Melomance's Kim Min Seok has ignited a controversy among audiences online.
On December 10 KST, Kim Min Seok took to Instagram Story where he post a message directed at the audiences who recently attended their concert. He wrote:
"I am asking because I can't understand but aren't you not allowed to take photos and videos at concerts? Why are you taking them, and I am a littleeeee curious why you're tagging us when uploading them on your feed?"
"You can't do it during the concert~ You can only do it before the concert or during the encore~"
There are several reasons why this post was controversial among netizens.
First, according to some, the language in the message has a mocking tone in the original Korean with intentional errors in spelling and syntax. The netizens wrote: "His words sound like he is reprimanding the fans. This post would have been okay if only he had expressed it differently."
Another reason was that Kim Min Seok had 're-grammed' (re-posted on Instagram) a post made by BIG Naughty with a photo taken during the concert. Furthermore, the Melomance member had added the words "my love" in the re-post. A few were puzzled by the difference in Kim Min Seok's reactions to this post and the fans' posts on social media.
Although he has deleted the stories shortly after, netizens debated whether the singer was in the wrong for having accused fans of taking media footage at concerts. Some defended the group, saying that posting footage from a 3-day concert is to prevent spoilers for those attending the future shows.
In other news, Melomance is on a domestic tour, which has begun in Seoul on December 9 and ends in Seongnam on February 12 of next year.
Reactions include:
"Well, there is a silent rule now at venues where photo and video-taking are allowed...I mean"
"If it were that bad, then why couldn't he just respectfully ask everyone to lower than cameras during the actual concert?"
"If taking videos/photos were illegal then all the idol concerts would die"
"But honestly I think everyone goes to concerts nowadays just for the content"
"If the singer says he is distracted then we should respect their request"
"I don't understand why the people who broke the rule in the first place could be so confident about this"
"It's really distracting for the other audiences too when people have their phones up"
"I can never see anything at concerts nowadays because everyone raises their phones high above their heads"
What is your opinion?
At first I was like, so arrogant of the artist to demand their FANS to not spread free publicity 🙄 But after seeing the other arguments - like the potential to cause spoilers, and obstructing the views of others - it makes sense that the artist would be upset that some fans are ruining the experience for other fans.