Socio-Cultural

A Closer Look From the Outside: K-pop on Al Jazeera

Written by Natalie On January 30, 2012

K-pop has been growing in popularity and notoriety, with K-pop videos getting millions of hits on YouTube and K-pop artists possessing very loud and proud fanbases globally. So naturally, it’d attract media attention. Arabic news organization Al Jazeera recently created a short documentary on K-pop. Though it’s not very long, I found this documentary to be very spot-on.

Usually when Western media outlets shed light on K-pop, they provide general information, like its popularity thoughout Asia, YouTube hits, or about how it’s going to dominate the West, but this documentary did more than that. It goes to explain why K-pop is becoming so popular, why people like it, and its positive and negative aspects.

For us at Seoulbeats (readers and writers alike), this documentary didn’t provide a lot of new information. Most of us are already aware of the intense schedules, the sketchy contracts, the spread of Korean culture, the complete company control, the lack of creativity and individuality, and plastic surgery that comes with K-pop. Still, it’s great to see such an accurate documentary about K-pop. It’s also great to hear from an insider’s perspective. Members of RaNia and their company’s president, Yoon Deung-ryong, give their takes on certain issues. I find it a little amusing how Yoon Deung-ryong called out other, bigger companies (I’m assuming JYP, SM, and YG) for being more concerned about profits than creativity and originality (18:00), partly because it sounds a little hypocritical. Hasn’t RaNia been producing earworm-y pop songs like “Pop Pop Pop” as of late?

Not everything about this documentary is commonly known to K-pop fans. I was personally surprised by how people called out their dissatisfaction with K-pop, whether it be about creativity or its chances for success in the US. Maybe this is because I’m not used to hearing anything but praise for Hallyu come from South Korea. Another surprise came at the end, when the documentary commented on the growing popularity of Indie bands in South Korea. As someone that loves Indie music, no matter where it’s from, I hope this is true. From what I’ve gathered about South Korea, you need to be really, really famous, like SNSD, to make any impact at all. I don’t see a whole lot of variety in the music scene, but maybe that’s because I’m a foreigner. I hope that Indie groups do become more famous, so that South Korea’s music scene becomes more diversified.

I’m impressed by this documentary. Are you?

(YouTube)

TAGS: Al Jazeera, Rania

Anonymous

This documentary really made me thing about what’s considered “real” or “authentic” Korean entertainment. The juxtaposition of new music to traditional music was cool.
Anonymous

Thanks for the tip. I enjoyed the documentary. It’s almost like Frontline did a segment on Kpop. I was also impressed by the dissension voiced by the critics because it rings true and hits the nail on its head–Kpop lacks the originality that the American market values. However, to think that Korean music industry can impress with the originality of its indie bands is also a wishful thinking in my opinion. It’s still a copy of well-established American alternative music scene. Just because the band members have eccentric fashion sense, it doesn’t automatically set them apart. And, the Japanese already got a head start on that strategy. Bands like the Polysics and Shonen Knives have been American subcultural favorites for years, but 99.999% of the people here don’t know they exist.

I went away from this documentary being more annoyed by the group Rania than ever and I think the company president is almost delusional. It’s funny how he criticizes Kpop being primarily idol-driven with little song and dance, yet believes that Rania is different and has a competitive edge. O..K…. Good luck with that competitive edge.

Anonymous

Are you saying an average height of 170 cm is not a competitive edge? Lol I like RaNia but that guy is ridiculous.
http://twitter.com/JohnDeSims JDSono

What did Rania do in the video for you to come away annoyed by them lol?
http://www.allkpop.com/ GeulL.

If anything be mad at their manager for saying RaNia hardly had a word a in this discussion, and when they only hardships and the expectation idols have and go through.

Anonymous

Its sad, but traditional music is not popular in pretty much any country.

Rania’s CEO is batshit crazy. Multilingual and height? Thats why sets you apart? The girls are tall, but actually aren’t as that attractive as some other groups. Afterschool is just as tall, prettier,and fierce with better music. They’re not even on top of the kpop game… how the hell will RAnia become relevant. Keep being delusional. $1.5 million…….. each SNSD cost 3 million to train for an average of 5 years.

Seri Park

I think they focused on Rania because they are popular in the Middle East… mostly because of their name
VeryCuticle

wow really tho…
http://twitter.com/JohnDeSims JDSono

Honestly I believe Rania is better than SNSD vocally and dancing wise. The only thing SNSD can do better is buy hit* songs

Anonymous

SNSD are prettier and better at variety. And they benefit from a team of that knows how to market them.

http://twitter.com/JohnDeSims JDSono

Pretty is subjective but I do find the girls in Rania more attractive than those plastic babies in SNSD. Variety as in different areas or variety as in variety shows?

Anonymous

But Rania has had plastic surgery too…?

And what’s so bad about plastic surgery anyway? I think it’s fine as long as you aren’t perpetuating an image of natural beauty, thus lying, to gain more fans – which SNSD is guilty of doing repeatedly.

Plastic surgery itself is not shameful or evil.

And I meant variety as in variety shows. Again, SNSD might benefit from having a powerful management company backing them but you can’t deny that they do really well on camera, whether it’s scripted or not. That’s a large part of why they have such a massive fan base. Hello Baby! turned a bored interest into a genuine liking.

Listen, I dislike SNSD just as much as the next person but I give credit where credit’s due.
http://twitter.com/JohnDeSims JDSono

I’m not sure if Rania had surgery, just as long as Semi, Di, and Joy are natural.

Yeah SNSD are better in variety shows because Rania has had a chance to go on and showcase their personality.

And yes, money is KING in Kpop. It doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you don’t have financially backing from your company, you aren’t going anywhere
Anonymous

Most of Rania, I’m not too sure since I haven’t paid close attention to them, have had plastic surgery. It’s the eyes and/or an injection to the nose. And that’s fine. You don’t have to act like plastic surgery is the worst of evils.

That’s not always true. A lot of groups from the Big Three have failed spectacularly. But I do agree that having money behind you makes opportunities open up.
http://twitter.com/JohnDeSims JDSono

Who from the Big Three has failed? Because I don’t remember any
Anonymous

Trax, The Grace from SM.

Swi.T from YG

AJ is all I can remember from JYP (don’t really pay much attention to them).
http://twitter.com/JohnDeSims JDSono

Yeah there were a few

Guest

Pretty is subjective but I do find the girls in Rania more attractive than those plastic babies in SNSD. Variety as in different areas or variety as in variety shows?
Guest

Pretty is subjective but I do find the girls in Rania more attractive than those plastic babies in SNSD. Variety as in different areas or variety as in variety shows?

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LL4QDJLVFDT2RDIZYBALSE75JE angel29

I may not agree with Rania’s CEO but I find it offensive that anyone who is making an opinion opposite yours is already “delusional.” Before SM, JYP, and YG got the formula for success, they had to resort to “delusional” experiments as well to figure out what will eventually work.

Anonymous

Isn’t it sort of delusional to think height and being multilingual give them an advantage when there are other groups out there with the same criteria, but better.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LL4QDJLVFDT2RDIZYBALSE75JE angel29

Again, I do not agree with the Rania CEO in any way. But I wouldn’t throw the word “delusional” at him for thinking it might work.

Anonymous

Well the whole height thing is crazy. LPG tried that and didn’t really make it big. He could have just gone with talent and sex appeal or even good marketing. Ehhh there should be sooooo much more to a group than height and multilingual.

Anonymous

Actually, traditional music is still popular in a lot of countries. Country and folk in America are things that have developed a lot and are nothing like they originally were, but still are immensely popular and contain some of that traditional sound. Traditional Arab music trumps pop music in the Middle East. There are many other examples of this, but those are the ones that I know of first hand. Traditional music may not be popular in other countries, yes, but but to have the appeal of a larger market and more money be the driving force to changing the music industry so it appeals to foreigners who like pop music is wrong, because it degrades the music quality and washes out what makes music from that country unique.

Boo

Actually, if you look at the nominees for the Korea Music Awards (the only legit award show in my opinion) you’ll find that Indie bands and other artists dominate the categories with only very few idols thrown in the mix. no sign of SNSD and SJ at all!

I think Korea acknowledges other genres too and its music does have diversity. As foreign fans, we just have to look harder for it because KPOP is more popular therefore it is the one that’s shoved in our faces more often.
Cutelil1forever

I definitely think the kpop craze is the one foreigners are used to, but that within Korea itself… it doesn’t have a whole lot of impact unless you’re super famous like SNSD or Super Junior. And that’s simply because they’ve got their hands on variety shows and CFs. Even if Koreans are very proud of the Hallyu wave… but don’t forget that also includes films and TV shows.

I remember this film actress was guest on one show, and she mentioned that when she told her husband she watches musical shows (for kpop artists), he told her, “Why are you watching that? It’s for teens!” It was her “guilty addiction” of sorts. I think of it as akin to Kdramas. In Korea itself, it’s film stars who get the praise, the hyper-fame. But for a lot of Kdrama fans, who do so much to criticize kdrama’s “formula”, they’ve no idea who Bae Dong Gun is. I think kpop is similar to kdrama in this regard. The truly esteemed singers aren’t the idols we’re talking about.
Cutelil1forever

Also, Al Jezeera is amazing, pretty much the only news network in the Arab World that can cover on-the-ground and freely.

Anonymous

“he only news network in the Arab World that can cover on-the-ground and freely.”
Narrow minded much?

American News networks that peddle what their masses want to or “need to hear” in biased 5 second “news” bites are far worse

have you watched any of the other channels other than al jazeera?

having said that al jazeera is great, the quality of their programs are really good

i would take al jazeera and the BBC over CNN/MSNBC or god forbid faux news

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FS52P3WGP37JJ6YJNRLPPBVS4E A

@ LittlebyLittle4321– I dont understand why you are calling Cutelil1forever narrow-minded… S/he was praising Al Jezeera’s reach and flexibility.

Cutelil1forever

Wait… what?

How are you interpreting my comment in which I’m PRAISING Al Jazeera to be advocating “American News networks that peddle what their masses want to or “need to hear” in biased 5 second “news” bites are far worse”?

Yes, in my opinion, Al Jazeera is one of the few networks BASED in the Middle East that is not state-controlled and covers MANY topics, including Middle Eastern news, with quality and truth.

Al Jazeera isn’t one of those “American News networks that peddle to the masses”, is it? In fact, I didn’t even bring America or its news networks into the conversation at all, so I have no idea why you brought that up.

And that said, I also don’t even disagree with you that BBC and Al Jazeera are often times more reliable than CNN/MSNBC, especially with international news. While CNN and MSNBC also have their share good segments, it can be sometimes too USA-centric. Which is why I keep my eyes on coverage from all four and often times many others, as a critical news consumer.

So why are you criticizing me for being narrow-minded again?

Dagen1111

”
Yoon Deung-ryong called out other, bigger companies (I’m assuming JYP, SM, and YG) for being more concerned about profits…”

Don’t twist things up, it’s not about the profits, he’s only opposing the fact that driving profits in shouldn’t just be because of stock values, as the companies are listed on the stock markets. It was not on being concerned about profits.

Anonymous

He said he opposes them becoming bigger and being listed on the stock market because they become “more accomplishment focused because such companies think only of values.” Sounds like profits to me.

cac

I thought the general theme of the video was probably accurate — I’m not a big fan of Kpop myself, but there were too many inanities in the segment that completely detracted from its validity. Offhand: 1) the summary referred to corruption and prostitution – while realistically, I’m sure it exists, the video failed to cover any of it. A valid news source would never cite something without backing it up with arguments/evidence/facts. Given the omission, seems like the summary was a mere attention getter. 2) There was no reason for the English voiceovers to have Chinese accents – do the Al Jazeera producers think that the comments are more authentic with Chinese accents because all East Asians have the same Chinese accents? 3) Rania is basically irrelevant on the Kpop scene, and thus having them represent Kpop as a whole is decieving. 4) Alleging that the Korean government was using K-Pop as a soft power without offering any substantive proof is sham journalism. 5) Overall, just lopsided journalism. The segment successful underscored all of the bad behind Kpop and none of the good. Surely a sign of non-reputable, illegitimate reporting.