“Insiders..talk abt strategy or secret ingredient to emulate & apply to other cases. But the real success of @BTS_twt in the west & Korea is in their story..kpop’s been around for a v long time..we alrdy know it’s strength & it’s commercial potential..but+

“all of a sudden BH, a small company, made this group. When @BTS_twt made their debut everybody was laughing. The whole concept of hip hop idol was something that many hardcore hip hop fans would...mock”
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Youngdae Kim, as panelist in Asia Society Korea/ASSC webinar

“We talk abt strategy..but the thing that can rly move ppl is music..And the little differences in music & emotions within music. I think the real power of @BTS_twt is their rly delicate emotional nostalgic music..that cld bring a lot of diff ppl together+

. @BTS_twt “has the most diverse fandom...ethnicity, race, age...and the most critical reason for their success is the universality of their music. That’s the kind of teaching that industry people [should] consider seriously.”
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“One of the interesting strategies/ways of BH when they produced @BTS_twt is artistic freedom...[BTS members are] part of the production, part of the lyrics writing, part of the beat making, and the fan engagement...”
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“...many of us in the industry cringe a little bit - actually hesitate - calling @BTS_twt a ‘boyband.’ Because the word, the term, the idea of a, boyband is often just dismissed as ‘they’re celebrities, they’re performers, they’re actually not artists’
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“The wide appeal of @BTS_twt particularly with fans, and especially with critics, is the fact that they’re really actually artist producers and singer songwriters.”
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Bernie Cho, President of DFSB Kollective and music entertainment executive

“In the western market authenticity is everything...even with the bands..in the 90s, like N’sync or Backstreet Boys, everybody always felt that ‘oh these guys are all manufactured’...That carried over to Kpop...”
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“ @BTS_twt broke that stereotype and showed that you can have the lights and the glitz AND be in the creative as well...these guys are actually writing the music. And music is a form of expression.”
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“At the end of the day...all the marketing is secondary...we’re in the business of selling art. And @BTS_twt has actually shown that it can go a long way on both ends of the cycle - being visual as well as creative, and that’s what did it.”

Jae Chong, producer