If the recording gets too long, please bring a lunch box and a hot pack.
Fans of the group who didn’t receive it expressed their dissatisfaction on social media.
“I’m being dragged around because I’m heavily dependent on fandom for revenue.”
Lunch box, blanket, juice, pack, serum, gift card, hot pack… .
This is a so-called ‘reverse tribute’ item gifted to fans by the 5-member virtual idol group Play during the pre-recording of the MBC Song Festival aired on December 31 last year. Idol fans praised the generous gift list, saying, “It must have cost a lot of money, but it’s amazing.” The ‘Reverse Tribute List’, which contains the details of gifts prepared by idols for their fandom, such as New Jeans, who gave fans cookies and lunch boxes, and ATEEZ, who gave eye massagers, etc., also became a hot topic online.
As a result, there are many cases in which idols who fail to prepare counter-tribute gifts have recently become targets of criticism. Representative examples are Aespa and Day6. Last year, the impact was even greater as they were popular idols whose songs such as ‘Whiplash’ (Aespa) and ‘Happy’ (Day6) recorded mega hits.
In fact, on social media There were a lot of complaints from the fandom, such as “(Pre-recording) there was only a three-hour delay, so I thought they would at least send kimbap in the middle” and “We had to stay silent while other teams were receiving tribute.” Some idols complained that even though they paid tribute, they performed poorly compared to other singers.
This situation shows that the ‘power relationship’ in the Korean idol world, which is based on the structure of idols and fandom, is gradually changing. In the past, it was natural for fans to one-sidedly bombard their idols with gifts. However, now ‘taking care of the fandom’, including paying tribute, has become an important part of idols’ daily life. A few years ago, counter-tributes by Hyuna and IU were talked about as a joke, but now it has come to a point where people are criticized if they don’t do it.
There are reactions from entertainment agencies that say this atmosphere is “embarrassing.” An agency official said, “As real-time interactions between fans become more active on social media, etc., idols and agencies have no choice but to pay attention. However, it is difficult to understand the reality of being criticized for not doing something when it is not mandatory.” Another agency official also said, “Now K-pop has become an excessive ‘fandom-involvement business,’” and added, “We have to pay close attention to the packaging and method of delivering gifts to the fandom.”
There is also considerable criticism that this reversal of relationships was accelerated by the industry structure itself, in which Korean idols rely too much on fandom. Many idol agencies maximize profits by encouraging multiple album purchases through fan signing event entry tickets and random photos. There are many businesses targeting core fandom rather than the general public, such as expensive goods.
There is also an analysis that the compensation mentality was triggered because fans spend such a large amount of money on idols. Pop culture critic Jeong Deok-hyeon said, “The more entertainment companies do business using fans, the more the fans want. In the past, idol management companies were in the lead, but now the center of gravity is tilting towards the fandom.”
The fact that the number of idol groups appearing every year has increased and competition among idols has become fiercer has also contributed to this atmosphere. Lim Hee-yoon, a popular music critic, said, “As the success stories of the Korean music industry have focused on idols, it has been more than a dozen years since all entertainment companies began producing idols. Unlike the past when fans cheered enthusiastically, they now act as a kind of ‘agency’ that covers celebrities. “I am still in charge of it,” he explained.
However, this climate also has aspects that make it difficult for artists to focus on their ‘work’. Ha Jae-geun, a pop culture critic, said, “The culture that demands material aspects from popular artists who should be valued based on their content needs to be improved.”
Reporter Sa Ji-won [email protected]
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