Korea is represented internationally through women in sports and entertainment, as young women’s bodies appropriate nationalism. In K-pop, female performers are constantly sexually objectified for the purposes of marketability, societal standards, and bringing pleasure to the viewer.
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As we are advancing towards a society where a majority of our media consumption revolves around handheld mobile devices like laptops and phones, I can see why the significance of traditional television can start to decrease as our preference for media platforms changes. Or rather, we are discovering the many alternative platforms of content consumption and start to have a preference for those that are easier to access and use on a day to day basis.
As K-pop continues to grow in popularity, engagement within the K-pop community has also evolved over platforms such as social media; however, one channel that has remained consistent in engaging fans is television. Television shows offer an array of live programs to engage audiences and fans, with examples including music shows such as MBC’s Music Core, survival shows such as CJ E&M’s Produce 101, and variety shows such as Arirang TV’s After School Club. I believe with television shows broadcasting live performances, results, and interactions, there are many opportunities for fan involvement on a domestic and global scale.
Discussion 3B: How much power and impact do fans or consumers really have in K-pop industries?10/16/2018 As K-pop nowadays continue to receive worldwide recognition from an increased number and also a wide variety of fans overseas, I believe that the power or the impact of K-pop fans has greatly contributed to the global success of K-pop. Particularly, I will discuss how their power has influenced in promoting K-pop to the world stage and in fostering Korean cultural economy through the development of social network platforms.
During this digital era of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, I do not think the average K-pop artists’ career is financially sustainable. We always hear about the sky-rocketing success and the international impact of the Hallyu Wave; for instance, the K-pop market reached “US$323 million in 2011, a 25.5 percent increase from the previous year” (Kim 2018: 161) - however, when examine how much the artists actually earns, we find the results to be quite shocking.
Oh Ingyu and Park Gilsung's value chain chart shows that artists earn the least amount from the K-pop market in comparison to writers, composers, producers, choreographers, MNEs and Google. In addition to taking the smallest cut paycheque, artists do not start generating personal profit until a few years of a well established career. For example, Oh and Park stated that SM Entertainment spent roughly US$3 million in training their solo artist, BoA. Even with a successful debut, she did not receive payment until her debt was paid back (2012: 380). Another example is AOA, who struggled for the first two years in making a scene in the spotlight, took roughly three years from their debut to fully pay off their debt. Producers believe that the low compensation of artists is justified by a large investment paid for initial training (Oh and Park 2012: 380). Americanization was prominent during the age of the Cold War. In Korea, 70 000 military personnel occupied the army bases, many of which contained US Military clubs that sparked a new wave of Korean musicians that performed Western pop songs. This, along with the radio station, American Forces Korea Network (AFKN), is what I believe provided the onset of American pop culture influence on Korean music.
Discussion 1: Balancing Between Korean Nationalism and International Recognition for Korean Idols9/23/2018 I believe the best way for Korean idols to balance the need to be nationalistic while keeping the international audiences is to emphasize the entertainment nature of K-Pop. Using art as a way of communication, Korean idols could focus on their perfection in talent to distract political conflicts.
Given the historical relationship between Korea and its former colonizer, Japan, conflicts between the people of the countries are inevitable. However, entertainment is used as a bridge to connect the two countries from then to now. As Maliangkay stated in his article: “one has to acknowledge that Korean entertainers and entrepreneurs were trying to carve out a living as much as their Japanese counterparts, even if the implications of financial ruin for this two groups were very different” (2007: 68). Although almost never mentioned, the music industry is where people collaborated peacefully, because the Japanese government had censorship policies but allowed freedom as long as it followed the norms shaped by the Korean consumer market (2007: 68). Although some idol groups, such as BTS, have rejected collaborating with Japanese producers due to political views, groups like Girl’s Generation and SHINee have created a huge K-Pop market in Japan, given that their albums have reached the top chart position multiple times. |
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