Temporary crowds and YouTube views are not a sign of a real fandom

People gather when there's a free event, like "Come here, we're having a free public concert anywhere, anytime."
Then, a massive amount of people show up.
Or if event tickets are only 5,000 to 10,000 KRW.
Do you think mainstream idols don't do these things because they can't gather people?
As for YouTube views,
Look at the views from about 4 years ago when most outdoor activities were temporarily blocked due to COVID-19.
They were incredibly high.
Since outdoor fandom activities or offline concerts were prohibited, even people who weren't typical fans just filmed things.
Foreigners and casual viewers all just filmed them.
What's the point of talking about Spotify views
or download numbers? There is a certain female idol who is invincible in those metrics,
but right now, she can't even fill the floor.
There are only ten days left until the performance,
yet Shorts views and buzz are incredibly high.
Take a certain male idol from JYP; their YouTube views
are more than twice as high as top-tier male idols, and for some top-tier idols with particularly low views, they are more than three times higher.
In reality, they aren't even being invited to perform alongside second-tier groups.
Performing at an event and holding a concert are two different things.
A concert is something people won't attend even if it's free or they're paid a little bit if it's boring.
At first, people might show up just to see who it is.
But after that,
I mean, the 10s and 20s fandom is made of people,
and while 30s, 40s, and even 50s and 60s are also people, they are people who weren't interested in idols.
Since they lack the established "maker" status of existing idols,
they need to provide higher quality to turn that age group into real fans.
It's like the difference between selling bread with just a photo on the convenience store packaging at the same price,
versus selling a 120,000 KRW jacket with one photo card for 40,000 KRW.
It's not the same as selling existing perfume at five times the price just by putting a member's name on it, right?
Even if 10s and 20s fans don't have money, they make it, save it, work for it, and even beg their parents for it
to make sure a huge portion of their spending goes toward fandom consumption; for most, building a fandom
is their meaning of life
and their ideal within their age group.
But people don't just spend money on fandoms randomly.
Why would they bother making idols if more than 99% failed and only the top 1% survived to keep building fandoms?
For those in their 30s, 40s, and above, 50s and 60s, that's a relatively uninterested area that holds no meaning in life.
However, in the current idol scene, the late-blooming female fans in their 30s and 40s are becoming part of the mainstream idol demographic.