Why Non-Koreans are into K-POP

Why Non-Koreans are into K-POP

Last year, an artist, who won the Top Social Artist Award at Billboard, was not a world top star like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, but a Korean male group called BTS.

It is probably your first time to hear their name, and you may wonder how they could beat those famous stars even though they are not as well-known as the top stars. Well, BTS is indeed very popular not only in South Korea but also in many other countries.  

Besides BTS, many K-POP groups have successfully gained popularity worldwide. But, what attracts Non-Korean people like me, who do not have any Korean background, to K-POP? I cannot tell why at this point, but you will find the reasons as you continue reading.

The rise of K-POP in the World

When you think of K-POP, you may imagine an Asian guy dancing like a horse. You are right. PSY is one of the most famous K-POP artists, and K-POP might have not been popular without him.

However, K-POP artists gaining a popularity today is not PSY but K-POP groups like BTS. It is true that the popularity of K-POP has rapidly grown after Gangnam Style became a big success. Moreover, those groups have not dominated Western music charts like PSY did. But, what they did better than PSY is that they successfully built a fandom, a group of fans who support them enthusiastically.

Successful K-POP groups like BTS made good use of social media like YouTube and show their talents and charms. BTS even has more page views than top artists like Selena Gomez on YouTube (Kim). Thanks to social media, "International fans were able to really relate to them and feel like they truly knew the members individually” said CEO of Koreaboo, a Korean entertainment social media (Liu). Most K-POP fans today are not just a fan of their music, but they do like every aspect of K-POP artists.

The Popularity of K-POP in Japan

Some of you may wonder why I am talking about the popularity of K-POP in Japan. It is because Japan is an ideal place for K-POP artists. Firstly, Japanese music market is much bigger than Korean market. The total sales of CDs in Japan are 30 times higher than South Korea (NEWS POST SEVEN). Secondly, because South Korea and Japan share a similar culture, K-POP is more likely accepted by Japanese people. Due to these reasons, most K-POP groups try to enter Japanese music market.

It is also interesting to see a difference in the popularity of K-POP between Japan and other parts of the world. As I explained, K-POP experiences growing popularity on a global scale. In Japan, however, the situation is different from what we have seen in other parts of the world. It has been 8 years since I became a K-POP fan, and within these 8 years, I have seen both rise and fall of K-POP in Japan.

Japan firstly experienced Hanryu boom, a trend of Korean entertainment including K-POP, in 2003 when a drama called “Winter Sonata” became a great hit. However, the popularity of Korean drama did only last for a year. The second Hanryu boom occurred in 2011 when girls K-POP groups like Girls Generation and Kara gained great popularities (Harada). At the time, there is no single day I did not see Korean groups on Japanese TV program.

Unfortunately, the second Hanryu boom also did not last. Although it is not like everyone listens to K-POP like before, K-POP fans who became a fan during the boom remained as their fans. Like K-POP fans in other countries, most K-POP fans in Japan do not only love their music but everything about them. Because of that, they keep supporting their favorite group in long-term. In other words, even though the popularity of K-POP in Japan may not be national wide, its popularity is no longer a mere trend or temporary one.

What attracts Non-Koreans to K-POP

I have been talking about the rise of K-POP outside South Korea. But, why are we into K-POP even though there are many other great artists in the world?

Here are some reasons why we love K-POP:

·      Performance

·      Group concept

·      Addictive melody

Performance

Like many other K-POP fans, my most favorite part of K-POP is definitely performance. I used to like Japanese idols, but after seeing K-POP artists performing, I was fascinated by their performances and became a K-POP fan.

Most K-POP groups’ choreographies are complicated but elaborated. It is quite hard to follow those choreographies while singing. Therefore, they usually spent a 3-5 year as trainees before becoming a K-POP idol in order to be able to show powerful and dynamic performance to fans.

Group Concept

Every K-POP group has its own concept. For example, girls groups like 2NE1 and BlackPink have powerful and girl crush image while concepts of Apink and Gfriend are cute and pure. Those concepts are essential to be distinguished from other groups and to build their own color of the group. K-POP groups with vague concepts are usually not as popular as groups with distinct concepts. Unlike many J-POP groups who share similar concepts, K-POP successfully attracts more people by having a variety of concepts.

Addictive Melody

Even though many fans don’t know Korean, the reason we love K-POP songs is that of its addictive melody. Like the Gangnam style, K-POP songs usually repeat same melody and phrase over and over. So, even if you listen to once, you already remember the repeated parts of the song. And, the parts of the song would be stuck in your head a whole day and the song makes you want to listen again and again. This is why we can’t stop listening K-POP songs although we don’t know Korean.

Those are just one of few reasons why non-Koreans are into K-POP. Now it is your turn to explore your favorite thing about K-POP. You may think you would never become a fan of K-POP, but I can assure you that once you find one favorite thing about K-POP, you would instantly fall in love with K-POP and cannot start your day without listening to K-POP songs.

Works Cited

Harada, Youhei. “大人が知らない､｢新･韓流ブーム｣の真相 | さとり世代は日本を救うか？.” 東洋経済オンライン

Kim, Sohee. “The $4.7 Billion K-Pop Industry Chases Its 'Michael Jackson             Moment'.”Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 22 Aug. 2017

Liu, Marian. “K-Pop Band BTS Beats US Stars to Win Billboard Music Award.” CNN,      Cable News Network, 22 May 2017

“NEWS POST SEVEN｜K-POPが日本進出する理由 日本の音楽市場は韓国の30倍           │.”│NEWSポストセブン, 16 Jan. 2011.