
I am teaching a K-pop course at Berklee College of Music. The majority of my students are non-Koreans who are fans of K-pop and aspire to work in the industry. Their perspectives are crucial for us to understand how K-pop is perceived in a non-Korean context. With permission, I will post a series of short essays drafted during the final exam. These will serve as our knowledge base, guiding us to understand the best way to create the most valuable K-pop educational content by leveraging their insights. The questions are curated during the weeks of classes, and students get to choose two of them to answer freely. I edited the text to improve readability.
Essay Question: Reflecting Psy’s interview with NY Times “I still don't understand why that one song, 'Gangnam Style,' was so special, even though the people who made the music, danced to it, and performed it were all the same,” Is luck a significant factor in achieving success in the music industry? Please explain.
An Essay by N.A. (2023 Fall)
Luck is real; but luck is often confused with strategy. Of course, luck exists, but the very definition states that it's when things happen by chance rather than through one's own actions. I disagree with this definition. I believe it is a notable side effect/chain reaction of an action. In this situation, PSY became an overnight sensation because of his song 'Gangnam Style.' In the case of PSY, I do not think it was luck. I do not believe that luck is a significant factor in the industry; rather, 'strategy' is.
The evidence behind my opinion is that around 2012 when PSY released Gangnam Style, the hits were being made by the usual K-pop groups BIGBANG and Girls’ Generation. Nobody was expecting PSY. Then an older-looking man drops an electronic K-pop song that is extremely catchy with amazing, hilarious, and surprising choreography. That is not luck, although PSY might believe he was lucky. It was a shock factor, a strategic way to stand out in the industry. People in the K-pop industry especially know how to sway people to make them react a certain way. The industry collects data and studies patterns starting from the first successful K-pop artists and until today they are using that data to predict future careers/releases. I would say a significant factor in achieving success in the industry is 'strategy.'
Another way luck is a side effect and not a factor is in the emotional aspect. Gangnam Style was a song that broke the internet and broke through cultural bounds. Whether or not people understood the lyrics, it made people feel something whether it was humor, happiness, sadness, stress, anger, annoyance... The stronger the level of emotion, the more memorable. Since that song is still remembered to this day as a legendary hit by PSY: 'one-hit wonder,' it shows how strategy (not luck) came together to touch the lives of people all around the world.
A final example of luck not being a factor but a side effect is: An artist might post a cover video on YouTube. They do not promote it at all; it just sits on the internet. 5 years later, a manager comes across the video and loves their talent and wants to release music with them. Later, they become famous. People may see that as luck because the video was found after so long. But the first thing that had to happen was the artist posting that video. The cover was posted with the intention of people seeing it, and it wonderfully fell into the hands of a manager. Although in this case there was no strategy in promotion, or effort to share it elsewhere, the effort of just posting it was good enough for this artist. They were meant to be found after posting a video with no promotion. Other artists may find that in their calling, they have to work harder. It's not luck, just different expectations for every person so they can create their own strategy.
An Essay by G. B. (2024 Spring)
I believe luck is a very important factor when it comes to success in the music industry. The virality of many songs is oftentimes due to being released at the right place, at the right time. Thorough trend research, analysis, and becoming involved in the current spaces that music goes viral in, increase your chances of getting a deal with a big label or sponsors, or even just a high number of streams. There is a learning process here – to be successful in this current competitive music industry, you must be aware of what's happening online and how the internet is receiving art, as well as what it's responding to most.
Money, however, also plays a huge role in finding success as an artist. Psy doesn't mention his financial background in that interview (his father had quite a lot of money he was willing to give him to jumpstart his career as a musician). A large sum of money can make a huge difference in how the start of a career might look, as well as how long it might take for it to take off into the commercial space. Most artists at Berklee, for example, are involved in the underground scene. They don't have the popularity to play at a "real" venue, sure, but they also don't have the money. It's expensive to pay a venue, to transport equipment, to pay your band, etc. With the financial barrier out of the way, an artist will likely be able to access things like a label deal or sponsorship much quicker and easier than a smaller artist with less money.
In the grand scheme of things, I think money is the most significant factor in achieving success in the music industry. Being able to sustain yourself outside of a job that pays pretty badly before you're doing it on big stages is a huge advantage. However, determining when, where, and how to release a song to maximize the possibility of virality, even if you're still just guessing, is something any artist can do in an attempt to break through and reach a wider audience. Some of the best music nowadays seems to appear out of nowhere on TikTok and explode overnight, and it's oftentimes by "random" artists who've been doing music for years and have finally achieved the virality that can guide their careers to greater success.
An Essay by C. S. (2024 Fall)
Success in music can be an arbitrary concept. What becomes culturally relevant is often dependent on the general zeitgeist and whether it reaches the right people at the right time. With Gangnam Style, Psy became one of the first musicians to achieve global success through internet virality—a phenomenon that, in 2012, when the song was released, was only just beginning to take shape.
Although success can be arbitrary, certain factors can be controlled and therefore contribute to it. In the case of Gangnam Style, these factors are easily identifiable. The combination of a flashy and extravagant music video along with the general comedic tone of the performance was one of the key reasons the video was widely shared. Another factor is the easily replicable English phrase "Gangnam Style", which, although most listeners may not recognize Gangnam as a district in Seoul, is easy to sing along to. The final factor is the iconic dance, which audiences quickly learned, leading to numerous user-generated videos of people performing the choreography—further amplifying the song’s virality.
Because of these clearly identifiable characteristics of Gangnam Style and its music video, it can be concluded that while luck and timing play a significant role in a song’s success, having a high-quality product and recognizing current trends are equally important.
Essay Question: How does the K-pop A&R role differ from that in the American pop industry?
An Essay by G.B. (2024 Spring)
It seems that A&R in the K-Pop industry wants a full product from the get-go. Generally, K-Pop idols are not involved in the songwriting process, whether that be the lyrics, production, or even just the structure of the song. Comebacks and genres are pre-determined by the label, with less creative freedom being allowed for the idols (though this seems to be changing!). In K-Pop, songmakers will present what I would consider a step between a demo and a finished product. Most of the production is usually there, the lyrics have been written, the melodies are decided, and a rap is almost always included. A&R then picks it up, and the original creator of the song receives little to no credit for essentially creating an idol group's next big hit. However, sometimes the label will make some changes based on which idol/group the song is for, so there is still work that the label's musicians must do to transform the song into a releasable product.
In the US, though, A&R is more like a manager role. Artists still have output-based contracts (X amount of releases in X amount of time), sure, but the output is oftentimes still theirs to create and release. They may have to work within their label and use their label's producers, songwriters, composers, etc., but they typically still have a large amount of involvement in the music they are putting out. A&R then just works on guiding them through the process, making sure the label knows what's happening and that the artist knows what the label wants/doesn't want. Artists in the US have a lot more control in this way, but it really comes down to each individual contract and what the label wants from them. If a song is initially made by one artist but sold to another, the original creator is oftentimes credited for it, too (unless they're work-for-hire within a label). The songwriters, composers, producers, etc. can therefore still collect royalties in these cases.
Overall, the A&R role in both the K-Pop and American music industries is focused on the label's wants and needs more than the artists'. While in K-Pop, labels usually want a finished product that they can record their artist's voices over and release as their own, American pop labels are willing to give their artists more creative freedom and access to exploring their artistry as long as the label can profit from it. Labels have the final say in both cases, but the American pop way seems more liberating and less constraining than the K-Pop way.
An Essay by B. T. (2024 Fall)
Depending on the country, the role of an A&R (Artist and Repertoire) representative can differ substantially. Typically, in the United States, an A&R is thought of as someone working a 9-to-5 job at a record label. Their primary responsibility is scouting new and upcoming artists with the potential to become major stars. Once they discover talent, their job proceeds to referring artists to resources for marketing and growth.
However, in South Korea, the definition of an A&R, while still part of the music industry and label structure, has an entirely different meaning.
In South Korea, a K-pop A&R is responsible for creating an artist’s entire vision—it’s much more than just discovering talent. In fact, I would go so far as to say that finding the artist is one of the least important aspects of being an A&R in Korea. The A&R role in K-pop is extensive, encompassing artistic direction down to the smallest details. A K-pop A&R decides what the artist wears, how the choreography looks, what songs they sing, how their hair is styled, how they sing, and even how they interact with one another both on and off-camera. Being an A&R in K-pop means crafting the artistic identity while allowing the “artists” to focus on performance.
This approach is vastly different from how A&R operates in the United States. In the U.S., an A&R typically focuses solely on talent discovery and does not contribute directly to an artist’s artistic development. The time and dedication required for an A&R in Korea versus in the United States is evident in how they are treated by both the public and their respective labels.
In the U.S., while A&Rs are respected within the industry, they are generally considered one small part of a larger system and held to the same standards as other industry professionals. Conversely, in Korea, A&Rs shape the artistry, making them some of the most influential figures in the industry. Their dedication to artist development is deeply recognized, and their role is highly respected and well-compensated both in the workplace and by the public.
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