"BTS Running the Music Industry" by Abby Chung

From Nobodies to One of The Biggest Boy Groups in History

On June 13th, 2013, a South Korean K-pop boy group, made their debut from a small

entertainment company, BigHit. All from different backgrounds, BTS consists of 7 members: Jin, RM (Rap Monster), Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. Some of the members had always dreamed of making it big in the K-pop industry, while the others unintentionally stumbled their way into a long and demanding career that would change their lives forever. 

Rocky Beginnings

As if starting in the K-pop industry isn’t hard enough, coming from a small, no-name company didn’t make BTS’s chance of debut much better. With their first album, 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS released their main songs, “No More Dream” and “We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2.” With a strong hip-hop feel, BTS conveyed the message of “What is your dream?” Interestingly enough, that is something they still emphasize today. Despite the dark outfits and stages, the lyrics of their songs convey their own experiences and emotions. For example, in “No More Dream,” the lyrics state, “When we were young and still had so many dreams we no longer remember, don't worry about university. I'll go somewhere far away. I know, mum, I'm going to the study room right now.” According to the BigHit BTS Discography, “There is no discontinuity between the emotions and lyrics of BTS. The album is a satisfaction in both quality and quantity.” Their title track “No More Dream” entered the Billboard World chart at No. 14, and their album did fairly well for a rookie group. However, the boys experienced difficulties obtaining stage performances and media exposure.

BTS First Performance Stage (2013)

BTS First Performance Stage (2013)

Many times, BTS was criticized for wearing makeup and “looking like girls.” This created a conflict with their hip-hop image, and many people said that BTS weren’t true hip-hop artists or wouldn’t make it far in the industry at all. BigHit was also experiencing a lot of financial issues, and almost went bankrupt. This was another factor that contributed to BTS’s rocky start, unlike what main-stream companies could do for their idols. Many people also made false accusations against the group, such as plagiarism, and were constantly trying to kick members out of the group. 

Unfortunately, that’s not even the beginning of the mistreatment BTS faced as a rookie group. Despite it all, BTS was able to push through their hardships and turn them into something more beautiful that they could later share with their future global fans.

Hit the Ground Running

BTS’s first music show win was with their song “I Need U,” providing its audience with a youthful yet melancholic tone, which differed from their past releases. BTS’s image changed to represent young adulthood, failing relationships, friendships, and a deeper meaning to life than ever seen before. This earned them more and more popularity within the Korean entertainment, specifically when they won “Artist of the year” at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) and their first ever daesang for “Album of the Year” at the Melon Music Awards (MMA’s), which most people would agree was the beginning of their worldwide fame. 

BTS First Daesang (2016)

BTS First Daesang (2016)

Following the success with their album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, BTS pulled another victory with their next two albums Wings and You Never Walk Alone. They were gaining more and more interested press and more international success, which can be seen through their YouTube Red series Burn the Stage. 

Then, the biggest turning point for BTS took place. Their album LOVE YOURSELF 承 'Her' was released in September, 2017. It was a revelation in music history, garnering more interest in Korean culture. LOVE YOURSELF 承 'Her' transitioned from a darker point in young adulthood to a hopeful one. It was a portrayal of “the image of boys in love for the first time,” which was expressed in “a refreshing and cheerful take that aims to talk about the topic of love while immersed in a coming-of-age tale.” The music video for “DNA” had refreshing, youthful, and bright visuals, immediately pulling its audience in with a catchy whistle tone in the beginning. Now, “DNA” sits over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.

Shortly after the release of LOVE YOURSELF 承 'Her', BTS teamed up with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in order to start the Love Myself campaign, “ensuring children and teens in the world lead safe and healthy lives without the fear of violence.” Over the next two years, UNICEF accumulated over 2.6 billion KRW and 11.8 million uses of the hashtag #BTSLoveMyself. To a lot of the outside world, this was surprising to see from the K-pop group, but to many BTS fans, BTS’ efforts to relate with youth and talking about struggles with violence was a constant message even today. BTS leader RM had the honor of speaking in front of the New York United Nations General Assembly held in 2018. From talking about BTS’s early struggles to his personal struggles on finding himself growing up, RM ended his speech with this: “We have learned to love ourselves, so now I urge you to “speak yourself. I would like to ask all of you. What is your name? What excites you and makes your heart beat? Tell me your story. I want to hear your voice, and I want to hear your conviction. No matter who you are, where you’re from, your skin colour, gender identity: speak yourself.” 

BTS Speech at the UN General Assembly (2018)

BTS Speech at the UN General Assembly (2018)

After the Love Yourself era came to a close with BTS’s third album in the series LOVE YOURSELF 結 ‘ANSWER’, it was time for BTS to break more records and set higher standards. Already accomplishing international success, BTS became the first Korean boy group to accomplish such impressive achievements. Shortly thereafter, a pattern arose in which their fandom, the ARMY, consistently broke the record for the most viewed video in 24 hours on YouTube. First, BTS’s song “Idol” from the album LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer' hit over 45 million views in a day, placing them above Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” at 43.2 million views (Forbes). Later releasing their song “Boy With Luv,” a spin on their earlier song “Boy In Luv,” replaced the record with 74.6 million views. It was then topped by “Dynamite,” which reached 101.1 million views in 2020. BTS’s most recent song, “Butter,” reached 113 million views in 24 hours (Forbes). Not only did the boy group successfully break this record, they have also been maintaining their #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for over 4 weeks to this day. 

BTS is hopeful that they will reach their biggest personal goal: to win a Grammy award. After being nominated in early 2021, many were waiting for the win that, unfortunately, never came. Despite the sadness many ARMYs were experiencing after news of the results, member Jin stated on their Vlive broadcast, “I’m really happy when I go to award shows or go to work these days. It’s not just our names in the news. ARMY gets mentioned too. I’m so happy we are making history together. And we worked really hard for our performance today. While we filmed the performance, RM kept saying, “‘This performance will last forever.’” BTS not only remembers that just performing on such a big stage is a blessing, but they also make sure to shine the light on their fans for making their lifelong dreams come true. 

BTS Grammy Performance (2021)

BTS Grammy Performance (2021)

What Will I See at the End of This Road?

The end of BTS still remains undetermined. With South Korea’s military enlistment policy, known as 군대, BTS as well as other popular K-pop groups are getting an age extension as to when they are required to enlist. BTS member Jin states that conscription is “an important duty for our country. So I feel that I will try to work as hard as I can and do the most I can until I am called” (International The News). Other than military conscription, the boy group seems to be unstoppable trailblazers for the Korean music industry while making Korea very well-known to the rest of the world. BTS are undoubtedly some of the most successful artists in worldwide music history, serving excellence in everything they do, and remaining forever grateful for their ARMY. 

Korean Representation, Important Figures, Korean EntertainmentKAYL ExecutiveBTS, K-pop