K-pop Research Articles

Analysis of the Influence of BTS on K-pop

Over the past decade, the global music industry has witnessed a remarkable surge in the popularity of Korean pop (K-pop), with the South Korean boy band Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) emerging as one of the leading forces behind this phenomenon. This paper aims to analyze BTSs impact on K-pop worldwide by examining various statistical indicators, such as album sales, social media engagement, and global music charts. Firstly, the work delves into BTSs album sales, production value, and consumption stimulus, which serve as a tangible marker of their global influence. By analyzing data from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and Billboard, it becomes evident that BTS consistently dominates album sales, breaking numerous records and crossing cultural boundaries. Their abilities to connect with diverse audiences worldwide showcases their unrivaled impact on K-pops expansion. Furthermore, this work explores the power of impacts on culture in amplifying BTSs influence. By examining data from platforms like National Gukak Research Institute, also including analysis on value transmission and cross-culture communication, it becomes evident that BTS boasts an enormous online presence. Moreover, the bands ability to captivate fans globally and the role as cultural ambassador for K-pop are demonstrated. In conclusion, this paper provides compelling evidence of BTSs profound impact on K-pop worldwide. Through their exceptional album sales, impressive social media engagement, and groundbreaking chart achievements, BTS has successfully elevated the genres global presence, paving the way for wider recognition and acceptance of K-pop in the music industry.

Trial Analysis of the Encounter of Japanese and Korean Pop Culture in Local Variety Art from the Perspective of Cultural Integration TakeSisters Who Make Waves for Example

Since the 1980s, Japanese and Korean pop culture has been widely disseminated in China in the form of film and television productions. This created a wave of popularity among young people, and led to the formation of two typical Chinese youth subcultures that have had a great influence on television programmes to this day: the Ha-Japanese and the Ha-Korean subcultures. In the era of new media, both online and traditional programmes have emerged simultaneously, and most of the audiences favourite variety shows have left their mark only by virtue of their initial novelty, and have been quickly replaced by new programmes and faded into obscurity. However, the emergence of Ride the Wind 2023 seems to have broken the law of three seasons of decline for domestic variety shows. Taking Ride the Wind 2023 as an example, this paper adopts the methods of literature research, comparative research, questionnaire survey and case study to clarify the influence of Japanese and Korean popular culture in domestic variety arts. It explores the fit between variety arts and the ideological development of real society, the presentation effect of the programmes audiovisual content, and the way of localisation of the introduced variety arts. Attempts are made to find a feasible way to effectively achieve a good influence of world culture in Chinese localised variety arts. It also discusses the compatibility of variety arts with the ideological development of real society, the effect of audiovisual content presentation, and the way of localisation of variety arts in China.

The Effect of K-Pop and the Interaction within the K-Pop Community on EFL Learners

Korean-Pop (K-Pop) has become a global phenomenon, reaching parts of the world that no one could have imagined before. The recent surge in popularity has brought about an enormous number of fans from all over the world, all wishing to engage in the content and discourse present online. Due to this widespread reach of the fandom, English has started to be used as an informal lingua franca on the internet. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students who have an interest in Korean Pop music can potentially benefit from this use of English online. Using a qualitative approach, this research focuses on the effect participating in the K-Pop online community has on EFL students. The participants –six young adult females, all studying the same university major, all fans of K-Pop who frequently interact in the online community– were interviewed about their experience participating in the K-Pop online community and how it affected their learning of EFL. Based on this study’s findings, though there was not a direct association between interaction in the K-Pop online community and motivation, interaction with this community showed to have a positive impact on vocabulary, receptive macro skills development and confidence on the participants EFL learning.

한국 대중음악 소비자의 소비동기와 소비행동

The purpose of this paper is to understand the consumption motivation and consumption behavior of Korean pop music for Generation Z, the main domestic consumer who consumes Korean pop music. Since popular music is a thoroughly audience-centered culture, the tastes and needs of the audience have a profound influence on the production of popular music. The related industry is paying attention to Generation Z as the main acceptance group of Korean pop music and the main consumer group that has led to global interest in Korean pop music. They are now the main consumers of the music and entertainment industries and see them as a new group of consumers who will exert a huge influence on the future market at home and abroad. For the growth and development of Korean pop music, research should be conducted to identify the main motivational and behavioral characteristics of Generation Z consumers, a group of domestic audiences with high exposure and acceptance rates to Korean pop music.

Bondage of Standard: Interaction between K-pop Culture and Male Gaze

In the context of contemporary social entertainment prosperity, Korean pop culture, known as K-pop, subtly and gradually influences young people and the world due to its globalization and attraction to a large number of young viewers. However, because of the restrictions of artistic expression in the past, which created a patriarchal social system, and the glutton of pursuing fans finance, the male gaze is still present in typical manifestations of Korean entertainment culture such as music videos, song lyrics, and television dramas, and has an undetectable effect on womens self-awareness and perception of beauty standard. Contacting interviews and going through case studies, the paper analyzes the embodiment of the male gaze in Korean popular culture and its influence on women and concludes that established under aesthetic hegemony and following the male gaze, K-pop culture gradually undermined womens self-awareness and conclusion that their pursuit of diverse beauty due to its popularity and expansion.

Hallyu and FDI: the growth of South Korea’s investment in Indonesia’s cultural content industry

This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ The popularity of Korean dramas and pop music, known as Hallyu or the Korean Wave, has positively impacted South Korea’s tourism and cultural exports. Nevertheless, studies about Korean foreign direct investment (FDI) associated with the Hallyu phenomenon are still scarce. Thus, this study attempts to investigate Korean FDI that flows to Indonesia under such a phenomenon. Data was collected through documents and relevant video reviews which was then followed by a key informant interview. The findings showed that the rising trend of Korean pop music in Indonesia has gradually stimulated Korean investors to invest in industries promoting the transmitted Hallyu culture, such as broadcasting, TV and video production, sound recording and music publishing. Despite the amount of investment remaining lower than in the heavy and manufacturing industries, the study indicates an increase in Korean FDI in Indonesia’s content industries due to the high demand for Korean cultural content and the country’s ongoing bilateral commitment to South Korea. This study adds to our understanding of how global familiarity with a cultural phenomenon may affect FDI inflows to the country from which that phenomenon originates.

Music-induced tourism: Korean pop (K-pop) music consumption values and their consequences

People are exposed to a diverse range of music genres through numerous media in everyday life. Pop music, being a significant cultural symbol, has evolved into a major tourist attraction; an example is found in Korean pop (K-pop) music and its fandoms. This study aimed to examine an integrated structural model which included consumption values and their consequences. Three key domains of K-pop music consumption values were identified: character and visual performance, imitation and attachment, and message and vocal value. Interestingly, the study found that character and visual performance value were not significant influences on emotional involvement or referential reflection. Moreover, the study affirmed that music plays a substantial role in fostering familiarity with the music's country of origin, and in driving the intention to consume its products or travel within the country. Another notable finding from our study is the relative homogeneity of K-pop fans; their responses to the music did not vary significantly according to factors such as sex, age, or ethnicity.

Analyzing Social Media Strategy in Korean Music Industries

The Korean Wave (K-wave), also known as Hallyu, is the term used to describe the phenomenon of Korean pop culture, including TV dramas, movies, pop music, fashion, and online games, becoming widely popular and shared among the people of Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other Asian nations. Korean pop music, also known as K-pop, became a major component of the second K-wave after the first K-wave's drama-focused craze. Additionally, K-pop's fanbase has grown outside of Asia to the West thanks to the quick adoption of social media platforms like YouTube and Twitter. The popularity of K-pop throughout the world helps to improve the perception of "Korea" and has a positive effect on the Korean economy. According to reports, Korea has 1,000 active entertainment agencies in addition to the "big three" record labels and agencies: SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. In this instance, we talk about the K-pop phenomenon's global appeal and how social media has contributed to the genre's recent boom. Our lessons on how to manage social media strategically, with a focus on the major agencies mentioned above, include: aligning your strategic business model with social media; maximizing different social media channels; enticing customers with on- and offline promotions; and stimulating audience with exclusive content.

ANALYSIS OF THE MEANING AND EFFECT OF BTS'S SONG "LOVE MYSELF: ANSWER" ON FANDOM ARMY AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

This research is motivated by the phenomenon of KPOP or Korean Pop, where one of the famous artists is Bangtan Sonnyeondan (BTS), making the Love Yourself album and campaigning for the movement to love yourself at the 73rd UN General Assembly session which was held in New York, United States, on November 24, 2018. One of the songs from the album that was most talked about because of its influence in encouraging self-love is the song Love Myself: Answer. This song will be the object of this research. This study shows how undergraduate students who are members of the ARMY fandom or the designation of BTS fans interpret the song Love Myself: Answer and the effects after interpreting the song. This research was conducted using a qualitative method with a descriptive type of research. Data was collected using the interview method with purposive sampling technique. The population in this study were 5 University students at Airlangga University who met 2 criteria, namely undergraduate students and members of the fandom ARMY. The data analysis technique was carried out using Miles and Huberman analysis. The results showed that the participants interpreted the song as an encouragement to be confident on theirself and caused a motivated and enthusiastic influence to love theirself and they are not feeling lonely after that. We hope that future research can identify reasons people have motivations in life other than music. In this study, only a limited number of subjects were included so that it could not be generalized to a large number of subject groups.

Representasi Makna Pesan Motivasi Pada Lirik Lagu Stay Alive Jeon Jungkook BTS

The topic of Korean Pop or Kpop music is a very interesting discussion, especially among teenagers. Kpop it self has a distinctive style of song lyrics, with a mix of Korean and English, so that everyone can enjoy the song as a whole. The lyrics of the song it self contain a series of words that are produced from the form of meaning, expression or mood, about something that happens in the singer. This study aims to get an idea of ​​what the meaning of the motivational messages contained in the song Stay Alive sung by Jeon Jungkook BTS is. This research uses descriptive qualitative method with semiotic analysis approach of Ferdinand De Saussure. The results of the study show several meanings of motivational messages contained in the song stay alive, namely always love your self, don't forget to always be grateful and fight for anything in life and accept God's destiny with a positive attitude.

Representation of Popular Korean Culture (K-Pop) Industrial Identity through A Virtual Ethnographic Approach

The popularity of Korean pop (K-Pop) culture can be seen through the growth of a massive fan base without age restrictions, and is currently the largest in the music and entertainment industry. K-Pop fans who occupy a fandom are known as K-Popers. This present study explains the representation of identity in essence, as according to Hall - is related to the use of language, and represents a “blurring” of meaning by a cultural industry aiming for commercialisation. The result of this research shows the process of blurring meaning by talent agencies that produce K-Pop idols as the main product that represent them by carrying important values that will be adapted and consumed by fans with strong loyalty and emotional connection. The agency is a cultural business industry that sells its “products” such as K-Pop idols that they have introduced to fans, and refers to their “existence” that is consumed by fans. This study used a virtual ethnographic approach with data collection techniques through participant observation and interviews. Each of these main products has its own unique concept as every fan will feel special and exclusive as K-Pop music is a sense of "individuality" developed by the K-Pop culture and industry. Based on the results of observations on Instagram, we can find various types of fans to describe how they adapt the meaning that is sold by the agency through the products they sell. Keywords: Popular culture, K-Pop idol, identity, culture industry, identity representation.

Netnography of The Linkages Between Celebrity Worship and Impulsive Buying on a Treasure Album Product

The Korean Wave has become a prevailing trend around the world in recent years. Many people has begun to recognize South Korean culture through movies, drama series, and music. South Korea has its own music genre called Korean Pop as known as K-Pop. One of the most popular K-Pop groups in Indonesia is Treasure. The purpose of this research is to discover and explore the linkages between celebrity worship and impulsive buying of Treasure album products by fans. Using a descriptive qualitative method with a netnographic approach. Therefore, this study observed the behavior, discussion, and interaction of Treasure fans on Twitter. Especially on @ygent_official and @treasuremenfess accounts. The results of this study found that celebrity worship and impulsive buying are closely related, as enthusiastic fans welcome their idol groups who release new albums after a long hiatus. Fans who did impulsive buying are mostly fans who pre-order spontaneously without planning.

An Analysis of Commercial Communication Paths of Korean Pop Idols in the Context of New Media

With the development of new media, K-pop has successfully realized cross-cultural communication. Some researchers have analyzed the Korean wave fan groups and the marketing strategies of the Korean wave, but they still lack a correct understanding of the current situation of the commercialization of Korean wave idols and the potential problems. Therefore, through literature analysis, case analysis, and comparative analysis, this paper explores the commercial communication path of Korean pop idols in the context of new media. Finally, the study found that the lack of self-awareness of Korean idols, the politicization of idols, and cultural strategies formulated by the government are the leading causes of the problem. Therefore, people should set up their independent values and judgment in daily contact with Korean Wave culture, and the media should also play a good role in checking and supervising communication to promote positive cultural exchanges between China and South Korea.

K-Pop Fandoms Loyalist Phenomenon: Fans Participatory Branding on Social Media Content Practices Distribution in Indonesia

Korean pop music, or K-pop, has become one of the most dynamically distributed forms of pop culture in the global pop market through these ‘social distribution networks. This article explores the ways that this new mode of social distribution is characterized by bottom-up grassroots aspects as well as corporate-controlled top-down aspects by analyzing the recent dynamics and practices of K-pop consumption circulation on social media. This article examines the relationship between K-pop boybands and their fandoms in Indonesia as mediated by YouTube content platforms, using a case study Going Seventeen YouTube Content. It investigates the socioemotional organization of online interaction orders in K-pop fan communities, the emotional forms of expression, and the social assessment of their loyalist. The result of this research found that the Going Seventeen YouTube Content variable affected the Seventeen K-Pop Boyband Fan loyalty to 46% and the rest was influenced by other factors. In conclusion, as an exemplary cultural product, K-pop is creating fans as consumer-added value. It is necessary to establish fandom measures to integrate sustainable marketing promotion.

Resistance to a gender threat: a case-study analysis of Vietnamese viewers’ unfavourable reception of soft masculinities in romantic Korean television dramas

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, global media audiences have witnessed the development of a phenomenon known as Pan-East Asian soft masculinities, present in Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, and South Korean pop culture. This construction, characterised by male entertainers’ effeminate appearance and personality traits, has seen both celebration and backlash worldwide and attracted scholarly attention. Contributing to such literature, this article features case studies of three Vietnamese male and female research participants’ unfavourable reception of soft masculinities in romantic South Korean television dramas. Once fascinated with South Korean pop culture, which has established its presence in Vietnam over two decades, the adult informants now view Korean soft masculinities as inauthentic, immature, unpragmatic, and inappropriately feminine. Such views are intimately linked to their lived experiences, including disillusionment with life and romance. To shed light on the informants’ attitudes, the article uses R. W. Connell’s concept ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and Judith Butler’s theories of gender performativity and gender anxiety to reveal the influence of norms on the informants’ gender perceptions. It helps fill the gap in research on the resistance to Korean soft masculinities in Vietnam and contributes to the literature on Korean pop culture and non-fans as well as contemporary Vietnamese society.

Analysis on the effect of Cultural Emotional Expression on the State of Jazz and Pop in the Far East

Music and the ability to express emotions are deeply connected and this connection is a universal phenomenon. The recent meteoric rise of the Asian music industry and genres such as J-pop (Japanese pop), C-pop (Cantopop), and K-pop (Korean pop) reaching international audiences suggest cultural factors play a role in its success. However, there has not been a general analysis of how these genres of music, representing different modes of emotional expression, have manifested in the current landscape of Eastern and Western cultures. Our paper posits that Eastern cultures, heavily influenced by collectivist Confucian values, may lead to limited emotional expression and less diversity of musicianship in our current era. Our paper analyzes and compares the most popular musicians and albums of three groups of the past 30 years: Eastern pop, Eastern Jazz, and Western Jazz. Our results show that Eastern Jazz had more emotional complexity and diversity compared to those of Eastern pop. Our results also show that Western Jazz had more variety in the instruments that were used and the age of the musicians. Eastern Jazz did not have many new jazz musicians, signaling the decline of jazz’s popularity. By analyzing the social and cultural effects of music composition and range within genres of music, we may get a better understanding of the nuanced differences between cultures and have better insight into what makes music from different countries so unique. Future research should focus on expanding the analysis of Eastern music to include audience perception of music genres.

The international marketing strategy of Korea's Hybe Corporation and its implications to Chinese entertainment companies

With the continuous development of economic globalization, foreign trade has brought unprecedented opportunities, and the exchange and dissemination of different cultures have become increasingly important in international trade. Since the rise of South Korea's entertainment culture in the 1990s, it has taken less than a decade for Korean dramas, fashionable clothing and other popular cultures to become "popular in Asia" and "popular around the world". In recent years, Korea's Hybe Corporation broke the pattern of YG, SM, and JYP which are Korea's three major entertainment companies, jumped to become the fourth largest Korean entertainment company giant. Its strong cultural output has led to the extraordinary influence of Korean pop culture on a global scope. From the perspective of international marketing strategy, this paper introduces the development status of Hybe Corporation through PEST analysis and 4P marketing theory, so as to inspire Chinese entertainment companies to keep pace with the times and promote the export of Chinese culture.

Utilization Of New Media As Digital Fandom Among Korean Pop (K-POP) Fan Groups On The Social Media Platform Twitter

The popularity of Korean Pop (K-pop) has been continuously thriving in various parts of the world and has permeated different aspects of people's lives across diverse demographics. This phenomenon is also attributed to the advancements in technology, which have significantly eased the accessibility of K-pop content for the general public. This research employs a qualitative method with a virtual ethnography approach, utilizing data collection techniques such as in-depth interviews with seven informants, participant observation, literature review, and collecting digital documents in the form of screenshots. The results of this research depict fandom culture based on Lucy Bennett's perspective, which can be observed through four aspects: communication, creativity, knowledge, and organization and civil power, utilizing Twitter as a new media platform. Through the accounts created on Twitter, the researcher discovered that fan groups (fandoms) construct and produce their own culture in the digital realm. Twitter is used as a platform for interacting among fellow fans and with idols, serving as a source of information and a means of sharing information. Fans communicate through created virtual identities, fan speak, and fan jokes that can be observed on fan accounts, fanbases, and other platforms. Knowledge is obtained from official accounts as well as fanbases, where fans also produce works in various forms (audio, images, photos, and written works) that are shared through fan accounts. Fan groups also engage in fan projects through fanbase accounts, such as voting, voting, celebrating idols' birthdays, and making donations for their idols in various forms.

The role of cultural diversity in creating value: a case study of South Korea’s pop band BTS

ABSTRACT Globalization has heightened the significance of cultural diversity. Embracing cultural diversity within an organization provides a number of benefits, such as enhanced creativity and a comprehensive understanding of customer information, which all contribute to effective decision making in response to market dynamics. This article examines a case study of BTS, a South Korean pop band, and its efforts to promote cultural diversity. BTS is the first Asian act to win the top honour at the American Music Awards. The band accumulated six No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 in just over a year, an accomplishment achieved only by The Beatles in the 1960s. On its path to success, BTS cultivated a committed fan following, the ARMY (Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth), which has expanded from its humble beginnings to an influential organization with members of various cultural backgrounds. The article focuses on how BTS and its culturally-diverse fan base have co-created value by generating content and distributing it to a broad network, augmenting the band’s awareness and its brand equity. The article provides implications for diversity as not only a good cause but also a practice that can improve an organization’s financial success by fostering a virtuous cycle of mutual benefit between the organization and its customers.

Perilaku Komunikasi Para Penggemar Korean Pop (Studi deskriptif Pada Masyarakat Rawasari)

Korean Pop (K-Pop) has been endemic in Indonesia, especially in the Rawasari area, East Jakarta. Fans often share information, discuss K-Pop. Their communication behavior to Korea, of course, brings about a change in the culture of communication in Indonesia. This can be a problem for fans and the wider community. Based on the limitations that are focused on verbal communication carried out by KPOP fans in their daily behavior. This can be a problem for fans and the wider community. To find out the communication behavior of Kpop fans in social life, this study aims to find out the fanaticism of KPOP fans which is part of communication behavior. Qualitative research based on this constructivist paradigm found results from informants who live in the Rawasari area (East Jakarta) that Korean Pop (KPOP) is in demand by teenagers/younger generations in Jakarta.