Redemption Reacts to BTS vs Radio
Added 2022-09-20 10:08:10 +0000 UTC
Comments
I'm very late to this, but there's a lot I want to say here because a lot was talked about/said/and some things I feel either were missed on, or just forgotten. To start, I would like to say that even in 2013... ARMY here in the US and around the globe, despite there not being a ton of us, we were still calling in to radio to get their music played. No one would play them. K-ARMY were calling Korean radio to get them played then too... even in their own damn country, it was difficult to get BTS played on the radio. Some stations would play BTS in SK. There is one in particular who would, they didn't play them as often as the companies who had influence and the money to 'donate'. But they did at least play some of BTS' music once in a while. BTS appeared on the billboard charts in 2014 for the first time ever, with next to no radio play. More ARMY popped up in the US and calls were made to radio stations because we knew even back then that radio plays were a good sized percentage towards getting an artist recognition. Sadly.. 2014,2015, 2016... we were lucky if we could get campus radio to play some BTS. If a normal radio station played it, it was in what radio calls 'off hours' or 'dead hours'. These are times when engagement is at its lowest for radio. The point of the video is to point out that radio only plays what is paid for. It's a scam, and there are not many radio hosts who will go against that grain and just play what people ask for, play new music because they genuinely care about music and not only discovering new music themselves, but want others to discover new music. The point is to show that radio is desperate and dying off and thus should not be as accountable for deciding who gains on music charts. It shouldn't decide the popularity since not even local artists can be heard on the radio very often unless that artist is taking out a loan to pay the radio station to play their music. I'm not saying radio will die out completely anytime soon. It will take a while, unless radio finally gets their heads out of their asses and realizes that change is needed on their part. But I'm not holding my breath for that. I stopped requesting BTS songs to be played on the radio back in 2017. I rather stream the music, stream MV's, whatever else it takes to get the artists I feel deserve the recognition. That's my opinion and how I choose to help BTS get recognition they deserve. Yes, there are other big artists who make hits, who get on the charts.. because they are supported by a company who pays to get them plays and in the past as bundled the shit out of their merch with albums or tickets with albums to help them gain the system. To help them un-authentically gain numbers to get onto the charts. It took a long time for someone to point that out, and even still MANY people in the US don't even know about it unless they actually paid attention. Which... not everyone does. However... when ARMY streams, suddenly we're called the cheaters. People start writing article after article on how ARMY cheats the system. Random online bloggers and random sites dedicated to music start blaming ARMY and calling us cheaters. Why? Because we genuinely love BTS' music and listen to it every day? MILLIONS of us listen to it.. so we're cheaters? We're bots? Because other's fandoms are not as big and do not know about these things... because the fan culture in America isn't anything like the fan culture in other parts of the world.... so clearly it's our fault? It's dumb in my opinion to compare MJ and BTS(people do compare them in this way though, unfortunately). MJ's struggle was just as real, but he had the addition of music relying heavily on radio and people a main source back in those days. And yes, he had people against him too who wanted more and more from him and if he didn't comply, he got snubbed too. Rumors and bad press didn't help any but because of his dedicated fans, he still remains a legend. He had the talent and the stages to back up that talent and show WHY he was global and no one was going to stop him. His charisma and stage presence was on levels no other performer could achieve. He's still held at the best performer of all time and I would never argue that. He was one man. He managed to do all he did and make people feel like they were seeing the best damn show of their lives. But again.. it's not right to compare them because BTS is also having struggles, just in a different time and different struggles. Radio isn't what it used to be, BTS is a group who doesn't sing in all English so there is a prejudice there and to say there isn't is just plain ignorant. Of course people don't take BTS seriously... they have the 'boyband' tag which is known for not exactly being positive and it comes with many pre-set assumptions that aim to diminish a group's musicality. No boyband has won a Grammy, because the academy doesn't see boybands as actual artists. No matter if they actually take part in creating their own music or if the group just has people write and produce for them. It's all the same to them... The video pointed out how radio shouldn't count for the percentage that it does- that it's time for a change, it's time for these charts to re-think how these numbers are accumulated. And just because ARMY finds out how to use the system they put in place, with genuine streams... it's not cheating. Not when there's so many of us who do stream to get BTS that recognition, because if we didn't, if we don't... then BTS will be shoved aside and not be taken seriously. With ARMY helping them... people will eventually have to take notice... hell it already happened. We had them on the billboard charts pretty high in 2015 and 2015... and low and behold.. 2017 they got invited and acknowledged at Billboard and AMA's. So our method has worked, but ARMY is smart enough to know we have to change with the times. That same method won't work now and we've been figuring out the ways all this time and trying things. Youtube changes it's rules to prevent BTS from breaking their own record of most viewed MV in 24 hours... however they'll push other artists and hope they break that record through methods like paying for ads, paying for trending, and allowing multi tagging/ a music video to be placed on a normal creator account where it's easier to accumulate views because views count after only about 60 seconds of viewing, and the restrictions of instant rewatch are not in place like they are on music channels. Gaining the system... it's been done, it will always be done. If the music industry wants to play this way, we and ANY other fandom has a right to play just as hard right back. No one is preventing these other fandoms from doing the same, it's just that either they don't believe in their artist, don't feel as connected or appreciated by their artists... or they just don't know or care about getting their artist seen- and all of that is fine. But the amount of hate ARMY gets for wanting who we believe are genuine artists to get recognized.. is fucking ridiculous and sadly expected at this point. Yeah Grammys gave the award this past year to Doja for 'kiss me more' - I had heard the song maybe once... not an impressive song to be honest and I fully believed BTS was snubbed the award. The grammy's just give awards to those who play by their rules. Doja's label most likely did the routine.. slid some money and gifts to some academy members and got the award that way... just like most other artists. Most the time the artists don't even know their labels are doing this shit. But that's a whole other rant to be honest. However it plays into the point that the music industry needs to change. Why do we do this? Why does ARMY go for this stuff? Streaming as much as we can, buying as much as we can? because we are tired of these industries circle jerking each other and playing with genuine artists who are not doped up every weekend/weekday, aren't out shooting up clubs or getting drunk and driving recklessly, getting their asses thrown in jail or getting DUI's at least once a week... the list goes on. We do this mostly because BTS want recognition. Yoongi said it would be nice to win a Grammy, the others too.. it's what they want, and what we want to give to them. We do what makes them happy, the smiles on their faces when they win something.. they know that we get them those awards. That assures them that we are still here, fighting for them. Are they the most important thing? No. of course not. We know that, they know that.. but it's still nice to see them get awards, to have them in the same room as artists that they outsell and out perform.. to have them in the same room with artists they deserve to be in the same room as. Music heals people, that's been proven so many times, and for some ARMY... this is the way to thank BTS for healing them with their music. To thank BTS for assuring us we're not alone and it's okay to feel what we feel. I know to some people... they just will never understand it, and that's fine. But the people that say it's pointless to stream, it's pointless to hold stream parties and watch MV's multiples of times... they should just focus on what they like, what they love, their own lives. I also agree with what the ARMY said about this all from a business standpoint- who the hell would tell someone "no don't buy multiple albums", "no don't buy multiple digital downloads of this one song." If someone were to say that who's in the business words... I'd think they needed to reconsider their career path. But that goes back to American artists not putting the effort in to their fanbases. Some do okay, like Taylor and even Beyonce, and Nikki too. They do okay.. but they're not doing it like BTS or anywhere near how Kpop groups are used to doing things. BTS does the most, and that hasn't changed for years... and I honestly don't think it will change for a while. Luckily we are seeing some next gen groups learning from them, and trying to build something of their own, which is great. I could honestly rant all day about this, but I lack time right now. I'll leave it at this- I understand what you're saying.. but there's a change that needs to be made, it's been needing to be made. Unless you're cool with labels paying for their artists to win or be heard. And if you are, great, that's your thing. But the "that's just how the industry works" "how most industries over the world work"... just because that's "how it works" doesn't mean it's right, and doesn't mean that it needs to be changed. This is how we progress... And shit needs to change, ARMY has been working to start that change. Of course we're going to ruffle feathers along the way... and it may take us years still to see some good changes... but at least we're fucking trying. I'm going to leave it at that. I thank you guys for always being open and honest, and sharing your thoughts. I thank you for the reaction as well as all the great content you give.💜💜💜💜
ARMYnotArmy
2022-09-25 16:50:23 +0000 UTCI have not listen to radio in ages and until recently I was not watching the Grammys. I have never called to make a song request. I listen to what I like and I will listen to the same thing over and over sometimes.
Pauline Whyte
2022-09-23 21:36:11 +0000 UTCWould there be artists who would say, “No, we don’t like that kind of dedicated fan base.”? When they accuse ARMY of cheating because we mass buy albums or downloads, I would always use the analogy of a business owner selling products, would you tell the buyers, “No, please just buy one”. Of course they would love you to buy multiple times, whether you’ll use/consume them or not. It will really be a damn miracle and I have already given up hope that they will win a Grammy and you know what? That is fine by me. We support and we stream as much as we can because we believe in them and their artistry. That is it. I don’t believe also in pushing for people to lose their jobs. Yes, radios can stay. There are still people who listens to that. I don’t. But at least change the ruling against it to make it fair. But again, this is like crying over spilled milk. It is what it is, unfortunately.
Shyrell
2022-09-23 20:08:12 +0000 UTCHere's what RM (Joonie) had to say in response to if ARMY work amounts to chart manipulation (which I might add. They keep changing the rules and yes we stay on top of it) in a Billboard interview. He responds. " It's a fair question. But if there is a conversation inside Billboard about what being No. 1 should represent then its up to them to change the rules and make streaming weigh more on the ranking. Slamming us or our fans for getting to No 1 with physical sales and downloads. I don't know if that's right.. It just feels like we are easy targets because we're a boyband a Kpop act, and we have this high fan loyalty." ARMY follows all the rules. After this interview all the rules changed. And not in a way that made it easier. It's more difficult now than it's ever been but we still try. Lol. My goal personally as 1 in an ARMY is just to do my best to love them. It's something that actually improves me life. It overflows into every other area. Love. I don't go as far as some or as little as others. Just what I can because they made me believe in a lot of things again and I want to help them fly for as long as possible.
Andredayyy
2022-09-22 05:41:51 +0000 UTCThat’s dope.. I would’ve called too 😩
Redemption 46 Studios
2022-09-20 20:30:28 +0000 UTCTo answer the question on if army were calling in. YES. There were entire radio team fanbases dedicated to that.
Jade Escobar
2022-09-20 19:22:20 +0000 UTCEverything what Lo was saying about how things work here is exactly why we're trying to shed light on all the payola/extortion happening here. Just because it's the ways things are doesn't make it right and doesn't mean we shouldn't try to change things by speaking out about it. It's because charting is heavily weighed on radio play is why we HAVEA to care, even if we don't want to. Yea it's hard but we wpn't stop trying to shed light on this topic. Great talk!💜
Vmin95
2022-09-20 13:51:34 +0000 UTCI get what you guys are saying, but the end goal is simply to make BTS happy; that is the key. As you guys get more into behind-the-scenes there are moments when BTS mention certain things they hope and dream such as concerts, awards, and achievements. ARMY has been fighting for that. I have been ARMY for a long time, America is racist at the end of the day, to get past that you have to be giving money. ARMY has passion for BTS. What matters now is social media following, right time, right race, and ethnicity. More artist like spice are picked up not just because she is good or bad but because she has picked up that social media following. BTS/Big Hit have learned to keep doing what they are doing instead of trying to conform to Western standards. That is how they have always prevailed and it looks like that is how it is going to stay.
I.C.Y
2022-09-20 13:02:09 +0000 UTCi see what youre saying but armys dont have multiple devices on at once if they di they usually multi fans cause ive seen blinks and other kpop fans do that. but armys dont loop, dont have multiple devices on at once etc we dont do bot behavior because billboard keeps removing our streams. so every time they change how its counted we figure that out. bts vs billboard by bbygangmag goes into detail for that situation if you wanna follow up with that. but yeah im not sure what the end goal is either i just know we dont want bts or bighit to participate in payola and we want bts to top the charts. so armys are gonna continue to figure out how to make those happen until there isnt anything else to do besides supporting which we been doing.
tori
2022-09-20 11:28:27 +0000 UTC
