DISCUSSION 3B

Question 3: There are an increasing number of foreign idols, foreign choreographers, videographers, songwriters, and so on in K-pop. What are the larger implications and motivations of the increased foreign production-side participation in K-pop? Please note that we are asking you to write about the production side, not performer side of this increased foreign participation. 

Hi my name is Lucia and I will be leading this discussion by investigating into the reasons why there is an increasing number of foreign choreographers, videographers, and songwriters in the Korean entertainment industry. After extensive research, I concluded there are three main determining factor. First,  there is an increase in the diversity of performers. As performers from different nation have been asked to join the Korean entertainment industry there must be an increase in diversity under the developing team to achieve a smooth working environment. The second factor is the expansion of the targeted audience. When they increase the demographic of their targeting audience they are also increasing the pool of audience they can generate money from. In order to understand what their targeted audience want, a more international team is extremely crucial. Lastly, the final factor is government support. When a market is supported by the government it is guaranteed to generate money and for international artiest or for anyone that is looking to work in the entertainment industry, coming to Korea would be a very appealing option due to the lucrative income.

As entertainment companies began to realize the increasing influence Kpop has on the international market they have increased its diversity of performer to appeal to a larger audience. As a result in order for the idols to improve the working experience with the artiest, it is crucial to hire a more multicultural production and managing team. Moreover, translators have to be hired to allow artists to perform the songs in different languages. An example would be EXO, most of their songs have a Chinese version due to the large Chinese fanbase. Furthermore, K-pop songs also feature English lyrics interweaved with the Korean lyrics in the chorus, which may help reduce the linguistic barrier for foreign audiences (Baek 2015: 731). Having a foreigner on the developing team would aid the translation of meaning across two languages. A foreign translator not only translates words they can also carry out the culture meaning behind words in the song lyrics.

With the wide diffusion of social media like YouTube in the world, it becomes much easier to access foreign cultural products and as a result of that the industry’s targeting audience has expanded (Baek 2015: 730). When the demographics of audiences increase, it is important to bring in international artiest to work on the production side to add perspective and depth to the content. This way the production team can be more aware of cultural appropriation or anything that might insult their audience. Furthermore, with a more diverse production team they can better understand what their audience desire and want. Questions such as what type of melody, clothing, photography style appeals best can be answered more accurately. Encouraging a more diverse team is the best business strategy a Korean company can enforce during a time when Korean pop culture is becoming more popular globally.

Government support to the Korean pop culture makes the entertainment industry extremely lucrative. In Korea, the Idols are kinda like ambassadors for the nation. Their actions can effect the image of Koreans greatly. Given the fact  that more than 80 percent of the global music industry is controlled by only four global corporations – and that those major music corporations have managed to effect enormous expansion in asian countries over the last few decades (Lee 2006: 130), to protect the “Koreanness” in popular culture in Korea, the Korean government implemented laws such as “movie theatres are required to show locally produced movie 146 days of the year (Lee 2006: 130)”. Given the protection received from the Korean government the pop culture industry is able to flourish independently. The international community is aware of the importance the entertainment industry is to the Korean government as a result this incentivize them to come to Korea to work in the industry as it is a relatively stable and lucrative market to work in.

As Korean popular continues to infiltrate the global market and make its mark on the global stage, there is no doubt there will be a continuous increasing trend of international workers joining the Korean entertainment industry. 

Bibliography:
– Lee, Hee-Eun. Seeking the “others” within us: Discourses of Korean-ness in Korean popular music. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, London and New York, 2006
– Baek, Young Min. “Relationship Between Cultural Distance and Cross-Cultural Music Video Consumption on YouTube.” Social Science Computer Review 33, no. 6 (December 2015): 730–48. doi:10.1177/0894439314562184.

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COMMENTS

Shannon: I agree with the point regarding using foreign resources in production to appeal to a more diverse audience. Countries like to see themselves represented in something huge like K-pop. In our lecture, we learned that as the industry is becoming more popular internationally, more foreigners are willing to work for less, which in turn leaves the companies with more profit.

An aspect of this topic that interests me a lot is songs in different languages. Groups like EXO, Super Junior, and WJSN release many songs in both Korean and Mandarin. Although I speak Cantonese, I still appreciate the fact that they are putting in effort to attract more consumers. In WJSN’s case, one of the Chinese members, Cheng Xiao, actually became very popular both in Korea and internationally, and is the most well-known member from the girl group. Although her rise to fame was not only because of Starship Entertainment’s decision to have them sing in Mandarin, but it played a role in allowing Cheng Xiao to promote the group when doing solo activities in China. The other Chinese members, Meng Meiqi and Wu Xuanyi participated in “Produce 101 China” to promote themselves in China. Even in the beginning of the competition, they were already regarded as the two winners of the show because everyone in China already knew about WJSN (although Cheng Xiao was still much more popular).

For EXO and Super Junior, it seems as though SM Entertainment has decided to only have them release songs in Korean (and Spanish for Super Junior’s song “Lo Siento”) for the time being. Super Junior has been able to attract a new audience from Latin America, which was kind of interesting to me because usually, people are searching for the new trends/new idols to become a fan of, but Super Junior was able to market themselves with foreign resources and production.

Rachel: I think that one of the strongest strategies to attract the K-pop fans is to produce a eye-catching music video. For most of the times, K-pop songs include dance choreographies, unique color pallets of sets, and fashion styles to stand out comparably from other pop music. Also, having foreign choreographers to participate in a part of the production even strongly emphasizes the idea of collaborating world widely to create better images in K-pop. As Lucia said in her discussion, it is vital to know who their targeted audience is to understand what kind of supports would K-pop idols need from their production side. By doing so, it easily opens the door to grab chances for K-pop cultures to be exposed in other countries. One of the examples for this reminds me of the time when Saeji showed a video about the foreign choreographers who interacted with the various popular K-pop idol groups for their dances. Big Bang, now known as a world-wide K-pop idol group have many great dance movements which choreographed by a foreign dancer, Parris Goabel. I think having a foreign dancer for popular idol groups can be beneficial since it helps to add more tastes in K-pop to experience different styles of dance choreographies. In addition, management is another important production side. For instance, having more live concerts around the world needs language skills to communicate with international fans. However, through managing the time to find someone to translate or teach that specific language helps to grow bigger and promote Korean culture. Therefore, now many Korean companies try to hire foreigners for their profit purposes, but also for their idols’ growths.

Amy: Thank you Lucia for a very comprehensive argument.
I notice that in the last couple years, the increased foreign participations in both production and performance sides are no longer the implications and motivations of only K-pop industry, but they have also come from the other side. I think some of us have seen or heard of news reporting that this US-UK famous artists or producers sharing that they would like to collaborate with K-pop group A or B. I think because K-pop is becoming more and more globally popular, international collaborations have become the win-win game for both music industries. US-UK artists and producers can also utilize those opportunities to expand the popularity, influence, and profits in the competitive industry.
I would like to share this video of Swivel showing the making of BTS “Euphoria” as an example for this topic, and also have you guys make an insight of a song’s production to see how complicated but really facinating the process made by really talented people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjaJeGJN2A4

Zoe: When I first saw this discussion question, there’s this one group that came into my mind that I want to bring up in this discussion. Got7 is a group under JYP Entertainment and in their las recent comeback” Present: You”, including the Korea version of the title song “Lullaby”, they have included three other versions of the song which are in English, Mandarin and Spanish. Although Got7 is a very “global” group with 3 out of 7 members being foreigners, the company’s purpose to include different language versions is to appeal to a more globalised audience. Not only to Korean market but also in order to push K-pop on the global market. In order to achieve that, it is necessary to have culturally diverse performers as well as production team.

Diego – Lucia makes great points with her discussion. Globalization is an ever prominent part of contemporary culture and foreign relations are growing with each passing day, which makes collaborations with foreign artists and producers more and more common. It’s interesting to see a very nationalistic country like South Korea reaching out to foreign talent, but it’s understandable as South Korea loves trends. I argue that as globalization becomes more and more common, it is almost inevitable that cultural collaborations will become a trend. 

These cultural collaborations are evident through recent collaborations like American music producer Steve Aoki and BTS, Steve Aoki and Monsta X, and American artist Jason Derulo and NCT. As discussed in lecture, South Korea has started to do collaborations with foreign music producers by creating music camps. These music camps are where music producers from around the world come together and create music for big entertainment companies (SM, YG, etc…) to purchase. The music producers can be songwriters, producers, etc… but they cannot be lyricists – the companies hire Korean lyricists only. 

Aside from the cultural globalization trend, Kpop has grown into something larger than South Korea itself. Evident by the international popularity, Kpop artists and companies now have the opportunity to tap into the international market and cater to international audiences. Songs like Lo Siento by Super Junior and (G)I-DLE’s Seniorita are examples of Kpop artists and companies tapping into the international market. Having more and more international connections gained through cultural collaborations means more international recognition, and more international recognition opens the doors to international sponsors (like Microsoft x 2NE1 advertisement). It is amazing to see the power of globalization, and it’s exciting to see the future of Kpop as it heads towards a more globalized cultural market thanks to foreign music collaborations. 

Zoe: Also something that I notice sometimes when I read the comments by fans or netizens whenever there are news about a K-pop group that is collaborating with a foreign artist or songwriter, the reactions were very positive and showed that collaborating with a foreign artist is a big achievement in their career. For example, BTS with Steve Aoki for Mic Drop and also the recent Monsta X comeback with their collar with Steve Aoki as well. However, I do want to point out something that Amy discussed earlier. I do agree that international collaborations creates a win-win situation for both artists. It does bring both sides exposure to the consumers. But I do feel that doing international collabs brings more exposure for the K-pop industry than the western industry. It is becoming one of the most productive methods to involve K-pop in the global community and introduce K-pop to the world.