The Globalization of Korean Pop Music - Case Study Example

The Globalization of Korean Pop Music: K-Pop in the Contemporary Scenario Introduction: Music has always been an important part of people’s lives since ancient times, and that characteristic trait of a human being has been passed on from the earliest surviving generations to the next. Furthermore, in the contemporary scene, music has transcended all kinds of challenges and ultimately ended up being of more significance to people. Music now, more than ever before, has no special language, culture, lyrics or other such attributes, which confine it to a relatively smaller proportion of population. Therefore, it cannot be stressed enough that music transcends all cultural, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries, as well as that people of all age groups enjoy music, irrespective of its distinct characteristics. There are different types of music, which are basically referred to as ‘genres’ of music, for instance, rock, electric, R&B, dance, hip-hop, popular music etc. Popular music, in the present world, is basically seen to be the most loved genre. However, popular music, or ‘pop music’ for short, is neither confined to the English language nor to the American and British culture. Earlier on if people were asked to name their favorite pop artists, the answers would only include musicians belonging to America as well as the UK. However, now there has arisen a dramatic change, and this change, facilitated by globalization, entails in the acknowledgement as well as admiration of talented artists from the Asian regions as well. Asian music includes Japanese, Chinese, Korean music etc, each of which is increasingly becoming part of the global music community. This paper talks about Korean music, specifically about Korean popular music and its globalization. The basic aim of the paper is to provide information on how K-Pop music has gained so much popularity now, as well as the specific factors that have contributed to its global success. In order to understand the above mentioned it is important to analyze K-Pop and concerning factors, as well as different K-Pop artist. K-Pop music can also be seen as a musical genre, which comprises a number of styles such as “pop, hip-hop, rap, rock, R&B, and electronic music” (Leung, 2012, p.3). However, it is not necessarily restricted to Korean music alone, but also encompasses a kind of “transnational hybrid music” that holds reference to other “global popular music” in different ways (Lee, 2007, p.2). K-pop is not a new phenomenon, as it has been in the music market for over a decade now and already been acclaimed to be “one of the ‘coolest’ popular musical forms” in several East Asian countries including China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore etc (Lee, p.2). However, since the past few years, K-Pop is bearing witness to its inter-continental success in America, Europe and other western countries. The globalization of K-pop to the western side is primarily grounded in the globalization of Korean culture, media as well as communication technology and, furthermore, the development of capitalism (Lee). Moreover, the development of K-Pop music is due to the elemental hard work and efforts put in by the three major South Korean entertainment companies, namely, SM Entertainment (SM), YG Entertainment (YG) and JYP Entertainment (JYPE) (Choi, 2011, p.69). The most prominent K-Pop artists include DBSK, Super Junior, SNSD, Big Bang, 2NE1, Wonder Girls etc, and these artists and many others have played significant role by being the epitome of K-Pop. Literature Review: According to Thao Emilie, in ‘Emergence of the Korean Popular Culture in the World,’ the development of K-Pop music owes basically to the fact that the country has become a “powerhouse of popular culture” over the last twenty years (2011, p.2). Moreover, the author asserts that the Korean culture is now one among the most influential cultures of the world, thus further accelerating the growth of K-pop (p.2). The Korean entertainment culture spans several elements including music, drama, television series as well as movies. As identified by Sarah Leung, in her essay named ‘Catching the K-Pop Wave: Globality in the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of South Korean Popular Music,’ K-pop music has experienced “a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years” (p.2). Thus it can be understood that with such a dominating presence in the present scenario, the Korean culture has paved way for K-pop music. Furthermore, with its current widespread popularity, the New York Times has defined K-pop as an “environment of relentless newness, both in participants and in style” (p.7). The author of Understanding Popular Music, Roy Shuker, explains that stardom in any form of popular culture is “as much about illusion and appeal to the fantasies of the audience, as it is about talent and creativity” (Leung, p.7). Thus, in other words, it can be said that the Korean entertainment industry significantly plays a great role in the success of K-pop music by portraying the Korean artists in a better appealing way to the whole world. Emilie also identifies the new generation of songwriters as well as producers to be the driving force behind the success of K-Pop, as it is them who have “learned a lot about the global music world” through their various international exchanges, and incorporated this knowledge into their creation (p.31). The writer goes on to assert that it is the Korean idol groups that have a larger number of fans than most Korean solo musicians. As the author finds, this popularity is due to the “strong dance beats, powerful rap flows, and sometimes complicated electronic factors” used in the songs of idol groups (p.32). Therefore, Emilie concludes that it is ultimately the three main features of Korean pop music, which make it so successful, and these features are “solid vocals, powerful dancing and attractive appearance” (p.32). According to Gyu Tag Lee, author of ‘De-Nationalization and Re-Nationalization of Culture: The Globalization of K-Pop,’ the development of K-pop was made possible mostly because of the way “local cultural industries survived” during the introduction as well as flow of globalization by “building regional international success and then expanding around the world” (2013, p.2). Hallyu and K-Pop: Hallyu, or the Korean wave, basically connotes to the surge in the “international visibility of Korean culture, beginning in East Asia in the 1990s,” and which still continues in contemporary “United States, Latin America, the Middle East, and parts of Europe” (Jin Lee, 2011, p.85). Hallyu primarily is representative of the unparalleled fame of popular culture of the Koreans with the help of Korean media, which went hand in hand with commercial nationalism. This fact entailed in the Korean wave becoming much more than a regional cultural trend and, thus, resulted in K-pop being included in the “Forbes list of the top 20 most important cultural trends” (Dixon, 2011, p.1). The history of pre-globalized Korean economy being crushed due to its major superior rival countries China and Japan is quite well known. Furthermore, it is also known that the Korean economy was highly reflective of Cold War politics and had established a military presence greatly influenced by that of America after World War II. However, the Korean wave brought about significant changes in the way the country perceived its people as well as how the world perceived the country. This was primarily made possible due to three important events, which are the end of “Japan’s colonization of Korea,” in 1945, the end of “Cold War and the Democratization of South Korea” during the late 1980s as well as the “1997 IMF crisis,” which the Korean government saw as a “national humiliation” and thus promoted Hallyu (Dixon, 2011, p.1). Therefore, it becomes clear that the Korean government supported the Korean wave, thus accelerating its development in not just the country but also internationally. K-Pop is an integral part of the Korean wave, and with the increasing progress of the latter, the former developed significantly throughout the post-globalization era. Thus it transpires that the Korean wave, or Hallyu, played a significant role in catapulting K-Pop music as well as the concerned K-Pop industries into the global scenario. K-pop and its Globalization: The Korean wave first made its debut in China and Japan during the late 1990s and this eventually led to K-Pop being a sensation in East Asian countries. It is with these humble beginnings that the country later sought to take the whole world by storm, that is, through its K-Pop music. In order to validate this, there are various examples of artists as well as idol groups who are now representative of the K-Pop culture in the global front. Firstly, there is TVSQ or DBSK, a South Korean boy band backed by Korea’s “largest entertainment enterprise,” SM Entertainment, who first performed around 2003 (Choi, p.69). This pop idol group quickly rose to fame with its music and dance that captivated the Korean audience, irrespective of gender or age. The band is known as TVXQ in China and Tohoshinki in Japan, and the most interesting fact is that several of their songs have a different Japanese version as well as Chinese version made for their fan base in the respective countries. This is one of the strategies of K-Pop music, which seemingly contributes to its wide-ranging success over other East Asian countries. DBSK, due to the impact of globalization of K-Pop music as well as the K-Pop culture, has been able to collaborate with contemporary western artists such as Kanye West and Malik Yusef. They have also worked with Scandinavian songwriters namely, Remee and Thomas Toelsen as well as the noteworthy choreographer Kenny Wormald. This in itself points to the powerful effect of globalization on the Korean popular culture, and more specifically, K-Pop music. Other such significant achievements made by K-Pop artists include the Wonder Girls who in 2009 entered the US market with the English version of their most famous song ‘Nobody’ as well as they went on tour with popular western boy band, the Jonas brothers; “T.O.P, G-Dragon, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri of Big Bang” who took home the award for ‘Best Worldwide Act’ at MTV’s 2011 European Music Awards held in Belfast, and their albums were among the ‘Top 10’ in iTunes store; ‘Rain’ being voted ‘Korean King of Pop’ by Time Magazine readers etc (Leung, p.3). On a more general note, the massive K-Pop fan bases spread across continents such as Australia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East as well as North America make it more than obvious how much K-Pop music has grown in the global scenario (p.3). Factors Contributing to Globalization of K-pop: As mentioned before, there are several factors, which have worked together in successfully establishing Korean popular culture and music across its national boundaries and these mainly include Hallyu, globalization itself, media, new generation songwriters and choreographers, the talented artists and idol groups themselves etc. However, there are further various contributing factors that have made K-Pop what it is today in the present scenario. One of the elemental factors is the “reform of copyright laws since 1987,” which put an end to the issue of lack of copyright law enforcement in Korea (Lee, 2013, p.28). Thus with such reforms in effect, problems of royalties not being provided to the creators of music by various organizations such as radios, nightclubs, and other public spaces etc was resolved. Therefore, when Korea joined the e Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) in 1987 and brought into effect its “national copyright law,” all issues relating to copyright were almost dealt with (p.30). Thus, with the help of such a law in place, producers could get their rightful profits without any scams. Another monumental element that contributed to the globalization of K-Pop music as well as its increasing dominance in the music market is identified to be the “increasing cultural demand with the lack of substitution goods” (p. 32). The period when globalization was first brought about the disposable income of Korean citizens were average and furthermore the overall standard of living was quite improved, thus, this facilitated the purchase of cultural products, especially K-pop music. Lee finds that in the time period of 1987 and 1997, the Korean record industry’s total sales “increased almost sevenfold” and “Korea’s overall GNP tripled” (p.32). Therefore, it can be seen that with such a progress in the music industry, the growth of K-pop music and its globalization was inevitable. Conclusion: K-Pop music, in the present scenario, is gaining increasing importance as time passes and there are several underlying factors that drive forward its development. Psy’s ‘Oppan Gangnam Style,’ which is the best contemporary example of K-Pop music, shows how the genre is becoming highly significant as well as popular in the present world. After all a song with lyrics which most of the citizens of the country do not understand, and yet has ranked first in Billboard’s Top 100 is indeed remarkable. This shows how K-pop music is no longer confined to Korea, or the Asian continent, and it becomes clear that the genre has crossed multi-national, cultural as well as social boundaries to become a trending sensation. Therefore, it can be concluded that the globalization of the K-Pop music has not only made the country famous, but also its culture, music, and furthermore, the talents of the Koreans have been brought to the fore through this global musical platform. Reference List Choi, Y. J. (2011). The Globalization of K-Pop: Is K-Pop Losing its Korean-ness? Situations, 5. Yonsei University. Dixon, T. (2011). The Journey of Cultural Globalization in Korean Pop Music. Newcastle University. Retrieved from Emilie, T. (2012). Emergence of the Korean Popular Culture in the World. Turku University of Applied Sciences. Jin Lee, S. (2011). The Korean Wave: The Seoul of Asia. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 2 (1): 85-93. Lee, G. T. (2013). De-Nationalization and Re-Nationalization of Culture: The Globalization of K-Pop. Seoul National University. Leung, S. (2012). Catching the K-Pop Wave: Globality in the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of South Korean Popular Music. 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