Lead Vocal is a term that originally refers to the vocalist of a band, and in the 1st Gen, it was used with the same meaning as 'main vocalist' in this generation.
S.E.S
Bada (Lead vocalist), Eugene (vocalist), Shoo (vocalist)
g.o.d
Danny Ahn (rapper), Yoon Kyesang (vocalist), Son Hoyoung (vocalist), Kim Taewoo (lead vocalist)
H.O.T
Kangta (Main vocalist), Moon Heejun (Vocalist, leader), Jang Woohyuk (Rapper), Tony Ahn (Vocalist, rapper), Lee Jaewon (Rapper)
Bada and Kim Taewoo were called as 'lead vocalists' and can be considered to have the same position as Kangta, who is a 'main vocalist'
However, starting from the 2nd Gen, the word 'lead vocalist' began to disappear and was completely replaced by 'main vocalist'
Sistar
Hyorin (Leader, main vocalist), Bora (Rapper), Soyou (Sub-vocalist), Dasom (Vocalist)
Interestingly, in the 3rd Gen, 'lead vocalist' refers to a position that is above 'sub-vocalist' but below 'main vocalist'.
Nayeon: lead vocalist, lead dancer
Suho: leader, lead vocalist
Jimin: main dancer, lead vocalist
Seulgi: main dancer, lead vocalist
This phenomenon only occurs in the idol industry and even now, many music critics use the term 'lead vocalist' to refer 'main vocalist'.
-Just call it whatever you want...
-My fandom often has pointless fights over the members' positions. I wonder what's so important about thatㅋㅋㅋㅋ The only thing that matters is whether a singer can sing well or not
-Honestly, both 'main vocalist' and 'lead vocalist' are the terms used to refer the best singers in the group. I think in the idol industry, they're just adding another term for the sake of giving some member positions.
-I just hope they would label the best singer in the group as the main vocalist and refer to the rest of the members as vocalists...
-I know right. That's why a lot of foreigners who are not familiar with K-pop are very confused to differentiate these terms.
-Hul... I didn't know those terms actually had the same meaning
-That basically means 'lead vocalist' and 'main vocalist' actually mean the same thing...
-I used to think 'main vocalist' is the term given to the member with a powerful voice and 'lead vocalist' is given to the member with a unique voice...
-There would be fewer fights if we eliminate the terms 'main' and 'sub' and simply just use 'vocalist', 'dancer', and 'rapper'
-Frankly... Why does this even matter in the first place...
-Don't you guys ever get embarrassed from fighting over little things like this?
