BTS Boom: The Effect of Digital Strategies onK-pop’s Success

by

Angie Lin

An honors thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Science

Undergraduate College

Leonard N. Stern School of Business

New York University

May 2021

Professor Mary BillingsProfessor Marti G. Subrahmanyam Professor Arun Sundararajan

Faculty Advisors Thesis Advisor

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to thank Professor Arun Sundararajan, my advisor, for his

patience and guidance in the development of my thesis. His ideas and opinions helped

shape my writing and challenged me to push my research further. I have learned so much

during this process and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity.

I would also like to thank Professor Marti Subrahmanyam and Professor Mary

Billings for coordinating the program and providing support throughout it. This was a

challenging but rewarding experience, and I feel very lucky to have been able to

participate in the program alongside incredible peers.

I am also very thankful to Professor Vishal Singh for his advice about my data

collection and visualization and to Professor João Sedoc for his help in fixing my Python

code.

Finally, thank you to my family and friends for the unparalleled encouragement

on this journey and throughout my time at NYU. This work would not have been possible

without your support.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements 2

Abstract 4

I. Introduction 5

II. Background Literature 6

III. Methodology & Data 9

IV. Results 12

V. Discussion 22

VI. Limitations & Future Research 32

VII. Conclusion 34

Appendix 35

References 46

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ABSTRACT

Part of the rise of K-pop on a global scale can be linked to developments in digital

technology, which have allowed for direct communication with audiences worldwide,

participatory online communities, and virtual visibility in place of physical presence. To

better understand the role of these digital strategies in a K-pop artist’s success, I focus on

what the K-pop group BTS and its fandom ARMY have done throughout the group’s

global growth. I analyze BTS’ diverse use of social media, ARMY’s various types of

online actions, and BTS’ virtual substitutions as a replacement for live performances

during the coronavirus pandemic. The results elucidate the complexity of the K-pop

industry in highlighting the importance of social media, the effects of a strong digital fan

base in efforts both related to the artist and otherwise, and the use of technology to

provide an alternate option to in-person performances. As these strategies have become

especially important with an even more increased reliance on technology due to the

pandemic, understanding the impact that these digital strategies have will give artists the

opportunity to leverage their resources more effectively for long-term growth.

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I. INTRODUCTION

In November 2013, K-pop group BTS won the Best New Artist award at the

Melon Music Awards, marking “their first major award” since debuting in June earlier

that year.1 In May 2015, they won first place on The Show, a South Korean weekly music

show, for the first time.2 In November 2017, they performed at the American Music

Awards, becoming the first K-pop group to perform at a major US award show.3 In June

2019, they became the first Korean act to sell out Wembley Stadium in London.4 In

November 2020, with their song “Dynamite,” BTS was the first K-pop group to be

nominated for a Grammy Award.5

These examples are only a few milestones that BTS has had, but they demonstrate

the global reach that K-pop artists are able to achieve. While K-pop as it is known today

has a relatively short history, dating back to only the early 1990s, it has managed to reach

rapid international success.6 Billboard cites visibility, collaborations, and training as three

factors that have contributed to the rise of K-pop; of these three factors, what stands out

to me is visibility, or more specifically, how K-pop artists have achieved recognition

across the world.7 I believe that part of this growth can be attributed to digital

developments leading to lowered cultural barriers because of the Internet, direct access to

7 “Billboard Explains The Rise of K-Pop In The U.S.” YouTube, uploaded by Billboard, 21 Apr. 2021,www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4jhcXnGZ88.

6 Christine Ro. “BTS and EXO: The soft power roots of K-pop.” BBC, 9 Mar. 2020,www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200309-the-soft-power-roots-of-k-pop.

5 “BTS: Band gets first ever Grammy nomination for K-pop.” BBC, 25 Nov. 2020,www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55068627.

4 Evelyn Lau. “A timeline of BTS: how the K-pop superstars took over the world.” The National, 12 Aug.2019,www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/a-timeline-of-bts-how-the-k-pop-superstars-took-over-the-world-1.897514.

3 Ibid2 Ibid.

1 Tamar Herman. “How BTS Took Over the World: A Timeline of The Group’s Biggest Career Moments.”Billboard, 14 May 2018,www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8455612/bts-takeover-timeline-bbmas/.

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a global audience because of social media, and the ability to foster a global community of

micro-influencers. This brings me to the central question of my research:

What is the role of digital strategies in a K-pop artist’s success?

To address this question, I defined three digital strategies to analyze: (1) the use of

social media; (2) the actions of a digital fan base; and (3) the use of virtual performances.

In doing so, I aimed to understand the importance of social media content in the K-pop

industry and how artists can better connect with fans through it. I also wanted to see how

what a strong fan base does online can lead to more widespread popularity of a K-pop

artist. Finally, I sought to examine the impact of performing worldwide virtually while

remaining in one location physically, within the context of global lockdowns due to the

coronavirus pandemic.

In my research, I focus on the group BTS, “the first Korean group to reach the

upper echelons of the western music industry” and currently the biggest K-pop group in

the world.8 I felt that a detailed case study of how BTS uses social media and technology

would help provide a more comprehensive understanding of how these strategies can be

applied in the K-pop industry.

II. BACKGROUND LITERATURE

2.1 The HallyuWave and its Digital Transformation

Following its democratization in the late 1980s and in pursuing its goal of

spreading its culture globally, the South Korean government “targeted the export of

popular media culture as a new economic initiative, one of the major sources of foreign

8 Taylor Glasby. “How BTS became the world’s biggest boyband.” The Guardian, 11 Oct. 2018,www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/11/how-bts-became-the-worlds-biggest-boyband.

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revenue vital for the country’s economic survival and advancement.”9 The initiative,

known as the Hallyu wave, aims to increase the global popularity of South Korean

culture and is used as a “deliberate tool of soft power.”10 While the wave originally began

with Korean dramas, Korean pop music also started playing a leading role in the early

2000s, first becoming popular in other countries in Asia before further expanding into the

Western world.11

As power in the K-pop music industry is largely centralized within a few major

entertainment groups, these companies are able to meticulously develop their production

processes. These main companies, such as SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and

JYP Entertainment, constantly recruit new talent from an extended network of multiple

countries, creating “an organizational ecology characterized by a large supply of musical

inputs … and a small number of producers … and distributors.”12 SM Entertainment, for

example, started holding global auditions in 2006 and receives 300,000 applications

every year for 300 positions.13 This method develops and debuts talent in an “endless

parade,” allowing for no lack of content from the industry.14

In its delivery, K-pop relies heavily on social media, as it is designed to appeal to

younger generations who are already comfortable with using technology.15 Innovations

such as YouTube and digital music have allowed fans from all over the world to consume

K-pop content. This development, known to some as Hallyu 2.0, allows for the “creation

15 Seo, “Lessons,” 64.

14 Aja Romano. “How K-pop became a global phenomenon.” Vox, 26 Feb. 2018,www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/16/16915672/what-is-kpop-history-explained.

13 Seo, “Lessons,” 63.

12 Ingyu Oh. “The Globalization of K-pop: Korea’s Place in the Global Music Industry.” Korea Observer,vol. 44, no. 3, 2013, 395.

11 Seo Min-Soo. “Lessons from K-pop’s Global Success.” SERI Quarterly, 2012, 60.10 Ibid.9 Ro, “BTS and EXO.”

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and exchange of user-generated content,” capitalizing on social networking sites and

Korea’s technological advancement to circulate these products beyond physical barriers.16

2.2 The Power of Fandom, Offline and Online

A fandom can be defined as a community “built around a shared enjoyment of an

aspect of popular culture,” in which fans can act not only as consumers of the content, but

also as producers of their own creative work, otherwise known as a “participatory

culture.”17 This type of community includes low barriers to involvement and support

among its members. Fans are encouraged to share their creative media with one another

and generally believe that their participation matters.18 In fostering connections within the

fandom, the group is able to come together for change.

In 1893, perhaps one of the first examples of fandom power was seen after Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle killed off the character of Sherlock Holmes at the end of his crime

fiction series. Fans of the character were so upset that over 20,000 people cancelled their

subscriptions to The Strand Magazine, which published the series.19 In 1968, NBC nearly

cancelled the TV series Star Trek after two seasons due to low ratings, but fans came

together in a “grassroots letter-writing campaign” that successfully kept the series going

for another season.20

This power has only increased as the widespread use of social media and petition

websites makes it easier for fans to make their wishes seen and heard. When it was

revealed that Fox would not continue the TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine after its fifth

20 “Bjo Trimble: The Woman Who Saved Star Trek - Part 1.” startrek.com, 31 Aug. 2011,www.startrek.com/article/bjo-trimble-the-woman-who-saved-star-trek-part-1.

19 Christian Ryan Parvin. “The Death, Burial, and Resurrection Of Sherlock Holmes.” faculty.etsu.edu,faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/2012fall/engl3130/student_essays/death_sherlock_holmes.pdf.

18 Ibid.

17 “Fandom and Participatory Culture.” haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu,haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/subcultural-theory-and-theorists/fandom-and-participatory-culture/.

16 Dal Yong Jin. “Hallyu 2.0: The New Korean Wave in the Creative Industry.” University of MichiganInternational Institute Journal, vol. 2, no. 1, 2012, 6.

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season, fans took to the Internet, largely Twitter and Change.org, to protest the

cancellation.21 Within a day, NBC picked up the show for its sixth season.22

These instances demonstrate the ability of fans to at least make a visible statement

regarding a common issue, if not create a change. A committed fandom is able to

organize and mobilize its members as well as publicize its opinions, regardless of

whether or not it has a central organization coordinating the effort.

III. METHODOLOGY & DATA

3.1 Data from Chartmetric

To get data for different genres, I used Chartmetric, a music data analytics tool

that has a variety of streaming and social media data for every artist on its platform. I

filtered the artists by genre and got lists of the top 100 artists who fall under each

category. For those on each list, I collected data on Spotify monthly listeners, Twitter

followers, Instagram followers, TikTok followers, Facebook likes, and YouTube channel

subscribers.

3.2 Writing Python Code

For BTS specifically, most of the data that I planned to use came from online

social media and streaming platforms such as Twitter and Spotify. As there were no

existing comprehensive datasets, the best way to get this information was to write some

code that would allow me to collect the data through application programming interfaces

(APIs) and web scraping. For all data, I set a start date of January 1, 2017, and an end

date of February 28, 2021. Sample code can be found in Exhibits 1 and 2 in the appendix.

22 E. Alex Jung. “The Story Behind How Brooklyn Nine-Nine Was Canceled and Rescued in 31 Hours.”Vulture, 14 May 2018, www.vulture.com/article/brooklyn-nine-nine-canceled-rescued-31-hours-story.html.

21 Janya Sindhu. “How the Internet has made Fandom Culture Powerful.” Medium, 29 Nov. 2019,medium.com/swlh/how-the-internet-has-made-fandom-culture-powerful-7609ae60e4bf.

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To collect data from Twitter, I used the Twitter API as well as the python-twitter

wrapper. As I was only looking for tweets from one specific account (BTS), I used the

GetUserTimeline() method to retrieve all the tweets on that user’s timeline from 2017

onward. For each tweet, I retrieved the time and date that the tweet was posted, the text in

the tweet itself, the number of retweets, and the number of favorites.

From Spotify, I used web scraping to access the data on the platform’s top 200

daily charts, which consist of global charts and charts by country. For each day, I summed

the number of streams for all of BTS’ songs that were in the top 200 that day. If the band

didn’t have any songs on the charts, that day’s streams were recorded as 0. I ran this

process for every day in my date range, resulting in a total of 1,520 data points. Finally, I

repeated this process about 70 times, once for each country for which Spotify Charts is

available.

3.3 Manual Data Collection

I also manually recorded all instances of virtual performances by BTS since the

beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. Some of these were online live streamed

concerts by the band; others were performances at awards shows that would have

otherwise been in-person. This data was collected from the BTS Content Index, a

fan-created resource that compiles videos of all of BTS’ appearances.

3.4 Limitations in Data

One major limitation that I faced in my data collection was that a lot of the data

either was unavailable or had restrictions. For example, Spotify does not release the

number of streams that a song has; the only songs for which this number is immediately

visible are the top five most popular songs on an artist’s page. While the Spotify desktop

app does show the number of streams when hovering over each song, not only would the

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process of recording this data have to be done manually, but there is also no way of

getting historical data - only the total number at the present moment can be seen. To

overcome this limitation, I used the number of streams of songs on the Spotify Daily Top

200 Charts instead. One big caveat of this is that the number of total streams from songs

on the charts is not comprehensive (a song not being on the charts does not mean that it

had 0 streams). That being said, this was the best way to capture the most material

streaming, as a song making it onto the top 200 does represent, to some degree, its

popularity that day, which in turn reflects on its artist.

In addition, I had wanted to use Twitter hashtags to represent fan engagement as a

variable; however, I would have been limited to collecting a maximum of 5 million

tweets per month, a number far lower than what I would have needed. BTS’ fan base

“created more than 4.4 [million] unique tweets” on the night of the 2021 Grammys alone;

the number of tweets created throughout the past three years would have very quickly

overtaken the restriction.23 Instead, I chose to represent fan engagement through

interactions, or the number of retweets and favorites, with the artist’s tweets. While this is

not as detailed as hashtags would have been, interactions with social media posts are still

reflective of how engaged a fandom is.

3.5 Data Analysis

In terms of data analysis, my two main methods were linear regressions and an

event study, which I used for the social media hypothesis and the virtual performance

hypothesis, respectively. More specifically, I ran regressions of five social media

variables (Twitter followers, Instagram followers, TikTok followers, Facebook likes, and

23 @ResearchBTS. “In case anyone is wondering about ARMY’s social media impact on what is consideredthe biggest night in music… They created more than 4.4M unique tweets (no RTs) with its top 3 WWtrends today, in comparison to the show’s 1.5M tweets @BTS_twt.” Twitter, 15 Mar. 2021, 2:43 a.m.,twitter.com/ResearchBTS/status/1371351314811121664.

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YouTube channel subscribers) against the dependent variable of Spotify monthly

listeners, doing so for both BTS individually and for each genre listed on Chartmetric. I

ran the regressions using the scikit-learn library; this sample code can be found in Exhibit

3 in the appendix.

For the event study, I focused on BTS’ performances over the past year that were

done online that they had previously done in person. I also categorized the Spotify Charts

data by aggregating the different countries into regions: Asia, North America, South

America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Oceania, with Global remaining its own

category. A full list of the countries in each region can be found in Exhibit 4 in the

appendix. This categorization was done to allow for a more precise geographical analysis.

IV. RESULTS

4.1 Importance of Social Media in K-pop

As a starting point for understanding how social media is used as a digital strategy

in K-pop, I compared social media data for all the genres available on Chartmetric.

Running regressions of the five social media variables against Spotify monthly listeners, I

found that K-pop had the highest R-squared values for all five independent variables.

Table 1 displays the R-squared values for five of the genres analyzed (full results for all

20 genres can be found in Exhibit 5 in the appendix). The results show that the use and

importance of social media in K-pop is not limited to one platform; rather, all major

platforms are involved as part of this digital strategy.

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Table 1: R-squared for genres with highest values. Each independent variable is

regressed against the dependent variable of Spotify monthly listeners (all results listed

here are significant).

Variable K-Pop Pop Indie Hip Hop R&B

Twitter followers 0.66 0.444 0.32 0.303 0.287

Instagram followers 0.599 0.431 0.373 0.43 0.245

TikTok followers 0.782 0.324 0.313 0.272 0.157

Facebook likes 0.601 0.543 0.349 0.399 0.438

YouTube subscribers 0.748 0.639 0.464 0.566 0.484

4.2 BTS’ Social Media Growth

4.2.1 High Correlation Across All Social Media

In terms of mainstream social media platforms, BTS gained millions of new

followers in 2020 across TikTok (20.9+ million), YouTube (18.52+ million), Instagram

(13.75+ million), Twitter (8.42+ million), and Facebook (3.72+ million).24 As can be seen

in Table 2, the R-squared values for all five platforms are above 0.9, showing a high

correlation between followers on these platforms and Spotify monthly listeners. The

results are also much higher than the R-squared values for K-pop as a whole, suggesting

that social media has played a more important role in BTS’ success than it has in that of

the average K-pop artist.

24 @BTSVotingTroop. “BTS (@BTS_twt) total gained followers/subscribers on 2020.” Twitter, 1 Jan.2021, 12:42 a.m., twitter.com/btsvotingtroop/status/1344881559367790592.

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Table 2: Regression results for BTS’ social media platforms. Each independent variable

is regressed against the dependent variable of Spotify monthly listeners.

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.911 98.664 0

Instagram followers 0.941 123.864 0

TikTok followers 0.975 104.844 0

Facebook likes 0.906 95.924 0

YouTube subscribers 0.948 132.473 0

4.2.2 Increase in Engagement Despite Decrease in Posts

To gain an understanding of how engaged BTS’ fan base is, I compared the

number of posts tweeted per month from BTS’ Twitter account to the average number of

favorites and the average number of retweets. Figure 1 depicts this comparison from

January 2017 to February 2021, with the grey bars representing the number of posts

tweeted per month and the purple and yellow lines depicting the average number of

favorites and the average number of retweets respectively. We see that although the

number of tweets has trended downward over time, engagement has grown a lot,

demonstrating the band’s increase in popularity.

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Figure 1: Number of tweets from BTS’ Twitter account, average favorites, and average

retweets per month.

4.3 Increase in Fan Activism Within ARMY

BTS’ global fan base uses its large scale to encourage fan activism. In particular,

the fan-created organization One In An ARMY (OIAA) partners with a different

nonprofit every month to encourage fans to make microdonations to that nonprofit; OIAA

has been doing so since April 2018. During a member’s birthday month, OIAA chooses a

suitable cause related to that member in some way. The campaigns are entirely promoted

over social media, and donations are always made in the names of BTS and their fans.

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Figure 2: Amounts donated per month for OIAA campaigns.

Figure 2 captures the amounts donated for each campaign that OIAA has run. The

amounts tend to be higher during members’ birth months, suggesting that fan activism is

more prominent when more associated with the band. The sharp increase beginning in

August 2020 is interesting and could be attributed to various reasons; one potential

reason is that BTS’ most popular single to date, which garnered a lot of global attention

and even got the band nominated for a Grammy, was released towards the end of that

month.

Also starting in August 2020, OIAA changed the way it runs its birthday

campaigns; rather than month-long campaigns, each one was a “5 day flash fundraiser

(starting 5 days before each members’ birthday).”25 The purple bars represent the most

25 “August 2020 Campaign Summary - Jiyan Foundation.” oneinanarmy.org, 16 Oct. 2020,www.oneinanarmy.org/post/august-2020-campaign-summary-jiyan-foundation.

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recent seven birthday campaigns (December 2020 had two). We see that not only are

these amounts at least double the previous highest amount (April 2020), but the money

for each campaign was also raised in only 5 days rather than a full month, again pointing

to the rapid increase in BTS’ popularity since then. Furthermore, November 2020 is not a

birthday month, and the drastic difference between that amount donated and those of the

surrounding months once again suggests that fan activism is higher when more closely

linked to the band and its members.

4.4 Virtual Performances Compared to In-Person

As in-person events came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020,

awards shows and music shows moved online along with everything else. Several of

BTS’ performances that were previously live in person were done virtually within the

time frame of March 2020 to February 2021, including the KBS Gayo Daechukje (KBS

Song Festival), the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), the Melon Music Awards

(MMA), and the SBS Gayo Daejeon (SBS Battle of the Bands). The Golden Disc Awards

(GDA) is held in January each year and was also held without a live audience in January

2020, but it was included as it falls within the time frame in question. A list of each

ceremony’s dates can be found in Exhibit 6 in the appendix.

Figures 3-9 depict the change in streams on the days following the performances

on the Spotify Daily Top 200 Charts. The charts were separated into regions to allow for

a more precise geographical analysis of the impact of virtual performances. There doesn’t

appear to be an overarching pattern in the results; however, there are certain

performances that can be associated with spikes in certain regions. For example, both the

GDA and MAMA performances can be associated with spikes in streams in North

America, Europe, South America, and Oceania; in addition, for both performances, there

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was no change in streams in these four regions a year prior. While natural growth and the

rapid increase in BTS’ popularity in August 2020 cannot be ignored, these spikes could

also be attributed to an increase in accessibility due to technology, given that the

performances were streamed online and could be viewed from anywhere.

Figure 3: Changes in streams on the Spotify global daily top 200 charts following each

performance, 1 year ago and most recent.

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Figure 4: Changes in streams on the Spotify daily top 200 charts in Asia following each

performance, 1 year ago and most recent.

Figure 5: Changes in streams on the Spotify daily top 200 charts in North America

following each performance, 1 year ago and most recent (Note: the change in streams for

SBS Gayo is almost 2300% but is shown as 100% for visualization purposes).

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Figure 6: Changes in streams on the Spotify daily top 200 charts in Europe following

each performance, 1 year ago and most recent.

Figure 7: Changes in streams on the Spotify daily top 200 charts in South America

following each performance, 1 year ago and most recent.

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Figure 8: Changes in streams on the Spotify daily top 200 charts in Oceania following

each performance, 1 year ago and most recent.

Figure 9: Changes in streams on the Spotify daily top 200 charts in the Middle East and

Africa following each performance, 1 year ago and most recent.

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V. DISCUSSION

5.1 Digital Strategies in K-pop

5.1.1 Diverse and Effective Use of Social Media

The use of social media has always been an important factor in the K-pop industry

and one of the main methods that artists use to grow. As one crucial aspect to their

success is a strong fan base that helps to spread updates about the artists and promote

their music, artists “are encouraged to use social media to interact with their fans and

spread their reach, with no platform being off limits.”26 K-pop artists do more than just

discuss their music on social media; they also post selfies, behind-the-scenes stories, and

updates on their lives in an effort to show their personalities to their fans and connect

with them on a deeper level. In doing so, artists create a human connection with their fans

and increase their fan bases’ loyalty. Furthermore, the effective use of social media in

K-pop comes from its diversity: artists use many different platforms to target different

factors of the industry and are able to take advantage of each platform’s main features.

Visual aesthetics. An “extremely polished aesthetic” is a key factor unique to

success in the K-pop industry.27 Physical appearance has always been important in

Korean culture and in K-pop, to the point where one of the roles in a K-pop group is that

of the visual, “given to the member that best fits Korean beauty standards.”28 As such, it

is not surprising that platforms that are photo- and video-heavy are used to lean into this

factor. For example, artists use Instagram, a solely visual platform, to post pictures from

photo shoots for upcoming projects, allowing fans to start speculating about the visual

concept of the project. Accounts are highly curated, often with multiple photos being

28 Joyce Wu. “The Paradox of the Visual in K-Pop Groups.” The Cornell Daily Sun, 5 Oct. 2020,cornellsun.com/2020/10/05/the-paradox-of-the-visual-in-k-pop-groups/.

27 Romano, “How K-pop.”

26 “K-pop: Understanding the Phenomenon That’s Taking Over the World.” Universal Music New Zealand,umusic.co.nz/umusic/pop/k-pop-understanding-the-phenomenon-thats-taking-over-the-world/.

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posted at once to maintain certain aesthetics throughout the layout. In addition, artists use

YouTube to showcase music videos that have very specific visual ideas designed to

“transfix, endear, [and] emotionally connect.”29 Videos must fit the theme of the song and

be able to tell a story; K-pop music videos are heavily analyzed by fans, and no detail is

missed.

Personal and human connections. Another way in which K-pop artists maintain

loyalty in their fan bases is by showing their personalities through live streams, thus not

limiting fans’ perspectives of them to edited photos and videos. One platform that plays a

role in developing these connections is V Live, a Korean live streaming service with over

1,400 channels associated with various K-pop artists.30 Artists will often use V Live to

simply stream and chat with fans, without anything being edited or cut out. The platform

also offers a user-friendly subtitling feature, in which users can translate what is being

said to other languages, allowing fans from across the globe to interact with the artists,

not just those who understand Korean.31

Similarly to live streams, non-music content available on platforms such as

YouTube helps increase loyalty within K-pop fan bases. Content ranges from

behind-the-scenes videos from music video filming or performance preparation to

appearances on variety shows to reality shows created by the artists’ labels. Although this

content is not directly related to the artists’ music, producing such shows allows fans to

“humanize their idols and see them in scenarios more relatable than the usual onstage or

31 Aznur Aisyah and Nam Yun Jin. “K-Pop V Fansubs, V LIVE and NAVER Dictionary: Fansubbers’Synergy in Minimising Language Barriers.” 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies,vol. 23, no. 4, 2017, 123. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2304-09.

30 “Channels.” Vlive, www.vlive.tv/channels.

29 Taylor Glasby. “How to make an iconic K-pop music video.” Dazed, 5 Jul. 2018,www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/40602/1/how-to-make-an-iconic-k-pop-music-video.

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backstage vignettes.”32 By providing more insight into the artists’ personalities and

making fans feel like they’re more connected with them, fans get to know the artists

better as people. The content makes the artists seem more real to their fans and creates a

human aspect beyond the face and the voice.

5.1.2 Strong Fandom Culture Helps Artists Grow Globally

As many K-pop artists are based in South Korea and geographical barriers are still

at play, having a strong fan base can greatly help artists become more well-known

worldwide. Fans turn to social media to meet and bond with others who support the same

artists as well as help distribute content related to the artists across the Internet.33 Social

media is the network in which fans can develop a strong, well-organized fandom to both

consume and produce content in support of their favorite K-pop artists.

5.1.3 Virtual Performances in 2020 As a Placeholder for Tours

Tours are a large part of how an artist makes money; a previous survey found that

“live performance accounts for 28% of an average musician’s income.”34 Since the

beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, however, tours and festivals have been cancelled

and musicians have found themselves without the opportunity to perform live in front of

their fans. Some artists have taken this obstacle as a way to put together online

performances as an alternative form of entertainment. K-pop artists seem to have

capitalized on this chance better than others in the music industry have, going above and

34 David Andrew Wiebe. “How Do Musicians Make Money? We Breakdown Their Income Streams So YouKnow How To Earn Too.” Music Industry How To, 29 Dec. 2020,www.musicindustryhowto.com/music-artists-income-breakdown-how-do-musicians-really-make-their-money/.

33 Dal Yong Jin and Kyong Yoon. “The social mediascape of transnational Korean pop culture: Hallyu 2.0as spreadable media practice.” New Media & Society, vol. 18, no. 7, 2016.https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814554895.

32 Dakota Kim. “Can’t get enough K-pop? Check out these 6 reality shows to feed your fandom.” LosAngeles Times, 28 Oct. 2020,www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-10-28/blackpink-bts-kpop-reality-tv-shows-guide.

24

beyond a simple live stream for their concerts. Performances included augmented reality

(AR) technology, 3D graphics, and even interactive video calls between artists and fans.35

These concerts have proven to be successful endeavors for the artists; one of the earliest

online live performances, hosted by SM Entertainment in April 2020, sold a total of

75,000 tickets, “7.5 times the amount of a regular offline concert.”36 Since then, virtual

concerts have only continued to thrive in the K-pop industry, with several occurring in

each of the following months.37

5.2 BTS Uses Social Media to its Full Extent

BTS as well as its label are very active on all major social media platforms. A

first in the K-pop industry, the label “embrace[d] the messy, unvarnished nature of social

media, allowing the band to reveal more of their real personalities,” filling their

followers’ feeds with selfies from events and videos from performance rehearsals and

helping them “feel closer to the members.”38,39 BTS also uses these platforms to

demonstrate the camaraderie between the members. On Twitter, for example, the band

members post not only about themselves, but also about other members, helping fans stay

connected to the group as a whole, ensuring that group popularity always comes before

any individual member. In addition, “BTS run only one group account on each platform,”

39 Joyce Chen. “BTS: Successful social media strategy of the legendary K-POP group.” Medium, 13 Feb.2020,medium.com/digital-society/bts-successful-social-media-strategy-of-the-legendary-k-pop-group-5d29b7eb09dd.

38 Gavin Haynes. “Why BTS are the K-pop kings of social media.” The Guardian, 23 May 2017,www.theguardian.com/music/shortcuts/2017/may/23/bts-k-pop-kings-social-media.

37 “Kpop Concert Schedule 2020: Tour & Show.” Kpop Official, 15 Jul. 2020,kpopofficial.com/kpop-concert-tour-performance-show-2020/.

36 Hakyung Kate Lee. “K-pop boy band SuperM thrills fans as it performs concert online duringcoronavirus pandemic.” ABC News, 27 Apr. 2020,abcnews.go.com/International/pop-boy-band-superm-thrills-fans-performs-concert/story?id=70362270.

35 Layne Vandenberg. “K-pop Leads With ‘Contactless’ Concerts.” The Diplomat, 16 Jul. 2020,thediplomat.com/2020/07/k-pop-leads-with-contactless-concerts/.

25

not only “giving them cyclonic power with which to dominate the web,” but also

allowing them to remain active and constantly in fans’ social media feeds.40

5.2.1 Using Different Social Media Platforms to Target Different Factors of K-pop

Visual aesthetics. Photos and videos posted on BTS’ Instagram and YouTube

fully reflect the industry strategy of maintaining specific aesthetics throughout. Posts on

Instagram are always grouped in multiples of 3 to fit the app’s grid layout, as can be seen

in Figure 10. Furthermore, music videos for the band’s songs are very highly produced,

with matching color themes and an abundance of special effects (see Figure 11).

Figure 10: Screenshot of BTS’ Instagram page.

40 Haynes, “Why BTS.”

26

Figure 11: Screenshot from BTS’ music video for their song “Dynamite.”

Personal and human connections. Like many other artists, BTS has a channel

on the live streaming platform V Live and will often start live videos in which the

members chat with their fans and help them get to know the members’ personalities.

Beyond these videos, however, BTS’ label has also created its own social media app,

Weverse, only for the artists that it manages. Proprietary social media apps are not

something that other labels have done, but Weverse has allowed for more direct

connections between artists and fans as well as among fans. BTS uses the platform to not

only create posts themselves, but also reply to fans’ posts, “staying highly interactive …

[and] creating a strong emotional bond.”41

Also like other artists, BTS has been filming and releasing vlogs since debut;

however, what stands out is the consistency and frequency of their non-music content

across multiple platforms. Many behind-the-scenes videos are uploaded to their YouTube

channel; in 2020, the number of these types of videos posted averaged 2.5 videos per

week.42 In addition, in August 2015, the band started its own variety show titled “Run

42 “방탄소년단 - BANGTANTV.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/c/BANGTANTV/videos.41 Chen, “BTS: Successful.”

27

BTS,” in which the members take part in challenges and compete against each other for

prizes. While BTS is not the only K-pop artist to have created a variety show, the show’s

longevity demonstrates its popularity and the fact that fans still enjoy this type of content.

Furthermore, since 2016, BTS has released a yearly reality show titled “Bon Voyage,” in

which the members travel to different countries and document their experiences along the

way (in 2020, a different show titled “In the SOOP” was released, in which the band

spent a week near a forest and a lake in Korea instead of traveling abroad).43,44

This abundance of content reveals different sides of BTS that aren’t shown on

stage and allows fans to better understand the members’ personalities. The band is

displayed as regular people playing games, cooking, and traveling, giving fans the

opportunity to better connect with the members and find similarities between themselves

and the artists. These non-music videos “present BTS’ charm from various perspectives,

and reveal some imperfections” that make the artists “less distant,” further increasing

fans’ loyalty to the group.45

5.3 Actions of a Strong ARMY

5.3.1 Fans Acting as Micro-influencers

A strong digital fan base has been a key factor in BTS’ growth and popularity; its

fan base ARMY is incredibly dedicated and organized and has leveraged its mobility

throughout the years. Fans are constantly creating posts related to the band and

maintaining discussion among the fan base, regardless of how active the band is at the

given moment.

45 Chen, “BTS: Successful.”44 “In the SOOP BTS Ver. (TV Series 2020- ).” IMDb, www.imdb.com/title/tt13191804/.43 “BTS: Bon Voyage (TV Series 2016- ).” IMDb, www.imdb.com/title/tt7866314/.

28

For example, one of the easiest ways to catch people’s attention is to trend related

hashtags on social media platforms. BTS’ fan base does this for all main events, such as

album releases and performances, as well as all the members’ birthdays. Given that

hashtags need a large volume of posts to trend, fans even created a Twitter account

(@BangtanTrends) dedicated to coordinating which hashtags to trend for each event, thus

increasing the number of posts for those hashtags and pushing them higher up the

trending list. Figure 12 shows a Twitter activity map of a trend at its peak.

Figure 12: Twitter activity map for the release of BTS’ album BE in November 2020. 46

5.3.2 Content Creators Making BTS’ Posts More Accessible

Another example of BTS’ fan base’s dedication is that many fans act as content

creators who build on the band’s own posts and transform them in some way to allow for

more people to enjoy the content. One major type of content creator is translation

accounts, which focus on translating content, whether that is song lyrics, videos, or social

media posts, from Korean to other languages. The work that these accounts do not only

46 “2020: ARMY’s Global Connection.” researchbts.com, 1 Jan. 2021,www.researchbts.com/blog/2020-bts-maps.

29

helps non-Korean speaking fans enjoy the content more, but also introduces the band to

people who weren’t previously fans and who might not have been interested had they not

been able to understand what was going on. As the band’s posts are often during the day

in Korea, some US-based fans who run translation accounts have even changed their

sleep schedules in order to be able to translate posts as soon as possible.47

Beyond building on official posts from the band and its label, fans also use their

posts to create other content that are more popular across social media and more

eye-catching, such as memes and TikToks. In doing so, fans increase discussion around

BTS and could even introduce the band to people who enjoy the type of content that these

fans post.

5.3.3 Fan Activism Stemming from BTS’ Philanthropic Efforts

The organization and mobilization of the fan base also extend into social good.

Inspired by BTS’ own philanthropic moves, fans have joined together to create various

campaigns and mobilize each other to donate to good causes.

One of the most prominent occasions of the fan base mobilizing itself to support

BTS’ charitable efforts is after the band donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter

movement in June 2020. When this information was revealed, under OIAA’s guidance,

fans matched the million dollars in support of the movement within 24 hours.48 What is

notable about this campaign, termed #MatchAMillion, is that it was fully organized by

fans and done without any explicit encouragement from the band itself.49

49 So Yeon Park, Nicole Santero, Blair Kaneshiro, and Jin Ha Lee. “Armed in ARMY: A Case Study ofHow BTS Fans Successfully Collaborated to #MatchAMillion for Black Lives Matter.” CHI Conference onHuman Factors in Computing Systems, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445353.

48 Ibid.

47 Kat Moon. “Inside the BTS ARMY, the Devoted Fandom With an Unrivaled Level of Organization.”TIME, 18 Nov. 2020, time.com/5912998/bts-army/.

30

Not only do fans contribute to the campaigns created by OIAA, but they also

organize smaller charity projects of their own under the names of BTS and ARMY. Since

December 2015 and as of April 2021, fans have run 1,022 charity projects across the

world.50 In 2020 alone, fans raised $977,448.91 for 366 projects across a variety of needs,

such as education, medical needs, and COVID-19 relief.51

5.4 BTS’ Virtual Performances Help the Group Maintain Online Visibility

There is no clear conclusion that can be drawn regarding the impact of virtual

performances on Spotify streams, as there are multiple factors that also need to be

considered, including natural artist growth and an increase in the general public’s free

time due to pandemic-induced lockdowns. That being said, some of BTS’ non-awards

shows online performances have shown themselves to be an effective replacement when

in-person performances are not possible.

BTS held two live virtual concerts in 2020, one in June and one in October, as a

substitute for their cancelled world tour. The first concert had an audience of 756,000

people and increased the band’s fan base by 10,000 people.52 The second concert amassed

a total of 993,000 viewers over the two days of the show and was the highest-grossing

virtual concert of the year, with over $44 million earned.53,54 It is clear that online

54 @touringdata. “.@BTS_twt’s ‘Map of the Soul On:e’ ranks at #1 highest-grossing virtual concert of 2020with over $44 million earned from 993,000 paid viewers in 191 regions (₩50 billion; 2 shows).” Twitter, 2Feb. 2021, 7:00 p.m., twitter.com/touringdata/status/1356754444566859776/.

53 Glenn Rowley. “BTS’ Virtual Map of the Soul ON:E Concert Garnered Nearly 1 Million Viewers Acrossthe Globe.” Billboard, 12 Oct. 2020,www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/9464078/bts-virtual-map-of-the-soul-one-concert-recap-viewers.

52 Hugh McIntyre. “BTS’s Virtual Concert ‘Bang Bang Con: The Live’ Was A Massive Moneymaker.”Forbes, 16 Jun. 2020,www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2020/06/16/btss-virtual-concert-bang-bang-con-the-live-was-a-massive-moneymaker/?sh=4375089359c5.

51 @OneInAnARMY. “Be it natural disaster relief work, BLM, animal needs, children needs, education,medical needs, Covid19, elderly needs, mental health, food or other basic needs, ARMY went above andbeyond to work towards solving some of the pressing needs 2020 brought forth #ARMYCharityRewind.”Twitter, 31 Jan. 2021, 1:20 p.m., twitter.com/OneInAnARMY/status/1355944017205338115.

50 “Bonus Missions.” oneinanarmy.org, www.oneinanarmy.org/bonus-missions.

31

performances can also draw in large audiences and are possibly even more accessible for

people who are unable to attend a concert in person.

In addition, online performances have helped BTS maintain visibility regardless

of their physical location. For example, the band was featured every day for a week in

September 2020 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. These performances led to

the most social week in late night television history, with 10.5 million interactions across

the five airings, a 1,300% increase in The Tonight Show’s total social engagement.55 Such

virtual interactions highlight the increase in importance of digital presence during and

after the pandemic; the inability to tour means that artists must rely on the Internet to stay

on people’s minds.

Although it can’t be said with certainty that online performances lead to an

increase in Spotify streams, they are still a way to stay visible and on people’s

entertainment platforms and social media feeds. While in-person connections are still

important, virtual showcases can also have an impact and are a viable option for the

future.

VI. LIMITATIONS & FUTURE RESEARCH

The largest limitation that I faced in my research was a lack of data, as social

media platforms tend to restrict what user information can be made easily accessible. In

addition, I focused on Twitter to understand fan engagement as it is one of the most

discussion-based social media platforms and most easily allows for fan base

55 Heran Mamo. “BTS’ ‘Tonight Show’ Takeover Leads to ‘Most Social Week’ in Late-Night TV History:Exclusive.” Billboard, 7 Oct. 2020,www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/9461957/bts-tonight-show-takeover-most-social-week-late-night-tv-history.

32

mobilization; however, fan interactions on other platforms, such as TikTok, Instagram,

and Reddit, would be interesting to explore as well.

Furthermore, I represented fan engagement through interactions with BTS’ posts

on Twitter. While this does help see how active the fan base is, hashtags would provide a

more nuanced understanding of specific ways in which fans interact, both with the artist

and with each other, promote BTS’ music and projects, and organize fandom-wide events

and campaigns. Fan activism has much more depth to it than what I studied in this paper,

and future research using Twitter hashtags would provide a deeper understanding of its

intricacies.

To broaden the lens beyond K-pop and Twitter, further research could also

examine the question of social media as a tool for leverage and visibility across different

social movements. For example, at the beginning of June 2020, Instagram users

“[flooded] the platform with black squares,” using the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday, in a

show of solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement.56 Later that month, during the

week prior to one of Trump’s rallies, TikTok users encouraged each other to register for

the rally without the intention of showing up, driving up ticket request numbers and

resulting in a much emptier arena than Trump’s campaign had promised.57 Finally, in

January this year, Reddit users drove up GameStop’s stock price “in what is considered

one of the first social media driven and coordinated buying regimes by retail investors.”58

58 Annabel Smith. “The Reddit revolt: GameStop and the impact of social media on institutional investors.”The Trade, 13 Apr. 2021,www.thetradenews.com/the-reddit-revolt-gamestop-and-the-impact-of-social-media-on-institutional-investors/.

57 Taylor Lorenz, Kellen Browning, and Sheera Frenkel. “TikTok Teens and K-Pop Stans Say They SankTrump Rally.” The New York Times, 6 Nov. 2020,www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html.

56 Jessica Bursztynsky and Sarah Whitten. “Instagram users flood the app with millions of BlackoutTuesday posts.” CNBC, 2 Jun. 2020,www.cnbc.com/2020/06/02/instagram-users-flood-the-app-with-millions-of-blackout-tuesday-posts.html.

33

Social media can have a very large impact if used correctly, and future research could

seek to understand this power.

VII. CONCLUSION

Investigating the role of digital strategies in BTS’ growth and success has shown

that the use of social media is quite important in K-pop, arguably more so than it is in

other genres. A widespread use of different platforms allows artists to target specific

aspects of the industry, such as visual aesthetics and personal connections. The addition

of non-music content reveals artist personalities and makes them seem more human,

allowing fans to better connect with the artists and thus increasing fan loyalty. In using

social media, artists can start to create and maintain a dedicated fan base, which has the

ability to leverage its mobility to promote the artist in many ways. Furthermore, while

instances of fan activism seem to be higher when more closely linked with the artist, a

fan base can also be very coordinated in efforts not directly related to the reason that the

fandom exists. Finally, in reaching beyond the existing fan base, artists can use virtual

performances to maintain visibility when in-person shows are not an option. What this

research has shown is that the K-pop industry is complex and not just about music. There

isn’t one sole factor that can make or break an artist’s longevity; rather, the coordination

and management of multiple strategies, both digital and otherwise, are necessary for

long-term growth.

34

APPENDIX

Exhibit 1: Sample code for getting Spotify data

charts_global = {}

days = 0

missing_global = []

import requests

from random import randint

from time import sleep

import pandas as pd

daterange = pd.date_range(start='2017-01-01', end='2021-02-28')

for single_date in daterange:

try:

headers = {

"User-Agent": "Angie Lin",

"From": "***@nyu.edu"

}

url = "https://spotifycharts.com/regional/global/daily/" +

str(single_date)[:10]

web_html = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

soup = BeautifulSoup(web_html.text, 'html')

table = soup.find("table", class_="chart-table")

table_body = table.find("tbody")

for row in table_body:

span = row.find("span")

try: span = span.text

except: continue

if span[:6] == "by BTS":

title = row.find("strong")

streams = row.find("td", class_="chart-table-streams")

if str(single_date)[:10] not in charts_global:

charts_global[str(single_date)[:10]] = str(streams.text)

35

else:

charts_global[str(single_date)[:10]] =

charts_global[str(single_date)[:10]] + ", " + str(streams.text)

if str(single_date)[:10] not in charts_global:

charts_global[str(single_date)[:10]] = "0"

days += 1

if days % 5 == 0:

print("days tracked so far: ", days)

sleep(1)

except:

charts_global[str(single_date)[:10]] = "0, missing"

days += 1

if days % 5 == 0:

print("days tracked so far: ", days)

missing_global.append(str(single_date)[:10])

continue

print(days)

print(missing_global)

charts_global

Exhibit 2: Sample code for getting Twitter data

pip install python-twitter

import sys

import operator

import requests

import json

import twitter

twitter_consumer_key = "***"

twitter_consumer_secret = "***"

twitter_access_token = "***"

twitter_access_secret = "***"

twitter_bearer_token = "***"

36

twitter_api = twitter.Api(consumer_key = twitter_consumer_key,

consumer_secret = twitter_consumer_secret, access_token_key =

twitter_access_token, access_token_secret = twitter_access_secret)

from time import sleep

i = 0

next_id = 1371430508278685701

timeline = {}

for i in range(17):

print("next id: ", next_id)

statuses =

twitter_api.GetUserTimeline(user_id=335141638,max_id=next_id,count=2

00)

for s in statuses:

status = {}

status["text"] = s.text

try: status["type"] = s.media[0].type

except: status["type"] = "text"

status["favorites"] = s.favorite_count

status["retweets"] = s.retweet_count

next_id = s.id

timeline[s.created_at] = status

print(next_id, s.created_at)

print("timeline length: ", len(timeline))

i += 1

print("i: ", i)

sleep(60)

timeline

Exhibit 3: Sample code for running regressions

!pip install -U scikit-learn

import pandas as pd

import statsmodels.api as sm

df_kpop = pd.read_excel("*by genre.xlsx", sheet_name=12)

platforms = ["Twitter Followers", "Instagram Followers", "TikTok

Followers", "Facebook Likes", "YouTube Channel Subscribers"]

37

df_reg_kpop = pd.DataFrame()

data_kpop = []

for platform in platforms:

x = pd.DataFrame(df_kpop["%s" % platform])

y = pd.DataFrame(df_kpop["Spotify Monthly Listeners"])

model = sm.OLS(y, x).fit()

model_summary = model.summary()

model_as_html = model_summary.tables[1].as_html()

df_model = pd.read_html(model_as_html, header=0, index_col=0)[0]

model2_as_html = model_summary.tables[0].as_html()

df_model2 = pd.read_html(model2_as_html)[0]

temp = {}

temp["x"] = platform

temp["y"] = "Spotify Monthly Listeners"

temp["R-squared"] = float(df_model2.loc[:, 3][0].round(3))

temp["t"] = float(df_model.loc[:, "t"].get(0).round(3))

temp["p-value"] = float(df_model.loc[:, "P>|t|"].get(0).round(3))

temp["coefficient"] = float(df_model.loc[:,

"coef"].get(0).round(3))

data_kpop.append(temp)

df_reg_kpop = df_reg_kpop.append(data_kpop, True)

df_reg_kpop

Exhibit 4: Spotify Charts countries by region

Global: Global

Asia: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Malaysia, Philippines,

Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

North America: Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala,

Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, United States

38

South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru,

Uruguay

Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,

Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain,

Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Middle East & Africa: Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab

Emirates

Oceania: Australia, New Zealand

Exhibit 5: Regression results for all 20 genres listed on Chartmetric, all regressed against

Spotify Monthly Listeners

Ambient, Relaxation & Experimental

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.009 0.949 0.345

Instagram followers 0.031 1.781 0.078

TikTok followers 0.15 4.18 0

Facebook likes 0.055 2.4 0.018

YouTube subscribers 0.036 1.915 0.058

Blues, Jazz & Standards

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.171 4.52 0

Instagram followers 0.287 6.312 0

TikTok followers 0.003 0.533 0.595

39

Facebook likes 0.661 13.909 0

YouTube subscribers 0.055 2.401 0.018

Children’s

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.017 1.305 0.195

Instagram followers 0.092 3.159 0.002

TikTok followers 0.025 1.588 0.115

Facebook likes 0.055 2.398 0.018

YouTube subscribers 0.384 7.863 0

Classical, Ensemble & Opera

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.154 4.251 0

Instagram followers 0.084 3.007 0.003

TikTok followers 0.021 1.451 0.15

Facebook likes 0.154 4.247 0

YouTube subscribers 0.053 2.358 0.02

Comedy & Spoken Word

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.001 0.268 0.789

Instagram followers 0.002 0.399 0.691

TikTok followers 0.001 0.237 0.813

Facebook likes 0.007 0.827 0.41

YouTube subscribers 0.011 1.044 0.299

40

Country

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.236 5.524 0

Instagram followers 0.445 8.908 0

TikTok followers 0.229 5.422 0

Facebook likes 0.525 10.451 0

YouTube subscribers 0.629 12.969 0

Dance & Electronic

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.188 4.792 0

Instagram followers 0.251 5.765 0

TikTok followers 0.154 4.251 0

Facebook likes 0.484 9.635 0

YouTube subscribers 0.433 8.702 0

Desi

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.056 2.425 0.017

Instagram followers 0.102 3.347 0.001

TikTok followers 0.103 3.374 0.001

Facebook likes 0.318 6.791 0

YouTube subscribers 0.085 3.028 0.003

Folk, Traditional, “World”

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.204 5.04 0

41

Instagram followers 0.181 4.679 0

TikTok followers 0.132 3.884 0

Facebook likes 0.44 8.815 0

YouTube subscribers 0.321 6.838 0

Generic

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.073 2.788 0.006

Instagram followers 0.225 5.362 0

TikTok followers 0.009 0.946 0.346

Facebook likes 0.725 16.159 0

YouTube subscribers 0.048 2.223 0.028

Hip-Hop & Rap

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.303 6.562 0

Instagram followers 0.43 8.643 0

TikTok followers 0.272 6.078 0

Facebook likes 0.399 8.112 0

YouTube subscribers 0.566 11.372 0

Indie Artist

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.32 6.819 0

Instagram followers 0.373 7.668 0

TikTok followers 0.313 6.714 0

42

Facebook likes 0.349 7.278 0

YouTube subscribers 0.464 9.266 0

K-Pop

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.66 13.86 0

Instagram followers 0.599 12.15 0

TikTok followers 0.782 18.871 0

Facebook likes 0.601 12.219 0

YouTube subscribers 0.748 17.147 0

Latin & Caribbean

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.285 6.287 0

Instagram followers 0.581 11.706 0

TikTok followers 0.347 7.25 0

Facebook likes 0.428 8.6 0

YouTube subscribers 0.705 15.364 0

Pop

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.444 8.886 0

Instagram followers 0.431 8.662 0

TikTok followers 0.324 6.888 0

Facebook likes 0.543 10.84 0

YouTube subscribers 0.639 13.245 0

43

R&B, Funk & Soul

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.287 6.307 0

Instagram followers 0.245 5.669 0

TikTok followers 0.157 4.293 0

Facebook likes 0.438 8.776 0

YouTube subscribers 0.484 9.639 0

Reggae

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.254 5.813 0

Instagram followers 0.405 8.217 0

TikTok followers 0.006 0.772 0.442

Facebook likes 0.343 7.184 0

YouTube subscribers 0.484 9.641 0

Religious & Special Celebrations

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.163 4.39 0

Instagram followers 0.1965 4.89 0

TikTok followers 0.042 2.071 0.041

Facebook likes 0.521 10.374 0

YouTube subscribers 0.317 6.781 0

Rock, Punk & Metal

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.265 5.975 0

44

Instagram followers 0.291 6.368 0

TikTok followers 0.106 3.418 0.001

Facebook likes 0.617 12.63 0

YouTube subscribers 0.57 11.464 0

Soundtrack, Stage & Screen

Variable R-squared t-stat p-value

Twitter followers 0.159 4.321 0

Instagram followers 0.128 3.811 0

TikTok followers 0.055 2.398 0.018

Facebook likes 0.268 6.013 0

YouTube subscribers 0.348 7.272 0

Exhibit 6: List of virtual performances analyzed, with event dates

Performance Most recent One year ago

Golden Disc Awards January 10, 2021 January 5, 2020

KBS Gayo Daechukje December 18, 2020 December 27, 2019

Melon Music Awards December 5, 2020 November 30, 2019

Mnet Asian Music Awards December 6, 2020 December 4, 2019

SBS Gayo Daejeon December 25, 2020 December 25, 2019

45

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