#but recently theyve just been getting smaller and lower in quality

[deathberi]

this batch really said eri hasnt been buying bnps in a while lets release all her favs together

[wickymicky]

there are definitely a bunch of tiers for kpop group viewcounts (and thus, overall popularity)

at the top you have groups whose music videos seem to end up around 100 to 500 million views, tho because of how popular they are, they seem to never stop going up. this is like BTS and Blackpink, arguably Twice is at the low end of this tier. asking if someone has heard of them is like asking if someone has heard of the Marvel movies. they’re known globally.

the second tier are groups whose songs end up around 50 to 200 million. usually some of their songs are around 50 million, but their biggest hits are closer to 200. but like, even their least popular songs are usually not lower than 50 million. if Twice isn’t on the low end of the top tier, theyre at the high end of the second tier. Red Velvet’s here too. people know these groups and are devoted fans, and want to see them join the ranks of the globally-known groups. even if they aren’t doing coachella though, theyre hard to ignore.

the third tier is for groups whose smaller songs get around 20 million, their average is around 40-60 million, but their bigger hits approach 100 million. it’s made up of established groups like Mamamoo, GFriend, EXID, Sunmi (not a group but you know what i mean), etc, who are household names among kpop fans, even if theyre not the most wildly popular. they’re not just veteran groups either, Izone is also here, and Itzy is here too even though their video has over 100 million. i just don’t feel like they should be put in the second tier yet haha. there’s a huge variance in numbers with these groups, but i think we can all agree that they’re are a step above the next tier in terms of overall fame.

the fourth tier.... it’s hard to know when to split it... so i’m gonna break it into two sub-tiers

the upper fourth tier is for groups like Loona, and I think CLC as well, who get around 10 to 30 million views on their songs (not counting the Loona solo mvs). I feel like Everglow is gonna be around here once they have a comeback, cause I think Bon Bon Chocolat got so many views because people weren’t expecting it to be as good as it was. I think Yue Hua wasn’t prepared for the response, either. Sihyeon and Yiren were popular on Produce 48, but like.. they finished at 29th and 28th place haha, it’s not like they were just outside the top 12... so I think they underestimated that. I think if they have a comeback that is good, it’ll land around here, and depending on just how good it is, they’ll move up to the third tier or down to the bottom fourth tier. people have heard of these groups, and probably think theyre “going somewhere”. people probably say “oh yeah i’ve been hearing a lot about them lately, i should check them out” about them. 

the rest of the fourth tier is a LOT broader. most kpop groups probably fall in around here. the only reason i split this tier into two sub-tiers is because I feel like the upper ones have more potential to join the third tier than these ones do, at least for the time being. this sub-tier is for groups that get a million views really easily, but struggle to make it past 15 million, or even past 10 million. groups like Dreamcatcher, Fromis 9, Weki Meki, Gugudan, etc. people have heard of these groups too, but sometimes that’s just about all they’ve heard. they might have heard a factoid about them, like how Dreamcatcher has a rock-inspired sound, or how Gugudan changes concept every comeback, or how Gugudan and Weki Meki have members of IOI in them. but if you’re watching your favorite group on one of those variety shows, you’ll never hear a song by these groups come on the “random dance” segment lol. 

it’s also hard to tell if WJSN is here or in the one above this? their music video viewcounts are split between their channel and 1thek, but even still i dont think they have songs that are past 15 million when added together, right? and yet theyve gotten several music show wins. I think I would place them in the upper fourth tier just based on fame... but it’s hard to say for sure

the fifth tier is sort-of the bottom tier. i believe kpop fans call them “nugu groups”? nugu just means “who”, right? well anyway, they’re not as popular as the others. that can definitely change though! and like, i’m just talking about their popularity, not overall quality of their music. these groups max out at around a million views. these are like Elris, Dreamnote, Saturday, etc. people often havent heard of them, and if they have it was just seeing a recommended video on youtube from them, but they didnt actually click it. theyve just seen the name. I gotta say, I’m kinda one of those people. there’s some I wanna check out more though, the Elris song I heard was pretty good. 

then the sixth tier isnt really a tier, it’s just groups that didn’t make it. usually they had one song and then disbanded... if they were lucky and got to debut at all lol. one that i heard of recently was Ye-A, a group that had one single and then disbanded without an official statement. after their single, a bunch of members left (which certainly didnt help), including Kwon Eunbi, who is now the leader of Izone. funny how these things work out

also sorry, most of what I know is girl groups. like for the second tier and the upper fourth i could only think of a handful of groups, but i’m sure there’s a ton of boy groups that fit in those categories. in fact, i know that’s the case.