+ TWO PRACTICAL KOREAN MARKET ENTRY GUIDES
By Mark Frieser
Today the Korean music industry punches far above its weight, based on market size, population and is an established global phenomenon.
But how did they do it? How did K-Pop become an international juggernaut? The answer involves a combination of creative, market and strategic factors and decisions, the sum of which created a sustainable export-driven industry, built on the ashes of a devastated domestic music market.
In this series we’ll take a look at the history of the Korean music market, from collapse at the beginning of the century to its resurgence, growth and ongoing evolution in the age of AI, and how lessons from Korean music industry can be applied to your business.
Let’s get into it.
Part I: Necessity was the Mother of Reinvention
Between 2000 and 2005, the value of Korea’s recorded-music market fell by almost two-thirds. A far sharper drop than the rest of the world, mostly due to the massive use of file sharing networks to pirate music leading to physical sales of cassettes and CDs falling off a cliff. The one bright spot was that, due to the adoption of file-sharing and early ubiquity of broadband, the Korean market was one of the first to adopt legal digital downloads of music en masse, with more than half of all recorded music industry revenue derived from digital downloads by 2006.
And, though file sharing was the main factor in the Korean music market collapse, there were other factors at play such as the over-reliance on younger consumers, a saturation of the domestic idol market, declining purchasing power after the Asian financial crisis, and a broader shift in how music was distributed and consumed from in-store to online platforms. All of which weakened the position of the then current market players.
This is really important, because if the collapse was just due to piracy the main industry response would likely have been confined to litigation and enforcement like in the USA, and we all know how well that went (badly).
It was at this point that the Korean music industry saw the need to reorient its efforts towards the creation of an artist-centric model – where the artist and their music were at the center of a value chain that includes: performances; mobile music services; endorsements; television/streaming network appearances and shows; feature-length film; merchandise; licensing; fan access and interaction with artists and their music.
The key to this model is the development of high-quality, loyal relationships between artists and fans, and then creating as many different ways to monetise these relationships as possible.
Breaking Through the Domestic Ceiling
Twenty years later, Korea is now a major domestic music market. According to the IFPI, in 2025, it’s the world’s eighth largest recorded music market and growing. But with a population of 50 million, the Korean market alone doesn’t possess the size to provide the return on investment (ROI) for acts whose development requires years of training, expensive video production, large creative teams and intensive promotion.
Only the global market has the potential to provide a maximum ROI.
And this need to go global to maximise ROI produced a fundamentally different strategic mindset from that of music businesses built around larger domestic audiences. For Korea, international success is an overriding strategic goal, not a secondary objective as in Japan or the United States. And to reach that goal, international success had to be considered from the outset – during recruitment: training; songwriting; language instruction; production; visual development; and market planning.
This was a conscious decision made on a strategic level, with the first acts built on this model designed for export to neighbouring markets like China, Taiwan, East Asia and especially Japan – the world’s second largest music market.
The best example of this is the artist BoA. She debuted in Japan in 2001 after learning Japanese language and culture to work in the Japanese market. Her Japanese album, Listen to My Heart, became a major commercial success and established her as one of the first Korean artists to build a sustained career in Japan. She was the first Korean artist who’s repertoire, language and promotional strategy were developed around export to Japan, and it was this export-driven approach that was, and remains, the key to her success in Japan.
Zooming out, BoA provided the Korean music industry with a proof of concept: a Korean company could develop an artist capable of mass market success in another country through strategically creating and marketing their music to that market’s music audience.
The international market development and export model was then applied successfully to a host of other acts, including TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, BIGBANG, Psy, CL, Epik High, G-Dragon and 2NE1,all of whom developed large audiences across Asia and notable fan bases in Europe and the Americas, incorporating an international sound, high fashion. and strong individual member identities.
Arguably, the first real success of K-Pop on a global mass market level was that of Psy’s “Gangnam Style”, a worldwide hit that topped the charts in over 30 countries and was the first song to get over 1 billion streams on YouTube.
All of this was a prelude to the global breakout success of BTS and BLACKPINK, who extended the regional export model globally, with management teams working to develop globally-appealing acts and marketing them with specific strategies for audiences in Japan, East Asia, China, Taiwan, Europe, Latin America and the United States, focusing on each local market, offering targeted audience platforms, media systems and commercial opportunities.
Within a generation Korean music went from being an ancillary product exported almost exclusively to Japan in 2001 to a product who’s main markets in 2026 are, by order of sales, the United States, China and Japan. And when you combine these sales with streaming, live events, and merchandise, the total Korean music market export revenue is estimated to be in excess of $14 billion in 2026, a rise of $1 billion from 2025.
Additionally, the international music export market has a significant, sustainable and growing impact on Korea’s GDP, especially when combined with K-Pop driven tourism.
But internationally oriented and driven artist development and marketing was only one part of this strategy, a strategy which would have been impossible without governmental support.
PART II: We’re From the Government and We’re Here to Help
K-Pop is described by some as primarily a government initiative, but that’s a gross exaggeration. What is true, is that without the strategic support of the Korean government the efforts of the music industry to create an export-driven music business may never have come to fruition.
The government’s shift in thinking began in 1997 after the Asian financial crisis, when it started to see cultural content as a potential source of exports, employment, international influence and economic diversification. This vision was formalised in 1999 by the enactment of the Cultural Industry Promotion Framework Act to provide specific public support for cultural production, financing, and export. From there, the government made efforts to strengthen private and governmental institutions; copyright policies; broadband infrastructure; and overseas promotional programmes serving music, games, television, film, animation and other content businesses.
This support for the cultural industries was given further backing in 2009 with the establishment of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) to support the production, distribution, research, workforce development, overseas expansion and technological development across the content industries. Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has explicitly described KOCCAs model as “private-sector-led and government-supported”.
And this is an important point, because though the government supports the efforts of the music industry, it’s the artists and creative industry that write the songs, train and develop musicians like BTS and BLACKPINK, and take on the major creative and financial risks. Companies like SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, BigHit, HYBE, and a wide-ranging ecosystem of artists, managers, choreographers, producers and entrepreneurs built and grew K-Pop into what it is today.
And though the Korean government didn’t centrally plan pop groups in the way they might plan shipyards, or steel production, it applied some of the same developmental logic that had helped build its industrial economy: identify strategically valuable sectors; invest in infrastructure and skills; support exports; build specialised institutions; and encourage companies to compete internationally.
And this strategy did more than just build the music market, it also helped grow international cultural awareness of Brand Korea.
A 2024 government survey found that K-Pop was associated with Korea most frequently by overseas respondents: overall at 17.2% and 23.1% for teenagers and those in their 20s. And this K-Pop driven awareness of Korean culture was the catalyst of a growing interest in all things Korean, with 57.9% of those responding saying their consumption of K-Pop influenced their engagement with related categories such as food, cosmetics and apparel.
The Korean Strategy for Building Global Artists
So far we’ve focused on the history, strategy and the significance of the Korean music export market, but at the end of the day without long-term strategic creative and artist development, no market for Korean music would exist.
So let’s talk about how the Korean artist development process differs from the Western approach.
Traditionally, Western record companies find artists who have already formed the genesis of their identities, written songs, performed locally and/or already developed an audience.
And, while Korean music companies do take this path with some artists, the majority of acts and performers are recruited based on their developmental potential, then built out as performers through a lengthy internal process.
Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment, described this approach as “cultural technology”: a system encompassing recruitment, training, production, presentation and localisation. Trainees spend years studying singing, dancing, acting, foreign languages, public speaking, media presentation and the requirements of life under constant online scrutiny.
The system is often criticised, sometimes justifiably, for the intensity of its control, unequal contracts, and physical and psychological demands. However, on the positive side, it provides the the Korean music industry the platform to create internationally exportable, marketable acts.
A member of a successful global K-Pop group or artist must do more than perform and write songs. As part of the development process, an artist may need to perform intricate choreography while singing, participate in interviews across several countries in the native language of that country, interact continuously with fans in person and on social media, represent and endorse global brands, maintain a clearly defined public identity and function within a group whose members must remain individually recognisable but collectively coherent.
That kind of performer is unlikely to emerge from a few months of label A&R.
Language instruction is particularly important. Earlier generations learned Japanese and Mandarin as Korean companies targeted Asia. English became increasingly central as the industry pushed toward the American market and global digital platforms. Many successful songs now employ code-switching, using Korean verses alongside English titles, refrains and hooks. A recent study of K-Pop tracks appearing on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Global 200 found extensive use of English and suggested that higher English usage is particularly important for success on the American chart.
The artist development strategy not only combines these elements, it also influences group composition, member nationality, choreography, styling, release timing, social content and promotional partnerships.
BLACKPINK embodies this model. Its members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa comprise a mix of Korean, Thai, Australian and New Zealand backgrounds into a group whose music was produced with international producers and an export-drive focus.
So too BTS, whose members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook are all Korean, use hybrid Korean and English-language music and international producers, while building direct relationships with international fans through subtitled videos, social communication and a vast quantity of accessible content, propelling their massive international success.
Part III: K-Pop Production: The Key to Global Hits
One of the most important factors in K-Pop’s success is its songwriting and production. The K-Pop sound is best described as a blend of the best elements of Korean, Japanese, Swedish, European and American pop elements, which combine to create a unique final product that is exciting and accessible to fans globally.
Korean music companies have spent significant time end effort sourcing compositions, demos, toplines and production from writers in Sweden, the United States and elsewhere. Those elements are then adapted, recombined and directed by Korean A&R teams, producers and executives, before being matched with a group’s concept and vocal personalities.
In effect, Korean music companies have created an international production network where different stages of creative development occur in different countries, while Korean companies retain control over the final product and its positioning.
Swedish producers have been especially influential in the development of K-Pop. The K-Pop adoption of what might loosely be called the Max Martin School of Production and Songwriting, with its shared industrial, team-based approach to create strong melodic architecture, specialised toplining, collaborative writing, and technically precise production, is a significant factor in the success of K-Pop’s musical development and acted as a basis for the development of its production and songwriting.
Beyond the Swedish influence, Korean-American producers and songwriters have been instrumental in creating K-Pop’s global hit making sound. Through their understanding of American culture and music and Korean artist development, they’ve acted as a significant artistic bridge between Korea and the international market.
Teddy Park and Jay Park are two of the most prominent examples of Korean-Americans shaping the sound of K-Pop.
Teddy Park is one of Korea’s most consistent hitmakers. A Korean-American who grew up in NYC and LA, he started his career in Korean music when he was discovered by YG’s founder Yang Hyun-suk. His production sound includes elements of R&B, hip-hop, pop, dance and house elements.
He first realised success in the late 1990s as a member of the group 1TYM as a rapper/artist. After 1TYM went on hiatus, he became one of the architects of YG Entertainment’s sound, contributing to the development and of acts that include Seven, BIGBANG, 2NE1, G-Dragon and BLACKPINK.
With BLACKPINK, he produced hits like Whistle, Boombayah, Playing with Fire, As If It’s Your Last, Ddu-Du Ddu-Du, How You Like That, Forever Young, Stay, as well producing their album The Album.
He also started The Black Label, signing Zion. T, Meovv, and writing/producing most of the soundtrack of K-Pop Demon Hunters, winning a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. At the end of the day, if you were to pick one person who is most responsible for K-Pop’s sound, it’s probably Teddy Park.
And then there’s Jay Park. Jay Park grew up in Edmonds, Washington outside of Seattle, and is a rapper, performer, singer-songwriter, dancer and arguably one of the people that has helped bring K-Pop culture to the world. A member of the Seattle-based B-Boy Crew Art of Movement, he went on to found the influential Hip-Hop label AOMG, co-founded the label H1GHR MUSIC with the stated purpose of connecting Korean and American hip-hop and R&B artists, and founded the label More Vision. His work helped broaden the channels through which Korean and Korean-American talent could collaborate beyond the conventional idol business.
In their own ways, Teddy Park and Jay Park are key originators of K-Pop as it exists today, both creatively and practically. And they did so by blending the best of American and Korean music and identity to create a signature sound.
Part IV: The Artist as IP: A Vertically Integrated Music Business
In the West, the music industry tends to treat several activities as distinct: labels record and market music; agents book performances; promoters sell concert tickets; merchandise companies make and sell fan fashion and accessories; fan clubs manage memberships; technology companies operate platforms. And though there has been some integration and collaboration between companies and sectors, for the most part, these responsibilities are separate businesses.
The Korean model is different. Korean music companies vertically integrate these business activities holistically around each artist’s Intellectual Property.
Korean music companies will typically manage all aspects of an artist’s career including recordings, publishing, concerts, endorsements, television, merchandise, memberships, livestreams, fan communications and related content. From their view, an artist should be managed simultaneously as a recording act, touring attraction, social-media influencer, fashion ambassador, merchandise brand, video franchise, and the leader of a fan community.
This tight management of every aspect of the connection between the artist and fan allows for better connection to fans, which fosters greater fan loyalty, audience growth and generates greater sales to fans.
An example of this is HYBE’s Weverse. In Weverse, fans can join artist communities, watch live and archived video, buy memberships, communicate with artists, purchase albums and merchandise, receive direct messages, and access ticketing or event services all in one portal, customised to their native language and preferred systems of payment.
Part V: K-Pop Fills The International Boy/Girl Group Gap
Another factor, though serendipitous, was that K-Pop emerged at the right time to serve a significant music industry market segment abandoned by the US and UK music industries: the tween, teen and young adult fans of girl and boy pop groups.
The late 1990s and early 2000s were dominated by massively successful global girl and boy pop groups like The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Take That, East 17, The Spice Girls and Destiny’s Child. These bands had huge audiences and consistent success, but starting in the early 2000s, the music industry in the West stopped producing girl and boy bands, that left a huge gap in the marketplace for the Korean music business to step in and fill.
Though this was not planned by the Korean music industry, nonetheless, it was and remains a very important factor in the success of K-Pop
This is because, despite the actions of the music industry in the West, the underlying audience for boy and girl pop groups never disappeared. Young fans, from early tweens to early 20 year olds, still had a pent-up desire for pop groups featuring members they could fall in love with, obsess over, aspire to be like, identify with, copy their dance moves, connect to their videos, their social media, their friendship narratives, have their favourite members and get the sense of belonging that comes from joining a fandom.
It still amazes me that the West abandoned this significant and lucrative market segment. And while the Western pop industry focused on solo performers, the Korean music industry offered fans pop groups and redesigned the group format for the digital superfan era.
A group creates more points of potential fandom than a solo artist. One fan identifies with the rapper, another with the lead vocalist, another with the best dancer, or the member known for humour, fashion or emotional openness. The concept of choosing a “bias”—a favourite member—allows fans to form a highly individual attachment while remaining part of the collective fandom, and all major Korean K-Pop acts feature members that embody some or many of these elements.
More members also create more creative combinations and potential for collaboration, more collectible images, more endorsement opportunities and more narratives. Every rehearsal, interview, livestream, backstage film and member interaction, becomes material through which fans can deepen their relationship with the group.
Large-scale listening research supports the importance of these committed audiences. A 2025 study found that K-Pop’s international growth was driven disproportionately by a relatively concentrated group of heavy listeners, more so than several other genres. K-Pop initially went global because a smaller number of fans listened, shared, translated, organised and purchased the products around artists with extraordinary intensity.
At a K-Pop concert the economic model is visible before the show begins. Young fans arrive with parents carrying light sticks and wearing merchandise, they queue for exclusive products, exchange photocards and know the members’ individual histories. The buying starts with the ticket and organically extends into other types of purchases.
The parent or fan who buys the ticket then buys the light stick, the album, the limited edition shirt, signed poster and accessories with the performance acting as a catalyst for financially engaging with the artist’s IP ecosystem.
I saw the K-Pop fandom phenomena first hand, and the difference in audience type between how K-Pop groups connect with fans and how other international groups connect, in this case a very domestically successful J-pop group happened one weekend in 2019 when two female groups I have worked with in the past, Perfume (a Japanese group) and BLACKPINK played in New York City.
First, the Perfume show. I love Perfume. They are a great female J-pop trio produced by one of the best Japanese producers in the business, Yatsutaka Nakata. They played a sold out show at a venue with a capacity of 3500 people. There were a couple of tables where you could buy some t-shirts and trinkets like booklets and keychains, the audience skewed from about 20-45, mostly male people obsessed with Japanese pop culture.
It was a great show, but from the onset you could tell it was a version of their show they usually perform for the Japanese market. A great light show, fun dancing, and some really strained efforts to speak phonetically in English and interact with the fans. One of the members has some English comprehension but the other two have next to none so the fan interaction was very limited. People were definintely satisfied with the show and it was fun, but Perfume’s appeal internationally is limited by their domestic market focus.
The next day, I went with two friends to attend the BLACKPINK show. It was at an arena with a 20,000 person capacity. It was sold out. From the beginning of your entry into the arena, there were images of the band members festooned around the venue and multiple points to purchase BLACKPINK-branded merchandise, and at each merch station there were long lines of tweens with their parents and teens with their friends buying between $100-$200 of exclusive items, clothing, accessories, light sticks, CDs, albums and other paraphernalia.
As for the audience? Mostly tweens with their parents and groups of teens and young adults with their friends. Then there’s the show. It was a spectacle. They played their hits, they interacted with the audience in fluent English. They brought Dua Lipa on stage to perform their duet with her Kiss and Make Up. One of them played piano. The tour, which lasted across 2018-2020 grossed $56.7 million.
This is the difference between building a successful pop group for domestic consumption and one with truly global appeal and highlights why K-Pop is so successful internationally.
Korea filled the boy and girl group vacuum and it improved upon the format, combining the emotional appeal of earlier Western groups with collectible culture, Korean performance discipline, and the continuous engagement through global social media and fan platforms.
Part VI: Can the K-Pop Model be Replicated in Other Markets?
The strongest evidence of K-Pop’s success may be that its model is now being used in other markets to develop successful international acts. Groups like YG in Japan and Katseye in the USA are borrowing heavily from the K-Pop model of intense training, singing in multiple languages, strong choreography, elite production, fashion, merch, brand endorsements, social media interaction and presentation, and seeing a great deal of success in the international market.
There’s also the example of K-Pop Demon Hunters, the wildly-successful American-produced animated feature distributed by Netflix. The music was produced by Teddy Park, the songwriting and performance were done by a host of international artists, and a good part of the reason it appealed to global audiences was due to the existing popularity and desire for K-Pop related content.
And the numbers don’t lie. The film generated 482m Netflix views during the second half of 2025. Its soundtrack reached number three on IFPI’s global album chart, and Golden by the fictional group HUNTR/X finished second on IFPI’s global singles ranking.
Finally, Korean music companies through their international divisions and collaboration efforts, like the one between HYBE and Geffen that created Katseye, are successfully using the Korean model to create pop acts in the Latin, US, European and Indian markets based on the Korean development model.
All of this suggests that K-Pop has evolved into a model that not only builds Korean global acts, but can also be applied to the development and management of pop acts across the world and a model that has become its own unique form of Intellectual Property.
And What About the Role of AI in K-Pop?
AI really hasn’t had much of a role to this point and from a Generative AI standpoint I hope it won’t. But as in other markets, many administrative aspects involved in the marketing and rollout of K-Pop can be accelerated through Operational AI.
Operational AI can streamline translation, fan communications, subtitling, analyze and respond to demand in different markets, improve metadata, identify emerging audiences, manage multiple versions of recordings and support multilingual releases. It could allow an artist to communicate more effectively with fans in Mexico, Indonesia, France and the United States without requiring every piece of content to be manually recreated.
Korea’s government is already incorporating AI into its international cultural strategy, including systems designed to analyze overseas media and public sentiment and a key focus of this usage is sentiment around music.
As to Generative AI, while there are experiments with virtual idol groups like MAVE: and Eternity, AI-assisted music composition and virtual avatars, the reason why K-Pop is a success is because of the connection people have to real artists and experiences and this isn’t something AI canreplicate.
It’s important to remember that the reason successful global Korean acts like BTS, BLACKPINK, G-Dragon, Red Velvet, 2NE1, CL, and many others, become worldwide phenomena is because they are human, and fans make human connections with these artists, something that is difficult to replicate with generative AI.
At the end of the day, AI will be used as it is used in other countries – to remove friction and create efficiency. To make human creativity more discoverable, more accessible and easier to distribute internationally.
Part VII: K-Pop is a System, not a Secret Formula
K-Pop did not conquer the world because Korean executives found a secret chord progression, a superior dance move or an algorithm for manufacturing attractive young performers. It succeeded because the industry didn’t collapse, it recalibrated and assembled a completely new system on the ashes of the old model:
- The digital destruction of the record business made the old system unsustainable
- A limited domestic ceiling made export economically necessary.
- Government support created infrastructure, institutions and strategic confidence.
- Entertainment companies accepted the risk of investing in artists for years before debut.
- Global producers helped build music that had worldwide appeal.
- Korean and Korean-American blended structure and style to create something unique.
- Technology helped connect artists directly to fans.
- Albums became collectibles, groups became Intellectual Property platforms and fandom became an organised commercial community.
- Western labels abandoned the development of boy and girl groups while Korea preserved and modernised the format.
None of these factors would have been sufficient on their own, but together they produced one of the most successful cultural export systems of the modern era.
K-Pop’s greatest achievement isn’t BTS, BLACKPINK, BIGBANG, Stray Kids, or any other individual act, it’s the creation of a system and a structure capable of producing successive generations of internationally attractive artists.
Part VIII: So What Can the Rest of the Music Business Can Learn from K-Pop?
To apply the best aspects of the K-Pop model to their work, artists, managers and labels should study the way Korea approaches artist development, international growth, fandom and intellectual property as interconnected parts of the same business.
LESSON 1: Build for International Markets Before International Success Arrives
Most artists and their teams develop their music for a domestic audience and only later consider international expansion. Korean entertainment companies and artists do the opposite, focusing from the onset on a development plan for the global market, then focusing on specific local markets including aspects of training, songwriting, visual development, production, sync and release planning.
For an independent artist, this doesn’t mean you need to suppress your local identity to pursue some type of generic global pop image or sound, as your distinctiveness and authenticity is key to success locally and globally.
What does help going global on the artist level means making your music more accessible by ensuring you have accurate metadata so your music can be found and clear rights details so your music can be licensed; translated lyrics so fans outside your country know what you’re singing; subtitled videos so people get the context of your work; market-appropriate promotional material; and collaborators experienced in the global markets you want to work in.
In short, you need to make it easier for people outside your local market to discover, understand, license and support you.
LESSON 2: Invest in the Artist
Korean music companies invest in the artist from the beginning to foster capabilities that will support all aspects of their career: vocal consistency, live performance, movement, media skills, language, visual presentation, audience communication and the ability to function under continuous public attention.
This is distinct from the investment made in artists in many other markets, which centers on the development of individual products of artists rather than their capabilities, like the development of tours, singles, promotion, social media teams and less emphasis on the development of the skillset of the artist. This is a generalisation of course, and there is some investment in the skillsets of the artist, but it’s not on the level or in the strategic way it’s done in Korea.
Smaller artists cannot reproduce the Korean trainee system, nor should they necessarily want to. But they can apply its central principle. A musician who can make one good recording is not automatically prepared to sustain an international career. Managers and labels should devote more resources to developing performers who can deliver repeatedly, communicate effectively, and adapt across formats and markets.
LESSON 3: Build a Community Rather than Merely Accumulate Followers
Follower counts are meaningless without focusing and activating them as part of a motivated fandom to support an artist. This is what Korea excels at.
K-Pop fandoms have names, symbols, rituals, traditions, favourite members and recognised ways of participating. They are an integral part of the artist support system working to recruit new fans, organising activations, supporting fan purchase decisions and building relationships between the artist, other fans, and potential new fans.
All artists can use some of these techniques to create their own fandoms through simple interaction like communicating between releases, sharing elements of the creative process, recognising highly engaged supporters, developing recurring formats and giving people meaningful ways to participate.
Make your relationships with your fans reciprocal and sustainable, maintain personal contact and foster ways to connect your fans to each other and to you and your work. Employing some of these simple techniques will go a long way to convert your dormant follower base into a activated fandom.
LESSON 4: Build Several Forms of Value Around the Same Creative Identity
K-Pop groups are not just recording artists, they’re the element in the center of touring, merchandising, social channel development, brand ambassadors, fashion influencers, merchandise platforms and at the heart of membership communities. The music establishes the emotional relationship, but the surrounding ecosystem gives fans exponential and, yes, personal ways to participate in it. In other words, there’s something for every fan.
This principle is scalable. An independent artist may not have a global merchandise operation but can still ask: What can the audience collect? What can they experience? What can they join? What can they access directly? What can they own that has personal meaning alongside the music?
Products and experiences should extend the artist’s creative world to their fans and give the most committed supporters more meaningful ways to engage.
LESSON 5: Don’t Just Distribute Globally, Create Globally
K-Pop internationalised its production process long before many of its acts achieved worldwide success. Korean music companies brought together Korean and Korean-American producers, Scandinavian songwriters and producers, American topliners and artists from across Europe and Asia to create a global product.
Artists can do the same thing by building genuine relationships with producers, writers, visual artists and performers outside their local markets. Find artists, songwriters and producers that work locally in the country you wish to connect your music to.
Collaborations with local artists and songwriters is one of the best ways to expand your market reach and your sound.
Some practical ways to connect to local artists, songwriters and producers include attending local music events, researching people you want to work with and using platforms like SURF that provide access to international briefs, writing opportunities and potential collaborators.
Publishers and labels with Korean/international relationships can get help to interpret briefs, assemble writing teams and navigate rights and registrations. Songwriting camps, industry conferences and Korean music-market events like MU:CON and other events internationally can help create valuable introductions when real labels, publishers or A&R representatives are involved.
Creators should approach these opportunities professionally. Research the artists. When you get one, follow the brief precisely. Submit complete, convincingly performed demos. Confirm ownership and splits before pitching. Prepare stems, instrumentals, lyric sheets and accurate metadata.
Most importantly, an overseas artist must bring reciprocal value to any potential partner. Wanting access to a Korean artist’s audience requires the creation of a mutually beneficial partnership, contributing a distinctive sound, a potential audience in another territory, media access in your home market, touring infrastructure, production expertise, brand relationships or a genuinely strong creative concept that can help their career objectives as well.
The overriding lesson we can derive from the death, rebirth and growth of the Korean music industry, and the global mass market success of K-Pop, is that by developing and marketing an artist strategically and systematically at the center of an IP ecosystem, you can exponentially increase an artist’s chances of global success.
If you’re interested in entering the Korean market, we’ve produced two guides to help.
Download the guide: Building a Bridge Into the Korean Music Industry
Download the guide: The 90 Day Plan for Korean Market Entry
