How BTS Changed the Korean Pop Industry? – Korean Govt Conspiracy

Rising of K-POP

In 1992 three young men in a boyband performed in a live tv talent contest. Korean lyrics, Europe pop, African-American hip-hop, and rap coupled with brilliant dance moves. It was something no one had ever heard or seen before. The audience went completely bonkers but the judges in their prim and proper suits weren’t impressed and voted these boys off the show.

Little did the judges know that these boys were about to be the flag bearers of Korean culture across the globe. In the next few days, the song that these boys performed climbed to the top of the charts and stay there for a record-smashing 17 weeks. That night, Seo Taiji and the boys started a revolution and k-pop was born.

The reason behind the Evolution of K-POP

1. Strategy of the Korean Government

It was not merely by chance but a calculated deliberate strategy that was orchestrated by the Korean government to export Korean culture all across the globe and it worked like a charm. You know it’s the effect of Hollywood that over the years Korean culture has occupied space in everything from k-dramas to our skin care products and even food for that matter.

This was executed as a response to the 1997 financial crisis and the strategy worked like a charm. And as the culture was spreading the Korean government was more than happy to capitalize on the success.

2. Contribution of the Korean Government

So Korean Government started backing the music industry, giving it tax breaks. They even gave money to academics and foreign embassies to promote this genre.

In 2013 the government put aside around 300 million dollars just for Hallyu. They also made sure that k-pop music reached US billboards because from the US billboards music reaches radio stations and music channels across the world.

3. Brilliant Strategy for K-POP

Clever design, Brilliant marketing, and strategic use of social media are what spread the south Korean influence all across the world.

Huge Earning of K-POP

In 2019 Hallyu alone gave an estimated 12.3 billion dollar boost to the Korean economy. Much of the world however woke up to k-pop after PSY’s 2012 viral hit Gangnam style.

The power of the music video transcended language it showed you that you could be big and not sing entirely in English. Just one of the official videos of Gangnam style on youtube had over 3 billion views that’s the largest of hits of any video at that time.

The thing which made K-POP famous

1. Exceptionally High-Quality Performance
2. Extremely Polished Aesthetic

K-POP band members they’re basically idolized personas that are created to represent your fantasy. You will rarely find a k-pop ideal that isn’t a good singer or dancer or an insanely good-looking human and this is all by design.

Music Company in Korea

There are entertainment companies in Korea that create superstars through a specific formula and a set of conditions.

Now there are four main agencies which are referred to as the big four which have a track record of creating successful k-pop groups. So most of these agencies follow a three-step talent development model that basically involves finding talented candidates between the age of 12 to 15 years then putting these talented candidates through grueling training for over several years and then launching the most promising trainees either as solo ads or more commonly into groups

The larger and more respected the music company is the more application that receives. One of the agencies big-hit alone receives 20 000 applications from which they select only 30 kids. Now the applicants who made it through the audition process are offered something called a temporary trainee contract.

As trainees, these applicants receive intensive instruction and coaching across a broad spectrum of skills including these talents:-

1. Singing
2. Dancing
3. Modeling
4. Acting
5. Socialization
6. How to present oneself on social media
7. Mental care
8. Physical care

all the trainees that have made it to the three months mark are retained for the complete year for further training. The cost of training each kid goes as high as 100 thousand dollars per training and an average group with six or seven members has a total cost that nears 2 million by the time they’re ready for their debut.

Now once these groups have made their debut the trainees sign a full-fledged artist contract with the music company which is approximately seven years long. So once the artists break even they have to further give a share of their profits to the talent company.

These talent management companies recover all the costs that they spent on their training. And a lot of times these contracts also include lifestyle restrictions from drinking, dating, and other morality clauses.

BTS (The Bangtan Boys)

BTSs has broken all records and was officially named the biggest recording act in the world in 2020.

Rise of BTS

BTS is the product of an industry insider who wanted to create a new kind of idol. In 2010 bang began to assemble a group of teens for a group called the Bulletproof Boy Scouts which would eventually go on to become Bangtan boys or BTS.

Why BTS became famous

1. His approach to creating this group was very different from the normal studio approach to idol dumb.
2. In traditional studios idols are trained to be pleasant but mild.
3. They’re trained to function as blank slaves upon which viewers can project their fantasies.
4. In contrast to this bang wanted BTS to be full of figures that audiences could relate to.
5. BTS did not have strict curfews or contracts.
6. They were also allowed to discuss the pressures of stardom.
7. They were allowed to use social media to promote causes they cared about like violence against children.
8. Their lyrics spoke about the cultural pressure placed on Korean teens to excel and do well and to repress their anxieties.
9. They were frank honest and very natural.

People are often curious about how this one band broke through the cultural barrier overseas and made significant waves across the world.

Feature of BTS

1. They made a combination of changing nature of the K-POP Studio culture and the way Idols are produced.
2. Changing Depictions of Masculinity in South Korea.
3. Changing ranges of acceptable expression in K-POP.

Above all approach BTS has taken to building its fan base and interacting with its fans also known as an army. The BTS army is real and it is mighty.

Earning of BTS and Fans in India

At one point the group’s tour crashed Ticketmaster’s website selling out 3 lakh tickets in minutes. And these tickets were priced at an average of five hundred dollars. Here the BTS youtube channel alone had around 10 billion plays within a span of one year. And from that 10 billion, 1 billion came from India alone.

In fact on one of the BTS members JungKook’s birthday last year his Indian fans even dedicated billboards and hoardings across various cities wishing him a happy birthday.

India’s interest in k-pop has augmented curiosity in everything Korean including clothing, and accessories and even Netflix viewership of Korean tv shows swelled up by 370 last year. The influence of k-pop is only growing and it’s only a matter of time until we adapt it to become something entirely new

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