BTS is home: But why ARMY's energy just isn't the same anymore; analysing 5 factors

Indian Express

a day ago

All seven members of BTS — Jimin, Suga, RM, J-Hope, V, Jungkook, and Jin — reunited for the group's 12th debut anniversary in Goyang, headlining a special performance to mark the FESTA event. After 18 long months, fans finally got to see their beloved idols together post-military completion, and as expected, the internet went into overdrive, with members dominating top trends. But this time, there was a noticeable shift. Solo names of the members were trending across different regions. That made us revisit some of the trends that ruled 2024 while the Dynamite singers were away serving.
BTS' popularity soared during the pandemic era, their song 'Permission to Dance' and the chain reaction it sparked on social media gave hope to millions. And while the group remains a global powerhouse, pulling in 51,176 new Spotify monthly listeners on June 8, 2025, a 255.1% spike ahead of the group's return, we can't turn a blind eye to the rise of groups like Seventeen and Stray Kids, who have been making big waves worldwide. At the same time, political drift and solo stanning have also started to shake things up.
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Even the most loyal fan bases can drift over time, especially during long hiatuses. BTS has been lucky that their fans waited, but those who joined during their military enlistment may have developed strong attachments to other groups, given how aggressively these new K-pop acts are being marketed left and right. The year 2024 was widely dominated by groups like NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM, IVE, ZEROBASEONE, RIIZE, BOYNEXTDOOR, BABYMONSTER, ILLIT, SEVENTEEN, who have carved their own niche and further diversified the K-pop scene.
K-pop didn't conquer the world overnight. Groups like GOT7, BigBang, Girls' Generation, they all hustled for years just to get a foot in the global door. Fast forward to now, new K-pop groups debut, and before you even learn their names, they're blowing up worldwide. They're smartly riding the global tracks BTS laid down, testing the waters, tapping into the western crowd, and turning that into real commercial success.
Also read: BTS loses global dominance to rising K-pop stars who just beat Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish in album sales
Scanning social media and coming across posts where fans have openly voiced issues with HYBE made us realise how the political scene can slowly tear a fandom apart. Awareness around geopolitical issues, especially the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Ukraine-Russia war, with calls for artists and agencies to take a stand, has created further imbalance. 2024 was frequently dominated by trends like the #HYBEDivestFromZionism campaign, where fans openly called for a boycott of the K-pop agency and its artists over ties with Scooter Braun. HYBE extended its American wing under Braun, who once managed artists like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, but his political leanings have divided the fandom, with some even saying they'll only support BTS if the group disassociates from the Bang Si Hyuk-led agency.
If there's one thing old BTS fans have always feared, it's solo stanning overpowering the OT7 aura. All seven members kicked off their solo careers before enlisting (Jungkook's Golden, RM's Indigo, Jimin's Face, J-Hope's Hope on the Street Vol. 1, V's Layover, Suga's D-Day, Jin's Happy) and while each release topped charts at different points, adding weight to BTS as a whole, it also opened the door for some fans to lean harder toward individual members, which can, at times, dilute the collective group focus.
Hollywood Reporter crowned SEVENTEEN the most popular and biggest K-pop group globally in 2024, standing shoulder to shoulder with names like Taylor Swift and Drake. Their Asia tour (2023–2024) raked in a staggering $98.4 million from just 24 shows, clinching the title for the highest-grossing K-pop tour of the year. Happy Birthday sold over 2.2 million copies on day one. Though all this happened during BTS's absence, it's hard to overlook how SEVENTEEN's album sales have constantly drawn comparisons to the septet, even surpassing the, in several major categories. They left behind heavyweights like The Weeknd, Billie Eilish, and Kendrick Lamar.
HYBE has lately been wrestling with its subsidiaries, especially ADOR. The clash with ex-CEO Min Hee Jin triggered the collapse of one of the agency's brightest stars, NewJeans, a group many believed had the potential to mirror BLACKPINK's global reign. Debuting in 2022, they stormed the charts within a year, headlined major stages, and bagged luxury brand deals like clockwork. Some even called them the 'female BTS.' But the dramatic fallout, with the group now locked in a bitter fight to cut ties with the agency, forced them into a hiatus, dangerously close to disbandment. While some BTS fans have stood by NewJeans in solidarity, others remain loyal to HYBE.