Transcript of an Interview with Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, Composer-producer of the Godfather of K-pop and BTS, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Hosted by Faculty of Music, Oxford University. Part 4

Posted by Joseph Hwang Joseph Hwang 7/25/2024

Transcript of an Interview with Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, Composer-producer of the Godfather of K-pop and BTS, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Hosted by Faculty of Music, Oxford University. Part 4

Joseph Hwang

* On July 4, 2024, Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, the godfather of K-pop and one of Korea's leading composers and producers, gave a lecture and interview at an event hosted by the Faculty of Music at Oxford University. Here, I will post a series of interviews based on the Korean summary of Mr. Kim's interview, with some of my commentary.

** I am especially grateful to Ms. Jieun Kiaer, a professor at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, for arranging and hosting this lecture and interview.

Question #4.

K-pop's enduring popularity is unexpected. When Psy's “Gangnam Style” became popular in 2012, many thought it would be a one-hit wonder. Can you explain why K-pop has grown from a fad to a global phenomenon?

Answer #4.

We believe there are a few key reasons for K-pop's continued global popularity.

- Genre diversity and innovation within the music industry

K-pop is a unique style of music that blends multiple genres and is constantly evolving. It combines diverse music genres such as pop, hip-hop, R&B, and electronic to create new trends, while each group and artist maintains and evolves a unique concept and style.

- High-quality content

The K-pop industry maintains a high standard in music videos, performances, and live stages. Each artist's company invests heavily not only in their songs and choreography but also in the visuals that the public sees and tries to the music videos and performances are visually gorgeous and unique in their concepts. Musically, the hook is the most compelling part of K-pop.

"The main key point is a tune that can't get out of your head!"

Also, the hook part, which is the key, makes it easy to follow along without knowing the language. This also applies to the choreography part, so fans can easily pick up the song and dance, and post-secondary content on shorts or reels (the kind of short-form content). It's not just about watching and listening, it's about participating.

"The most important thing is something that engages people beyond just watching and listening!"

- Training and producing system

Korean companies train and develop artists through an organized trainee system and production team. This is important from an education perspective, as it allows them to deliver outstanding performances on stage and allows companies to base their activities on professional planning and strategies based on the data they have accumulated over time.

- Communication with the fandom

K-pop has developed a passionate and deep fan base and actively communicates with fans through social media. Fans use various online platforms to support their favorite artists and form communities to build more influential support.

This community gives fandoms a sense of belonging, and we believe that this sense of belonging is what keeps artists grounded and moving forward - it's a sense of community. Fandom becomes a horizontal, reciprocal, and active relationship that goes beyond the receiver of the content. It's a shared value with the artist and a way of doing good in society.

- Embracing cultural diversity

K-pop also embraces fans from diverse cultural backgrounds. Groups with multinational members and songs released in multiple languages increase accessibility to global audiences and honor their cultural diversity.

- Continuous innovation and collaboration

K-pop is constantly experimenting with new musical styles through collaborations with global artists. This adds to the diversity of the genre and lowers the global barrier, and these collaborations help attract new fan bases.

* Joseph's comment:

An important part of the reason why K-pop has been able to go beyond being a “one-hit wonder” and be loved by music fans around the world is that throughout history, there have been revolutionary changes in the way humans promote and consume music, which K-pop has adapted well to those changes and innovations.

Before the advent of social media, over-the-air media like radio and television were almost the only way to experience music at a lower price, but because of the advent of social media broke that formula. Before, music promotion and consumption took place in different places and at other times, however in the present, the platforms that promote music have become not only places of consumption but also tools of re-creation and mediums of re-promotion. The coupling of all these online platforms and the hardware platform of cell phones has changed the world.

K-pop is the best example of social media's use of YouTube and TikTok. This new media created, gathered, reproduced, and encouraged consumption. It was a revolution. It was a shift from music to be heard to "music to be seen" and the shift was well suited to the new novel media. K-pop gave consumers more choices and gave fans the power of taste. Much of the power of traditional media has shifted to the music consumer. K-pop developed a format that fit this power shift, and it worked.

The factoryized music production system, which catered to creation, production, promotion, and distribution to the needs and tastes of its fans, has become fragmented and specialized to accommodate this shift. Composers were managed by music publishing companies, and at the same time choreographers, dancers, and music video production teams developed into each mobile group to create compelling content and deliver it to music producers. What's remarkable is that dance has emerged from ancillary content into the mainstream. This is partly due to the shift to “music to be shown,” but without social media, dance itself would have been difficult to market as a commodity.

In addition, the role and importance of fandom has been increasingly emphasized. Most importantly, the role and nature of the music consumer have changed from passive to active and spontaneous. Music consumers are no longer passive listeners, but have gained a position of power to voice their opinions to music producers, and sometimes get their way. The role of platforms to support online communities played a major role in this change.

* References and quotations:

https://www.music.ox.ac.uk/event/k-pop-from-the-godfather-of-k-pop-and-bts

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2024/07/398_378556.html

* Series Posts

Part 1.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim.html

Part 2.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0392194405.html

Part 3.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01853689220.html

Part 4.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0403319480.html