“A Deep Dive into K-Pop”, Matt Lakeman2020-09-06 (, ; backlinks; similar)⁠:

Prior to last month, I knew next to nothing about K-pop (Korean popular music) besides having heard a few songs in passing and the rumors of the industry’s infamous elements, most notably a string of high profile suicides over the last few years. As an American with no connection to music or South Korean culture, I wondered if I was getting an accurate picture of the industry or if I was being misled by the most lurid and morbid elements eagerly conveyed by the media.

  1. The Basics

    • “K-pop” is both a genre of music and an entire industry which “manufacturers” performers and their performance output (music, dance routines, shows, merchandise, etc.) in a highly systematized top-down manner

    • The global popularity of K-pop is extraordinary considering the relatively small population of South Korea, and the relatively small size of K-pop production companies

  2. The Product

    • K-pop’s industrial/corporate structure represents a Korean (and East-Asian) cultural alternative to Western pop and broader music production

    • K-pop stars and bands are manufactured and controlled by production companies in the same manner Western athletes are trained and traded by sports teams.

    • K-pop stars are crafted into idealized portrays of individuals by East Asian cultural standards

  3. The Fans

    • K-pop fandom is both more intense on average than Western fandom, and has a larger percentage of unhealthily obsessive fans

    • K-pop fandom is based on a parasocial relationship between fans and stars

    • K-pop stars are forced to abide by extremely restrictive behavioral norms to appease production companies and fans

  4. The Process

    • Trying to become a K-pop star is a terrible idea by any rational cost-benefit analysis

    • The process by which production companies train K-pop stars is abusive and depends on the ignorance of children/teenagers and clueless and/or malicious parents

    • Even after making it through the extraordinarily difficult audition and training process, the vast majority of K-pop stars will have short careers and earn little or possibly no money

  5. The Machine

    • K-pop is an extremely centralized, hierarchical industry, where structural, business, and creative decisions are almost entirely made by corporate management, rather than the performers

    • Raw creativity in the music production process is largely outsourced to Westerners who write, produce, and choreograph the music

    • The K-pop industry is subsidized and supported by the South Korean government, if not implicitly or explicitly directed, as a conscious form of soft power projection and social control.

As you can tell, I came away from my research with a negative view of K-pop. I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world, but I find its fandom to be unhealthy and its production process to be exploitative. That being said, there are undoubtedly many tremendous talents in the K-pop world and the cultural power of K-pop is remarkable.

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A Deep Dive into K-Pop