It’s no secret that K-pop has gained popularity in the United States over the past decade. Songs like “Gangnam Style” were once seen as a cultural anomaly, but we now see world-famous boy groups like BTS widely catering to their American audience, with merchandise found even in your local Barnes and Noble.
If you’re a new fan, it’s fascinating to navigate the landscape of K-pop. Each time a group launches a new song, it comes with not only a music video but a photo book, several promotional stage performances, custom choreography, trendy styling and more. There are dozens of groups to discover, but the groups you’re most likely to hear about are produced by the “Big 4” entertainment agencies in Korea: SM Entertainment (NCT, Red Velvet), YG Entertainment (Blackpink), JYP Entertainment (TWICE, Stray Kids) and HYBE Corporation (BTS).
However, there are plenty of smaller companies that produce K-pop groups with just as much talent and style. One in particular has caught a ton of international attention: 12-member girl K-pop group LOONA. The group has gained popularity through their catchy, energetic songs and choreography, and if you’ve spent any time on Twitter in the past five years, maybe you’ve heard the phrase “Stan LOONA.” This is because of the fans’ dedication to promoting the group across the world. For example, fans often start song-streaming campaigns during their releases in order to help LOONA show up on billboard charts — though this may sound a bit crazy, it comes from a place of deep love for LOONA’s members and music. Ultimately, LOONA’s fans — nicknamed “orbits” — work as a community to show their love to the group.
As of now, LOONA is in a state of complete disarray. Their most popular member was suddenly removed from the group, followed by several remaining members terminating their contracts. Their latest comeback album has been postponed as a result of a fan-run boycott. It’s an interesting yet sad juxtaposition: Fans once worked so hard to get LOONA on music charts, to help them gain worldwide recognition, and now we are working to get them as few streams as possible. How did it come to this? What leads a fanbase to boycott a group they love so much?
Because LOONA is more popular overseas than in Korea, fans have often been critical of LOONA’s label, BlockBerry Creative (BBC), for not promoting them well enough. BBC is a small label, and as of now they only manage LOONA. They have a far lower budget than their rival entertainment companies, which may account for some of LOONA’s difficulties in rising to prominence. Beyond this, they have repeatedly been accused of poor management during LOONA’s activity periods (tours, music shows, appearances on variety shows, etc.).
Fans started to become skeptical of BBC’s decisions when it was announced in June that LOONA’s most popular member, Chuu, would not be participating in LOONA’s first world tour due to “scheduling conflicts.” Around this time, rumors began to arise of a lawsuit between Chuu and BBC, and it seemed like BBC was attempting to exile Chuu from the group using a vague term like “scheduling conflicts” as an excuse.
This uncertainty caused tensions surrounding BBC to rise; slowly, it started to become apparent that the other 11 members of LOONA were upset too. At one of their final world tour concerts, group member Hyunjin spoke through tears, “Please remember that … we have 12 members. I hope the 12 members of LOONA will be together forever.” Fans expressed their love and support as always, but there was an underlying feeling of uncertainty surrounding the future of LOONA.
This all came to a sudden breaking point when it was announced on Nov. 25 that Chuu had been removed from LOONA following the use of “violent language” and “misuse of power” toward staff. This came as an extreme shock to fans, as Chuu is widely known for her cheerful, innocent kindness. It seemed as though she could never do something so cruel, and many fans immediately became skeptical that BBC was twisting the story. This seemed to indeed be the case, as over the next few days, several entertainment workers within the K-pop industry came out in defense of Chuu.
Outrage toward BBC from fans increased after nine other members of LOONA filed injunctions to suspend their contracts with the company three days after Chuu was kicked out. It became extremely clear that mismanagement was at play, and hashtags like “#LOONAIS12” and “#FreeLOONA” began to trend online.
In a show of dedication toward LOONA, fans began to further speculate on BBC’s treatment of the group. After closely reviewing the band member’s contracts, fans discovered that they had been placed into debt bondage, meaning they were never meant to gain a cent while BBC profited off of them. Member Yeojin confirmed she hadn’t been paid since debuting in 2017 while chatting with a fan online. These facts made it clear to fans that BBC had to be held accountable for their actions.
Amid the chaos and outrage toward the company online, BBC’s proposed solution to calm the masses came in the form of an announcement of a new album from LOONA — without Chuu. The announcement was immediately met with negative reactions, and fans began a mass call for a boycott of the album. Fan-run accounts began to appear creating guides on how to properly boycott anything and everything BBC produced. Fans most prominently utilized Twitter to carry out this boycott, with update accounts such as LOONA Union providing detailed guidance for fans via hashtags and infographics. LOONA Union is particularly incredible — it’s helped to bring awareness to unfair working conditions and contracts within the K-pop industry. Fans are now unionizing for their idols, using traditional labor protest procedures in hopes of fixing these issues. It’s amazing to see just how much support LOONA has garnered, sparking discussions about exploitation and unionization.
As detailed in LOONA Union’s post, the most prominent feature of the boycott was the prevention of engagement on LOONA’s new album, ranging from not liking posts from the official LOONA accounts to avoiding purchasing the album. However, the boycott expanded further, even encouraging fans to stop listening to LOONA’s music entirely on platforms such as Spotify. As a result of this fan organization, pre-order sales dropped 98% compared to the previous album, making it clear that fans were not messing around, seeking to stand in solidarity with LOONA’s members.
BBC clearly took this warning, too, as the album was postponed indefinitely not long after its announcement and pre-orders. Though LOONA’s members can’t speak out due to fear of being kicked out, Hyunjin seemingly updated fans just moments after the postponement with a smiley face emoji. Fans unanimously took this as a discreet moment of joy at the postponement, flooding her with love for her humor amid the situation.
Now here I sit, unfollowing each of their official accounts, taking their music out of my playlists. I come across compilations of the group as 12 set to sad music, as if it’s already over. It’s certainly a bit depressing. I’ve been a LOONA fan since 2019, watching them grow more and more talented through the years. Getting into LOONA was a world of its own: each music video contained beautiful cinematography, each member had their own unique personality and interests. Every apprehension I had about becoming a K-pop fan melted away when I watched them perform; I wanted nothing more than to see them gain success in Korea, to know that they had fans who were rooting for them.
Yet when thinking of the hardships the members had to go through, the boycott feels necessary in getting them the justice they deserve. Many of them were only teenagers when they signed their contracts, ambitious about becoming K-pop idols and unaware of the debt they were signing themselves into. LOONA has given so many people, myself included, a reason to be happy — a song to cheer up their day — so it’s only natural that fans want to give back their love and help them to get the money they’re rightfully owed. It’s nice to see so much love, from fanart to memes; LOONA means a lot to so many, and with such a tightly-knit fanbase, it’s clear that wherever the members end up after everything, they will be supported and loved.
Daily Arts Writer Katelyn Sliwinski can be reached at ksliwi@umich.edu.
