Individual Research Project (English)

As all us Intl-ARMYs know, we get jealous at those fan sign videos. I MEAN WHY WASN'T I BORN IN SOUTH KOREA?! But actually in reality, most of Bangtan's fanbase aren't from South Korea. Majority are international fans, I often wonder why. I mean they have fan signs in South Korea and majority of their concerts there as well, so how are there so many Intl-ARMYs? Well I think I know the answer, BTS became very popular after their hit video: Blood, Sweat and Tears, was released. It accumulated lots of views and many famous YouTubers viewed it as well. So then many of the YouTubers fans would check it out, to see it for themselves. I know this is a large part of Bangtan's popularity because that's how I became an ARMY. I'm sure it's the same for many of you as well! That same years BTS were awarded their first Billboard Music Award, it's a huge award show that lots of people watch. They also garnered a lot of fans from there, their newest song and album was a huge big hit (hehe) as well. On the first day of being released it was #17 on Trending (YouTube). BTS also win many awards, that are over the internet. In fact, the country that BTS are most popular in is Brazil.

Another reason BTS are so popular, is a lot of their song lyrics are quite easy for us non-Korean speakers to sing. Take their famous song Blood, Sweat and Tears. It's most well known line: Want it mahni mahni (원해 많이 많이) is easy to sing. People love when they can sing along with their favourite artist. So this is an added bonus, they also add in a fair amount of English lines in some of their songs as well (which is great!). Recently they've been seen over social media with a lot of American artists and actors. There was a picture of Instagram of some of the members with Ansel Elgort (Baby; Baby Driver). Also after JungKook and Jimin made a cover of Charlie Puth's "We Don't Talk Anymore", Charlie congratulated them on Twitter, so many people saw that. People get curious about who these people are go and check them out, some people becoming international fans! Being a popular group, the get ad offers from many companies. They're most well known and longest contract is with Puma. So there are multiple ads of them for Puma, and ads are aired all over the internet. Guess who sees those ads? We do! Also with Asia becoming a popular holiday location, people will learn about the language(s), culture and what's popular over there. With BTS being very popular they will (most likely) be mentioned.

Well, that's why I think BTS have a huge international fan base. Obviously they have LOADS of Korean fans, but they just appeal more to us non-Koreans I guess. Why do you think BTS are so popular overseas? I'd love to know!

#BTS #SouthKorea #InternationalARMY