Globalization And Commercialization Challenge K-pop's Unique Cultural Identity And Sound

First seen in WSKG:

K-Pop's Globalization: A Tug of War Between Tradition and Commercial Appeal In its pursuit of global domination, K-pop has faced a significant challenge in bridging the gap between its distinct cultural identity and the dominant musical landscape of the United States. This "temporal gap" has been a persistent theme in the music industry, as noted by John Lie, a social theory scholar, in his 2014 book "K-pop: Popular Music, Cultural Amnesia, and Economic Innovation in South Korea." The genre's eclecticism, which draws from recognizable sources such as Afrobeats and urbano, has created a unique sound that eludes traditional categorization.

One of the most striking aspects of K-pop's approach to global appeal is its incorporation of American-style hooks and melodies. However, unlike traditional Korean pop music... K-pop songs rarely fit neatly into Top 40 radio's mold. The genre's shared lyrical and musical elements, while undeniable, have contributed to its "slightly askew" reputation. For some producers, including those working with K-pop groups, this has been an intentional choice, embracing the genre's fusion nature as a source of innovation.

In the 1990s, South Korea's "big three" talent agencies – JYP Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and YG Entertainment – established a systematized and highly allusive group machinery that would become the model for the industry. The HYBE Corporation, currently home to BTS, has since disrupted this landscape... producing crossover triumphs such as NewJeans, Le Sserafim, Enhypen, and Tomorrow X Together, all of which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. As the industry shifts towards unfettered growth, the goalposts for success have become increasingly focused on commercial appeal.

To bridge this gap and achieve global acceptance, some South Korean music executives are considering stripping K-pop songs of their distinctive eccentricities, "essentially attempting to strip them of their unique cultural identity." While K-pop groups have released English-language versions of existing singles, a new trend is emerging in which idols are prioritizing music tailored specifically for international audiences.

This shift is not without its challenges. For a genre that relies heavily on cultural references and linguistic nuances, the removal of its most distinct characteristic – language – poses significant difficulties. However, "as the K-pop industry continues to evolve," it is likely that this tension between tradition and commercial appeal will only continue to intensify.

The article was originally published in WSGK.

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For much of its history, K-pop has been at least one step removed from the culture it predominantly echoes, owing to what the social theory scholar John Lie referred to as the "temporal gap" — the dissonance created by the physical, social and anthropological distance between cultures — in his 2014 book K-pop: Popular Music, Cultural Amnesia, and Economic Innovation in South Korea. Many of the songs and styles draw from a recognizable wellspring; some are nostalgic, others flat-out derivative. All are in conversation with a global pop diaspora that has been dominated by the U.S. (even when K-pop is engaging with Afrobeats or urbano, it is doing so because the Hot 100 says so). K-pop songs have been riddled with English hooks since the dawn of the genre, but the final product is often slightly askew — rarely fitting into traditional molds or scanning as American pop to any ear trained on Top 40 radio. For its devotees, a lot of what has worked about K-pop to this point is distinctly the byproduct of that mash-up nature, the slight discord of our sounds pushed through their system. Even for producers like Riley, who could trace the line of influence to his own doorstep, there seemed to be an understanding that meeting in the middle was not just mutually beneficial but necessary for the cultural alchemy at play.

Still, the very things that make K-pop thrilling to its fans also mark its otherness, at least from a certain business-minded perspective. The industry was built in the shadow of South Korea's "big three" talent agencies — JYP Entertainment, SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment — which in the mid-1990s established the blueprints for a highly systematized, deeply allusive, kaleidoscopic group machinery. In tweaking that model, BTS' label, the HYBE Corporation, has since supplanted all three, becoming its own consortium of imprints producing crossover triumphs like NewJeans , Le Sserafim, Enhypen and Tomorrow X Together, all of which have debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. Between this transition of old and new powers, we have seen the goalposts for success move from one of sustained profitability to unfettered growth. If one's goal is not simply commercial success, but a complete and total integration into the global pop market, then there is a strategic disadvantage in sounding merely close to what is most popular. For a South Korean music executive trying to overcome that remaining friction, it would seem the simplest path forward is to remove the most obvious differentiator — language — entirely, and strip those songs of some of their tangled eccentricities so that they blend in. There have been plenty of English songs made by K-pop groups, but most are simply the English-language versions of existing Korean singles, or afterthought deep cuts buried on releases. Only now is a persistent and widespread effort emerging to have K-pop idols create music that doesn't just seek American ears, but prioritizes them.

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