What is K-Pop?

What is K-Pop? 

It seems so simple and yet the more I’ve thought and researched it, the more complex it becomes.

K-Pop can refer to: 

1) the domestic idol industry in Korea

2) idol music and non-idol Korean pop music exported to non-Korean markets

3) the subculture surrounding consumption of Korean idol music and other related goods in non-Korean markets

4) the formalized “K-Pop” format emerging in the American media and music industry

Journalists, academics, fans, and other interested parties with varying understandings of one or all of these categories come into conflict all of the time. 

An idol group like EXO is easy to categorize. As a domestic idol group, they fall under categories 1 through 4.

A hip-hop group like Epik High is not considered “K-Pop” in Korea but they are considered “K-Pop” in English speaking countries because they fall under category 2, so are then rolled up under categories 3 and 4.

When you ask, “Do you like K-Pop?” do you mean specifically idol music? Korean pop music in general? The general fandom subculture that’s built up around exported Korean popular music and culture? 

That had been my previous understanding of the topic as a long time American consumer of Asian popular culture until I started reading Eric Weisbard’s excellent book Top 40 Democracy chronicling the history of popular radio formats in America. The names alone should conjure a stereotypical listener: “Urban,” “Country,” “Rock,” “Latin”, “Adult Contemporary”, “Top 40”. That’s no mistake. As Weisbard argues in his book, these formatted radio stations don’t play specific genres but rather play songs tailored to reach a specific listener base. It’s why so much music grouped under the “Country” format sounds nothing like the hillbilly music that used to go by that name. “Country” now sounds more or less like mainstream rock and pop… just with more fiddle added. “Country” stars can cross over to the catchall formats of Top 40 and Adult Contemporary but it would be rare indeed to find a “Country” star on the “Urban” or “Latin” stations.

The “Country” format then feeds into things like the Country Music Billboard Chart, Country music specific news verticals, Country music tour circuits, and (this is the important part) the Best Country Album at the Grammy Awards. 

As I was reading the book, the formatting of K-Pop into… “K-Pop” became clear. There are already “K-Pop” verticals in outlets like Billboard and Rolling Stone targeting that juicy market of fans willing to spend cash money on music-related products and American music awards have been floating the addition of a “K-Pop” category, despite the fact that very few of the artists are American and most of the large number of global fans are not. 

So… do I like K-Pop? I enjoy listening to Korean pop music as well as following Korean idols in their domestic activities but, honestly, I really don’t like the global stan subculture or the “K-Pop” format in America and would happily see the former retreat from public forums and the latter vanish completely. 

TL;DR the “K-Pop” format is not uniquely racist or xenophobic but rather an attempt to capture the devoted ($$$$$) fans of Korean idol groups and shape their tastes and behaviors in a way that will most benefit the American music industry. (Although attempting to colonize the narrative of Black music—or Latin music—while complaining about the treatment of an idol group in the American music industry very much is both of those things.)