K-pop: the Popular Culture on the Rise

September 9th, 2021, 11:00 pm central time, Lisa released her first-ever solo, Lalisa. In 24 hours, the music video reached 73.6 million views on YouTube, breaking a record set by Taylor Swift. As a member of the K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, Lisa emerges as one of the most renowned performers in the digital world, establishing a fan base that guarantees millions of views within the hour of release.

For a while now, K-pop holds considerable recognition and influence in the US. In 2012, PSY’s “Gangnam Style” became the first song on YouTube to have over one billion views. Recently, in 2021, the boy band BTS overtook The Beatles’ record with six number-one songs on the Billboard chart. Crowded concerts. Immediate sold-outs. Millions of followers. K-pop epitomizes the process of global dissemination. This unique genre that features concurrent singing and dancing is experiencing a growing foothold in the American market. Groups like Red Velvet, EXO, Twice and NCT all have received positive feedback from their large overseas fandoms.

But what is it that makes K-pop viral throughout the globe?

At first glance, the name may suggest that the music is made exclusively for Korean audiences. However, the opposite is true – the music is produced for non-Koreans. When looking back to the post-World War II period, kayo – Korean pop music – arose as a hybridization of Japanese and Western culture and characterized by the pentatonic scale without much physical movement. Due to the limited opportunities and strict censorship within the country, the industry turns its focus to markets overseas, especially Japan. For a while, the interest in kayo remains low. It was not until the surprising success of the boy band Seo Taiji and Boys that the Japanese audiences started to pay attention to this form of music.

Audiences enjoyed the group’s wild experimentation with music genres and their dance. Companies like SM, YG and JYP Entertainment saw this as a sign of the enormous potential of Korean pop music, which would later be called K-pop. Beginning in the mid-1990s, forerunners of K-pop surfaced the market with a special focus on dance music. As more triumphs bloomed with revolutionary developments, K-pop moved from a deviation of kayo to its own style of music – a genre that fits within a universal pop logic.

Some critiques classify K-pop to be a parody of American culture. However, K-pop has, undeniably started a different culture. Some of which could be seen through the value of memorabilia in K-pop. While numerous studies have shown that CDs are facing a dormant market, for K-pop fans CDs remain to be irreplaceable that represent their personal aesthetic relationship with the idol, fandom and cultures. Specifically, K-pop albums convey a feeling of individualization even when they are bought from a mass-produced market. This is because the albums are made with the intention that only the followers of the group would be able to understand the hidden symbol and meaning behind: more than just a plastic cover and a leaflet, the albums could sometimes be the size of a bible with photo cards and posters.

Companies invest large budgets in shooting and releasing multiple versions of the same album with various contents. For example, the BTS album MOTS is available in four different colors of pink with exclusive contents. In order to appeal to their English-speaking fans, Monsta X20 and WayV21’s albums were released in English-only versions. The marketing technique of producing the same album in various versions proved tremendously compelling to fans. These items offer fans a sense of satisfaction in the way they feel valued within the K-pop community. Further cementing their fan-identification with the group, what begins as a personal want, buying an album, soon becomes a longing to be a part of a larger group.

Birth of the Digitized World
While the ideology of K-pop stimulates dissemination, the introduction of the digital industry brings music to another level. Platforms like YouTube accelerated the growth of K-pop: in the five-year period of 2012 to 2017, the views of the top 200 K-pop artists have tripled, with 80 percent of the views coming from outside South Korea. Screen devices not only made K-pop more accessible but also increased the economy of the videos. Fans often see the number of views the music videos get as an indication of the popularity of the idol groups they support. Thus, many fans make it a priority for them to ensure their idols gain the maximum views possible. This may entail simultaneously playing the music video on several devices, browsers, and VPNs. For others less dedicated fans, the high quality of the music videos provides visual amusement that grabs their attention immediately with the luxurious setting and clothing, synchronized dances, and gestures.
With the accelerated circulation, the digital world also brings to the surface the dark sides of the industry. With the emphasis on visuals, it is common for companies to spend millions and thousands in managing their idol’s physiques. It is taken for granted that to be an idol, you have to look pretty, to have flawless skin, perfect body ratio, smooth hair, large eyes with double eyelids, absence of tattoos or piercings. Ultimately, you need to fit into the beauty standard. Though beauty standards have long existed, these ideals have been exacerbated by the digital age and especially for K-pop, an industry that puts great emphasis on visual aestheticism.Criticisms on the idols’ physical beauty come cruelly from K-pop netizens, or citizens of the internet. Members of the groups are often been examined and judged upon a rigid utopian standard. As a result, idols are often subjected to a restrictive and unhealthy diet in order to meet those expectations.

Since the 1990s, the growth and evolution of K-pop have been closely tied to an underlying ideology, a devoted fan base, and globalization through the usage of the Internet. Not all parts of the culture have been desirable and meaningful. Some may argue that K-pop is promoting materialism and an unhealthy beauty standard. Along with all the shining sides and dark truths, K-pop is undeniably a growing industry, spreading the influence of the unique Korean culture around the globe.