Music / Idols
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K-pop Fan Apathy and Its Impact

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Written by On October 14, 2011

“Apathetic” is hardly the first word that most people would use to describe the general K-pop fan base. “Crazed” might be a more popular choice, or perhaps “devoted” to put a positive spin on it. After all, K-pop fans are the ones that organize fan clubs and charge membership fees. They’re the ones setting up flash mobs to guilt trip their favorite companies into paying a visit to their countries, and sending creepy couple fan art by the boxful to their idols. But still, they are apathetic.

 

What makes the average K-pop fan so apathetic, then? Something rather simple: they never demand better, or more, of the companies and the idols affiliated. I don’t mean that they don’t bother demanding quantity and the companies don’t respond. Heaven knows those idols promote anywhere and everywhere and there’s mini albums and repackages galore. The thing is, they never demand better. The companies release the same terrible electro-pop songs over and over and the fans lap it up for the sake of their oppas and their noonas. Nobody starts a flash mob in the name of real vocal gymnastics, or protests for the sake of good lyrics, or asks for, heaven forbid, something new. Nobody really looks in earnest for anything above a superficial level.

Well, why should anyone ask for better? It’s just bubblegum pop, right? Not meant to be taken seriously? That assumption, right there, is where the apathy lies. The fans have resigned themselves to things always being just “stupid pop, not meant to be taken seriously.” If they decide not to take it seriously, when will it ever progress? When you don’t ask for something, people will err on the safe side, and assume that you don’t want anything more.  And so, the companies have decided that the public doesn’t want, or isn’t ready to handle, anything more. SM Entertainment slaps Super Junior with the same boring dance videos over and over because the fans haven’t proved that they would appreciate anything more than staring at Super Junior’s faces for the entirety of a video. JYP never pulls the Wonder Girls out of the retro rut because the retro rut was what sold them, time and time again.

Listen, your idols aren’t stupid. Sometimes in those cheesy variety shows, you’ll see flashes of wit or a spark of creativity. But those things are always kept under wraps because the media just assumes that people are afraid of anything that requires a little brainpower and attention span. Entertainment companies are afraid of fans being scared off by an intelligent, accomplished idol. As a consequence, the idols all play stupid. They never cut loose with poetic lyrics or sing something from the heart. They never air their views; they never show another side behind those vanilla-bland personas that are meant to reel in the screaming fans. The fans are doing them a disservice by talking down, patronizing, and never expecting more than a wink at the camera, a stupid catchphrase, and vocabulary at the sixth grade level. The low expectations are holding these idols back.

But hey, the idol industry shouldn’t necessarily be doomed to stupidity. Just look at JYJ. They felt not only underpaid and underfed but creatively constricted under SM Entertainment, so they sued to break free. It was a long and hard struggle, but in the end, they got what they wanted. Of course, after all of that, many doors were shut to them. The networks were locking them out and double-crossing them. Cassies worldwide were sobbing into their pillows.  Some cried traitor and demanded that they slink back to SM Entertainment’s constricting arms that very instant, for the sake of preserving the group. But a great, great chunk of Cassies did stand by JYJ’s tough decision.They respected that JYJ wanted artistic freedom, and trusted that if they gave them the power to go their own route, they would do great things. Sure, “Ayyy Girl” may have been a crime against humanity. Most of the fan base wants to scrub that collaboration with Kanye West from living memory. But then, something important happened with JYJ: after they got past that first rocky bit, they began releasing good music, with heartfelt lyrics and strong vocals and themes and videos that prodded at the normal limits of idol music. In short, they did something different, and far better than ninety-nine percent of what they had done before in the industry, all because they had the audacity to ask for better, and their fans had the audacity to expect that of them, and push them for it. Sure, it wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t revolutionary in the context of what international fans are used to.  But it came from the heart, and it bought them recognition worldwide.  Ask, and ye shall receive.

The rallying cry of many foodies and vegetarians worldwide is “Vote with your fork!” Perhaps it’s time the K-pop fan base developed its own rallying cry: “Vote with your expectations!” If you want your idols to do better, you ask for better, not just more. Do you think that the K-pop fan base has fallen into the trap of apathy? What do you think should be done to break out of it?

(Nate)

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  • Anonymous

    I agree, some of the best music i have heard from idols was the music they released after they left their mainstream companies and idol lives which just goes to show that underneath all the idol fluff put in front of us that a lot of these people have a lot of creativity and intelligence that is being restrained due to the apathy of the companies in regards to producing something better.  Companies know what sells and will continue to sell the same thing until fans finally ask for something better. I already know the writer is going to be flamed for being JYJ biased based on the the example she used but I could say the same stuff for many other groups.  For example, I personally think the music that JTL made after HOT was a lot better than anything HOT released. 

  • Renee

    really nice article!
    Now that you’ve mentioned it the only group that I see has completely switched up their music style and image is Big Bang. They’ve gone from Hip Hop to a sorta alternative electro pop feel. And it hasn’t failed them so you think others would take a cue from that but *shrugs shoulders*. Even though you mentioned JYJ I don’t think they’ve switched up their sound, they’ve only matured it.But I think with time we’ll see a more diverse sound from them.What I like about western artists is that they seem to switch up they’re sound without losing they’re identity. For example, Nicki Minaj’s  Super Bass is nothing like Dungeon Dragon or Moment for Life. Even though you see groups like SNSD get excited when they do songs like RDR, they always end up going back to their Gee image. And sometimes it isn’t the artists fault, it’s the companies and the fans. SM artists are all clones of each other in terms of sound. Though their songs are arguably the catchiest they seem so boxed in. And even though his music might not be my absolute favorite(I do like a lot of his work though) I will give kudos to JYP. His artists are diverse. Miss A is not like WG’s or Joo and 2pm is not like 2am or San E. In those terms JYP has switched it up. Even though kpop isn’t perfect, I’m starting to see glimmers of hope every now and then.Artists just need to take control of their image and make music that is true to themselves before thinking of making music for fans. Fans are supposed to be followers of the artists not the other way around.

  • http://twitter.com/WishZhu Jie2

    The fandom caters to young fans who are essentially being emotionally blackmailed into aggressive blind faith, given too much power, and not challenged to think about anything beyond my oppa sells more albums than yours. Of course, idols start young. They were fully trained into the mold before debuting. But for those who last, it’s ultimately up to the artists to seek their own artistic freedom and dictate their own paths further down the road. Idol groups should be seen as the starting point to launch hopefuls to fame, not the final resting place they’ve come to stagnate. And the fans who appreciate that will follow.

    Disclaimer: personal opinions.

    • lilibaiyu

      I agree with Jie2 in his/her assessment..” The fandom caters to young fans who are essentially being emotionally blackmailed into aggressive blind faith, given too much power, and not challenged to think about anything beyond my oppa sells more albums than yours. ”

      I think that pretty much exactly sums up the target audience companies like SM are trying to appeal to. Idol groups are designed most especially to appeal to young teens. They are composed of young and adorable fellow teens and there’s lots of them in every group to choose from.The genre functions kind of like junk food: instantly delicious, engineered to appeal to young taste buds but ultimately leaving the consumer with nothing substantive or nourishing. I think it’s a bit of a stretch to expect young teen audiences to demand excellence from the entertainment companies or to expect much in the way of artistic statements of any depth or nuance from their fave Idols. These are not the goals of Idol groups. The preeminent goal is to make as much money as possible for the entertainment companies in a relatively short period of time. The singers involved are not particularly “groomed” for any further career past 30 and/or their military service. That seems to be the cut-off point where groups quietly go away as younger, fresh-faced ones take their place.

      The reason a group like JYJ is interesting is that they consciously decided to break out of this pre-determined mold and design their own careers, their own lives as artists. They decided NOT to be washed up at 30 and to start now re-imagining who they are, what they want to be in 10-20 years from now and what kind of artists they might be capable of being. They knew the shitstorm they were heading into, they knew SM would try anything and everything to shut them down because they were setting a fairly disastrous precedent to all the other Idol acts on SM’s roster–if they all decided that THEY wanted to get paid a fair share of what they’d earned for the company too and to be able to have creative freedom with regard to their songs and image, well, the whole company could be in a lot of trouble. 

      I am looking forward to what JYJ will create next and then next after that, as are hundreds of thousands of others, of course. I don’t think they fit the Idol mold anymore, which they themselves may view with a certain amount of regret, but I think through this long hard fight to be free, which still isn’t over, they now have secured a long career of their own design to continue to build on.

      • Mer

        “They are composed of young and adorable fellow teens and there’s lots of them in every group to choose from.”

        My issue is that these idols aren’t for the most part teens.  They’re grown men and women.  Let them be men/women and not fake pure virginal teenagers.

        • http://twitter.com/aeriarahim Amalia A. Rahim

          Agreed. Idols will aged and so does their fans. People keep on saying that K-POP is a pure entertainment value for teen-aged fans. Then what will happen once those fans reaches adult age? Will they still follow their idols who keep on churning songs catered for those below the age of 20?

  • Anonymous

    Why does everything has to revolve around what we as westerners deem the right or the cool way? Korea has their own culture and ideas about what entertainment is… why do we feel the need to change it?
    Western cultures always seem to want to tame things they don’t understand. I fell in love with Kpop because it’s just a fun escape from the I got swag and money pretentiousness of the American artists…
    Leave Kpop alone!!! =(

  • zhao jun wu

    The word ‘apathetic’ is not used properly. Kpop fans are more adequately described as complacent. They are content with accepting what comes to them, even if the most of it is drivel. Entertainment companies’ goals are simply to make money and their efforts have been successful–they manufacture attractive, talented personalities who can inspire the loyalty of their tween demographic.

    • onlythefacts

      @google-b6d119e198c4937b80b816d4a4e25e0c:disqus 
      Exactly! This writer used the wrong word as us said …it’s not that they (k-pop fandom) are Apathetic they are COMPLACENT.  Content to accept whatever drivel is presented to them  without questioning, expecting, or demanding a better product. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jane-Kim/100003098287400 Jane Kim

      more of them want to see pictures and stories? Accordance with the
      http://www.enewsworld.com/

  • RX

    I
    think your criticism is a bit overly harsh and your praise for JYJ is a
    bit overly kind (“far better than ninety-nine percent of what they had
    done before in the industry”?), you do raise a very good point about
    expectations and how things are currently stagnating.

    How many times, I wonder, have I sighed over an unimpressive new release
    and then bitterly ranted about the company providing the material? I
    know HoMin, for example, can be better than what they’ve been stuck
    doing recently. I know they’ve had to re-identify themselves as a duo,
    but I don’t feel that they’ve had much of a chance to do that. They’re
    carrying a giant “TVXQ” sign and doing nothing else but standing there
    holding it, as if that’s good enough. For a lot of people, evidently, it
    really is good enough, but then there are those that are disappointed.

    I agree that JYJ have done an extraordinary thing by breaking free of
    the Kpop mold, and they’ve shown significant growth and development in a
    very short span of time. They’re actively learning and bettering
    themselves, and even if you don’t like the music or if you think they’re selling their tragedy, you can’t deny that owning their own work is commendable.

    And yes, change is good. Change keeps things moving. It has nothing to do with cultural variation, it’s a universal concept. I
    really look forward to what JYJ and other such idols do in the future, and I also want that
    type of change and growth for the rest of the industry. Kpop was fresh and new when I first discovered it. The scene evolved for a while, but lately it’s been boring. Oh, another comeback. Another Sorry, Sorry remake headlining Super Junior’s album. A group as hugely versatile as SJ shouldn’t be treated like a one-trick pony, although I fear the time for them to get out of that rut is diminishing fast.

    In the end, I want to be impressed, and I want to be inspired. Isn’t that what
    companies should be aiming for, as opposed to the quick buck of a
    repackage, a mini-album, a recycling of sounds and a dizzying bombardment of visuals
    that we forget as soon as it’s over? Running a business, particularly a music business, doesn’t have to be so soulless.

    tl;dr — while I don’t agree with everything, I really appreciate this article and hope it doesn’t get slammed six ways to Sunday for its critical look at us as fans.

  • BTD

    You’ve obviously never been on Omona before.  Go to omonatheydidn’t and you will find a chockful of amazing/hilarious/rude comments and criticism toward everyone’s favorite Kpop idols.  I know a lot of Kpop stans out there are cray cray, but the majority of us DO have a brain and we DO complain if our bias group gets a crappy song.  Also, who are you to decide if a song officially sucks or not?  Everyone has their own taste for music and just because someone likes a song you think is awful does not mean that fan is apathetic.  

    • Suzy_me

      is that the same omonatheydidn’t in LJ? if not, can you give me a link?? people there sounds inetresting. i may meet lost of friends. haha.

  • tarwen

    apathy is one of the things that differs between american and korean music
    its why idols in korea survive longer in korea than most artists do in america

  • Anonymous

    Barring outright bashing, I’m really curious to know if the author and other commenters believe this applies to YG artists such as Big Bang and 2ne1. Leaving biases aside, I’d be curious to know other’s opinions.

    I am a YG fan so my view is a little (a lot) skewed. But in all honestly, even if I weren’t a YG fan, I don’t think I would call a YG fan complacent or apathetic. 

    I think inherent to the “YG image” is the conception of their groups as “dynamic and different.” I also believe that YG, as a company, puts a concerted (and at times contrived)  effort into differentiated their artists from one another. 

    YG seems to put an effort into showing his artist outside of the “idol” mold: not demanding they appear on varieties shows, releasing episodes of YG on air in which 2ne1 are shown performing acoustic or band versions of their electro-pop songs, YG allowing his artists (most often Big Bang) to choose the style of music they want to produce and perform, 2ne1 releasing “girl group music” that has nothing to do with men or love or how hot they are. As cheesy and as contrived as  ”Ugly” was, i still believe it was something that no other girl group would have even tried. 

    Of course, a lot of this is manufactured. A lot of it is simply the “YG image” and the groups are just as controlled and directed as other idol groups.

    But what may result from this created expectation of dynamism is an audience (both domestic and international) that may inherently demand more from its artists.

    What do you guys think? 

  • Mer

    This has been one of my issues with a lot of Kpop fans.  They are and can be for the most part,  annoyingly immature and don’t demand more from the idols or their company.  These people can’t be idols forever without growing artistically and musically.  I am honestly confused as to why the fans don’t see that.  I’m starting to think if the agency gave them a box of shit with their idols pic on it they’d eat it up.

  • http://twitter.com/ovenfreshhhhh ovenfreshhhhh ☆

    I think it depends on who you’re asking when it comes to wanting better music. There are a few fans (*waves hand in the air*) who don’t immediately like whatever song their favorite groups release just because of who sings it. I’m a YG stan myself, but “I’m Busy” and “Please Don’t Go” were both absolutely hideous.

    However, I think a lot of “apathy” or “complacency” that fans might have comes from their lack of… taste? People who listen to ONLY K-pop and practically worship their biases are obviously going to think that everything they hear is the best song they’ve ever heard.

    They don’t ask for better music because they don’t know what better music sounds like, to put it simply. But that sort of ignorance goes away with time… I hope.

  • Sarah Kay

    I wish Super Junior would go back to their rock image (except some of those haircuts *shudders*). Songs like ‘Dont Don’ and ‘The girls is mine’!

  • http://twitter.com/Kur4tinc Pisces Girl

    Agree with this article.

  • Suzy_me

    “Sure, “Ayyy Girl” may have been a crime against humanity.” <- this. ROFL.

    i have erased that ^ nightmare off my TVXQ5 memories (i STILL consider them as 5. whatever! sue me)…along with Tri-angle.

  • mischa

    I said the same thing in the Super Junior A-Cha MV review: companies don’t bother putting out quality music and concepts because they know fans will still support their favorite idols. There’s also the aspect of “loyalty”, that to be considered a good fan, you have to spend a fair amount of money buying merchandise with your favorite idols/group’s faces on it.

    International fans have always been quite vocal. They look at KPop from an international perspective, so their expectations are different from many other fans. Some fans from Korea can also be demanding, but their way is more aggressive than constructive. They talk about boycotts, sit-ins, threatening messages, etc. It’s either they just take on what is given to them, or they go overboard with their complaints.Now I’m gonna play Devil’s Advocate here: But there’s also the question: what is the actual demographic for KPop? Most of them are pre-teens/elementary school kids to teenagers. And when we were teenagers, were our tastes impeccable right away? Can anyone honestly say they were already ‘perfect’ as teenagers? It’s a tricky phase for most people.I’m sure we’ve all been a ‘victim’ of the then latest fashion fad or hairstyle. I still remember the little hair clips in the colors of the rainbow, made of tiny ‘springs’ that I used to put in my hair, or the hair clips with a long string of beads attached to it. I looked ridiculous. But at the time, I felt cool because it was the craze back then and all the other girls did the same thing with their hair. Even now, I look back at what I wore 5 years ago (when I was still in high school), and I notice that my tastes in clothes have veered towards more formal clothes, 50s-like dresses, clothes that brands like H&M are endorsing which can be quite conservative and “prim”. More mature taste. No more shirts with kittens and other cutesy drawings on them, no more teeny-tiny purses that can’t hold anything inside but a lip gloss, no more “I’m so hot, you’re not” shirts and other embellished clothes. Those were the days…Perhaps it is the same with many KPop fans. It’s just a phase for them, something they get into because their friends are also into it, but ultimately they grow up and mature. Perhaps, from all the demands and pressures that fans experience in their daily lives, especially the ones in Korea, not being demanding with their idols is a ‘blessing’ to them. Maybe after 16 hours of studying, they want nothing better than to see Siwon’s abs or Donghae’s face. And while quality is sacrificed in the process, maybe some fans wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe fans are just happy the way things are, and while I would say “aim higher” when it comes to most things, I can’t really tell anyone to have better taste because even my taste in music can be deemed questionable by others. I’m quite out of the loop with current Pop music, and I prefer to listen to “oldies”, songs from the 1950s-1990s. My little sister laughs at me for being outdated, but that is my style, and I’m not really interested in keeping up with who’s releasing which song currently, except Lady Gaga and Adele. I’ll hear my brother play some Pop songs and if I like a song, I’ll get it. But for the most part, I feel like I’m not missing too much.

    • lilibaiyu

      “Now I’m gonna play Devil’s Advocate here: But there’s also the question: what is the actual demographic for KPop? Most of them are pre-teens/elementary school kids to teenagers. And when we were teenagers, were our tastes impeccable right away?”

      Wow, I was just making that very same point elsewhere today! :-)  It isn’t reasonable to expect teens to be sophisticated music critics. I completely agree. I think there is a place for escapism and sheer youthful exuberance in pop music too. But let’s not kid ourselves that that genre of KPop is created by artists seeking self-expression and pushing the boundaries of their own creativity. We as more mature listeners know that would be a somewhat naive assumption. Rather it is most often produced via fairly predictable guidelines by businessmen in order to make massive amounts of money.

  • Anonymous

    “Sure, “Ayyy Girl” may have been a crime against humanity.”ahahahahah

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000509470296 Tiffany Wong

    TBH, I loved Ayyy Girl. LOVED IT. Its even better live. Its the MV that we want to erase from the face of the earth. Wipe clean our memory of it…..OTL

  • http://twitter.com/alulily Soph

    To be honest, Ayyy Girl was definitely an atrocity recorded. However, if you’ve ever seen this live in person, the song is actually pretty good. JYJ’s performance, for me, redeems this song.

    That aside, yes, I don’t listen to k-pop much anymore outside of JYJ. Why? Because I find it boring – it’s the same sounds rehashed by different groups using the same concepts. It’s why k-pop groups won’t find longevity outside of their fanbase. As for JYJ, I don’t consider them a part of the idol mold anymore because they have absolute freedom in their creative direction. Sure, their start is quite shaky but I expect them (and demand them) to improve and flourish over time. It’s why I’m going to stick around for the long run. And this will factor in on JYJ’s longevity because fans want to be a part of the ride to watch them grow.

    Also, if you take a look at American/European/Japanese artists, there are some extremely popular artists that have that longevity. The reason being is because of reinvention and personality. Can you honestly imagine any idols from S. Korea pushing the boundaries like Madonna or Lady Gaga? No, and that’s likely due to their very 50′s social culture and the fact that playing it safe still earns them (companies, I mean) big bucks. Not only that, K-pop is just tailgating past fads/sounds of American and European pop culture.

    I agree, your idols are not stupid but fans don’t ask for more so what can the idols do but present themselves in that plastic fanservice facade?

  • Haberty

    Completely agree with this article. 

    I see fans many times complain that their idols get “shafted” by their companies, that they are just given boxes to dance in for the MVs and are given recycled mashups of other songs to sing. 
    However, though part of that blame lies in the company, another part lies in the fans as well. 

    If you’re a company and you can spend the bare minimum producing a crappy MV that’s basically a montage of members’ faces and have your artists sing the equivalent of auto tuned nursery songs and still sell a bunch and have all these youtube comments being “AH FLAWLESS MV. FLAWLESS BAND” then why would you spend any more money or effort?

    Not every band is going to take the risks JYJ did in order to make their own music. I don’t know if many other people are even in the situation that they could. JYJ succeeded because they could actually write and produce decent songs, had a reputation for strong vocals, had talents outside of just singing they could use for promotion (like acting), and had an extremely large and supportive pre-existing fanbase. 

    Most other bands do not have that unique mix of talents and luck that will propel them if they left a big company and were cockblocked by the media. Because of that, it is up to the fans to demand better for them. 

    Not saying that fans shouldn’t show support for their biases. Of course they should still buy the music and still watch the videos. But instead of just commenting and saying how hot someone looks or just gaze over the shoddy quality of things, make assertive comments about how you demand and expect better because you know your idols are worth it. 
    Companies do read comments everywhere about their idols. If enough people talk about it, it could make a difference. 

    In any case it’s better than just going “everything is so flawless” during your idols comeback and then complaining bitterly later on about cheap quality MVs and songs companies give your idols. 

  • http://twitter.com/estelgrace estelgrace

    HEAR, HEAR.
    You are awesome Megan. 

  • http://twitter.com/AdindaAfra Adinda Afra

    I quote this from ButterfliesAreFree,because I agree wholeheartly :
    =======================================================

    “This is an interesting read of someone’s opinion regarding the state of, or quality of kpop music. I hope I’m paraphrasing correctly — it’s the fans’ fault for not asking for better. I can’t disagree completely. But I would like to suggest one small caveat…

    This is the way it was planned for the fans to evolve. LSM/SME the progenitors of this entire mess called kpop, designed the fandom to accept what was dished out to them. If they keep the expectations low, they can keep the production costs low. Sure they have to spend something, but if they can rehash a theme or repackage the same nonsense without adding a great deal of new content, all the better. The others operate out of the same paradigm.

    For these companies, less is more. But the bottom line is, how much can I (head honcho) stuff into my pockets before the remainder has to be dished out to the ones doing all the work – drudge staff, artists, etc. So, the investment in fresh updated music/productions is not going to be a huge consideration, especially if the fans don’t ask for it.

    And why should the fans ask for it? After all they are given fanservice with a whole bunch of non-music related nonsense that keeps their eyes and ears off the real nuts and bolts of the industry. The driving force in any music industry is duh! – the music!

    Building large size groups allows them to ‘showcase’ talent rather than nurture it. In a group the size of SJ or SNSD, how many are really great singers? Those who are marginal are there for show. Are you really going to spend money on quality songs for groups this large, when you know the majority of the group are not the voices for real quality songs? The groups who have the voices are gone, and in the case of The Grace, they are being squandered to no end.

    The entertainment companies want to earn money. Yes, they have to create album cds to initiate the sales, but the real money is in concerts. Concerts is where they ‘showcase’ the acts, wow and dazzle the fans. Once the fans have a taste of the visual, the actual music takes a back seat. And so the cycle repeats itself.

    JYJ and the others like Shinwa, and those with great voices like FTTS, knew that staying at SME would be the kiss of death for their careers. Out they went. In JYJ’s case, being the major cash cow was how they were to remain, until they became of no more use. Funny thing on the way to the forum…three of the guys became determined they would no longer be mistreated physically, verbally, or mentally. They knew they wanted to stretch their wings musically. This is what makes them breathe. Seeing that they were not going to convince the company to be straight up with them, they decided to seek a way out.

    And that is what has made the difference. They now have the artistic freedom to be who they want to be, and how they are going to do it. Yes, they have skills. But, even with all the prior experience, they are still newcomers so to speak. They are virtually starting over. Their new efforts are not the stuff of polished engineers, songwriters. However, what they are producing, content wise, is so way above what’s coming out of the Biggies right now. But given their young ages, these skills are way better than anyone has a right to expect. And they know this. As JYJ progresses with each project, they will get better. This is the really scary part. The direction they are taking is moving them away from formulated music. Songs written from the heart have longlasting appeal. Songs such as this will be here long after they are gone.

    His life was cut short, but John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ is still around. It won a Grammy posthumously. It has impact appeal to this day. This is the class of music artist JYJ will one day be compared to. This is what kpop as it is now, doesn’t get. The fans who grew up with John Lennon still listen to his music. The fans who are accompaning JYJ on their journey, will be doing the same thing. Somehow, I don’t see this happening with the music coming out of kpop right now.”

  • Anonymous

    imo, “ayy girl” is not that bad actually… the more i hear it, the more the “ayy… ayy… ayy…” line stuck in my head xD but seriously, seoulbeats never fail to make me laugh. “a crime against humanity” — where on the earth you could read that phrase?! lol. i’ll make sure to follow your recent article, megan. girl, i love your writing style! reminds me a lot of dramabeans’ girlfriday~ xD

  • Angel

    So what you’re saying is…

  • Vampie

    I would’ve probably left JYJ out of it since it’s bound to instigate negative comments towards them by fans who are affronted at your criticism of their oppas and the specific groups you mentioned BUT, for now anyway, they’re the only real example of a group who was mainstream kpop and broke free in the name of creativity and fairness. They’re still making their way but at least when you listen to their stuff, you know it’s personal and it doesn’t sound like everyone else’s music.

    I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: kpop is stuck in a rut. Which isn’t to say Western music is any better, it’s just more varied so if your favorite group starts to bore you, it’s very easy to move onto a new group or an entirely different genre altogether and supporting groups doesn’t require as much time and dedication. But kpop doesn’t have that luxury because at the end of the day, it still has to be pop. Some companies try and succeed in mixing things up a little and giving something old a slightly new sound so you don’t feel like you’ve been fed the same before but the almighty SM has been, in my opinion, dishing out the same unoriginal, uncreative, overly reproduced sounds for over a year now. They aren’t even trying to hide the fact that they’re sampling their own groups, it’s so blatant. The songs are low grade for such a reputable company, the videos aren’t even worth talking about because they almost all consist of a digital background with a dance sequence. Be it TVXQ, Shinee, SNSD, f(x) or Suju, there’s not much difference.

    ELF were one of the easiest fandoms to please in the kpop sphere and even they are crying foul now. They’re tired of being taken for granted. However, as you pointed out, nothing is going to change simply because the fans would rather have horrible, subpar music than nothing at all and the companies are content to give them that so long as they meet the bottom line.
    The only real way to effect any kind of a change would be to boycott these companies and their groups but I don’t know any fandom that is pissed enough to actually do that because they’ll feel like they’re betraying their precious oppas/noonas by not supporting them because they work hard and deserve better but the question fans need to ask themselves is this: Don’t we deserve better too?

  • seanaldshoee

    I actually quite enjoy your writing, I’ve spent a good day on this stupid website because of it -_- I need to do my homeewworrrkkk….

    But anyway, I do feel like more than any other place in the world, the Korean music industry has the most sponge-like fanbase ever. It’s the whole system. The picking celebrities because of their looks, so long as they have at least mediocre talent. The invasive interviews. The lack of self, in the idols, the music, the fans. 

    I actually think if change should happen, then we gotta makeover the system, not just one part of it.

  • Anonymous

    I think butterfliesarefree pretty much nailed it, chapter and verse. The take-away here is that, for the most part, very young consumers of K-Pop are voting with their eyes and not with their ears. They are enticed to quite literally “fall in love” with groups’ members as opposed to their music. Everything about each group is engineered and designed to get them to do that. It is all very carefully mapped out and executed by the SK entertainment companies. And don’t get me wrong, they know what they’re doing. They have been, by any standards, SUCCESSFUL at creating this particular magic act and turning it into a multi-billion dollar industry. The question remains: are these actual music artists? Are they even singing live in most cases when they perform?? Does the average consumer of K-Pop even notice these things?? If not, then I would have to say, no, they are not actual musical artists per se, worthy of being truly taken seriously, they are carefully constructed personalities that have been marketed successfully to younger audiences with the motive of selling product and making money.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jane-Kim/100003098287400 Jane Kim

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