Why do K-pop groups like The Boyz, Loona and NCT have so many members?

Blackpink have four members and BTS have seven. But Twice have nine, Golden Child have 10, The Boyz have 11, Loona and Iz*One each have 12, and Seventeen have 13. Why do some K-pop acts have so many members? It’s simple: having more members means more opportunities for K-pop groups, says Michelle Cho, an assistant professor in the department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto who researches collectivity and popular aesthetics in Korean film, media and popular culture. First, as K-pop is an art form that emphasises dancing as much as music, having more members enables pop idol acts to create more of an impact with intricate, synchronised choreography. Cho draws a correlation between the development of K-pop choreography and the arrival of groups with more than nine members in the mid- to late 2000s. “It was during this generation of groups that more intricate choreography became an important distinguishing characteristic of K-pop, as compared to J-pop, for instance,” Cho says. The first large acts to rise to prominence were Super Junior, with 12 members in their original 2005 line-up (they later added a 13th member, plus two members for Chinese promotion), and Girls’ Generation, originally a nine-member act launched in 2007. BTS members RM, Suga and J-Hope’s solo projects guide Beyond the performative aspect, more members mean that a group can appeal to more fans. “Larger groups offer fans a range of individual idol performers and personalities to attach to, and that can encourage fan engagement and participation,” Cho says. “One of the downsides, however, is that members can get overshadowed or lost in a large group.” Though K-pop and J-pop have many similarities, and many K-pop innovations have counterparts in the Japanese market, the way audiences engage with K-pop and J-pop acts is very different. While oversized acts are common in Japan, most notably the AKB brand known for the 100-plus member group AKB48 and its sister acts, what makes the concept work in the J-pop market doesn’t work for K-pop fans. “Unlike in the case of J-pop, in which members of a group like AKB48 are expected to rotate in and leave the group at regular intervals, K-pop acts tend to emphasise the uniqueness and singular quality of each idol performer and the role they play in their group,” Cho says. K-pop fans typically respond to the individuality of members of large K-pop groups and not the massive group endeavours common in Japan, Cho says. For instance, girl group Loona became a viral sensation after their “girl of the month” promotional series introduced each member ahead of the act’s formal debut. All of the women had their own solo projects as well as joint ones with other members, defining their own identities over a multi-year period as one after another was introduced. By developing each of the members’ artistry and public persona, they built up a strong fan base even before all of the members of the act had been introduced. For SM Entertainment boy band brand NCT, there’s no such thing as too big. Like NCT 127’s song Limitless suggests, NCT – an acronym for “Neo Culture Technology” – is an ever-growing and shifting boy band which currently has 23 members, 21 of whom are active across subsidiary boy bands NCT 127, NCT Dream and WayV. NCT is the closest thing to the AKB model, but not quite as expansive. Its members are divided among smaller units and there is fluidity among the larger group, with “NCT U” denoting any song various members participate in beyond the trio of current spin-off acts. “The size of the group is basically NCT’s calling card,” Cho says. However, there are also negative aspects associated with being a supersize K-pop team. “[NCT’s] multiple iterations have also caused some harm, since fans are troubled by the notion that the group composition must change,” Cho says. “And in such a large group, some members and subunits are comparatively less popular or active than others. This seems to make comparison inevitable, which ends up harming the group overall.” The youth-based team NCT Dream has also recently highlighted a weakness in SM’s aim to create a limitless, ever-changing group. Originally arriving in 2016, Dream was meant to feature teenage members, and once individuals reached the Korean age of adulthood, 19, they would leave. However, fans never got used to the idea of rapper Mark, who is also active in NCT 127 and inter-SM group SuperM, leaving the group, even after Dream released music without him. SM eventually recanted: NCT Dream’s line-up is now locked in to the original seven-member outfit known by fans as 7Dream. Mark made his return to NCT Dream for their song Déjà Vu from the NCT 2020 Resonance Pt. 1 album, which features all 23 members of NCT performing in various groupings. Is there an ideal team size when it comes to K-pop? Cho believes anywhere from seven to nine members is the most efficient. “This seems to be the size in which each member retains their individuality, yet the group can also be subdivided into units and also hold impressive live performances with complex staging and choreography.”