Catch the Hallyu Wave
Megan Johnson
Economics
Mr. Reuter
24 October 2014
Catch the Hallyu Wave
When you hear the phrase “K-Pop”, what do you think of? Most people would either answer with an “I don’t know” or something along the lines of “You mean like Gangnam Style?”. Of course, there is nothing wrong with knowing very little about this foreign idea of music and culture. However, I would like to encourage you to keep an open mind as we delve into the growing culture that is the Hallyu Wave.
First off, I should explain to you what the “Hallyu Wave” is. The Hallyu, or Korean Wave, is an expression that explains the South Korean culture’s surprisingly vast increase in popularity that started in the 1990s. This “wave” has been attributed to many aspects of Korean culture, but the biggest, and arguably the most popular, is K-Pop. K-Pop, shorthand for Korean pop, has been around since the early 90s, but has recently started to gain popularity. And it doesn’t mess around, either. “South Korea is now the 11th biggest music market in the world… rak[ing] in over $187 million in 2012…” (Ryssdal).
Now, before I go any further, I must explain the seriousness in which Korea takes their music industry. On the contrary to America, with a very “do it yourself” feel and a love for stories where artists come from nothing, Korea has a method which many tend to call fabricated. In Korea, every artist comes from an entertainment company, under which they train for an average of two to five years before they even debut. They are then advertised and promoted like crazy by their company, in an attempt to create a fanbase for them. There have been many debates among fans over whether or not this method is just, but I’ll leave you to chose a side for yourself.
So then, why is a small, seemingly insignificant country, making so much money from just one industry? It’s all in the supply and demand. Companies are coming out with new rookie groups all the time, and those groups, combined with the older, very successful groups, create a lot of fans. These fans make up the consumers. The “consumers” then “demand” product out of these artists, like CDs, merchandise, and concerts, in turn making the fans fork over vast amounts of cash. This is because when the demand increases, the prices rise, and the supply also increases.
The question then arises, if South Korea is such a small country, why does their music industry create so much revenue? This is primarily because of how international K-Pop has gotten in the past few years. This Westward expansion of sorts has caused a whole new world of consumers for the K-Pop industry. American fans have spiked the digital downloads, and created many opportunities for Korean groups to advertise and perform in America. Take 2NE1 for example, a girl group under YG Entertainment (the second largest company in Korea) that debuted in 2009. They recently partnered with Microsoft, and now their song (whose music video now has over 100 million views), is playing in every living room across the country.
In short, the Hallyu Wave is starting to become more and more mainstream, thus helping Korea’s economy grow substantially. And who knows? Maybe in a few years K-Pop will be a normal occurrence on the radios right here in the US.
Bibliography
Ladner, Mimsie. "K-Pop and the Future of Korea." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mimsie-ladner/kpop-korea-music_b_3784115.html>.
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