#i actually really love how many sk variety shows are based around music its so nice

[sanstropfremir]

Immortal song is amazing I love it sooo much its the reason I became a shawol, like one of my favourite episodes ever was this boohwal one and it had yoseob from highlight, hyolyn, 2ams changmin sujus yesung and jonghyun too like it's literally the third episode ever and it's so hard to find online the only place I found it with subs in full was this porn site and I don't know if the covers are actually good or if im just nostalgic because all my faves r in it and they all look so young and talented but I rewatch that ep so often, like you know the first half where they have to compete with a song they choose so they can choose what order they wanna go in jonghyun did this song called left hander and it was soo fun he's so charismatic and his cover of lonely night made me really look into shinee, yesungs the more I love you cover is one my favourites and hyorin did a cover of hyeya they don't make vocalists like her anymore 😓😓anyway I don't know anything about music from a technical standpoint so if the covers r bad then just know that she said she was disappointed with her performance and yesung was nervous and performed the same song again at a concert and did better and after this I think both jonghyun and yesung left because it was stressful and they had schedule conflicts but ya it's one of my favourite episodes ever

omg that sounds so fun!! i never have time to watch full episodes but i love the concept and i've found so many good artists and music through it!!

[monstacatcher]

Why don’t Monsta X have more online engagement?

I’ve been thinking a little about how Monsta X’s fandom is really strong and have gone through a lot, but still are resilient and fighting to be heard, just like the members. We have a really strong bond with the boys that isn’t superficial, it has been grown over years of dedication and love so that gives us a solid foundation of trust, both from the boys to us, but also from us to the boys.

But, and sadly there is a but, when it comes to voting/views/streams, we seem to always be behind other fandoms, even rookies. Of course we are always growing so we still get millions of views on MVs, they win eoty awards, and sometimes we get them music show wins. But if we look at the views on MX performances over the end-of-year shows as an example, its drastically less than any other groups. That makes me so sad for the boys because they work so hard for us and always put on a great show, and have for many years won awards for best performances, but this predicament is also what made me think. 

MX have gone high on the charts in the west the last 3 years, I’d say it’s been a growing trend for them since around Beautiful era. But in SK we always struggle to even get on the charts. Since Shoot Out its been getting steadily better, but it’s still not near enough for a group that’s 5 years old now. They have some of the highest album sales among all boy groups, have done no less than 3 world tours to sold out audiences, and are huge inspirations for many rookie groups and have many bgs who are fans of them. They are well liked by idols and industry staff because they are kind and grounded and always well mannered. I mean, if you take all of these things into account, they are basically legend level, so why is their online engagement, streams and voting, so much lower than most other groups? It’s not like MBBs don’t adore the boys and want them to do well, so why do MX get the bare minimum of attention when the numbers and revenue tell another story?

After some reflection and having been a MBB since late 2015, I’ve noticed a few things:

MBBs are in general older than many kpop fans. Sounds weird, but I’ve noticed more often than not, that MBBs are older, starting late teens to late 20s. I myself am 26 and my fellow irl mbb friends are around my age +/-. 

This would explain parts of why they have such high sales and concert attendance, why we could collect thousands of $ to do things for Wonho and MX when they needed the support. We’ve bought the equal of a Zoo in animal adoptions, we’ve bought stars, huge billboard adds in several countries and prominent places. We had lawyerBebes coming through with advice and information, we had bilingualBebe’s translating across several languages to keep all MBB updated and in the loop, we made structured plans and tactical demonstrations that were sat in motion all over the world depending on the need and time zones. That is some raw sh*t and I was so proud to see it absolutely Shake other fandoms who underestimate us because we are (letsberealwewere) a chill fandom. But damn when the boys needed to know we loved them and supported, we freaking showed up like a tidal wave.

Many MBBs got the calm/respect, the knowledge, the structure, the m o n e y to do things like this because they are basically adults!! They have jobs and bills and choose to spend money on what they love, who they love. Of course there are younger fans as well who also buy albums and participate in concerts and give us good online presence, being absolute hero’s, but like I said, in general the age of your average MBBs is higher compared to other groups. The only groups I can think who also have this to some extent are BTS and EXO. But they also have a lot of, in general, younger fans who’ve just discovered kpop. Not to be overlooked, these groups also have a lot OG’s, they have been active for over 7 years so of course they have both old and new fans a-plenty. My hypothesis is that MX still to this day attracts more older fans than younger because they have way more mature and hard sound concepts, and that the members are in general older than is “normal” in the industry, even when they debut. MX is a special interest genre in SK, and in the west it also is a hard style not everyone likes. 

Many of the rookie groups are coming out in the height of KPOP, they are debuting right into 4th gen-age, year ‘17-’19 where kpop is trendy world wide. There are literally kpop fans all over the world waiting for a new group to debut so they can find someone to get hype about because finding “older” groups is a lot of “work”. You have to sit down and actually find their old stuff, watch shows, interviews, spanning years. But when you start with a rookie group, you get everything served on a silver plate because you’re there from the start! I get it, its easier. When I got into MX I basically followed them from debut, I was a mere 6 months “behind” so I did the same thing, caught up, stayed up. But because of this really new interest in kpop and the trend of waiting for new groups, it means that a lot of the time new kpop fans are teens. They are spending their time on the internet exactly like I did when I was 14-16, but instead of discovering and being obsessed with KPOP, for me and many my age, it was tv-shows, films, movies.

Which brings me to the hearty center of this whole think-tank, if you’re 15, with no other responsibilities than doing your homework and maybe a sport, you have SO much free time to be online, tweeting, mass streaming, voting, spending every spare time you have to support your chosen loves. But for example when you have an older fan base, who have to work, take care of themselves, maybe also kids, be social, work out, go shopping, attend meetings and other adult sh*t, you are absolutely exhausted at the end of the day, you don’t have time to mass stream or contribute to the fandom, but when you can you watch variety shows or vlives, you stream the album on Spotify on the way to work, you buy the album on comeback. You watch performances videos on Instagram because its more convenient than sitting down and finding the video on youtube. 

All these factors I think lead up to the fact that MX is a huge group, but still seems so small and underrated. You have Die-Hard loyalty and love that is admirable and beautiful, but in general, a much quieter fandom. Not all MBBs can participate actively, not everyone wants to. And it’s okey. If you’re older or still a teen, no matter how you choose to support MX, no matter how much time/effort you put in to the fandom, its all okey. Because in the end its all for the boys that we all love and that should be what we focus on. Of course if you have the time, watch the video on youtube instead of instagram, watch it on vlive instead of twitter. These little things have a huge difference. 

Anyway stan Monsta X