Recently, one of Korea's major music awards ceremonies - Melon Music Awards (MMA) 2024 took place at the Inspire Arena in Incheon, Seoul, to honor Kpop's achievements of the year.
Amidst the performances of the artists and the awards ceremony, an impressive scene caught the attention. Hundreds of fans sitting near the stage raised professional cameras with large telephoto lenses, highlighting the passionate and devoted fandom of K-pop fans.
A post on the online community theqoo that attracted 117,000 views commented: “The photo is a bit creepy. They are all taking pictures of idols.”
According to the audience's explanation, these are all big fans of Kpop artists, they are the ones who run famous fan websites or fanpages, called fansites. The head of the fansite is called the master.
Master fansites always provide high-quality photos of their idols on stage, because they use professional cameras and spend a lot of money to get good positions near the stage.
Even fansite photos are considered to have better quality than press photos and event organizers' photos. Because dedicated fans will not miss precious moments of their idols.
Some opinions say that people who come to award ceremonies or music nights just to take pictures of their idols won't really enjoy anything, and will also affect others by bringing large cameras.
But on the contrary, other opinions said that the organizers intentionally arranged the fansites in the same place, so it would not affect the experience of others.
In addition, at events, if not violating regulations, bringing a camera or not is each person's right.
Hardcore Kpop fans are often the ones who spend a lot on their idols, so they can fully enjoy basic benefits, even some privileges from artist management companies.
