Two groups were mainly impacted.
Koreaboo
1 hour ago
The topic of “fraud” when it comes to K-Pop idol streams has always sparked huge reactions, with many artists being impacted.
BTS’s Jimin Loses Over 200 Million “Fraud” Streams — Other Popular Idols Also Hit
Recently, a tweet showing the most-streamed albums in K-Pop on Spotify was shared, including showing the change in numbers.
Most streamed K-pop albums on Spotify Daily – June 1 pic.twitter.com/ejUretLimW
— Pop Stats (@PopStats07) June 2, 2026
When the tweet was posted, BTS became the target of huge backlash from netizens as they had the biggest drop in streams, alongside aespa.
Can we all agree BTS is the most fraudulent, inorganic, and fakeass group to exist in the world. Their streams are nothing but botted https://t.co/7TkdbnlbvT
— ۟ (@mndublinkk) June 3, 2026
This is why no amount of bts’s botted streams will ever be a gag to me https://t.co/3WeIZwzqqb
— Hub🪐☄️ (@Hub131313) June 2, 2026
-14m from the album and the song which was the song of the summer at @AMAs has -7m streams deleted..no transparency left in these award shows https://t.co/PCjZAufFe0
— Ana (@annaauramie) June 2, 2026
Yet, Korean netizens had more mixed reactions.
While some were surprised by BTS and aespa’s drop, many thought that the statistics shouldn’t be taken alone and that it can’t all be assumed to be due to fandom streaming and bots.
| theqoo
“With BTS, it’s not even surprising anymore. But for aespa, does this mean that more than half was removed? That’s crazy.”
“If we’re talking percentages, wasn’t aespa reduced by 33.63% and BTS by 67.52%?
I guess that’s what happens with groups that have really intense fandoms.”
| theqoo
- “Don’t all fandoms do streaming campaigns? It just looks like BTS and aespa do fandom streaming, and that’s why that much got deducted.”
- “If you want the data to be accurate, you need to compare one month’s worth of streams with one month’s worth of deducted streams. If you use one day’s streaming numbers but one month’s worth of deductions, the data gets distorted.”
- “But were those adjustments made because of regular listeners like me repeatedly streaming similar songs, not because of bots or automated streaming?”