How do you know when a group is successful and is no longer a nugu?

Lilac

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In order for the group to be considered successful, do they need to make a profit that offset the cost? Or do they need to reach a certain level of popularity?

Recently, Loona members have revealed that they still haven't been paid. this is so disheartening to hear considering that they had so many music releases in their 4+ year career as well as world tour and endorsement deals. While Loona generates revenue through their activities, it seemed that their revenue did not offset the insane amount of millions BBC poured on Loona's pre debut releases.

My considerations in what makes a group successful and not nugu is financially related, and one of the three conditions must be met.

1) having a hit song - this gives general public recognition which leads to opportunities for endorsement deals and performances at festivals

2) ability to hold concerts in a sizeable venue - concert is the biggest money maker for artists. Gaining a decent sized fandom who would pay to see you in concerts leads to escaping nugudom.

3) having good album sales - at least 100k per album released. If a group has no endorsement deal/festival/concerts, album sales can keep the group afloat.

Going back to Loona, I see them as a somewhat successful group meeting criteria for album sales and concerts even though company's financial negligence has hurted them.

To me, a group can't make money without some level of popularity so amount of money they make determines whether the group is nugu or not.
 

hatmixx

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For me it just seems if they are known by most of the public, then they aren't a nugu group. I dont know if sales or monetary success really has much to do with it.

Plus, now that kpop is more global, there's the chance that a lot of groups are kept afloat by foreign money. So, while they may appear to be successful artists and "non-nugus", the majority of the korean public might have no friggin clue who they are.
 
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Lilac

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I think a group can be both successful and unknown, there are many boy group examples
Definitely, there are numerous boy groups who have high album sales and can hold concerts but at the same time general public don't know the group or any of their songs.
 

Lilac

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For me it just seems if they are known by most of the public, then they aren't a nugu group. I dont know if sales or monetary success really has much to do with it.

Plus, now that kpop is more global, there's the chance that a lot of groups are kept afloat by foreign money. So, while they may appear to be successful artists and "non-nugus", the majority of the korean public might have no friggin clue who they are.
Yep, there are groups who are kept afloat with mostly foreign money. Everglow and Kard are first groups I thought of in that regard. With kpop expanding globally, the album sales rose for groups in general and to me that means more groups would be successful.
 

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Before your group is popular it will be entirely ignored. After, if you are on Twitter, stans of higher ranked ggs will start attacking your group as will stans of nugu groups. One trying to keep your group down and the other trying to claw past it.
 

BianTwo

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Depends on your criterias. Is it money ? Digital charting ? Known by the public ? Awards ? All of them ?

You have groups with huge fandom but outside they aren't very known (boy groups for example) and you have the opposite (Brave Girls for example, or Momoland and Crayon Pop in the past) who are or were known from most Kpop fans and the public while having a quite small fandom.

Some groups also rely on international fans and audiences like Loona, Dreamcatcher, KARD and ATEEZ.
Or Secret Number in Indonesia thanks to Dita.

Those recent groups are successful : IVE, New Jeans, G-IDLE (I can count Aespa and ITZY).

What do they have in common ?
  • Their songs are charting (top 1-20 Melon or lasting in top 100 for months).
  • Most K-pop fans knows their songs or their name and the public likely have heard of them.
  • They are touring and/or doing many big events or important festivals.
  • They have commercials from known brands.
I don't really rely on SNS or Youtube views, they are indicators but it's not enough. Having a big fandom isn't necessary but it's important when touring or selling merchs.
 

Lilac

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Before your group is popular it will be entirely ignored. After, if you are on Twitter, stans of higher ranked ggs will start attacking your group as will stans of nugu groups. One trying to keep your group down and the other trying to claw past it.
More successful your group is, more there are haters :jy:

Depends on your criterias. Is it money ? Digital charting ? Known by the public ? Awards ? All of them ?

You have groups with huge fandom but outside they aren't very known (boy groups for example) and you have the opposite (Brave Girls for example, or Momoland and Crayon Pop in the past) who are or were known from most Kpop fans and the public while having a quite small fandom.

Some groups also rely on international fans and audiences like Loona, Dreamcatcher, KARD and ATEEZ.
Or Secret Number in Indonesia thanks to Dita.

Those recent groups are successful : IVE, New Jeans, G-IDLE (I can count Aespa and ITZY).

What do they have in common ?
  • Their songs are charting (top 1-20 Melon or lasting in top 100 for months).
  • Most K-pop fans knows their songs or their name and the public likely have heard of them.
  • They are touring and/or doing many big events or important festivals.
  • They have commercials from known brands.
I don't really rely on SNS or Youtube views, they are indicators but it's not enough. Having a big fandom isn't necessary but it's important when touring or selling merchs.
My considerations are mostly money bc I think in the long run having stable fandom keeps the group afloat. Digital charting and public recognition are nice to have that adds to popularity/success

For brave girls/momoland/crayon pop, I would say they were successful at the time when they had hit songs and were well known.

The above criteria you mentioned are definitely what would make the groups successful.

I don't rely on YouTube views either as the views can come from ads.

Once their fandom outgrows being fun and starts being toxic, they've made it! :poggers:
Don't you miss when your group was nugu, and the fandom used to be less toxic?
 

Seriously

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Don't you miss when your group was nugu, and the fandom used to be less toxic?
Every single time I walk in to twitter. Somnia's used to be about 2 things, music and memes. There wasn't many of us, but we were happy and easy going... Not, uhhh, not so much anymore.
:sadpepe:
More people is a blessing and a curse, because sadly, you don't get to choose the KIND of people.
 

BianTwo

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Don't you miss when your group was nugu, and the fandom used to be less toxic?

When the group you like was nugu it felt different

Small fandom : we likely knew each knew each other and were less toxic, or it wasn't really visible. We could tell people that "we were here when they weren't known" :LOL:

Proximity : with fewer fans, the idols are more likely to notice you or to answer you. Easier to do with a few hundreds people than thousands. It feels so nice to get notifications and replies from our fav.

But that would mean the group's situation wasn't great since they lacked success and recognition. I rather have them at least to earn enough money.
 

frostpuddle

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I consider a group successful when:
Chart in Melon top 100
At least 50k album sales on Hanteo
Performs at year end award shows and gayos
Multiple music show wins
Appeared on popular Korean variety shows
Brand endorsements and cfs
 
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