Kpop

PSY’s Gangnam Style has now crossed 3.8 billion views on YouTube. This makes Gangnam Style the most-watched Kpop Video ever and it is not even close. This is saying a lot since Kpop has been growing in popularity for many years before Gangnam Style came out. Since YouTube’s launch back in 2005, YouTube has continued to grow. Now nearly 6 billion videos are watched each day with people uploading close to 400 hours of video to YouTube every minute. Kpop accounts for less than 1% of YouTube’s content. Yet it gets close to 5% of the views. Clearly, a lot of people, not just Koreans, watch Kpop music videos on YouTube. 

K-pop is still bigger than ever. It is growing every day not just in Asia but all around the world. Furthermore, Kpop Entertainment companies are reporting all-time high profits and K-pop groups are getting global exposure. Therefore, Korea's main asset still continues to be K-Pop as Kpop Entertainment companies continue to find new talent. Now, most of these KPop companies/agencies are looking to expand outside of Korea and into other Asian markets as well as North America and Europe.

The two “God Mothers” of Kpop girl groups come down to Fin.K.L. (1998) and S.E.S (1997).  Kpop Entertainment companies did a good job of training some of the top talents in Korea in both vocals and dancing before debuting the group. Kpop Girl Groups always had a disadvantage in the industry. Many looked and sounded the same, however, there were also many that went against tradition and really exploded on a global scale. Each Kpop Girl Group has its own style and story. Many have been able to take advantage of social media to really expand their audience and let fans into their personal lives. For example, Blackpink’s’ Lisa is the top Kpop Instagram influencer of all time, bigger than any Kpop star including the men. 

It is typical to see a Kpop music video reach 100 million views on YouTube in a matter of days. In the case of BTS’s Dynamite, they were able to do it in one day. How do they do it? How are Kpop videos on YouTube generating so many views so quickly? It is simple, their fans make it their goal to make sure their favorite Kpop grow gets the highest views possible. We are talking about hitting play on multiple devices, multiple browsers using a variety of VPNs. Western music fans don’t do this and it is only something you will for Kpop videos. This is what you call a very loyal and dedicated fan base.

A major reason for the success of Kpop globally is that it is very addictive and fun. You just can’t take your eyes off it. While the visuals and songs are huge components, the one key differentiator that truly separates Kpop from other music out there is their use of dance choreography. The best female dancers in Kpop have really taken Kpop dancing to a whole new level. They have also inspired the next generation of women to push the limits of Kpop dance by incorporating their own styles and creativity.