K-Pop — Entry No. 0205
비사이드
b-side · noun
비사이드
b-side
[BEE-sa-ee-deu]
nounintermediate
Meaning
A b-side is a non-title track on a K-Pop album or EP that is not officially promoted through music show performances or broadcast media. B-sides are the deeper cuts of a release, often giving artists creative freedom beyond their commercial singles. In K-Pop fan culture, b-sides frequently become the most emotionally treasured songs in a discography, outlasting promoted tracks in fan playlists for years.
K-Pop & K-Drama Context
BTS’s ‘Butterfly,’ a b-side from their 화양연화 pt.1 album, became one of the group’s most iconic songs despite never receiving a formal promotion cycle — fans built entire theories around it and demanded it at every concert. Stray Kids are celebrated for b-sides like ‘Placebo’ and ‘Miroh’-era deep cuts that fans argue better showcase the group’s artistic identity than their title tracks. TWICE’s b-side ‘Oxygen’ earned a devoted following among fans who felt it revealed the members’ vocal depth in ways their dance-pop title tracks did not.
Example Sentences
이 앨범의 비사이드가 타이틀곡보다 더 좋아.
i ael-beom-ui bi-sa-i-deu-ga ta-i-teul-gok-bo-da deo jo-a.
The b-sides on this album are better than the title track. (A classic fan take — saying this in fan spaces usually sparks passionate agreement)
팬들은 종종 비사이드를 더 높이 평가한다.
paen-deul-eun jong-jong bi-sa-i-deu-reul deo no-pi pyeong-ga-han-da.
Fans often rate b-sides more highly. (Reflects a genuine truth in K-Pop: b-sides earn loyalty that title tracks can’t always match)
그 비사이드는 콘서트에서만 들을 수 있어.
geu bi-sa-i-deu-neun kon-seo-teu-e-seo-man deu-reul su it-eo.
You can only hear that b-side at concerts. (Captures the special live-only magic that makes attending concerts feel like a pilgrimage for fans)
⚠️ Don’t use b-side when…
Calling a song ‘just a b-side’ in K-Pop fan spaces can come across as dismissive — fans often use 비사이드 as a badge of honor, not a demotion. Also note that the proper Korean industry term is 수록곡; 비사이드 is Konglish borrowed from Western music, so switching between the two in conversation signals different levels of industry vs. fan framing.
🎵 Heard In
- K-Drama: Imitation — competing idol groups in this 2021 drama face label pressure to promote safe commercial title tracks, with members privately championing their deeper album cuts as a way to prove artistic authenticity to fans.
- K-Pop: BTS — Butterfly (a fan-defining b-side from 화양연화 pt.1 that became one of BTS’s most beloved songs entirely through fan devotion, never receiving a formal promotion cycle)
💡 Did You Know? During BTS’s 2019 ‘Speak Yourself’ stadium tour, fan-demanded b-sides including ‘Mikrokosmos’ and ‘Magic Shop’ were added to the setlist after fan petitions — proving that sustained b-side love can directly influence what artists perform on the world’s biggest stages.
ℹ️ Editorial Note: The cultural context and example usage are for educational reference only. Artist names, song titles, and drama references are used descriptively to illustrate vocabulary in context. This content is AI-assisted and reviewed for accuracy. For official information, please refer to the respective artists’ or studios’ official channels.