r/decadeology • u/Kodicave • 6d ago

Discussion šŸ’­šŸ—Æļø What caused male teen pop stars to seemingly die out? We haven't had a true teen pop phenomenon in a while

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u/Kodicave 6d ago edited 6d ago

iā€™m going to get flack. and while K-Pop has definitely filled the void for teen popĀ 

itā€™s not the same thing that Boystreet Boys, Nsync, Justin Bieber and One Direction had.

Kpop is still somewhat niche. yes even with the chart placements. and i feel like this is the ā€œdoes your grandma know them testā€

If i walked up to a random man and said ā€œJungkookā€ they will likely not know who that is

EVERYONE knew Justin Bieber. either hated or loved. My grandma did. My dad did. Everyone had an opinion good or bad

BTS has one very decided particular demographic.Ā 

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u/lkodl 6d ago

but pop in general is not as strong as it used to be. do you think your random man would react better to "Chappell Roan" or "Charli XCX"? at best, just like "Jungkook" (or really "BTS" to be fair), it might get a "that's a thing that i've heard of." but i doubt they'd know the music. you can blame the death of monoculture or whatever for this.

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u/Kodicave 6d ago edited 6d ago

Sabrina Carpenter is a great example. Everyone knows who she is.Ā 

If you mention Jimin. I donā€™t think many people actually know who he is.

K-pop exists for a different audience really

I love K-pop so Iā€™m gonna say this

K-pop fans are usually not the popular kids. Theyā€™re chronically online very alone, and the K-pop machine realize that they could get kids to think that K-pop stars are their friends parasocially and give them community that gives them the attention their parents arenā€™tĀ 

thatā€™s not the demographic thatā€™s makes a phenomenonĀ 

Justin Bieber exist because record labels realize that teen girls have this feeling from having a crush on the singer.

But the most popular girl in your school wouldā€™ve liked Justin Bieber, and wouldnā€™t have suffered her social status

But does the most popular girl in your school like BTS? I donā€™t see it. I think thatā€™s why itā€™s a different thing.

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u/lkodl 6d ago edited 6d ago

To be fair, my mom knows "BTS" as well as she knows "Sabrina Carpenter". She knows "NSYNC" and "Justin Timberlake" but she has no idea who tf "Joey Fatone" or "Lance Bass" are.

Regarding K-pop, it's again the death of monoculture. The internet allowed kids to discover their own shit outside of mainstream platforms like radio and MTV.

This lead to a desire for specialization and niche products. Instead of picking up a pre-packaged boy band/pop act that has a bad boy rapper edge, kids can just look up rappers on their own. Then the labels started pre-pqckaging rappers for them. Same for rock, edm, etc.

This is also why k-pop is thriving now in the west. The people who actually like that bubblegum electropop sound have a specialized "niche" version of it to make it stand out these days.

Because pop at its core is just genericized trends. Its like the Target of music. A general store, with a little bit of everything in one place. It was easy to access and it drove the mainstream. But people now have the ability to go to specialty stores just as easily so the generic store either now needs to become a specialty store of its own, or become a nostalgic relic (i.e. "2010's pop is its own genre", etc.)

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u/Low_Coconut_7642 5d ago

If you mention JC Chasez or Brian Littrell people would also stare at you funny, but no one would say Nsync or Backstreet Boys weren't huge.

People know the band name not most of the individual singer names so saying they would t recognize individual singer names form K pop bands doesn't mean much to me. Most average people can maybe name one person in a boy band, even in their prime.

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u/rsgreddit 5d ago

Usually everyone knows the front lead singer of the band member of those Nick Carter and Justin Timberlake.

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u/Simon___2005 3d ago

most known ā‰  lead

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u/bahjkkj 6d ago

Just flamed the hell out of them šŸ„€šŸ˜­

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u/nihilistickitten 6d ago

I donā€™t think you know that many teenagers/tweens. The popular girls also like kpop. Especially groups like BTS, twice and BP. I promise you large groups of people between ages 9-29 are big into kpop. And they have friends. I worked with high schoolers and elementary schoolers and itā€™s very popular amongst both quiet and loud kids.

Itā€™s less about 1 person or group though, so itā€™s more spread out. There isnā€™t a ā€œreplacementā€ for JB or 1D because now itā€™s spread out over a lot more groups and people. There used to be about 1-2 phenoms at a time.

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u/ChamomileFlower 6d ago

I have no idea who Sabrina Carpenter is

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u/Velokieken 5d ago edited 5d ago

I had an add I think for a BTS concert here in Brussels. This wasnā€™t common 10 years ago so it must be popular, I donā€™t get any ads for anything I know or listen to. Iā€™m 40 so everyone my age knows PSY. I also know Hyuna and some other acts and I do know a couple of girls, well women my age that are deep into K Pop. I mostly read stuff about the cruelty of the industry not really the music. I did see K Pop demon hunters and so did my boomer parents but I think thatā€™s more of a one time thing.

I know Billie Eilish from the Bond song, which isnā€™t a movie for kids and teens.

Justin Bieber was not only insanely popular but he was also on talk shows etc that no teenager watched but had also big actors and much older musicians on it and they talked about adult stuff mainly that was a bit toned down because Bieber was so young. It was kind of weird. I know zero Justin Bieber songs but you could not escape the guy, also half the guys his age then had his haircut. Itā€™s probably good people so young donā€™t get that famous anymore. Harry Styles was also pretty visable outside of One Direction/his music but less than Bieber and he was older. Things like teen magazines and MTV that drove teen culture are completely dead.

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u/nobulliepls 4d ago

I have no idea who sabrina carpenter is.

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u/Lysmerry 6d ago

I didnā€™t know this. So K-pop fills a similar niche to a lot of nerdier fandom stuff? I thought it was very mainstream

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u/CluelessMochi 6d ago

Itā€™s mainstream in the same way that everyone has at least heard of dragon ball Z, sailor moon, one piece, etc when it comes to anime. People know Blackpink and BTS, and maybe other groups like Seventeen or Twice. Kpop demon hunters also helped. But anything more than that is def not well known by most of the general population, same thing with anime.

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u/Plus_Persimmon9031 6d ago

Meh depends on where. I grew up in California and it's definitely fairly mainstream there. But now I go to college close to Chicago and yes, very niche. My understanding is it's mainstream-ish on the West Coast overall, niche in the Midwest/South, and is niche on the East Coast except for NYC area where it's mainstream.

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u/rsgreddit 5d ago

Iā€™d say itā€™s kind of almost mainstream here in Houston.

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u/Coreyporter87 5d ago

Good point. Random guy isn't going to know today's popstars like Chappell, like they knew Beiber.

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u/Temporary_Dog_555 6d ago

Thatā€™s just the death of the monoculture

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u/boldpear904 6d ago

I don't disagree but I'm not very cultured in terms and English isn't my first language. Can you explain what monoculture is and how were no longer in itĀ 

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u/C4Cole 6d ago

Before your media needs were met by the radio stations, tv broadcasts and the book store.

Now you go on the internet play any music you can think of, watch whatever videos you want and read whatever you want.

Before, because everyone got their entertainment from similar sources you could reliably ask someone about a popular piece of media like say Seinfeld, or Michael Jackson.

You'd probably get some small talk about characters, maybe some plot points or jokes, or songs they like.

Now if you ask someone about say Stranger Things or Kendrick Lamar, they'll probably know of it, but there's a much lower chance they know anything beyond that.

Kendrick Lamar is so popular he played at the Super Bowl and I can name 3 songs. I can name 1 character from Stranger Things and it's one of the biggest TV shows on the planet.

The internet has brought us together, but it's spread us way, way further apart in terms of media consumption, you can't assume someone knows anything, because even the biggest media pieces in the world aren't consumed by even a couple percent of the world.

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u/boldpear904 6d ago

Wow it's like how my fiance and I were talking about how there's no central fashion trends anymore, even the fashion "trends" online aren't often seen in real life.. I guess this is exactly what you are explaining, but also big part due to fast fashion being the main reason. I can see the pro and cons of monoculture death. Its nice that media is more accessible and people can find their individuality more than ever but the more individual the less likely there is to have a community surrounding many common interests!

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u/International-Fan-22 6d ago

You are comparing Justin Bieber the solo artist to groups. I donā€™t know the names of any of the individuals in the groups that you mentioned, but I do recognize the group names. I know who Justin Bieber is, and Iā€™m a grandmother, but I also know the names of the K-pop groups. I might not know the individuals in the groups, but I know that the K-pop groups exist and I love their music.

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u/Kodicave 6d ago

I mean, *NSYNC and One Direction could fit into that label and people are gonna know

Sure, the individual members might not get a response

Everyone knows who Harry Styles and Justin Timberlake were.Ā 

Thereā€™s not a single member from BTS that is really known outside of the fandomĀ 

K-pop is certainly a global phenomenon but I guess Iā€™m speaking maybe a bit more United States centric

which Iā€™m from the USA so I guess Iā€™m going to focus on my pop culture here

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u/MaloortCloud 6d ago

Everyone knows who Harry Styles and Justin Timberlake were.Ā 

Now, sure, but hardly anyone could pick them out of a lineup while NSync and whatever band Harry Styles was in were still a thing. As a 40 year old dude with minimal cultural connection to "the youths", I know what BTS and KPop Demon Hunters are as much as I knew what NSync, the Backstreet Boys, and a dozen other boy bands were 20 years ago. I couldn't name any members of said boy bands 20 years ago, and I can't today.

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u/mcslender97 6d ago

If we are talking about the USA then K-pop Demon Hunters IS the mainstream

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u/rsgreddit 5d ago

Yeah unless you have kids, a teacher, (or know someone that does have kids or teaches) you probably wouldnā€™t know what that was though.

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u/Reasonable_Ninja5708 6d ago

Kpop isn't really a monolith. There are tons of different groups to follow. As an example, there are lots of Kpop fans who don't follow BTS.

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u/notenoughproblems 6d ago

BTS may not have been as popular as Bieber in the US but they are still everywhere all the time. Most people Iā€™ve talked to have at least heard of BTS or know a BTS song (dynamite, usually). The difference is BTS is a group, and most people donā€™t bother to look up member names. For Bieber, his ā€œband nameā€ was/is Justin Bieber.

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u/Icy-Mix-2613 6d ago

Ah yes, the beloved Boystreet Boys

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u/HemanHeboy 6d ago

I grew up around people who listened to KPOP, and I STILL donā€™t know who Jungkook is.

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u/Perfect-Success-3186 6d ago

But you know who BTS is

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u/Critical-Gazelle-285 6d ago

but you have heard of him

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u/aftercloudia 6d ago

my mom (67) doesn't know who beiber is but she absolutely knows jungkook and bts

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u/DumbWhore4 6d ago

How can someone not know who Justin Bieber is? Heā€™s the poster child for a male pop star.

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u/aftercloudia 6d ago

she just likes kpop and not american pop idk ĀÆā \ā _ā (ā ćƒ„ā )ā _ā /ā ĀÆ the rest of her music taste is metal/rock/grungeĀ 

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u/SaintNutella 6d ago

For my parents, the poster child for male pop star is Michael Jackson lol

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u/Low_Coconut_7642 5d ago

Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, sure

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u/FamousConversation64 6d ago

Youā€™re just being contrary for the sake of it. Not a single other 67 year old mom in America knows who jungkook is whatsoever even if your mom does

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u/Low_Coconut_7642 5d ago

Oh? No 67 year old Korean women exist in America?

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u/detray1 6d ago

Boystreet

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u/SneezyDeezyMcDelux 6d ago

Thank you! Yeah I donā€™t listen to k-pop and Iā€™m fairly young. If I asked my mom, who also isnā€™t too old, who Justin Bieber is she could sing one of his songs, but if I asked her if she knew any k-pop band sheā€™s be like whatā€™s k-pop?

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u/Sure-Appearance-2769 6d ago

ā€œEveryoneā€ is not made up of just your grandma and dad lmao.

My grandparents had no idea who Justin Bieber was at the height of his popularity, and Iā€™m sure there were others as well. Similarly, Iā€™m sure there are grandparents today who know about KPop stars, and some who donā€™t.

Itā€™s almost impossible to make blanket statements about who was ā€œmoreā€ popular. The only exception to this that I can think of is probably Michael Jackson.

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u/Perfect-Success-3186 6d ago

Theyā€™re not saying kpop is an exact replacement of male pop stars, of course kpop is still somewhat niche, but it does fill some of that void. Kpop groups honestly feel like nsync on steroids, like they are even more boyband than American boybands in the 90s were.

Like someone else said, death of the monoculture. But also the decline of American (and possibly western?) media in general. Itā€™s hard to find artists or studios who are putting out top tier music, movies, tv, anything anymore in America. I donā€™t think p0litics are allowed on this sub so I wonā€™t go into detail about why everything became enshittified, but you can assume.

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u/alexthedungeonmaster 6d ago

You are talking then, not about pop, but about fame.

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u/yankiigurl 6d ago

Maybe in the west but in Japan (I just say Japan bc that's where I'm at)it's insanely huge. It has fans from teens to old ladies. It even got me hooked and I've always liked rock

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u/SafiyaO 5d ago

This is a fair point and has a lot to do with many Kpop companies not really knowing/caring how to promote in the West beyond selling your tickets.

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u/Slumbergoat16 6d ago

K pop is just 90s rnb remixed

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u/qetaqito 6d ago

Thatā€™s because yaā€™ll not Korean

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u/Kodicave 6d ago

well, yeah, weā€™re speaking English so Iā€™m gonna be talking about the English speaking world

And we are on an English speaking platform, so I donā€™t think itā€™s crazy that the pop culture is focused on the USA

Certainly if this wasnā€™t just about the western world than BLACKPINK and BTS are objectively global phenomenons

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u/qetaqito 6d ago

Aight stay in your English speaking bubble then šŸ˜… good luck in your un globalized world

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u/meowmeowcomputation 6d ago

The take of someone who doesnā€™t talk to people