Why Is K-Pop So Popular?

I remember a couple years back when my friends and I heard the song by Girls’ Generation called “Gee.” We even attempted to do their choreography and pretended we are the Girl’s Generation. Alright, we shouldn’t get into the details of that… They have become even more popular and well known since then. As a matter of fact, they are a worldwide sensation! Earlier this year Girls’ Generation performed their single, “The Boys” on the Late Show with David Letterman.

What’s special about them is that some of the members are actually Asian Americans. Tiffany (a member of Girls’ Generation) was raised in Diamond Bar, California. Many of the fans in United States can relate with these artists. Tiffany said, “Coming back to America to pursue music is a dream. Not just because it’s America, but because this is just the beginning.” They seem to have gone far past the “beginning” though. It isn’t just Girls’ Generation that is popular to the U.S. audience but also Korean pop groups like 2ne1,Wonder Girls, etc. These groups attract many Asian Americans who have an interest in Korean pop culture.

This makes me wonder why other Asian countries do not have music artists that are internationally known. On the top of my head, I thought of artists in other parts of Asia such as Hong Kong and why artists there aren’t as successful as Korean artists. Is it because their market is limited and they are not mainstream enough to satisfy the American audience? Even in Hong Kong, Korean pop music is very popular. I have heard some of the music from Hong Kong and at times I feel like they are just following the trend. Like recently, electronic dance music is more mainstream, you start to see all these new songs that sound like dance music. Maybe the difference between Korean pop music is that it is a genre of its own. In addition, many Korean entertainers utilize resources that could help them bring awareness to their music culture such as posting videos on YouTube. Some Taiwanese singers even use a worldwide music video platform–VEVO, which allows the singers to reach out to the world with their music.

This summer, Girls’ Generation, 2PM, and KARA are going to Australia to perform at a music festival. K-pop isn’t only making it big in America anymore!

[Photo credit: culturemag.com]