Fans defend TREASURE as netizens mock the group’s poor digital performance despite YG’s huge investment 

TREASURE’s new song is not doing well on digital charts, but fans say digital results are not everything.

One of the most outstanding rookie boy groups of Kpop 4th generation – TREASURE has officially made a comeback on February 15 with the mini-album The Second Step: Chapter One and the title track JIKJIN.  Before the comeback, TREASURE made headlines everywhere because YG reportedly invested more than 500 million won and hired the former director of MAMA to produce TREASURE’s MV. YG spending an enormous amount of money on TREASURE made the public expect TREASURE to have a successful comeback with explosive achievements. 

However, although JIKJIN MV is well-invested, it still does not leave much of an impression on the general public who are not the group’s fans, especially in Korea. The proof is that JIKJIN only debuted at #418 on Melon with only 18,000 Unique Listeners within a day of release. 

TREASURE’s incredibly low rankings on domestic digital charts have drawn mixed reactions. Some netizens claim that YG has overestimated their rookie boy group, pouring a whopping 500 million won on TREASURE’s comeback without thoroughly considering how much potential the group actually have. 

• An investment of 500 million won in any YG group can be a wise decision, except TREASURE. Their fans keep saying TREASURE is not a failure of YG, but the group really has nothing to compare with their seniors. Don’t explain that it’s because the company doesn’t take care of them. TREASURE fans get way more content than other YG groups combined.
• Their digital performance really sucks. TREASURE already had a fan base from the survival show, and is also supported by fans of senior groups, but they still can’t rise to the top.
• Why do fans keep defending them? Their digital rankins are indeed disappointing. YG’s 500 million won investment is basically wasted. 

On the other side, numerous internet users pointed out that most Gen 4 boybands had low digital achievement. The number of boy bands with 4th generation Kpop digital strengths may be counted on the fingers of one hand. Furthermore, TREASURE has only just begun promoting JIKJIN; the road ahead is still long, and the group still has plenty of chances to make a breakthrough. Is it too early to declare the YG boy band a “flop” at this time?

• All YG groups have very good digital achievements except TREASURE.  However, the 4th generation boy groups all have bad records on the digital charts.
• This comeback is so much better than the last one.  Digital, view or album are all better so they have nothing to be ashamed of.
• They just released the song a day ago and haven’t even promoted it on the music show yet.  They can absolutely achieve better results in the future.

In addition, fans also countered the sarcasm that YG’s 10 billion investment in TREASURE was wasted with the information that the group had earned more than 4 billion won in the Japanese market in the first half of 2021. Fan asserted: It’s money made by TREASURE, so the group deserves all the best conditions for this comeback.

Many individuals are disappointed by the fact that YG invested heavily in TREASURE but the group’s performance fell short of expectations. However, given that TREASURE is still a rookie after a long hiatus, 500 million won can be viewed as compensation for the group, as well as a strategy by YG to assist the group in gaining popularity.