Why TikTok is becoming unavoidable for K-pop stars

BTS member V joined TikTok on Friday, becoming the third member of the group to launch an account on the platform. His account quickly surpassed one million followers and was approaching four million as of Monday.

While fellow member Jungkook first opened a TikTok account in 2023, he resumed activity in October under a new username. J-Hope also joined the platform in 2025. With BTS now in the 13th year of their career, industry watchers are paying close attention to why the veteran idols are embracing TikTok at this stage.

K-pop groups have been active on TikTok for several years. BTS and labelmate Tomorrow X Together opened their official group accounts in 2019, the same year Stray Kids launched theirs. Enhypen followed in 2020 and Seventeen in 2021.

One key difference, however, is that most groups operate only official accounts managed by their agencies, while individual members rarely maintain personal channels.

Industry insiders say TikTok has become an essential promotional platform for K-pop because it turns users from passive consumers into active participants who help shape trends.

According to Jung Jae-hoon, head of operations at TikTok Korea, the platform places less emphasis on who created the content and more on what the content is. Videos are frequently remixed, recreated and spread through meme-driven formats that allow trends to evolve rapidly.

"More than 14 million K-pop-related posts were generated on the platform between October 2024 and October 2025, and the number continues to grow," Jung said.

Among idols, TikTok is increasingly viewed as a crucial platform for music promotion.

"These days, many young people use TikTok," Enhypen member Sunghoon said during an interview for the group’s seventh EP in January. "If our new song trends on TikTok, it means many people are enjoying it, so I hope our music becomes popular there."

The platform’s influence is also reflected in the performance of artists’ content. Although not tied to a new release, a dance practice video Jungkook uploaded to his personal TikTok account reached 12 million views within just 14 hours.

Another video he posted in October — featuring the song "Fashion" by rookie group Cortis — surpassed 120 million views as of Monday.

Industry experts say TikTok has evolved beyond a simple short-form video platform in recent years, becoming a key driver of music charts and artist careers.

"Eight of the ten songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2025 experienced viral traction on TikTok first," said KC You, head of arist partnerships, artist services Asia at TikTok Korea. "For artists, TikTok is no longer optional. It has become an essential channel for promoting new music and building a global fan base."

He also pointed to the viral success of Katseye’s "Gnarly" challenge in 2025. K-pop artists, including Le Sserafim, Tomorrow X Together and Enhypen, joined the trend, helping generate 2.4 million user-created videos and 13.5 billion views.

"Artists’ voluntary participation on the platform leads to fan-driven expansion, which in turn translates into chart performance," You said. "At the same time, the K-pop industry is increasingly emphasizing individual member branding and direct communication with fans alongside group activities."

TikTok’s growing influence is also tied to Southeast Asia.

While the region generates less revenue than core K-pop markets such as Japan, the US and South Korea, it plays an outsized role in driving viral short-form trends.

"When a short-form video goes viral in Southeast Asia, it increasingly spreads beyond Asia and reaches other regions," an industry official said. "Short-form viral marketing has become far more important in recent years compared to the traditional promotional strategies agencies relied on in the past."