Tag: Discussion

The power of social media has made Korean artists’ career no longer like decades ago. With the rise of new media which have shift power like smartphones and laptops, customers can follow their idols whenever they want. I believed this situation provided the artists better careers, in both reputable and financial aspects. First, the innovative technology of  streaming music services provide idols and their agency companies platform to publish and sell their digital records. Easy accessibility to these platforms give convenience to both idols and customers. Idols can utilized their social media to make advertisements more efficient. For example, post a purchase link under their twitter post. Customers, are benefited by the low cost of the digital records — — They are more affordable compared to the CD copy. The records are like $9.9 and why not give it a try?  Thus quantity produce the profits. Secondly, Korean idols have their specific way to ensure finical substance. They establish official fan-clubs which provide members some profits like early accessibility to concert tickets. However, these members have to pay membership-fee in order to join the fan-club. Nowadays membership fees are basically around ₩20000 and there are over two hundred and fifty thousand members in top 10 fan-clubs! Now you can imagine the finical profit.

However, there are also concerns for idols in this rapid change Internet era. To stand at the peak of trends and make money, they have to do some compromises to avoid being eliminated. Fundamentally, forth-wave groups are not different from the third-wave idol groups, as the basic formula—group format, music and dance styles, visual stylistic emphasis, and multimedia presence—is identical. However, the results are quite different. (Jung EY, 2015, 80) Some groups like GG and BTS can lead trend for over a decade, other groups might not able to produce a second album. One contributing factor is interaction with fans. To ensure idols’ popularity, their agency companies scheduled numerous activities in order to publicize new work and keep fans on flame, like interactive meetings, birthday parties, conferences and so on. Groups or solo artists without persuasive agencies might easily be buried in the numerous works and information published daily online. While Idols have did some compromises like highly exposed to the public in order to keep activeness. They might have to spend more time to  interaction and pleasing the fans rather than their personal lives forced by their agency. They even not have any choices for romantic relationships and personal schedules. Like BBC explained: some of K-Pop’s biggest success stories were built on the back of so-called slave contracts, which tied its trainee-stars into long exclusive deals (Lucy Williamson, 2011, BBC news). This is one of the compromises they have to make— —follow the agency company and keep exposing.

In conclusion, Social media has the power to be sustainable financially supportive for Korean idols, but they have to find their way to not be submerged in the stars-explosion Internet environment. And fans interacting activities is a proven-to-work but very exthuasting method.

Bibliography:

Lee, Sangjoon, Nornes, and Abé Markus, 2015. Hallyu 2.: The Korean Wave in the Age of Social Med, edited by  Sangjoon Lee and Abé Mark Nornes, 73-88. 

Lucy Williamson, “The dark side of South Korean pop music”, BBC News, 15 June 2011, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13760064

              Since the boom of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) in the early 2000s, Korea has been making tremendous transnational advances of popular culture across Asia with its movies, TV shows, and most significantly, its idols. This growing fervor for Hallyu not only made a large cultural imprint in many Asian countries, rising foreign interests also boost tourism in Korea, resulting in both cultural and economic reverberation, as pointed out by Joo Jeong-suk in “Transnationalization of Korean Popular Culture and the Rise of ‘Pop Nationalism’ in Korea” (2001: 493). Such success has resulted in the Korean government’s appropriation of Hallyu influence within a nationalist discourse. Idols, in particular, become promoters of nationalism due to their influence among the Korean audience, especially among the younger generations. Collaborations between idols and the government aim to foster nationalism in ways such as music videos incorporating Korean traditional elements, or performances of Hallyu idols at nationalistic or diplomatic events. Since the government has funded the development of Hallyu and its transnational influence, which has very much aided Korea’s globalized cultural advances across Asia, artists often have to consider demonstrating nationalism in return. However, dilemmas arise when they try appealing to the Korean consumers and attracting foreign audiences simultaneously, because the two groups’ interests sometimes clash. Such struggle becomes serious if the conflict relates to postcolonial sensibilities in Korea, or its continuous political disagreements with neighboring countries. While the local market requires idols to first be patriots, Hallyu stars are in fact “pledged to global capital”, as Olga Fedorenko explained in his article titled “Korean-Wave Celebrities Between Global Capital and Regional Nationalisms” (2017: 498). This means that their values as celebrities are tied to the diversity and size of their audience, hinting at the importance of attracting as much foreign supporters as possible. In this discussion, I will propose several ways in which Hallyu idols can find balance between nationalistic and foreign demands.

              First of all, Hallyu stars should be more sensitive of the existing political tension between Korea and other nations, while they expand their popularity in these countries. This can translate to being selective when accepting offers from production or advertisement agencies. One example of lacking sensitivity would be the advertisement scandal of the stars Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun. The brand originated from the Changbaishan, or Paektusan in Korean, a mountain chain that has been a century-long territorial dispute between Korea and China, thus the two Hallyu stars were strongly condemned by Korean audiences, despite their increased popularity in China with this advertisement. Korean idols should also maximize artistic input when producing pro-nationalism materials. While their local audience can resonate with the message, foreign supporters can divert their attention towards the artistic value of the work. Diversity and hybridity in their production enables a larger audience to pick and choose what they can enjoy. This is similar to having idol groups with many members; there will always be one for everyone. Despite the necessity to demonstrate nationalism, idols should not feel restricted when it comes to performances and productions, because being able to gain foreign popularity is another manifestation of nationalism. As long as the artists are sensitive about political issues, freedom still exists for them to demonstrate the unique charm of Hallyu in the midst of globalization.

Tong Lin