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The story
A thread on 5ch (Hello! Project board) introduced data showing that BABYMETAL’s overseas listening patterns differ from other J-POP artists. Six acts — King Gnu, YOASOBI, Vaundy, Official HIGE DANDism, Mrs. GREEN APPLE, and Kenshi Yonezu — fall into a “Korea/Taiwan-concentrated” category, where an average of 52.7% of their overseas streams come from East Asia. Seven acts — Ado, Creepy Nuts, LiSA, ONE OK ROCK, XG, and Fujii Kaze — fall into a “globally distributed” category, streamed widely across Southeast Asia (26%), Latin America (20%), and East Asia (19%). BABYMETAL, by contrast, was singled out as clearly different from the other 13 acts, falling into a “Western-oriented” category with Latin America at 31%, North America at 25%, and Western Europe at 20% — showing a strikingly high share of listeners from Europe and the Americas.
What people said
BABYMETAL: in the West, it's actual local Western fans turning out.
Everyone else: even in the West, it's mostly Asian audiences turning out.
King Gnu, YOASOBI, Vaundy, Official HIGE DANDism, Mrs. GREEN APPLE, Kenshi Yonezu, and others (6 acts)
An average of 52.7% of overseas streams are concentrated in East Asia, with Korean and Taiwanese listeners making up the bulk of overseas listening
"Globally distributed type"
Ado, Creepy Nuts, LiSA, ONE OK ROCK, XG, Fujii Kaze, and others (7 acts)
Streamed widely — Southeast Asia 26%, Latin America 20%, East Asia 19% — though the Asia-region share still runs a bit high
"Western-oriented type"
BABYMETAL
Latin America 31%, North America 25%, Western Europe 20%, etc.
Clearly different from the other 13 acts, with overwhelmingly heavy listening from Europe, North/Central America, and South America
https://hstorage.jp/dl/MdRDlpLB9eEd.png
Background and Talking Points
No source is explicitly cited, but the content suggests this is an analysis based on the regional breakdown of listeners on streaming platforms like Spotify. What stands out is that it defines “overseas popularity” not by raw play counts but by regional distribution — and the finding that King Gnu, YOASOBI, and Kenshi Yonezu skew heavily toward East Asia, while BABYMETAL has built a distinct fanbase in the West through rock and metal festivals over the years, lines up with the group’s known trajectory. That said, the thread never verifies the source or the methodology behind the numbers, so they should be read with some caution. It’s an easy point to miss: what “popular overseas” actually means varies a lot by region depending on the artist. What this data suggests is that even acts lumped together as “going overseas” can end up being heard in very different regions depending on genre and promotional approach.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “The Difference Between BABYMETAL’s Overseas Popularity and Other J-POP/K-POP Acts’ Overseas Popularity, Part 31“.
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