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After Psy and BTS... There is no ‘big hit song’ that the world sings along to
Following the announcement of the temporary suspension of activities by BTS last year, this year's 'SM crisis' K-pop, which was recognized as the core of the Korean Wave, is receiving a series of red signals. SM Entertainment is "K-pop's Family House," which led the overseas expansion of Korean pop music, led by the group H.O.T.'s performance in Beijing, China in 2000. For this reason, experts say that despite the remarkable growth of K-pop, the crisis factors that were lurking behind it have emerged.
Is it a structural crisis or a simple growth pain? At first glance, statistical indicators over the past decade seem to have no problem with K-pop's growth. In 2012, K-pop record exports amounted to $24.26 million (KRW 31.5 billion), but increased to $233.11 million (KRW 303.5 billion) last year. <Graphics> It has exploded nearly 10 times in just 10 years.
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Asian-oriented K-pop album export unit: dollar
1. Europe: $14.29 million
2. Asia: $163.62 million
3. Russia: $1.53 million
4. North America: $41.13 million
5. South America: $2.37 million
6. Oceania: $1.31 million
photo trans:
HYBE ve Kakao Entertainment
HYBE
• North America market
Complementing with SM, which focuses on Asia and
Southeast Asia
• Have a powerful fans platform Weverse
Kakao Entertainment
• Melon, etc. Sound source, record, and performance ticket
distribution network
• Have a number of Webtoon and video production
companies
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Slowed K-pop album export: dollar
• 200 million won: $233.11 million
• 100 million won: $64.39 million
However, behind the spectacular figures, there are also hidden signs of a crisis in K-pop at the same time. First of all, the increase has slowed since 2020-2021, when BTS topped the Billboard single chart.
Kim Jin-woo, a senior researcher at Circle Chart, said, "According to statistics on Korean record exports, exports reached a new high last year, but overall growth slowed down." Japan's export growth has also slowed, and sales have fallen in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand, and some European countries such as the Netherlands and France, except Vietnam, he said. It is pointed out that it could be an obstacle in terms of diversifying K-pop's market in the future.
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Number of K-pop teams on the Billboard chart
23 teams: Billboard 200 (Discography)
8 teams: Hot 100 (Popular songs chart)
Another concern of K-pop is that "Post BTS," which will be handed the baton of BTS, the first Korean artist to reach the top of the world, is not visible. The so-called fourth-generation girl groups such as NewJeans, Le Seraphim, and IVE are making strides at home and abroad, but they are not at the top of Billboard singles or record charts right now. In addition, the absence of a next-generation male group to succeed BTS is also a factor fueling the "K-pop crisis theory." Shin Hyun-joon, a professor at Anglican University, said, "In the past, idol group music was criticized as 'factory-style', but it showed the world's best quality control (QC) amid fierce competition and differentiation from SM, JYP, and YG."
There is also criticism that K-pop has recently been buried in a mania character, and that the "hit song (favorite song)" that encompasses all generations has disappeared. The marketing strategy with the group at the forefront has become a strong industrial driving force as it has formed fandom at home and abroad, but the aspect of singing, the essence of the music industry, has resulted in relatively neglect. Professor Shin said, "Everyone could sing along until Psy's 'Gangnam Style,' and BTS' 'Dynamite' had a chorus that everyone knew, but after that, the singer's name tends to be more important than the song."
Some point out that despite K-pop's explosive quantitative growth over the past decade, there is no systematic management system and qualitative maturity to firmly support it. In fact, even before this year's "SM crisis," noise surrounding large K-pop agencies continued. Examples include former general producer Lee Soo-man's "controversy over giving private company work," which was the direct cause of this year's incident, and the "Club Burning Sun case," which was suspected of involvement of YG Entertainment's singers between 2018 and 2019. Pop culture critic Lee Moon-won said, "On the surface, they seem to be very large companies, but in fact, they cannot keep up with the size of the K-pop market that has exploded in the past five to six years." Concerns are rising that they seem to see a "child who has grown so big" with the old Xi of the past one-man agency left intact.
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