As two of the biggest girl groups in the world that have grown exponentially in the 2010s, this is a hot debate that goes back and forth between social media, tours, and more. Let’s settle this once and for all – who is more popular?
It’s difficult to say which group is more “popular” as there are countless factors to consider. Blackpink is more popular on Instagram, but Little Mix is on Twitter. Little Mix has been around longer and done many more tours, but Blackpink has over 11 billion views on YouTube compared to Little Mix’s 5 billion.
Since the answer to this popularity contest is quite a challenge, considering there’s no doubt that both groups are incredibly talented with massive fan bases, let’s dive much deeper into a comparison between the two.
YouTube and Twitter Numbers
First thing’s first: when it comes to these legendary girl groups, popularity is definitely in the eye of the beholder. If you love one or the other, or both, their popularity level is going to be subjective.
What we’re doing here is juxtaposing these artists to see who comes out on top in terms of numbers, but at the end of the day, these groups have both garnered tons of praise, fame, and accolades globally.
It’s also worth mentioning that there doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between them on Little Mix’s side as we saw in 2019, as the group responded to the idea of collabing with positive vibes.
After a fan asked Jade from the British cohort if they could collab with a k-pop group, she responded with: “a BLACKPINK collab would be pretty amazing”
The k-pop foursome is yet to respond a year later, but who knows what the future holds.
Now, let’s get into the numbers.
YouTube is first up, and there is a pretty clear winner here. Blackpink managed to achieve a record with the music video for their 2018 single “DDU-DU DDU-DU”.
Just behind “Idol” by BTS and “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift, “DDU-DU DDU-DU” is one of the most-watched YouTube videos within the 24-hour mark. Now, it has well over a billion views.
When looking at the number of subscribers, Little Mix has almost 14 million on YouTube, which is significantly lower than Blackpink’s 44 million.
In terms of Twitter, Blackpink has just over 4 million followers on as of 2020, but Little Mix beat them out there by a long mile with close to 12 million followers.
Instagram Stats
While Blackpink essentially takes the gold for YouTube numbers, and Little Mix are more famous on Twitter, some things are flipped around when it comes to Instagram in 2020.
Little Mix still has a high count of Instagram followers with 13 million in 2020, but Blackpink swoops in with 27.4 million in the same year.
The same goes in terms of individual follower rates. Again, as of 2020, each member of Blackpink has over 20 million followers, while each member from Little Mix has under 11 million.
Lisa from Blackpink is also the most followed Korean female celebrity on Instagram with close to 40 million followers in 2020.
As you can see by these social media numbers, things are quite even – Blackpink is more popular on Instagram, but Little Mix has them beat on Twitter.
Tours Galore
Moving on to tours, this is where Little Mix ultimately lands on top. They’ve performed at over 300 concerts in the span of their career, while Blackpink has held less than 40 – both as of 2020.
For the debut of the k-pop group, they held a concert titled Blackpink Japan Premium Debut Showcase in 2017.
It had 14,000 people in attendance. Moving on to 2018, 2019, and 2020, their Arena Tour and World Tour (In Your Area) reeled in hundreds of thousands of attendees.
Even though Blackpink’s numbers are impressive, the reach of Little Mix in relation to their tours is remarkable.
Over the span of 6 tours, 2 of them worldwide, they’ve earned tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
Let’s remember to keep in mind, though, that Little Mix has been active since 2011, while Blackpink only became mainstream in 2016 – that’s 4 whole years that Little Mix has over the k-pop powerhouse.
Who knows how many concerts Blackpink have lined up for the future, and we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of numbers they pull in.