Everything you Need to Know About the Separation of BTS

K-Pop is one of the most important genres in recent years. The truth is that this can be seen on social networks, where fans decide to make different trending topics about new songs or announcements of their favorite artists and bands and, perhaps, the most important of all is BTS.

BTS is a South Korean group that was formed in 2010 and debuted in 2013. It is made up of 7 members: Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Junkook. Although the latter is the best known, all the others have also gained great public notoriety over the years, with songs reaching millions of views on YouTube.

However, they recently announced a separation. Through a statement on social networks, they mentioned that, for some time, they will dedicate themselves to their solo projects. For example, RM had stated that after BTS’s latest singles, all the members of the group were exhausted.

And this has a very simple explanation. The K-Pop phenomenon exploded quickly, but also massively. Consequently, the artists went from having a normal and ordinary life to being idols of the masses. For this reason, this generation of the “idol system” means that they constantly have to release new music to satisfy the fans… and the markets.

Precisely, one of the consequences was seen in this sector. For example, the stock of the company that manages them, known as Hybe, lost almost 25% of its value in just one day. These losses were equivalent to approximately US$1.55 billion. For this reason, this decision generated the anger of many shareholders.

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The success and separation of BTS

In turn, this explains its enormous success. The big production companies look for groups that can empathize with the public beyond the sound. Although K-Pop is sonically very rich and distinguishes itself from other sub-genres of pop, what is really interesting is the “investment” behind the industry, which is constantly looking for new figures.

That is to say, every year new bands emerge that achieve massiveness, with captivating personalities and that captivate followers on social networks. The fans generate communities on the Internet where they share memes, music, curiosities or news about their idols, further increasing this phenomenon.

The decision to part ways caused enormous anguish in many fans, who fear that this choice is something definitive. Mainly, because Jimin had previously stated that they were “trying to find their identity”, something that showed that they were not too comfortable in their work dynamics.

Although this does not mean that they are fighting, since there are no rumors of abrupt separations, it is possible that there are creative differences or fatigue from a tour together. In turn, each one can have a personal life project, which does not coincide 100% with what a band implies as a whole.

For example, Bangtan wants to enlist at the end of the year for military service, and this would imply the need to pause the military project. This lasts for two years, which is why the rest of the members could remain in the musical area individually or rest, in case they prefer.

There is also a lot of expectation regarding what they could generate in the future. This situation had a quite notorious direct antecedent, which was the “boy-band” One Direction. They started in 2010 and broke up in 2015, when each of the members went their own ways.

The truth is that, although there is an important nostalgia around this group, this allowed each singer to have greater creative freedom. Paradoxically, for the fans, this was a plus since they had much more content than when they were in a group, since each one released one or more solo albums.

In turn, some even achieved greater hits than being in bands. The clearest case was that of Harry Styles, who is currently one of the most important pop artists in the world. When he was in the band, he was not able to reach his full potential, since he constantly had to “compete” with the voices of others.

For now, everything seems to indicate that it will be a hiatus, a very common term in K-Pop. This does not mean that it is an end to their musical careers or their contracts with agencies, but rather that they have more freedom to dedicate themselves to other projects. These interruptions usually last from months to years, and there were several cases that did.

For example, GOT7, TWICE, BIGBANG, Gudugan, Dreamcatcher, KNK or TRCNG are some of the groups that decided to “take a break”. While it’s clear that for fans this means anxiety and angst, it could also be the time to explore each other’s individual creative sides and enjoy more music.

And you, what do you think of this dissolution?