Okay-pop is not only a brand new music style, however a manufacturing system that, traditionally talking, is most similar to New York’s Tin Pan Alley within the late 19^th century or the Brill Constructing pop of the Sixties. The Okay-pop manufacturing system is a collaborative value-creation community that features artist and repertoire (A&R), an intensive, long-term coaching programme, songwriting and music manufacturing, an built-in advertising mannequin, and fan engagement actions. On this a part of the weblog sequence, we are going to now analyse this manufacturing system intimately.

The Economics of Okay-pop – Half 9: The manufacturing system of Okay-pop

A&R: Expertise recruitment

The recruitment of recent expertise for the Okay-pop {industry} has given rise to a whole ecosystem wherein auditions and preparatory programs are frequently provided. Broadly talking, three completely different recruitment paths for Okay-pop artists might be recognized.[1]

1. The 4 main Okay-pop businesses maintain auditions on a weekly or month-to-month foundation, not solely in South Korea but additionally in neighbouring Asian international locations and past. For instance, SM Leisure’s web site lists auditions working from January to March 2026 in all main cities in South Korea, in addition to in lots of Chinese language and Japanese cities, in Bangkok, Brisbane, Sydney, Los Angeles and New Jersey, and you may register right away through the web site.[2] Locations at auditions are extremely sought-after. In line with media studies, just one in a thousand candidates is invited to SM Leisure’s auditions. At smaller businesses, this ratio stands at one in 250 functions.[3]
2.  Along with in-person auditions, JYP Leisure additionally presents on-line auditions on its web site, the place candidates can add their movies for analysis by a jury.[4] Hybe’s sub-label Supply Music additionally presents a web based audition platform the place movies might be uploaded.[5]
3. Casting TV reveals are notably necessary in South Korea for locating new expertise. The nation’s main TV broadcasters, comparable to CJ ENM Leisure’s Mnet, have developed their very own TV codecs, comparable to “Celebrity Okay” or the rap contest “Present Me The Cash”, which function like auditions.[6] Moreover, survival casting reveals are being developed in collaboration with Okay-pop labels; as we’ve got already seen, these have produced celebrity acts such because the woman group Twice from the casting present “Sixteen” or Stray Children from the present of the identical title. These TV codecs have the benefit that the viewers is a part of the choice course of, thereby enabling fan loyalty to be established proper from the beginning.

The auditions are primarily aimed toward youngsters aged between 15 and 20, though in some instances youthful candidates are additionally admitted to the choice course of. The demand for a spot within the auditions is overwhelming. Because of this, a whole {industry} has emerged within the run-up to the auditions, devoted solely to making ready candidates for them. Non-public music academies and music faculties provide programs designed to coach college students for auditions. One instance is the personal singing college Sand Manufacturing unit Academy, which, along with vocal coaching, additionally presents different expertise required for a profitable audition course of. The Sand Manufacturing unit Academy collaborates with the “Massive Three” – SM, YG and JYP Leisure – in addition to with smaller businesses comparable to Starship Leisure.[7] Even the state-run Seoul Music Excessive Faculty presents programs with a concentrate on Okay-pop that put together college students for auditions.[8]

Artist coaching

If an applicant is profitable within the auditions, they then enter a coaching programme lasting a number of years, which might take as much as eight years.[9] The coaching facilities are like a well-organized army camp.[10] The trainees should not solely skilled in dance, singing and composition, but additionally obtain intensive instruction in varied languages, notably English, Mandarin and Japanese, in addition to coaching in etiquette and communication. The every day schedule is strictly organised. The trainees spend as much as 12 hours or much more every day in varied lessons – at a JYP coaching centre, this quantities to as much as 76 completely different topics[11] – and they also have little or no free time left. John Lie distinguishes between three various kinds of trainees.[12] The chunbisaeng might be described as preparatory college students and are often nonetheless so younger that they’re attending major college. For them, collaborating in coaching remains to be a form of leisure exercise. They type the inspiration for the yŏnsusaeng (practising college students), who’re already present process the total coaching programme to develop into Okay-pop stars, which might last as long as 5 years. They’re often nonetheless attending college and subsequently solely participate in coaching periods within the afternoons, which might final till late at evening. The yŏnsusaeng are subjected to in depth and really rigorous examinations no less than as soon as a month, that are a part of a range course of. Solely those that cross these examinations make it into the mission teams after three to 5 years, which serve to arrange them for an expert music profession. The members of those mission teams often dwell in shared lodging built-in into the corporate’s personal academies. They’re thus not solely subjected to a inflexible every day routine of classes and coaching, however are additionally continuously monitored, leaving them with nearly no privateness.[13]

In line with an govt at SM Leisure, solely 5 per cent of trainees make it into an expert inventive profession following this rigorous choice course of.[14] Nonetheless, there’s often one other hurdle within the type of inside survival casting reveals, that are broadcast on tv and, more and more, on-line – for instance, on YouTube – as we’ve got already seen with the formation of the assorted sub-groups of NCT at SM Leisure, or with the woman group Twice and the boy group Stray Children from JYP Leisure.

A Okay-pop star who has achieved a breakthrough has subsequently undergone a really lengthy and expensive coaching course of. SM Leisure is alleged to have invested round US $5 million within the profession of Okay-pop star BoA.[15] John Lie estimates that, on common, US $300,000 is spent per individual on constructing a single skilled Okay-pop star.[16] Nonetheless, the celebs first should recoup these immense prices. A examine commissioned by the South Korean authorities reveals {that a} Okay-pop artist earns a median of simply US $10,000 a 12 months.[17] Lie subsequently factors out critically {that a} life “of a Okay-pop star appears extra just like the lifetime of a low-wage international migrant employee than just like the lifetime of the proverbial rock star”.[18]

The division of labour within the Okay-pop manufacturing system

The Okay-pop enterprise is characterised by a extremely specialised division of labour. Songwriting groups create the musical content material. Music producers and music video administrators create the precise sound and accompanying visuals. Choreographers are liable for the skilled dance routines in music movies and on stage at concert events. Stylists and make-up artists create the precise look and total look. All these parts come collectively inside the Okay-pop corporations, whose advertising departments prepare branding partnerships and endorsements. In-house distribution arms promote the recordings and merchandise, and the Okay-pop corporations even have stakes in Korean music streaming providers.

Inside this Fordist-style manufacturing system, Okay-pop artists merely perform what they’re advised to do. John Lie even argues that Okay-pop stars must be considered as staff of Okay-pop businesses moderately than as impartial inventive personalities.[19]

Songwriting and music manufacturing

The truth is, Okay-pop artists are solely hardly ever concerned in songwriting and music manufacturing, as within the case of Stray Children or BTS. The key Okay-pop labels SM, YG and JYP Leisure, in addition to Hybe Company, make use of quite a few in-house songwriters, composers and music producers, who often work collectively in groups on a selected mission – an EP or a studio album.[20] This entails working very intently with the artists within the recording studio, and the blending and mastering of the recordings is often completed in-house.[21]

Nonetheless, this in-house manufacturing system is ceaselessly supplemented by collaborations with famend worldwide songwriters and composers. As early because the preliminary part of Okay-pop’s internationalisation within the 2010s, Okay-pop corporations entered into collaborations with Western songwriters and producers, as within the case of the Norwegian songwriting and manufacturing agency Dsign Group, which labored intently with SM Leisure[22] or the US songwriter and producer Claude Kelly, who has labored with JYP Leisure’s Marvel Women.[23] instance of worldwide collaboration is the album ‘I Acquired a Boy’ by Women’ Era, launched by SM Leisure in 2013. A complete of 74 contributors are credited on this launch, together with 36 songwriters and 15 producers, who come from South Korea, the USA, the Netherlands, Eire, Denmark, Morocco, Sweden, Norway and the UK.[24] These embody such famend artists because the British producer Steve Booker, the US producer workforce The Stereotypes, the British Grammy winner Victoria Jane Horn, and the US-based songwriter and producer Jordan Kyle.[25]

In the meantime, it has develop into customary follow for Western songwriters and producers to work with Okay-pop superstars comparable to BLACKPINK, BTS, Stray Children and Twice. Nonetheless, South Korean songwriters and producers who initially labored as staff for Okay-pop corporations have additionally efficiently gone impartial. One of the best-known instance is Massive Hit founder Bang Si-hyuk, who initially labored at JYP Leisure as a composer, arranger and producer. One other instance is the rapper, songwriter and producer Kang Dong-chul, higher often called Courageous Brothers, who labored for YG Leisure as a composer and producer between 2004 and 2008 earlier than organising his personal label, Courageous Leisure.[26] The songwriter and producer Pdogg (whose actual title is Kang Hyo-won) turned notably well-known; he had been working at Massive Hit Leisure from an early stage and was the primary to develop into conscious of the 15-year-old rapper RM, round whom BTS was subsequently shaped.[27] He’s liable for quite a few hits by BTS in addition to different main artists comparable to TXT, Suga and Enhypen, and was named the nation’s highest-earning songwriter and producer by the Korea Music Copyright Affiliation in 2019.[28] Amongst others[29] price mentioning is Teddy Park, whose actual title is Park Hong-jun; he initially loved success with the boy band 1TYM, however after the group disbanded in 2006, he started working as a producer at YG Leisure.[30] For ten years, he was liable for quite a few hits by YG artists comparable to Jinusean, SEVEN, Massive Bang, 2NE1 and, above all, BLACKPINK, earlier than founding “The Black Label” as a sub-label of YG and producing additional hits by BLACKPINK.[31]

Music video manufacturing

On the one hand, Okay-pop corporations are extremely built-in conglomerates; alternatively, they make use of versatile specialisation, whereby prices and dangers are outsourced to exterior corporations which can be, nevertheless, sure by strict contractual agreements.[32] This additionally applies to music video manufacturing. Music movies are an integral a part of the Okay-pop {industry}, and no launch is full with no rigorously crafted music video. A Guardian article estimates that, on common, a Okay-pop video prices US $100,000, with some productions exceeding the US $1 million mark.[33] The manufacturing prices for BLACKPINK‘s music video ‘Kill This Love’ rose to US $1.4 million, while US $2.4 million was spent on ‘Boy With Luv’, a collaboration between BTS and the US pop star Halsey.[34]

Okay-pop corporations don’t wish to bear these prices and the related dangers alone, and subsequently collaborate with main South Korean music video manufacturing corporations comparable to ZanyBros and Digipedi. ZanyBros is the market chief, having produced greater than a thousand Okay-pop movies and labored with nearly all main Okay-pop acts since its basis in 2002.[35] The second main music video manufacturing firm in South Korea is Digipedia – which stands for Digital Pedicure – based in Seoul in 2007 by two graphic designers. Digipedia takes a extra inventive method and is understood for its experimental movies.[36] Nonetheless, the manufacturing duo has additionally labored with among the largest names in Okay-pop, comparable to BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT, GOT7, ENHYPEN and Stray Children.[37] Nonetheless, smaller music video manufacturing corporations have additionally managed to safe main contracts, comparable to GDW and Lumpens, each of which have produced quite a few music movies for BTS, or Naive Inventive, which works primarily with JYP artists.[38]

Choreography and stage efficiency

Dance routines and the accompanying choreography are an integral a part of Okay-pop. Dance coaching is given particular consideration throughout artist coaching and takes up a good portion of the trainees’ timetable. Choreographies are practised to perfection and likewise require good bodily health. Okay-Pop stars who’ve made their breakthrough work with the most effective choreographers for his or her music movies and stage performances. In South Korea, the 1MILLION Dance Studio is the premier vacation spot for this. Co-founded in 2014 by the now world-renowned choreographer, Lia Kim, who additionally serves as CEO and continues to steer dance lessons, 1MILLION rapidly turned a powerhouse for Okay-pop stars. Kim has choreographed many iconic songs, together with “TT” by Twice, “La Di Da” by Everglow and “Wannabe” by Itzy.[39] Nonetheless, well-known international choreographers have additionally develop into concerned within the Okay-pop {industry}, comparable to Keone Madrid from the USA, who was liable for the choreography for the BTS songs “Dope” and “Fireplace”, and the New Zealand dancer and choreographer Parris Goebel, who has labored with Massive Bang, BLACKPINK and 2NE1.[40]

Artist branding

The celebrities’ look – that’s, their look and clothes – can also be deliberate all the way down to the final element and tailor-made to the artists’ picture. To this finish, Okay-pop labels make use of groups of stylists, costume designers, hairdressers and make-up artists who fashion the celebs for public appearances, concert events and music movies.[41] This isn’t nearly selling a sure picture, but additionally about setting new traits. This side, too, is intently linked to the business advertising of the artists. SM, YG and JYP Leisure, in addition to Hybe, profit from important income generated by branding partnerships with main manufacturers and from their artists’ endorsement offers. A few of these corporations even run their very own vogue manufacturers, magnificence product strains and comfort shops to monetise the idols’ model picture.[42]

The artists’ contribution to the model picture is minimal. They execute to perfection what’s given to them. For this goal, the artists inside the woman and boy teams are assigned very clear roles. Within the literature, that is additionally known as archetypes, that are related to sure expectations.[43] Each group has a “chief”, comparable to RM from BTS or Jihyo from Twice, who’s liable for decision-making inside the group and likewise communicates these choices to the corporate. Then there’s the “Face of the Group”, also called the “Visible”, who most intently matches a selected excellent of magnificence and is successfully the group’s “face” in exterior promoting campaigns. “Vocalist” refers back to the group’s lead singer. They’ve probably the most distinctive or highly effective voice and subsequently carry out many of the singing components. Indispensable in most Okay-pop teams are the “rappers”, who’ve the most important share of the rap sections and are expert at improvising. One of the best dancers within the group are the “lead/foremost dancers”, who take centre stage throughout performances and likewise carry out crucial dance routines solo. The “centre” has a unique position; that is the group member who stands on the centre of the formation throughout a efficiency. That is often additionally the individual most ceaselessly captured by the digital camera. Lastly, there’s the position of the “maknae”, which often refers back to the youngest member of the group and might be described because the “child of the group”.

Along with these official roles inside a Okay-pop band, there are additionally unofficial archetypes which, in keeping with Kara Atkin, largely function stereotypes[44], such because the “Momzzang”, who has a very masculine physique and is bursting with health, or the “Fairly Boy”, who’s characterised by mushy facial options and has a extra light picture. One other male stereotype is the “Alien”, whose persona shouldn’t be really easy to decode and who stands for unconventional concepts. Among the many feminine members of a bunch, a distinction is made between “Woman Crush”, i.e. a robust and independent-seeming persona who exudes self-confidence. In distinction are the group members described as “cute” or “harmless”, who conform to female beliefs of magnificence and are supposed to seem notably female. They thus differ from the “elegant/mature” archetypes, who costume elegantly, are thought to be stylish and grown-up, and in doing so exude a sure distance and aloofness. It must be famous that the artists don’t select these archetypes or stereotypes themselves; moderately, these roles are assigned to them by the Okay-pop corporations. The artists are subsequently merchandise that function a mirrored image floor and are supposed to correspond to a selected advertising idea.

Endnotes

[1] An summary offers Chung, Annika. 2018. All About Okay-Pop. Inside Tales behind Okay-pop’s Rise to World Fandom. Coal Harbour Publishing. pp 120-121

[2] See https://audition.smtown.com/global-auditions. Accessed 04 Mar 2026

[3] Sin, Ben. 2018. Contained in the Okay-pop hit machine: how South Korea’s music {industry} has gone world. South China Morning Submit, 2 April. https://www.scmp.com/tradition/music/article/2139864/inside-k-pop-hit-machine-how-south-koreas-music-industry-has-gone. Accessed 04 Mar 2026

[4] See https://audition.jype.com/audition/auditions/1. Accessed 04 Mar 2026

[5] See https://www.sourcemusic.com/audition/index?lang=en. Accessed 04 Mar 2026

[6] Chung. All About Okay-Pop. p 120

[7] See https://www.sandfactory.co.kr/information/new_content_view.php?strSection=Information&strSeq=931&ckattempt=1 (Accessed 04 Mar 2026)

[8] Chung. All About Okay-Pop. p 120

[9] Ibid. p 122

[10] Sin. Contained in the Okay-pop hit machine

[11] Lie. Okay-Pop. p 120

[12] Lie. Okay-Pop. pp 124-125

[13] The Netflix documentary “BLACKPINK. Lights Up The Sky” presents a glimpse into the lives of the mission teams, offering a – nonetheless considerably idealised – look behind the scenes of the Okay-pop {industry}: https://www.netflix.com/at/title/81106901. Accessed 05 Mar 2026

[14] Lie. Okay-Pop. p 125

[15] Shin, Solee and Lanu Kim. 2013. Organizing Okay-Pop: Emergence and Market Making of Massive Korean Leisure Homes, 1980-2010. East Asia 30.

[16] Lie. Okay-Pop. p 125

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid., p 124

[20] Hallyu Press authors’ workforce. p 49

[21] Ibid. p 50

[22] Kim, Suk-young. 2016. The Many Faces of Okay-pop Music Movies: Revues, Motown and Broadway in “Twinkle”. The Journal of Fashionable Tradition 49(1): pp 136-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12382

[23] An summary of the “Massive Three” corporations collaborating with Western songwriters and producers within the early 2010s present Oh, Ingyu and Gil-sung Park. 2012. From B2C to B2B: Promoting Korean Pop Music within the Age of Social Media. Korea Observer 43(3): S. 365-397

[24] Chung. All About Okay-pop. p 113

[25] Wikipedia. 2026. I Acquired a Boy. 2 February. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Got_a_Boy. Accessed 05 Mar 2026

[26] Chung. All About Okay-pop. p 109

[27] Sprinkel. BTS: One. pp 46-47

[28] Kwak, Yeon-soo. 2019. BTS producer Pdogg acknowledged for prime music royalty earnings. The Korea Instances, 17 February. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/leisure/k-pop/20190217/bts-producer-pdogg-recognized-for-top-music-royalty-earnings. Accessed 05 Mar 2026

[29] An inventory of probably the most distinguished South Korean songwriters and producers might be discovered at Chung. All About Okay-pop. pp 111-112

[30] Soulbeats. 2012. Exploring Hit-Makers: YG’s Teddy Park. 1 August. https://seoulbeats.com/2012/08/exploring-hit-makers-ygs-teddy-park/. Accessed 05 Mar 2026

[31] Choi, Na-young. 2015. Teddy and Kush to ascertain impartial label below YG Leisure.. Yang Hyun-suk personally concerned in planning. Osen, 22 September. https://m.entertain.naver.com/rating/article/109/0003162238. Accessed 05 Mar 2026

[32] Storper, Michael und Susan Christoperson. 1987. Versatile Specialisation and Regional Industrial Agglomerations: The Case of the US Movement Image Business. Annals of the Affiliation of American Geographers 77(1): pp 104-117. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1987.tb00148.x

[33] Glasby, Taylor. 2018. The A-Z of Okay-pop: know your sasaengs out of your monster rookies. The Guardian, 5 June. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/05/the-a-z-of-k-pop-know-your-sasaengs-from-your-monster-rookies. Accessed 05 Mar 2026

[34] Atkin. Okay-Pop. p 63

[35] Chakraborty, Riddhi. 2019. The Legacy of ZanyBros. Rolling Stone India, 18 April. https://rollingstoneindia.com/the-legacy-of-zanybros/. Accessed 09 Mar 2026

[36] Jackson, Julie. 2016. Digipedi, the duo behind a few of Okay-pop’s oddest movies. The Korea Herald, 8 March. https://www.koreaherald.com/article/890685. Accessed 09 Mar 2026

[37] Wikipedia. 2026. Digidepi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digipedi. Accessed 09 Mar 2026

[38] An summary offers Chung. All About Okay-Pop. p 119

[39] Sukri, Hazeeq. 2024. How South Korea’s 1Million Dance Studio turned one of many largest names in Okay-dance. CAN Way of life, 29 December. https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/leisure/1million-dance-studio-south-korea-427101. Accessed 09 Mar 2026

[40] Hallyu Press authors’ workforce. The Okay-Pop Phenomenon. p 53

[41] Ibid. p 54

[42] Ibid. p 55

[43] See Hallyu Press authors’ groups. The Okay-Pop Phenomenon. pp 56-57 and Atkin. Okay-Pop. pp 68-72

[44] Ibid. pp 72-75