Ro's Recz

As if BTS isn’t already big enough, the WSJ recently wrote its feature article about BTS for its Innovators Issue. BTS and K-pop have been on a crazy run these past couple of years, and their influences will only continue to grow in the future.

I found the article very interesting, and I learned a lot more about BTS in terms of both their origin and future plans. For example, the article talks about each of the 7 members, and what their roles within the group are. Even though the K-pop industry is pretty notorious for its treatment of idols (this is a reason there are a lot of high-profile suicide cases), it seems that BTS and its’ parent company Big Hit do a really good job at managing the stress and pressure.

Big Hit was founded by Bang Si-Hyuk, and he is featured in the article talking about what makes BTS so popular. The article mentions that Bang recently gave each member of BTS 68,385 of his personal shares (Big Hit recently went public), which are currently worth about $15 million. This is generous, but also recognizes the importance that BTS has in keeping Big Hit relevant. The article also does a good job of highlighting the positive influence that BTS is having on social topics such as Black Lives Matter and mental disorders.

Another crazy excerpt in the article is about the BTS ARMY, which is what the fans of the group are known as. A lot of my friends are big fans of the group so I know they are very passionate; however, it mentioned that Michelle Tack, a member of the ARMY, took a day off from work the day Dynamite was released so that she could stream the music video on YouTube continuously (the first 24 hours viewers count is considered very important). I found this incredible just to see how dedicated fans are to ensuring BTS’ success.

Although several members of BTS are due to go serve their compulsory 2 years of military service soon, BTS does not look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. Definitely go check out this article from the WSJ to learn more about the group, even if it is a bit long!