Suspicions of chart manipulation between fandoms surface again

Recently, controversy has been spreading in online communities, claiming that the BTS fandom 'ARMY' used the 'reverse streaming' method to intentionally interfere with the chart performance of NewJeans (NJZ) in the past.

This controversy arose right after claims were raised that BTS fans had recently streamed IVE's 'Bang Bang', thereby preventing New Genes' 'SWIM' from maintaining its #1 spot on Melon. In response to this, the conflict intensified as some netizens discovered and shared 'evidence' on social media that ARMYs used the same method in the past.

Suspicion of attempt to block 'Ditto' perfect all-kill in 2023

The incident dates back to 2023. At the time, New Jeans' mega hit song 'Ditto' was dominating the charts with the momentum of breaking the record for the longest perfect all-kill ever held by BTS' 'Dynamite'.

According to a post published online, some ARMYs suggested focusing on streaming Taeyang's 'Vibe' and pushing New Genes' other song 'OMG' as a backup plan. The strategy was to indirectly prevent 'Ditto' from taking first place by raising the rankings of other songs on music platforms such as Bugs.

A post shared on social media at the time said, "Dynamite currently holds the No. 1 record for Perfect All Kills, and if this trend continues, the record could be broken within 7 days," and added, "Let's push 'Vibe' from Bugs and stream it to push it to No. 1."

The dark side of fandom culture and chart competition

In the K-POP fandom, competition for chart rankings has been fierce for a long time. ‘All-out streaming’ to improve the performance of one’s favorite artist has already become a widespread fandom culture.

However, 'reverse streaming', which strategically promotes third-party songs to directly check competing artists, is a topic of controversy on another level. This goes beyond simple support and causes conflict with other fandoms and raises questions about the fairness of music charts.

The past posts released this time sparked fierce reactions among Korean netizens. Some are raising their voices of criticism, pointing out the ‘naeronambul’ controversy among fandoms.