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Once a peripheral presence in the global music market, K-pop has been making strides toward becoming a part of mainstream culture. BTS and Blackpink have been racking up historical achievements by the day in the US, the world’s biggest market. And with other groups achieving solid results as they follow in the wake of those two acts -- including SuperM, MONSTA X, and NCT 127 -- K-pop has been reaching beyond the borders of South Korea and Asia to develop into a strain of pop culture enjoyed by people the world over. Meanwhile, the expansion potential of K-pop has been confirmed with the overseas success of groups applying the same systems and successful tactics that built South Korea’s pop acts.

BTS and Blackpink, the two groups driving K-pop’s popularity at the moment, have both been busy setting records on the Billboard charts in the US. BTS debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 singles chart for the week of Sept. 5 after the first week of sales for its single “Dynamite” (released on Aug. 21), and continued to hold down the top spot for a second week on Sept. 15. To date, it is the only act to reach the apex of that chart. While it eventually yielded the summit back to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” for its third week on the Sept. 19 chart, it remains in the topmost reaches of the chart at No. 2.

Netflix to make Blackpink documentary

Blackpink has also made notable strides. “Ice Cream,” a collaboration with US pop star Selena Gomez, achieved the highest performance for a female South Korea act by reaching No. 13 on the Hot 100. Netflix has also taken note of Blackpink. An online over-the-top (OTT) video service providing streaming to over 190 countries, Netflix plans to release a documentary titled “Blackpink: Light Up the Sky” on Oct. 14. The film incorporates footage from the past four years since the group’s 2016 debut. While Netflix has produced documentaries in the past focusing on such global pop stars as Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift, this is the first time it has focused exclusively on a South Korean act.

BTS and Blackpink’s strong performance has also carried over to the latest Billboard Global 200 chart released on Sept. 14. The chart selects the most popular songs from the US and around the world based on streaming and download figures calculated from 200 or so different countries and regions. “Dynamite” stood at No. 2, while “Ice Cream” was at No. 8 -- meaning that K-pop groups account for the second and eighth most popular songs around the world at the moment.

The success of BTS and Blackpink offers a glimpse into the way K-pop has continued to steadily grow its audience and establish competitiveness beyond Asia. Last year, SuperM, a pop supergroup affiliated with SM Entertainment, topped the Billboard 200 album chart, which is considered one the two major Billboard charts alongside the Hot 100. This year, MONSTA X and NCT 127 reached No. 5 on the same chart.

Exportation of artist grooming systems and marketing strategies

K-pop’s popularity is also leading the exportation of artist grooming systems and success strategies. Examples include the acts NiziU, affiliated with JYP Entertainment, and WayV, affiliated with SM Entertainment.

Both are groups created by applying K-pop planning prowess to discover and groom acts for the Japanese and Chinese markets, respectively. Both have also been tremendously popular, topping numerous local charts with their debut.

The secret to their popularity lies in a comprehensive “localization” strategy. NiziU, which debuted in June of this year, is a girl group developed in collaboration by JYP Entertainment and Japan’s Sony Music. Its members were chosen locally through an audition program, after which they were given systematic training at JYP Entertainment headquarters in South Korea. Similarly, WayV, which debuted last year, is a localized group consisting solely of members from China, Hong Kong, and Thailand. SM Entertainment handled production, while management was entrusted to Label V, a joint venture in China. While K-pop acts have struggled to expand their audience in China amid restrictions imposed on imports of Korean culture, WayV has become immensely popular.

Mimyo, the chief-editor of the K-pop webzine Idology, said, “While there may be a K-pop craze underway, there’s also demand in Japan and China for pop acts with people from those countries performing in their own language.”

“It makes sense that fans would go crazy for these acts, which have the same musicality and performances you find in K-pop,” he suggested. Noting that “BTS has also put out releases in Japanese when it has worked in Japan,” he observed that the Japanese music market “has a characteristic Japanese-language focus.”

Universality mixed with specificity

One of the factors that has been named as propelling K-pop from the periphery to major interest in the global popular music market has been summed up in the words “content power.”

Popular music critic Kim Young-dae noted, “As K-pop has undergone steady growth in musical and industry terms and attracted more talent since the 2000s, it has started to produce content with a distinctly Korean quality that could be defined as ‘K-pop.’”

“US pop acts continue to dominate the mainstream of the global music market, but in the genre of ‘idol pop’ -- what could be described as ‘music that is shown’ -- Korean acts have grown to reach a status that even US and UK acts can’t rival,” he suggested.

Korea’s status as technological powerhouse boosts K-pop’s popularity as music to “watch”

Kim went on to say that “Korea’s status as a smartphone and internet powerhouse with world-class IT capabilities has been a factor enabling K-pop to maximize its global appeal as music you ‘watch’ as opposed to just listen to.”

Some observers have pointed to K-pop’s “dual nature” as another secret to its success. Popular music critic Park Hee-a said, “To overseas listeners, K-pop doesn’t sound all that different from other pop music in genre terms within the broader framework, but in its details it also incorporates unique flavors such as the inclusion of gugak [traditional Korean music] elements in songs like BTS’ ‘Idol’ or Suga’s ‘Daechwita.’”

“Fans around the world are responding really strongly to this mixture of universality and specificity,” she suggested.

Addressing issues with grooming system as well as political backlash

At the same time, some observers are also calling for steps to address issues with the pop group grooming system. Kim Young-dae said, “For the sake of K-pop’s future, it’s time for us to take rational steps to address the unique aspects of Korea’s idol culture such as long apprenticeship periods and dormitory living arrangements that have been cited as factors behind the ostracism and bullying seen in some groups.”

Park Hee-a noted, “There have controversies with revelations that one of the members of NiziU is the descendant of the owner of a company implicated in war crimes, while some of the members of WayV have supported the Hong Kong police’s suppression of the city’s democracy movement.”

“Due to the sensitive historical entanglements of Korea, China, and Japan, they need to be cautious even when selecting group members,” she advised.

By Kim Kyung-wook, staff reporter

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