Who likes BTS?

BTS poses on the red carpet before the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball concert at The Forum, in Inglewood, California, U.S., Dec. 3, 2021. Reuters-Yonhap

By David A. Tizzard

There's no getting away from BTS' popularity. The Korean idol group topped charts, broke countless records, and spoke at the United Nations. In doing so, they went through various metamorphoses: from hyper-masculine black-inspired hip-hop, to schizophrenic genre-bending K-pop, and finally the soft masculinity of western pop that propelled them to their greatest heights. From an artistic standpoint, they seemed to play out a Beatles in reverse. Going from writing their own songs and exploring certain difficult social issues to simply dancing on stage to other people's work. Interestingly, it was the latter that resulted in their greatest commercial success even if much of the critical interest was generated in the DNA and Blood, Sweat, and Tears eras.

At the same time, their fans ― known as ARMY ― have earned a place in the public consciousness. They have rallied behind political causes, dominated social media platforms, and left many public figures apologetic for having crossed the group. For some, ARMY are a collective who provide community, identity, and act as a force for good in the world for the values they advocate. Because of the specific nature of the K-pop industry and the parasocial relationships created by management companies between idols and fans, the actions of fans can now play a very large role in determining a group's success or failure. Rather than boardroom executives, it is now young prosumers who can make or break a group's pop career through their dedicated streaming practices, purchasing of merchandise, and social media activities.

As with any large group of fans, they are not a monolith and do not possess a single collective identity. However, one can look for trends. The people who watch opera are not the same as the people who watch professional wrestling. Chess fans are not the same as those into My Little Pony. Punks don't generally knit. Of course, these are generalizations and there will always be exceptions to those rules. However, data can help us get a better picture of who likes what.

A recent survey of more than 500,000 people (an incredible number!) gives us greater insight into who BTS fans are. The 2022 ARMY Census is a stupendous demographic analysis, providing quantities of data that those in academia could never dream of achieving. It was carried out by Chaviva Grover, a documentary filmmaker, Kate Ringland, assistant professor at the University of California, and J, Z & S, a joint South African run account. Between April and May of this year, they conducted a global survey through social media. Obviously this is not representative of every single member of the BTS fan club, but with over half a million respondents, the results can definitely provide some insight into the collection of people that have become known around the world as ARMY. Those who constructed and completed it should be proud of their efforts.

The first and most obvious point to make is that the vast majority of BTS fans are female. In this year's survey, of the 562,280 people surveyed around the world, over 96 percent are female. This has been clear through any visual analysis of concerts or public events, but there is often an attempt to play down this aspect as if it lessens the validity of the group. I don't think this should be the case. As above, different people like different things and the legitimacy of an art form or commercial product should not necessarily be increased or lessened by the identity of those who engage with it. As a reflection of social changes rather than the group's artistic growth, the number of non-binary ARMY members also increased quite dramatically over the past two years, from approximately 3,000 people in 2020 to nearly 10,000 this year.

What's interesting, however, is that the ratio of female fans is rising. In a similar survey carried out two years ago, 11 percent of the respondents were male. Now, that's down to 1.35 percent with only 7,500 of the half million respondents being male. Does that mean the group's shift towards the androgyny and a focus on western-penned bubble gum pop pushed away male fans and earned them more female fans? Perhaps.

To explore that idea further, the data tells us that BTS earned their most fans (among those surveyed) during 2020-2021. During this period, the group earned 40.43 percent of their fan base. So as Dynamite, Butter, and Permission to Dance hit the charts and marked a clear artistic divergence from the previous era, their popularity grew. Or, at least, it attracted a whole new set of fans. It will be interesting to see what happens to those numbers now the group has declared itself to be on hiatus and the members exploring very different individual artistic expressions. J-Hope's recent album, for example, contains a lot of darkness, rapping, metal guitars, and swearing. The videos contain no fan service in the form of love-hearts, aegyo, or pink hair. This is another definite shift.

If I'm honest, J-Hope's latest record is far more interesting (to me) and authentic than the group's recent purchased hits. But, at the same time, it's also far less likely to top the charts. Which raises a question: Is it more important to achieve commercial success in the west or to express yourself honestly? Both would obviously be nice but, in reality, it's often a case of making a choice. And then who makes that choice, the artist, the entertainment company, or the fans?

The older you are, the less likely you are to be ARMY as well. Over 83 percent (471,935) were below 30. The majority of fans (53.63 percent) were aged between 18 and 29 and a substantial proportion were also under 18 (30.30 percent). We're often told that old people can like BTS, and that is definitely the case. I personally know people in their 60s that express a great love for the septuplet. Statistically, however, these people are the exception rather than the norm.

And where are the majority of ARMY from? Again, the data confirms what many already knew. The top ranking countries of those who took the survey were Mexico, Peru, Indonesia, United States, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Russia, India, and Philippines. South Korea only comes in at number 15; Japan, which normally does very well in such studies, only hit number 20. So BTS' fandom is genuinely global. But there is seemingly very little of it in Europe, Canada, or Australia. Instead, Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America provide the majority of the fans. Again, this does not affect the legitimacy of a cultural product. But it will leave marketers, analysts, and researchers questioning why certain countries are attracted towards BTS (and K-pop more broadly) while others are not. Why are there not more BTS fans in Britain, Germany, or New Zealand? Is it cultural? Economic? Artistic? Or something else?

I know many people might disagree with some of the initial conclusions I have drawn from the data. However, I think it's important for there to be a genuine study of this phenomenon from a critical and objective perspective rather than just a fan analysis. In academia it is not only advocates of capitalism who study capitalism or constructivists who read Alexander Wendt. There should be engagement with this data from those capable of doing so from a cultural, geographic, economic, and sociological perspective. I'm not suggesting I am capable of doing any of these, but if this article draws more attention to the excellent work done by Chaviva Grover, her team, and all the ARMY members who participated in the study, then that will be enough.

Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies and lectures at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He is a social/cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. He is also the host of the Korea Deconstructed podcast, which can be found online. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.