Stereogum gets backlash for saying BTS and Army are rendering pop charts useless

The music and entertainment news outlet is in the eye of the hurricane after publishing a statement on their website stating that both BTS, their fandom and their team have “ruined the music industry” In Stereogum’s extensive writing, they stick to various examples from both BTS and controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj, Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift.

Where they affirm that they have used deplorable techniques to achieve position in # 1 of the Hot 100.

In the same statement, the renowned media questions why there are some powerful Columbia Records executives credited as composers of “Butter” without even having a credible experience in the world of composition.

Without further words, these were some of the things Stereogum said:

“A week and a half ago, BTS released ‘Butter’, a song that sounds a lot like ‘Dynamite’. It is their second single in English. The entire creation of “Butter” feels strangely cloudy; one of the seven credited songwriters, for example, is Columbia Records president Ron Perry, a man with no prior songwriting experience. The song has done what it was meant to do“.

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“Butter is now at No.1. According to Billboard, no group has released their first four #1 singles this fast since the Jackson 5 did it in 1970.

Here’s the rub, though: Butter isn’t the most popular song in the United States or anywhere in the world right now. Billboard cracks its charts through an arcane combination of broadcast, sales, and radio play“.

“The song reached #1 almost entirely thanks to sales of discounted digital singles. Butter received many broadcasts, but not as much as any of the three most popular songs on Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album.

On the radio, America’s biggest song right now is “Leave The Door Open,” the retro soul ballad from Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic project. There, “butter” is not even a factor.”

“In the lengthy statement, the outlet also said the following: Like the BTS greatest hits that preceded it, is at No. 1 right now mainly because BTS has effectively mobilized their tireless army of fans.

BTS sold downloads of “Butter” for 69 cents.

They also sold an instrumental version. They’ll release two new remixes, that’s for 69 cents, too, and their sales count toward BTS’s chart fortunes.

(There are also physical editions of the single, but those won’t count on the charts until they ship)“.

“BTS fans are extremely connected to the whole pop-up chart thing and invested in helping the group reach No.1 as many times as possible. If that means buying two different versions of the same song for 69 cents a, many of them are happy to do so.

If you look at the charts, you will get a completely distorted and wrong idea of ​​how popular BTS really is“.

“It’s not just BTS. So far this year, 10 songs have reached #1 on the Hot 100. Seven of those songs have debuted at #1. Last year, artists like 6ix9ine, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott built their conscious fan bases.
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themselves to bring unimportant, memoryless singles to number 1, aided in part by scams like merchandise packages. You could accuse Taylor Swift of something similar with the two #1 hits she released in 2020“.

“These days, it’s not just artists and record labels trying to top the charts, or the latest case of fraud. in Dua Lipa sales. They are also the fans. Billboard has altered its rules multiple times to prevent such things from happening, but fans keep discovering new ways to bring not-so-popular songs to number one. Most of the time, these songs plummet out of the top 10 almost immediately after landing their first week at # 1. It feels like a broken system“.