RIIZE: When listening to superfans goes too far

Many record labels have spent 2024 trying to capitalise on the power of superfans, inspired by the global success of Korean entertainment companies. However, the recent scandal involving Seunghan, a member of the K-pop group RIIZE, and their label SM Entertainment, prompts questions about whether catering too strongly to the biggest – and loudest – superfans can be detrimental to both artists and their fanbases.

What happened with Seunghan and RIIZE?

Just before RIIZE’s official debut in September 2023, private photos leaked of member Seunghan kissing a woman, followed by photos of him smoking – behaviours that are frowned upon in Korea, where celebrities are expected to project a wholesome image. Fan backlash led Seunghan to go on hiatus from the group. RIIZE continued to promote without Seunghan for nearly a year until October 10, 2024, when SM Entertainment announced that Seunghan would be returning to the group beginning in November. This announcement led to immediate backlash from many of RIIZE’s Korean fans, who went as far as to send funeral wreaths and protest trucks to the SM building, calling for Seunghan’s permanent removal from the group. Just two days later, on October 12, SM issued a statement on X, announcing Seunghan’s permanent departure from RIIZE and apologising for “[hurting] fans more and [causing] them greater confusion”.

This was not the first time that SM and RIIZE were at the centre of fan backlash. At their debut showcase, RIIZE announced that their official fan club name would be SUNZ but switched the name to BRIIZE two days later after fan complaints. In March, SM teased the design for RIIZE’s fan lightstick, then retracted the design a day later upon fans’ requests. This behaviour is not random — SM encourages fans to share their opinions, even creating KWANGYA 119, a designated platform where fans can submit “feedback and suggestions for SM Entertainment and [its] artists”. While giving fans an opportunity to voice their opinions is certainly helpful, there may come a point when listening creates more problems than solutions.

The dark side of creating a fandom beyond music

Despite a push to curb the toxic sides of ‘stan culture’, fandom is sustained by ‘stan culture’. The fans who are loyal to a fault are often the ones who pay the most money for merchandise and experiences related to their favourite artists. The parasocial idol-fan relationship which drives K-pop, despite being one of the most challenging aspects of the industry, is also the very thing that makes it successful. To achieve this, artists in K-pop groups are marketed as celebrity brands, to the point where the music itself often takes a backseat. In RIIZE’s case, the majority of Seunghan’s scandal happened before the group released music at all.

In fact, becoming a fan of a group ‘pre-debut’ is becoming more popular in K-pop, with whole fanbases growing to support artists who have not yet released music. This fandom is built around the artist’s non-musical qualities, such as personality, appearance, or non-music video content. In labels’ eyes, promoting the artist as a human brand, beyond a musician, ensures that pre-debut fans will continue to support the artist off-cycle – and opens up more opportunities for merch and ticket sales as well. However, keeping these fans happy relies on selling the artist as an ideal, not as a person – and when that ideal is shattered, fans lose interest. The most extreme version of fan disappointment is seen in the rise of ‘funeral wreath protests’, in which Korean fans send funeral wreaths to record label offices as a symbol that the artist is ‘dead’ to those fans. Despite SM’s goal to grow K-pop globally, the company chose to follow the wishes of the Korean superfanbase, many of whom did not support Seunghan. When companies like SM Entertainment cater to fan demands, are they really catering to the majority of fans, or just the loudest ones?

Labels are shifting focus to superfans in an effort to build new, stable revenue streams. Yet catering too far to the whims of the most die-hard fans can lead to the opposite: instability. These consequences are already emerging in other parts of the entertainment industry as large movie franchises become more focused on servicing superfans, leading to a growing number of casual viewers tuning out. Trying to please every single fan is a fool’s errand, but only focusing on the superfans at the expense of others is its own mistake. When SM chose to listen to the most outspoken RIIZE fans, they risked alienating the majority of the fanbase, including potential growth in other markets. Artists and their teams should nurture all levels of the fan funnel, not just superfans, or the day may come when the top of the funnel runs out.