Role of BTS in K-pop Globalization
Name:
Institution:
K-pop BTS Globalization
Introduction
K-pop is a genre of popular music that originates from South Korea. K-pop is a short form representation of Korean Pop. The development of the K-pop music genre has facilitated a change from Korean traditional music that presented sociocultural themes and developed narrations in their context to emphasize their themes. Kugak serves as a crucial example of Korean traditional music that served as the national music before the introduction of Western music into the country. Asians embraced Western culture after the second world war, which facilitated the erosion of Asian cultures. The adoption of popular music serves as an example of changes influenced by the adoption of the Western way of life.
Regarding this change, popular music was highly adopted within the Asian community as a form of entertainment in festivals and dances. Also, business entities developed consumption inducing beats related to the thumping sounds generated in popular music. Among the factors that might have facilitated the high adaption of popular music in the Asian region include the development of industrialization and commercialization of music (Lie, 2015). Industrialization oversaw the development of urban lifestyles upon which urban citizens adopted a different culture more so in music preference. Also, urban citizens adopted a leisure lifestyle which helped integrate popular music into the entertainment industry since the music aligned with the social setting developed while undertaking leisure activities. In consideration, the music allied with dancehall, café and concert activities more so when generated using technological devices that promoted proper sound articulation. Furthermore, popular music generates a feeling of a semiprivate sonic world whenever individuals use sound enhancing technology which facilitates vast adoption of the music within the society. Concerning the commercialization of popular music, popular music is generated by professional music composers and promoted by the professional producer, which facilitates the competitive nature of popular music within the society. K-pop music culture has also been integrated into the international community, thus enabling K-pop music globalization and worldwide recognition of K-pop based bands such as BST.
Role of BTS in K-pop Globalization
K-pop has immersed massive support from both local and international communities which illustrates the expansion of the Korean popular music culture to the other part of the globe. The vast acquisition of K-pop music within the international community has been enhanced by the exportation of Korean entertainment resources to other countries more so China. Similarly, Korean based K-pop bands have developed performances outside Korea which further facilitates the development of the K-pop culture to the rest of the globe. The role of K-pop bands in globalizing the K-pop culture to other parts of the countries can be identified through BST band performance that has developed the culture to Asia, Australia and America. Among the most notable international performances set by the BST, the band include the Red Bullet tour conducted in 2014 upon which BTS members presented K-pop music in Asia and later moved to Australia. The show facilitated the adoption of the K-pop music culture in East Asian countries, including Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Taiwan (Cruz & Seo, 2019). The Red Bullet Tour was further extended to the United States influencing people and the U.S media to support the K-pop culture in the U.S. as a result of the visit, American media personnel featured the K-pop culture in their presentations and developed South Korea based shows to illustrate Koreans culture. The presentations helped Americans citizens to familiarize with the Korean culture. Similarly, K-pop culture has acquired vast support in America since it relates to the existing popular culture. Both K-pop culture and popular culture adopted in the U.S. contain hip-hop and rap music elements that are crucial elements of youth culture. Regarding these similarities, people have developed liking attitude to the K-pop related music, which has facilitated the selection of BTS band for Billboard Music Awards in the US (Benjamin, 2018). The interest further improved the raking of the BTS bands on the Billboard 200 charts. In 2019, BTS Band albums were ranked number one for three-times in the year which outlines the immense support offered to K-pop culture within the U.S. In addition, BTS band has conducted a series of performances in the U.S to sustain and increase support for the K-pop music in the country. The various events have witnessed an increasing number of supporters which further dictate increased assimilation of K-pop music within the global society.
The impact of K-pop globalization aspect can be identified through the GDP revenue acquired from the K-pop industry and the ranking of BST band in the global music industry. Concerning the contribution to South Korea’s GDP, K-pop culture contributed $4.65 billion of South Koreas 2019 GDP (Ro, 2020) that is 0.3% of the entire GDP. Similarly, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s Global 2018 Artist Chart identified that BST Bands were the second best-selling artists within the music industry. The developed statistics outline a wide range of global support and practice of the K-pop culture.
To enhance the embracement of the K-pop culture within the international platform, BTS has developed collaborations with musicians from foreign countries. The cooperation of the BTS and Steve Aoki serves as an example of an alliance seeking to acquire the support of local artists in advancing foreign markets (Longeneck & Lee, 2018). Under the collaboration, the artists developed a song entitled the “Mic Dop.” The track was highly rated through favourable reviews praising the beats, musical styles and the sound presented in the music. The song was ranked number 28 in the US Billboard Hot 100 becoming the first BTS band song to rank top 40 on the Billboard chart. Also, BTS band developed song remix that presents an album in different language based on the language of consumers within a given market.
According to BBC Music (2020) website, the adoption of K-pop culture within the international community is a revolutionary process developed by Korean youths who listened and studied Western music in the 1990s. The youths abandoned Koreans music and developed an interest in Western music upon which they generated the K-pop music industry based on the aspects presented within the Western popular music. Upon identifying the resilience of the Korean youths to K-pop culture, South Korean government offered support to the music industry to help it advance to the international market and improve the skills of the Korean youths in developing K-pop music. The support facilitated the commercialization of the K-pop music culture, encouraging the involvement of professional music producers and music developers. The move oversaw the refinement of K-pop music products by improving the production quality to improve the competitivity of K-pop culture within the international markets. The quality of refined K-pop products facilitated immense support from the global market and provided a competitive advantage against the existing popular culture. Regarding the quality of BTS band products, the band consists of two professional rappers that are RM and Min Yoon-gi and three dancers including Jung Ho-Seok, Jean Jung-kook, and Park, Ji-min. In addition, the team consists of a singer, Kim Tae-Hyung and an actor named Jin (Liu, 2020). The diversity helps the band to undertake various roles while presenting their songs to the audience, which improves audience experience. The production activities of the BTS band get developed by Big Hit Entertainment owned by Bang Si-hyuk who is an experienced composer. The producer also ensures the continuous presence of the band in online platforms and create K-pop idol groups through which fans can showcase their loyalty to the band. YouTube channel serves as the most effective platform for the BTS band since it the album “Gangnam Style” acquired one billion views setting a view record. The presence of the group on different social media platforms increases the popularity of the band, which further promotes the adoption of the K-pop music culture in society.
References
BBC Music. (2020). How did K-pop conquer the world? Retrieved on September 12, 2020, from www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190529-how-did-k-pop-conquer-the-world
Benjamin, J. (2018). A fulltime of BTS in America. Retrieved on September 12, 2020, from www.billboard.com/amp/articles/columns/k-town/8455536/bts-in-american-timeline
Cruz, B., Seo, Y. & Binary, I. (2019). Cultural globalization from the periphery: translation practices of English-speaking K-pop fans. Journal of consumer culture, 1-31
Lie, J. (2015). K-pop: Popular music, cultural amnesia, and economic innovation in South Korea. California: University of California Press. Print
Liu, M. (2020). The branding genius of K-pop band BTS. Retrieved on September 12, 2020 from www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com//business/2020/01/30/bts-kpop- bighitentertainment%3fourputType=amp
Longenecker, L. & Lee, J. (2018). The Korean wave in America: Assessing the status of K-pop and K-drama between global and local. Situations, 11(2): 105-127
Ro, C. (2020). BTS and EXO: The soft power roots of K-pop. Retrieved on September 12, 2020, from www.bbc.com/cultures/article/202000309-the-soft-power-roots-of-k-pop