Korean Music

Over the past couple years, the Korean music scene has been gaining major traction internationally. Most notably, K-Pop has soared above the other genres due to its catchiness and idol groups (other music genres such as jazz, rock, R&B, and ballads that are greatly appreciated and enjoyed in Korea more than pop don’t seem to appeal to other countries as much). As K-Pop’s popularity rises, so does the number of admirers and critics. As such, it would be appropriate to be more aware of how the Korean music world functions. Due to cultural differences, the Korean pop scene and the American pop scene are extremely different in how they operate. 

Here in America, individuality is valued and mistakes are tolerated. Artists become popular because of who they are and if they have talent. American artists have control over their image, what songs they produce, and (to some extent) their schedule. They are allowed to be their own individual and express themselves how they wish. Naturally, American artists have their own have standards to uphold, but their record labels are more lenient with them. For example, during the 2009 VMAs, Kanye West grabbed the mic from Taylor Swift and interrupted her speech. He faced some consequences for his actions, but he wasn’t shunned from the music world afterwards. If a Korean artist did something like that, that would almost certainly be grounds for a terminated contract and blacklisting. Relatively speaking, Kanye faced little repercussions for acting on his own accord.

In Korea, this is not the case at all. Naturally, there are exceptions and certain pop artists/groups that don’t adhere to all of the Korean music scene standards (ex. BTS), but most do. 

Korean idols must be attractive according to Korean beauty standards, sing well while dancing rigorous routines, perform constantly, and maintain a certain image of perfection in the public eye.

If a potential idol can’t do all of these, then they are unable to enter the music scene (remember, this is about the K-Pop industry, artists such as IU, Dean, Day6, and Akdong Musician and many more aren’t pop artists). 

K-Pop idols must practice strenuously daily, maintain a certain level of beauty, sacrifice their personal lives, adhere to a brutal schedule without adequate time to rest or recover, relinquish their rights to their own music, promote their company, and release albums when their company says to. Their record label contracts have been nicknamed “Slave Contracts” due to these conditions and have remained a constant fixture in the K-pop industry—although there has been significant improvement in recent years. 

Additionally, Koreans are very concerned with perfection and maintaining that perfection. Singers and dancers alike practice non-stop to improve their technique and skills so that they are always in tune, never lagging/rushing, and in sync with the rest of their group. To some record labels, these artists are not people but rather idols meant to demonstrate a level of excellence and churn out music. This is all stems from an overbearing collectivist attitude. The overall well-being of the company is the main focus while the artists are required to offer everything they have to better the entire group. 

Lastly, idols belong to their record labels. Everything they are is owned by their company in a legal sense and this can lead to complications/scandals when an intense fight between artist and company breaks out. In terms of legal complications, the boy band “Highlight” just had a recent case. They were originally well known as “Beast” under the company Cube Entertainment. When they changed labels and moved to Us Entertainment in 2016, they were no longer able to promote themselves under the name “Beast.” As such, they had to change their name and they are now known as “Highlight”. However, Cube Entertainment still owns the group “Beast” and their songs, therefore “Highlight” legally can ever use their original name or promote their old songs under their new name. 

Additionally, a scandal revolving around Hyuna, E’Dawn, and Cube Entertainment blew up this last September. As noted earlier, K-Pop idols must give up their personal lives and this includes their dating lives. When an news report presented evidence of Hyuna and E’Dawn dating, Cube Entertainment immediately denied the validity of the report. Later on, Hyuna and E’Dawn confirmed the claims that they had been dating and revealed that they had been doing so for two years. Following this reveal, Cube Entertainment announced that they would be terminating their contracts with Hyuna and E’Dawn because the “trust” between idol and label had been broken. However, neither Hyuna or E’Dawn were informed of their discharge until Cube Entertainment announced it to the public. For the sole reason of having a public dating life, Hyuna and E’Dawn were discarded in an instant by their company. Scandals and complications such as these occur frequently in the K-Pop industry and in comparison, record labels are nothing in America while their shining artist is everything. 

Through these contrasting differences, it is clear that Korea and America follow different standards in the music industry.

The conditions and environment of the music scene in America are defined by individualism and acceptance of the artist while the Korean music scene is shaped by collectivism and a perfectionist mindset. 

Yet, it is safe to say that both industries succeed in their own ways and it’s important to acknowledge as well as appreciate both.