The Impact of Transnational Media Consumption through Fan Participation
A significant contribution to K-pop’s exponential success in recent years is the transnational phenomenon through fan cultures, as argued in “Transnational Cultural Fandom” by Hye-Kyung Lee, whose field includes media industries. Accordingly, transnational media consumption through fan distribution, content circulation, and fan activities is an important factor to the transnational success of K-pop and its artists, with an example being T-ARA’s success in China.
As “fans become powerful players in global cultural distribution” (Lee 2014: 195), fans help to distribute and localize K-pop content, including across transnational borders. For example, T-ARA’s collaboration with the famous Chinese-pop duo Chopstick Brothers in “Little Apple” allowed fans in China to distribute and localize the song, contributing to the massive success of the song and group in China and the Chinese media markets. Moreover, fans contribute to content circulation, allowing Korean media content to spread and localize for further consumption by foreign audiences. As noted by Lee, the growth of transnational cultural fandom has allowed for Korean media content to be “mediated and widely circulated online via fan networks” (2014: 198). In T-ARA’s case, the group has many fan engagements on their Chinese fan site, which itself has over 2 million members (SBS 2017). For artists such as T-ARA, fan engagement such as discussions and sharing posts contributes to the localization and consumption of their K-pop content across transnational boundaries. In addition, as “K-pop crosses national, cultural and linguistic borders via fan-driven circulation of new media” (Lee, 2014: 200), fans help to cross transnational borders through fan activities. Using the example of T-ARA’s large Chinese fan site, the popularity of T-ARA and their content on fan sites leads to discussions and sharing posts in other languages and translations, which further increases fan media consumption and engagement. As a result, T-ARA’s success in China is an example of how transnational media consumption through fan distribution, content circulation, and fan activities can contribute to the success of a K-pop artist across transnational boundaries. Accordingly, even current K-pop artists are using newer circulation methods and fan interactions to achieve individual success, and in turn success for K-pop. |
AuthorAneet
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References
Lee, Hye-Kyung. “Transnational Cultural Fandom.” In The Ashgate Research Companion to Fan Cultures, edited by Linda Duits,
Koos Zwaan, and Stijin Reijinders. 195-207. Farnham, U.K.: Ashgate, 2014.
“T-ara’s Second Chance at Success.” SBS. https://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/blog/2017/06/22/t-aras-second-chance-
success (accessed on 12/05/2018).
Koos Zwaan, and Stijin Reijinders. 195-207. Farnham, U.K.: Ashgate, 2014.
“T-ara’s Second Chance at Success.” SBS. https://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/blog/2017/06/22/t-aras-second-chance-
success (accessed on 12/05/2018).