Dear international H:Ours,
Recently there has been dispute between Korean and international H:Ours over the boycott, voting system, and others. As I watched this happen, I realized that this problem occured mainly because of fundamental difference between how Korean and international fans are perceiving this current situation about the boys, the concerts, and CJ. In hopes of avoiding such disputes in the future, here is our perspective on this whole situation-- starting with the survival program to now. H:Ours need to stick together to help the boys succeed, and in order to stick together we need to first understand each other’s perspectives.
Please read it all, even though it’s long.
1. Boys24 program itself was a total flop in Korea, and practically nobody knows the boys.
-Due to the total incompetence in part of the PD and the writers, Boys24 program itself totally and completely flopped in Korea.
-The show itself, when you’re not a fan, held no appeal to the crowds.
-The rating for the show was around 1% for ep 1, and it just kept going down after that-- probably too low to be of any use even if you count it.
-For reference, Produce 101 tended to have about 3% rating on average, and over 4% rating in the final episode.
-Of course, it’s not the boys’ fault that the PD was a little bitch and made a show that flopped.
-But nonetheless, as a result, the Korean fanbase for the boys are tiny, and the general public literally don’t even know them.
-If you ask a random Korean about Boys24, they’ll probably say, “What’s that?” or “Oh yeah, the shitty survival program that was supposed to be male version of Produce 101 something.”
-In numbers, about 2000 people joined the official fanclub-- even taking into account that there are fans who couldn’t join for whatever reason, in Korea that’s probably approximately how many Korean fans there are. 2000 or so. That’s tiny.
-Once again, the program was a flop, and it’s a goddamn miracle that the Korean Boys24 fandom exists.
2. The current voting system is not viable, especially not for 1 year.
-People say that voting for Produce 101 was emotionally and physically tiring and exhausting when it was just for a few months. Imagine having to do it for a year. It’s hell.
-And that’s considering that Produce 101 was a total hit with a huge fanbase that kept on growing-- their pie(=fandom) was huge and quite a few could have a slice.
-Boys24 is the total opposite.
-The program’s a flop and we can’t expect many new fans because the boys won’t appear on TV, on top of that our pie(=fandom) is tiny and we’re trying to split it to molecular bits.
-Just in case you guys need a measurement as to how tiny the fandom is, especially when divided amongst 28 members, many fans (especially fans of mid to lower ranking members) in DCInside Boys24 Gallery reported that it’s evident that they’re voting alone or with just 1 or 2 other fans because their bias’ votes only go up when they’re pouring points in.
-In fact, it would be a miracle if all the fans DON’T get tired and fall out after 1 year of this voting bullshit.
3. DON’T. TRUST. CJ.
-CJE&M, a.k.a. our boys’ company, is literally the biggest problem here.
-CJE&M is H:Ours’ common enemy.
-You see, CJ has never made an idol from scratch before, and therefore naturally don’t know jack shit about the idol market and how it works.
-Other notable CJ artists like Eric Nam, Roy Kim, Park Boram, Davichi, and Spica weren’t trainees at CJ-- they just came to CJ for debut or transferred here from another company.
-The 28 boys are practically the first trainees at CJE&M, so it’s likely that they’re going to be the guinea pigs for all the fuck-ups CJ will commit.
-On top of that CJE&M is a big-ass company that practically has a monopoly on Korean entertainment industry.
-They make a lot of money and pretty much only care about profit.
-What says that they won’t abandon the boys at a whim? They’re a big company.
-The least fans can do for the boys is to point CJ the right direction best we can and ask for feedback, but the problem is that CJ never gives feedback unless we bark and scream at them. You know, big company.
-So once again, DON’T. TRUST. CJ.
-They don’t know jack shit about idols, and they don’t give a shit about our boys.
-DON’T.
-TRUST.
-CJE&M.
4. On consumers’ rights part 1: Why Korean fans don’t want free voting.
-Let’s be frank, idol industry is an, well, industry, and being an idol is a job that needs to make money.
-In this industry, the consumers are fans who spend money on idols.
-Joining the fanclub, buying music, going to concerts, and buying merchandise is basically what feeds the boys now and what will feed them after the debut.
-The money fans spend is ultimately what’s given to the boys as reward for their labor.
-So if debut is going to be determined by voting, it’s only fair that the fans who are willing to spend money on them decide-- especially when the fandom is so small that it’s difficult to get accurate samples (unlike Produce 101).
-In reverse, let’s think of it this way-- why should the boys follow wills of people who won’t even help them get fair reward for their labor by spending money?
-I’m not saying that people who don’t spend money aren’t “true fans” or whatever, nor am I saying that your support and cheers to the boys don’t count if it doesn’t come with cash.
-Of course love and support for the boys matter.
-But that’s after they make some goddamn money as compensation for their hard work. Don’t expect influence without spending a penny on them.
-If international fans want to vote for the boys by other means, we’re not against that-- but we are against free voting whether that’s in Korea or overseas.
5. On consumers rights part 2: Boycotting and beating the shit out of CJ
-As written in the previous section, in the idol industry, fans who spend money are consumers.
-And while consumers will gladly spend money when goods/services offered are to their satisfaction, there’s no reason to continue spend money when they don’t like it.
-We want to spend money and feel good about it, instead of exhausted and shitty (which is exactly how this streaming point bullshit made us feel).
-It's called boycotting.
-Boycotting is a consumer’s right, as well as the most effective way for consumers to send a message to companies and force them to listen to consumers’ complaints.
-The concert boycott that Korean fans are planning is not because we have anything against the boys.
-Let me repeat.
-The concert boycott that Korean fans are planning is not because we have anything against the boys.
-It’s because we don’t like what CJ is doing, that is having rigged, unfair voting systems and treating the boys badly. (Pledis Girlz, who have a concert once a week say that it’s extremely difficult, imagine what it would be like for the boys who perform twice to three times a week.)
-We want them to listen to us, but CJ won’t listen to us unless we take extreme measures.
-”If CJ gives a satisfying feedback before the date set there’s no need to boycott?”
-First of all, forget it, there's a 99% chance that is not going to happen.
-Second of all, if we don’t boycott just because they gave feedback, CJ will see us fans, us consumers, as idiots, and continue with their awful systems and awful treatment of the boys.
-In the long term, it’s better to boycott some concerts and see the boys be treated well and debut under a fair voting system than to let all of this continue and see the boys tired out mentally and physically a year later.
-We can’t let CJE&M see us as idiots who are okay with our boys being treated badly.
6. Korean fans’ response to some things international fans have said during this incident
-Some international fans have said that Korean fans are selfish and ungrateful because we plan to boycott concerts when international fans are dying to go to one, saying “We can’t all be rich and live in/fly to Korea.”
-To which we respond, once again, this is a better plan in the long run.
-On top of that, not all Korean fans are rich or are able to regularly attend concerts either.
-Most H:Ours are in their teens and twenties-- they’re mostly students and social rookies who save up their extra change to buy tickets for concerts, and quite a few live hours away from Seoul who pay all the fares on top of tickets to go see the boys.
-Some say that the boycott may hurt the boys’ feelings.
-To which we respond, there’s a 99% chance they know about all of this because they do have the internet, and it has been confirmed that they look at Boys24 fan communities that are organizing this boycott.
-“What if some people take all the good seats because of the boycott though?”
-Well, to be fair the front rows are probably going to be filled by non-H:Ours and maybe some tourists, all of whom don’t have any idea about this boycott thing.
-But if the rest of the seats are empty, that’s a success.
-What if there are “fans” (who knew about the boycott) amongst the people who take the good seats because of the boycott?
-Well, you can be damn sure that those “fans” are not going to be active in the fandom after that.
-”Korean fans don’t want certain members with lots of international support to debut!”
-First of all, those members with lots of international fans also have Korean fans.
-And Korean H:Ours love all 28 members, too.
-That’s precisely why we’re doing this.
-Once again, it’s not because we have anything against any of the boys, it’s about unfair rigged voting systems and CJ’s shittiness.
7. Others: All 28 debuting?
-“Well then just ask for CJ to debut all 28 of them!”
-Oh hell yeah, a whole lot of people would love it if all 28 of them debuted.
-But realistically, that is absolutely not what we should be betting on right now.
-The priority is getting a goddamn feedback for the voting system.
Final thoughts
-First of all, thanks for reading all of that, because that was a long ass letter.
-Hopefully this has cleared up Korean H:Ours’ perspective.
-In the future, when we are taking action, we will do our best to properly and clearly communicate with international H:Ours about our plans-- so please, lend us a ear and help.
-We all want the best for our 28 boys after all.
-Thank you, and finally,
-DON’T.
-TRUST.
-CJE&M.