praise drawn towards the song's production, its lyrics, and Adele's vocal performance. It represented a commercial breakthrough for Adele, propelling her to global superstardom. The song topped the charts in twelve countries and reached the top 10 in over twenty territories. It was Adele's first number-one song in the US, reaching the top spot on many Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 where it was number one for seven weeks. By February 2012, "Rolling in the Deep" had sold over 8.7 million copies in the US, making it the best-selling digital song by a female artist in the US, the second-best-selling digital song in the US and Adele's best-selling single outside her native country, topping her previous best-selling "Chasing Pavements". Worldwide, it was the fifth-best-selling digital single of 2011 with sales of 8.2 million copies. As of 2019, with sales of over 20.6 million copies worldwide, "Rolling in the Deep" is one of the best-selling digital singles of all time.

Its music video received a leading seven nominations at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, including for Video of the Year, and won three other awards: Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. "Rolling in the Deep" was also the Billboard Year End Hot 100 Number One Single of 2011. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, it won awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video, making it just the second song in Grammy history to win all three awards after "We Are the World" in 1986. Various critics and music publications ranked it as the best song of the year on their end-of-year lists with Rolling Stone ranking it at number 8 spot on its list of "The 100 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century". In 2021, the song was ranked at number 82 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Rolling in the Deep" received a total of 87,7% yes votes!

youtube

#finished #high votes #high yes #low no #low reblog #10s #o1 #o1 sweep #lo2 #lo4 #popular #adele #english

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roo-bastmoon · 1 year

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The Great Radio Debate: Roo's (limited) Understanding of this Issue UPDATED

Disclaimer: Sensitive topics are discussed below the cut; please do not incite drama, speak hate, or engage in bullying. This is a collection of my thoughts about what is currently happening with regard to Jungkook's single SEVEN and the implications it could mean for Jikook and ARMY. If you click below this cut, you are assuming responsibility for your own behavior and agreeing to engage with my blog and others respectfully, or you will be blocked.

We now by know that Jimin's music was not promoted to radio. We know this because when we went to request it from various major radio stations, it was not an option in the drop-downs; we had to manually type it in. Being "sent / promoted / serviced to radio" means a compressed file is sent from the company to radio stations so DJs can play high-def spins that are universally compatible with their station's set up.

None of Jimin's songs for Face were serviced:

The airplay audience was the lowest for any song this decade:

The controversy around Jungkook's SEVEN began last week when one DJ tweeted the following:

As we now know, "serviced to radio" means they sent a compressed file (which they SHOULD have done for Like Crazy English Version, but didn't). They did service to radio for Butter and Dynamite and it was a huge help. Even Yet to Come was serviced, so it cracked Top 50 on the charts, but none of Face's songs were sent, which makes zero business sense any achievement on that chart amazing.

Because even when serviced, it doesn't guarantee spins... "Add" means they hope radio stations will add the song to rotation:

But then the DJ had to go and say this:

So they have already sent SEVEN to the radios, hoping for spins. And now one person is publicly saying the song absolutely will get spins immediately. This heavily implies payola, because why else would a song without demand or requests immediately spin multiple times on everyone's shows the second it was released?

I feel (I, Roo Bastmoon, personally think and feel) Seven is being pushed this way for two reasons:

Billboard's recent changes around what kind of sales (physical, digital, bundled) will counts on the charts puts songs without radio play at an extreme, nigh-insurmountable disadvantage; even with excellent streams (which are heavily culled and filtered), it will be hard to break into the top 50.

Additionally, Taylor Swift's Speak Now re-release has dropped this week and will be gunning for the charts next week when Jungkook debuts, and that is a personal problem for Scooter Braun.

For those not familiar (as I surely wasn't; I live under a rock), Taylor Swift felt compelled to leave her old management company back in 2018. To do so, she had to abandon the rights to any original music she made with them. They kept her masters and sold them off to Scooter Braun.

Each time someone wanted to play one of her original songs, they had to ask his permission and pony up money for a license fee. Scooter Braun also managed Kanye, and I'm sure everyone knows the Beyoncé is the Greatest of All Time award show fiasco that led to some bad blood between those two artists, so it added insult to injury for Taylor.

Taylor has now re-recorded everything and released Speak Now: Taylor's Version. Of COURSE her fans are motivated to support her and get every single song they can into the highest position on the Hot 100 for as long as possible... and frankly, I am not a Swiftie but I can't blame them because if someone did that to BTS, I'd make it my life's mission to chart them as a big Fuck You, too.

But it does put a lot of pressure on Jungkook's single, because now it's very likely been weaponized in a personal dick-measuring contest where Scooter is concerned. Not sure if I mentioned it but I truly hate that man so I'm not sure I can be impartial when talking about him but I will try.

So Jungkook's single has been set up so far with pre-orders on iTunes and compressed files to radio, which is a first for any member's solo work. He also has a debut stage on Good Morning America, which has a huge range beyond k-pop.

So far, none of this is foul play. It is a company doing its best to represent and set up the best conditions for its artist under changed circumstances. You can make a case for favoritism, clearly, but at the end of the day, companies are about making profits and sometimes they grossly underestimate what has potential and what the market wants.

The issues fans are facing now around Seven lie in:

1) the neglect around Jimin's Like Crazy English Version, which is still so stable that it could be smashing charts if only it would get radio play so this just seems to make zero business sense and be more of a slight than anything else, so Jikookers are left wondering what that means for the relationship and,

2) the fear that Hybe America under Scooter Braun has abandoned BTS' founding values and taken the easy way out by paying to play on radio, which would severely damage credibility that BTS worked so hard to build as an organic, fan-driven success.

I think we'll have to wait to see how many sales, streams, and spins Jungkook gets to figure out if payola was likely. Maybe that one DJ was tweeting his own assumptions like they were facts. Or maybe Hybe has now decided to do payola. If that is so... not gonna lie, I will be extremely disappointed. I will need to take a break and figure out what this means for me as a fan.

The next question is how much did Jungkook know about all this? There seems to be two camps of thought here: one says the boys are involved in every step of the way and choose everything that happened around their releases.

(I know Jimin is very humble but I HIGHLY doubt he ever said to his company "Please rush my release in between other releases so I get physically sick trying to keep up with it; please never restock my physicals in WeVerse and don't send a file for the English song I studied for to US radios; and please also never post about my world record nor celebrate my albums' success in any way; yes, I worked 10+ months on this very personal opus but I absolutely don't want any of that." I very, very much doubt the ways Face was handled after Hot 100 #1 was Jimin's choice. This also makes me doubt if all the ways Seven will be handled will be Jungkook's choice.)

The second camp of thought is that the artists have absolutely no say in the marketing and promotion styles of their work, and that they are kept out of sales matters altogether. And here's the limit of my understanding, because I've not seen or read much on Hybe / BigHit's strategic plans around distribution for either BTS' group or solo works.

(Side Note: I have seen them set up TXT for a Billboard Top Ten, only for their collab to come in at #135, which shows a gross misunderstanding of their market right now--as well as disregard for their artists' feelings and reputations. My heart goes out to those boys; they worked hard.)

But drawing on my own experience decades ago when I used to work in entertainment out in LA, I can tell you, even as Chief Editor, plenty of my media content was changed without anyone informing me--back-cover blurbs, cover designs, release dates, shelf talkers, pop ups, print runs, print houses, store placements, advertising, interview articles--at some point in my former career, all of those things got changed around and I found out after the fact, on my own projects. Which pissed me off but I'd signed NDAs and couldn't do a single thing about it. And the authors / creators didn't know until *I* had the hard job of informing them. And they couldn't do anything about it because they were under contract.

So I think the level of members' involvement in solo works is somewhere in between. I think as artists and performers, BTS members can have a great deal of say in their look, styles, lyrics, choreo, merch, and venues. But not total say. Definitely not deciding-factor say.

I think the company can make them water down their lyrics, change up the choreo, and flat-out tell them no when it comes to music videos, performance venues, pretty much anything budget-related. They don't even have to explain why; it's their budget and their bottom-line. (In the old days, it seems like the members could freely express opinions around the works and even challenge management when it came to creative content. Maybe that is still true.)

As far as Jungkook's involvement in Seven's style, we have a stylist going on record about how some of the options were their ideas and that Jungkook had a lot of input on the look and feel, so it was a mixture:

For this reason alone, the fact that things like mud were added to clean pants or spikes to a jacket after Jungkook had input makes me truly feel this was his way of honoring Jimin and Face. It just seems like something our Jungkook would do--he may not always say it, but he's always watching Jimin-ssi.

As for sales and marketing strategies? The boys may never get looped in. Or they may be told the plans, but not invited to give input. Or they may sit down and plan it all out to the last detail with each department. I genuinely don't know. And because I don't know, I will not be assuming the worst of Jungkook or any member until I have all the facts. That is anti behavior, in my mind, and I just cannot stomach it. I can never bring myself to believe the worst of anyone until they fully and consistently show me that's who they are.

We've spent ten years with these guys. They are flawed human beings, yes, but not cheats, not assholes. I think they omit plenty of details but I don't think they straight-up lie to us. I don't think Jungkook would ever look his staff and executives in the eye and say "Yes, I want you to illegally pay money under the table so this single will top the charts." Jungkook is competitive, but also a stickler for fair play. You spend any amount of time watching Run, and the only time he "cheats" is when he wants to be with Jimin (lol) and he's pretty endearingly obvious about it; guy has almost no game face.

Okay but joking aside, I'm honestly very worried for JK. It sort of feels like he's being set up. Many questions have arisen over the stylistic choices for Seven. There's the fan frenzy around having a hot female protagonist in his video. And now the question about how much radio play Seven will get, and why. That's a lot of controversy to hang on a young man's shoulders. Especially in light of the recent book that's come out, in which it's clear now that the company and the artists are aware of hate-trending hashtags in English. GOD THAT MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.

To me, it feels (it feels--as in, my gut is telling me this; I have no receipts) like the company is using JK to experiment with a different way of doing business--a way that may stray from their founding values.

And there's so much potential for this to blow up in JK's face. There are solos who will insist he's stealing Jimin's style. Antis who will insist he's cheated on the charts. Insecure shippers who will lose their minds if anything flirty goes down with Han So-hee on screen. K-poppies, Swifties, and local racists all insisting on undermining his creativity, talent, and character because they fear the competition.

This release on Friday has the potential to be a blood bath. And I just don't trust the company to have his back and take ownership of their part in this, if so. From everything I've seen about Jungkook, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

My biggest question mark is how Jimin will respond to all of this. If he comes on live one day and says in a flat tone something like: "I was really surprised to see how similar Jungkookie's concept was to my own." or "How interesting that Seven got sent to radio--good for him, good for him. I wonder how that happens?" Then I'll take that to mean Jimin wasn't looped in on JK's plans and he doesn't feel great about it; that won't sit well with me.

Then again, if Jimin raves about Seven and plays it on live or joins JK in New York and mentions how flattered he was that they share the same style, how they click, how proud he is of JK's hard work and asks please ARMY give it a lot of love? Then I'll infer he was definitely looped in, this is a homage, and JK's actions were always above board. I will assume that because I will never doubt Jimin's integrity. If Jimin approves, I will approve. Jimin has earned my complete trust.

So this week is a very tense one (for me at least). But it does provide quite the distraction from the stress tests and specialist consults I have lined up, I'll give you that. Never a dull moment. (I am so ready for this fandom to have some dull moments.)

In the end, I'm going to chose to believe in the very best of our members until there's solid evidence to think otherwise. As of now? I think the only dirty cheater in the mix is the music industry at large. I know the entertainment world is corrupt, but Jesus, they are so blatant about it all.

Anyway, we may not get radio data for several days or weeks after the initial drop date, so I'm prepared to hang in there for a good bit. And if there is evidence of payola and JK knew about it... I'm gonna need time to process that and figure out where I go from there, as a Jikooker, as an ARMY. I will honestly be shocked.

One thing you'll never see me do is spout hatred for human beings. I will likely rant about the company. And there are plenty of people Scooter Braun that I viscerally dislike. But I'm making a commitment now not to spread dehumanizing hate speech on the timeline.

That's not what BTS or Jimin would ever want. That's not what I want for myself, especially if my days in this life are limited. I don't need that kind of toxicity or karma.

Am I furious about all the crap that's gone down for Jimin (and other members too, to a lesser degree)? You bet your buttons, as my Nana used to say. I could rage and froth all day about it.

But I also remember who came online over and over to say Jimin's name, play Jimin's songs, mimic Jimin's interviews, giggle at Jimin's video clips, and invite Jimin into his life.

And based on moved lamps and dog scratches and Jimin bulking up, it's likely Jimin has accepted those invitations.

Whenever we do get to glimpse Jimin with Jungkook, he seems as endeared and besotted as he always has.

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I trust Jimin to know if someone did him dirty, and to act accordingly. I do not believe any aspect of the Jikook relationship is performance.

For those reasons, I'm gonna be withholding judgement until all info around Seven comes in.

I hope you will too, but I understand if you feel differently and I'm not on this Earth to judge other people's viewpoints or experiences. I just ask that if you want to be friends with me here, you try to be civil in your words and actions, even in the sway of big feelings. Every person behind the screen is a work in progress; we are all fighting invisible battles; there are many sides to each story.

All any of us can do is our best with what we are given. Let's wait and see what Jungkook (and Jimin, and the company) give us.

If you made it this far through my ramblings, kudos! I welcome ideas, so feel free to comment--but just remember, rudeness will be removed. There's no space for meanness on my blog.

Love and deep respect to you all,

Roo

UPDATED:

So, it would seem the DJ who is hyping JK's Seven is also open to playing Like Crazy. This would imply it's been sent to some radio because before I remember he tweeted that he needed the compressed file in order to play it on his station (I am sorry I didn't save that link but he was talking about Hobi and Jimin if I recall, back at the time!).

UPDATE 2:

The radio stations that took requests (including the one mentioned above) back at that time were playing the music video version available to the public, not a compressed file sent by the company:

And when I check on this linktree of top radio stations in the US, Like Crazy does not come up as any option in rotation. I have to manually request still, after four months of being stable on the charts.

So if Jungkook gets immediate spins and requests immediately come up in rotation... is that because radio stations really love Jungkook? Or is this a company "networking" deal? (And in any case, would JK be involved in that aspect?) Everything still remains to be seen. Let's be patient and try our best not to assume the worst.

Many thanks for JMDBJK for mentioning in the comments the likelihood that a title track would be sent out, which prompted me to go look soon as I could get to my computer. I really do value anyone willing to take the time to help me learn more info about this industry!

#jungkook #jimin #jikook #seven by jungkook #Youtube

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black-arcana · 4 months

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Watch: A Bat Lands On THE PRETTY RECKLESS Singer TAYLOR MOMSEN's Leg During Concert In Spain

According to Metal Journal, a bat landed on the left leg of THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer Taylor Momsen during her band's May 29 performance at Estadio La Cartuja in Seville, Spain as the support act for AC/DC.

After playing the fifth song of THE PRETTY RECKLESS's set, "Witches Burn", Taylor addressed the crowd, saying: "You guys are pointing at something, and I wanna know what you're saying." She then looked down at her leg and noticed the bat, after which she return to the microphone and exclaimed: "There's a fucking flying bat on my leg right now. Can someone help me, please? I must really be a witch."

A stage quickly hang came over a removed the bat, prompting Taylor to say: "Gracias. It's all right. And the bat's fine. He's gonna be my new friend," before adding, "Holy fuck."

Guitarist Ben Phillips then told the crowd: "Well, that hasn't happened before." Momsen went on to say: "I'm telling you. I'm a fucking witch. I attract the bats. Someone, bring out a black cat. It's gonna be great."

Phillips said to the audience, "Gracias for pointing it out," before Momsen added: "I thought you were pointing at my SOUNDGARDEN bracelet. And I was, like, 'Oh. Fucking they like SOUNDGARDEN. Awesome."

During an appearance on the May 6 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Taylor was asked about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for THE PRETTY RECKLESS's fifth album. She said: "I don't have [release] dates for you, but we booked — we've locked up the studio for eight months. It takes us a while to make a record. But it was going amazingly [before we paused the sessions in order to hit the road]. Hopefully when we pick back up in September, it'll be the same kind of flow and everything will just jell. But a lot of it's written. I'm sure that more will be written when these experiences happen and then new songs [arise] out of them. So I'm sure that there'll be some more songs coming. But I don't have dates. But it was going great, and we had just started; we really haven't started at all, but there's written stuff. So that's a start, I guess. But as far as recording, we hadn't really gotten into it yet."

This past January, THE PRETTY RECKLESS shared a photo of Taylor in the studio with Jonathan Wyman, who co-produced THE PRETTY RECKLESS's latest album, 2021's "Death By Rock And Roll", apparently confirming that Wyman has re-teamed with the group for the upcoming LP.

In a May 2023 interview with Ronni Hunter of the 99.7 The Blitz radio station, Momsen revealed that she and her THE PRETTY RECKLESS bandmates had commenced work on the follow-up to "Death By Rock And Roll".

"We're in a great headspace," she said. "We're just having fun with it, and wrapping up the tour cycle of 'Death By Rock And Roll'. And then new record — and it's next chapter. We've already kind of started it… We've gotten into a studio; we've stepped foot into a studio. So that's saying something for us."

THE PRETTY RECKLESS is supporting AC/DC on the legendary hard rock band's spring/summer 2024 European tour. Momsen and her bandmates also opened for THE ROLLING STONES on May 11 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In November 2022, THE PRETTY RECKLESS released a new collection of music, "Other Worlds", via Fearless Records. The effort saw the group delivering its first proper acoustic recordings, unexpected covers and other reimaginings.

"Death By Rock And Roll" was made available in February 2021 via Fearless Records in the U.S. and Century Media Records in the rest of the world.

Upon release, "Death By Rock And Roll" topped multiple sales charts — including Billboard's Top Albums, Rock, Hard Music, and Digital charts. The record also yielded three back-to-back No. 1 singles — "Death By Rock And Roll", "And So It Went" (featuring Tom Morello of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE) and "Only Love Can Save Me Now" (featuring Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron of SOUNDGARDEN). The band has tallied seven No. 1 singles at the rock format throughout its career.

"Death By Rock And Roll" was THE PRETTY RECKLESS's first album to be made without longtime producer Kato Khandwala, who died in April 2018 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

THE PRETTY RECKLESS formed in 2009 and consists of Momsen, Phillips, bassist Mark Damon and drummer Jamie Perkins.

In 2021, Momsen — who rose to fame portraying the character of edgy little sister Jenny Humphrey on The CW's "Gossip Girl" — described "Death By Rock And Roll" in an interview with ABC Audio as a "battle cry for life and for hope."

"I think that that's something that we can all use a little bit more of, especially right now," she said. "We could always use a little more hope, and we could always use a little more rock and roll."

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#taylor momsen #the pretty reckless #Youtube

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