Will Korean pop music, also known as KPOP, ever go mainstream in America? Fans of the genre certainly hope so. On the other hand, those who know what it is and can’t stand it cringe at the thought of Korean pop music ever making into everyday culture.
The genre of Korean pop music seems to generate rather strong opinions. While some who hear it are rather blase about it, most people either usually become hardcore enthusiasts of the music, or they wind up really detesting it. Ears who like or love the music hear beauty in it acoustically, but those who don’t care for it say it’s just noise and all sounds the same. Critics even love to debate whether or not it’s ‘music’ in the first place.
It’s hard to not recognize it as a successful musical genre though. KPOP is a smash in Asia, and not just in Korea itself. Many artists write, record, and perform in this style and they sell millions of records and fill arenas, stadiums, and concert halls when they go on tour. In fact, this kind of music might just be the most popular and successful genre of music that can’t originally be traced to the United States, whose music seems to culturally dominate global record sales.
Still, for all this enthusiasm and popularity, no Korean pop act has yet to successfully penetrate the North American market. Language difficulties can’t really be blamed for this either, considering that many Korean pop songs are sung in English for their lyrics.
If the Korean pop music scene is going to continue to grow internationally, it’s widely believed that it’s going to have to eventually break out in Western nations. Some record labels and acts are trying to figure out how to have crossover success in English-speaking nations by focusing on the markets in Australia and to some degree New Zealand. While these nations are not identical in culture to the United States exactly, they’re closer to their American cousins than they are the Koreas.
That’s not to say that KPOP hasn’t made some inroads into the American markets though. Many larger cities have sizeable local Korean populations that spread their culture with them, although Korean pop is more likely to be shared by younger Koreans than older residents. Also, the Internet has been a boon, as anyone interested in this genre of music can easily look up videos on YouTube or stream various genre artists through different services playing audio files. It’s also quite possible to order direct downloads and even compact discs of KPOP music.
Still, Korean pop is something of a fringe genre or even novelty act that is staying largely under the national radar and not part of the larger culture in North America. It does seem to be growing, but it’s still so small that there can be tremendous growth yet without getting to the point of KPOP artists topping Billboard charts or gracing the cover of Rolling Stone magazine anytime soon.
