What's On?

written by 10202 Kim Nayeon

In recent years, K-pop has become more popular and diversified. It has also become a global phenomenon beyond Korea, and many K-pop artists have big fandoms.

The rise of foreign fandoms has brought K-pop into the mainstream of many countries outside of Korea. This has caused the industry to expand and led to many large and small changes.

A few years ago, music used to have a universal structure of introduction-verse-chorus.

“Lovesick Girls” by BLACKPINK first sets the mood with a strong beat sound in the introduction. Then, the verse evokes emotion with a strong, energetic melody. In the chorus, there is a catchy part with an emotional explosion, causing the climax of the song.

But nowadays, it is trendy to have shortened introductions or mix the order of structural elements.
Twice’s “Fancy” has a short introduction of eight seconds. It’s ambiguous what the verse is and what the climax is, thus making it dynamic with its unpredictability.

In the early days of K-pop, almost every song was either dance music or a ballad. But nowadays, many artists are experimenting with different sounds often combining various genres and sounds.

BTS’s “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” is moombahton. Moombahton is a genre that has a thick bass line and a dramatic construction. It is a blend of house music and reggaeton.

In the past, entertainment companies would produce comeback concepts with big production teams. But these days, entertainment companies have started to pick only a few producers and focus on creating consistent branding for their groups.

NewJeans has consistent concepts under one manager. Overall, they have a fresh, natural Y2K image.
In the past, K-pop stars used to communicate with fans through their company’s PR team.

Now, due to the development of various platforms such as Instagram, artists can directly communicate with their fans.

Weverse is an app where fans can chat with artists, watch artists’ live streams or buy merchandise. By using this app, fans feel more connected with these artists.

Companies can make more money by selling exclusive content and goods.

K-pop is becoming a global cultural phenomenon by constantly changing. Its evolution reflects and leads to broader shifts in global music trends.

There’s been a variety of changes in only the last few years, then what forms of K-pop will exist in the future?