Recently, some fans shared their experience and expressed frustration when their idols of less popularity received discrimination.
One of the features of K-pop culture is that fans get together or attend events on special anniversaries for idols. But recently, some fans expressed frustration at being discriminated against just because their idols are unknown artists.
In Korea, fans often rent cafes to host events on the occasion of a Kpop idol’s birthday or anniversaries. Usually on this day, the shop will be decorated with pictures, standees, banners, cup holders… printed with the artist’s image. Just by going to the venue and buying drinks, fans will be able to check-in with these photos as well as attend the event to congratulate their favorite artists. Thanks to this, coffee shops will also get a certain number of customers and earn higher profits than other days.
However, it is worth mentioning that currently, most cafes in Korea only give priority to renting event venues for fandoms of famous artists. The reason revealed is that if the idol is loved by many people, the number of visitors will be larger and the shop will also earn more profits. However, this makes fans of less popular idols feel unfair and voiced their criticism on online forums. Typically, recently, fans of member Suyun of girl group Rocket Punch posted a text message to rent a place between themselves and a coffee shop to prove the current status of unpopular idols’ fans having difficulty in finding a venue for events.
According to the conversation, when this fan asked about wanting to rent a place to hold the idol’s birthday event on March 12th and 13th, this cafe shop replied that it was free and can be rented on that day. However, when knowing that the idol was Suyun (Rocket Punch), the shop was silent for about 10 minutes, then texted back that it had accepted the event schedule of other artists’ fans. Even so, fans discovered that the shop still posted on social media to accept reservations that day.
This is not the first time that fans of a less popular group have received discrimination in Korea. In events that gather many artists, such as “Idol Star Athletics Championships” or music festivals like “Dream Concert”, the program organizers often arrange seats according to fandom, the number of seats is also allocated based on the artist’s popularity.
In addition, fans of less popular idols also rarely have the opportunity to support idols with things like buying magazines, cosmetics or products represented by artists because brands still prioritize cooperation with famous names that are popular with the public. It can be seen that besides supporting music products, fans also seem to have to work harder to help their favorite artists be recognized and known more.
