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Organizing K-Pop: Emergence and Market Making of Large Korean Entertainment Houses, 1980–2010

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Abstract

This paper studies the connection between the emergence and market making activities of the large Korean entertainment houses and the global level success of “K-pop,” an increasingly popular type of Korean popular music. We review a set of conventional explanations, respectively pointing to cultural factors, government support, and technological development as core factors that led to the global success of K-pop. We find all three explanations unsatisfactory and, alternatively, building on studies of market intermediaries, argue that the roles of three large entertainment houses—SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment—have been the most crucial in the development and success of K-pop. Through combining data from Korean music charts, newspaper articles, and revenue data, we trace the increasingly systematic musical production strategies of the entertainment houses and the macro-consequences of their organizational activities.

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Notes

  1. The average training for the early groups like H.O.T (debut in 1996) and S.E.S (debut in 1997) lasted for around a year and, in the case of Fin.K.L. (debut 1998), only 4 months. In comparison, members of more recently formed groups such as Girls’ Generation (debut in 2007) and 2ne1 (debut in 2009) trained for an average of 5.2 and 3.5 years respectively, with some members like Jessica and Hyo-yeon (Girls’ Generation) training for more than 7 years.

  2. The nine Girls’ Generation (SNSD) members trained for an average of 5.5 years. After their debut, SM Entertainment secured a 10-year contract with SNSD to collect the capital they invested, which they shortened to 7 years after Fair Trade Commission’s correction request.

  3. SM Entertainment’s quarterly reports list the groups’ product release plans, which strategically space out the album release dates of the company’s top groups to ensure continuous revenue and satisfy shareholders.

  4. Melon Music <Historic chart rank calculation> from (http://www.melon.com/cds/chart/web/chartage_list.htm).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Solee I. Shin & Lanu Kim

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  1. Solee I. Shin
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  2. Lanu Kim
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Correspondence to Solee I. Shin.

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Shin, S.I., Kim, L. Organizing K-Pop: Emergence and Market Making of Large Korean Entertainment Houses, 1980–2010. East Asia 30, 255–272 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-013-9200-0

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