South Korean President Park Geun-Hyun said in her inaugural address in 2013 that “Culture in Power.” The exportation of Korean Culture through music allowed South Korea to not only profit tremendously from it, but also allows the Korean culture to become more well-known worldwide. One of the world most well-known K-Pop group, BTS or 방탄소년단, generated, on its own, 0.3% of the South Korean Growth Domestic Product during 2018, which is around $4.65billion (Korean Airline with 0.7%, LG Electronics 3.4%, Hyundai 5.3%, Samsung 13.1%).
The exportation of Korean Culture and Korean music allowed this seemly niche market to expand and take its place on the mainstream media, starting with BTS ending Justin Bieber’s streak as Top Social Artist of the Billboard Music Award in 2017. From an internet phenomenon, K-Pop had successfully entered the main-stream music industry from that moment. K-Pop Groups such as NCT127, A-Teez, and Monsta X were also nominated for Top Social Artists for Billboard in the following years. BTS’s Love Yourself World Tour in 2018 was one of the best-selling tours of the year, only second to Ed Sheeran’s show. On June 2 2019, BTS sold our their tour at London’s Wembley Stadium with 90,000 + seats, as one of the only twelve artists and the only Asian Artists in only 90 minutes (others including many world-renowned artists, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Beyonce, One Direction, Eminem, Spice Girls, Queen, Ed Sheeran etc.).
During the weekend of November 15th to 17th, I went to Fairfax, Virginia and experienced first-hand the Korean Pop Music Culture. I have always been a big fan of K-Pop due to its influence on Asian pop-culture. In 2009, Super Junior, Girls Generation, and TVXQ from S.M. Entertainment received great recognition across Asia and gained popularity in China. From a young age, I remembered seeing these groups on TV and played at department stores. I have attended a K-Pop concert before but it was back in China in 2016, and I really want to experience it in a different cultural setting.
A K-Pop concert is very different from any American Concerts with many preparations for fans ahead of time including purchase 응원봉 and learning응원법. 응원봉 is a light-stick sold by the artist themselves with a unique design representing that specific person or the group. The lighting team at the venue that controls all the stage lights also has access to control all the light sticks in the venue which will allow them to flash on the beat with the music and change color with the stage lightings. (Here are a few examples of how the lightsticks would look at an actual concert all together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuG42R7WdTs) 응원법 are fan chants that fans usually remember prior to coming to a concert. There are different fan chants for different songs where fans will chant together, “military-style,” at specific parts of the song, and they sometimes include singing and sometimes include chanting the name of the artists in the group. (Here are some of the “Craziest” fan chants at a k-pop concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY4Ee4AUCQE)
Replies
Yuting, your post is really interesting! I believe that most people get in touch with Korean culture through Kpop. When I was in middle school, EXO is so popular in not only in Korea but in whole Asia and they became our topics during recess. I found that most of fans will buy albums and spent a lot of money on merchandise related to their idol, no matter how old they are. Do you think that fans feed the Kpop industry?
Most definitely! I think one of the major components of the Korean Music Industry is the fan-culture. K-Pop emphasize on the constant interaction between Idols and their fans through fan signs, meet and greets, showcases, music shows (such as SBS 인기가요, Music bank, M!Countdown, Show Champion etc.) On the other hand, the American Music Industry focuses more on the production of the music and the artists themselves. I believe that the K-Pop industry generates so much capital because of all the other elements that comes with it.
This is a great post! I absolutely love K-pop and definitely believe that it has significantly contributed to spreading Korean culture throughout the world. I also wanted to point out another big difference between K-pop concerts and American concerts which I found extremely shocking and impressive: K-pop idols usually always dance while they sing. American singers might have dance routines during the interlude of their songs or have backup dancers dancing as they sing, but the fact that K-pop idols dance as they sings and still manage to sing perfectly without sounding out of breath fascinates me.
Yuting I really like your cultural post! I am also a big fan of K-pop. I started to know about Korea since I was 13 years old. To be honest, K-pop is the reason that I start to learn Korean. And I think for a lot of people, K-pop is also one of the most important reason that they choose to learn Korean. I really like the part that you write about 응원봉 and 응원법. They are really unique part in K-pop culture. And I believe more and more C-pop groups are doing this now. Actually I am going to SEVENTEEN's concert during the break, so I bought their 응원봉 and learned their 응원법.
Your post reminds me of those K-pop concerts I have been to, including that one in Fairfax. I can still remember the enthusiastic shouts of the audience that day. Every time I read news about those K-pop idols' influence abroad, I am so impressed and proud of our idols' achievements. Btw, 응원봉 of my idol GOT7 is in a shape of baby bird hahahaha. It's cute, right?
That is really cute! I totally agree! I feel like K-Pop Fans have so much pride in their fandom, and I think that is also one of the major differences between a K-Pop fandom and fans of American musicians. There is a sense of belonging and group for K-Pop fans, where you can practically form a conversation with anyone at the concert.
I think that this is a really cool post about how important K-Pop is to spreading Korean culture and music. I hope that you can learn more about Korean culture and language through listening to KPop. Who did you see during your weekend trip to Fairfax, Virginia?
SuperM from SM Entertainment. They are made up of members from 4 separate groups.