I just recently discovered the strange world of K-Pop. In case you’re not familiar, K-Pop is the term used to refer to Korean pop music. And rather than some small, niche music market, this is a huge, multi-billion dollar industry of South Korea.
The most visible aspect of K-Pop are the boy bands and girl bands, as seen in this video by Got7. Now, before you are tempted to think that this is a small Korean phenomenon that’s isolated to that peninsula, consider the following: this video has been seen over 48 million times. South Korea itself has a population of about 50.5 million. So either every single person in that country has seen the video once, including infants and octogenarians and older, or the target demographic of 12-25 has watched this one video hundreds of times each. Keep in mind that this band isn’t event the biggest name in the industry.
Admittedly, the video is fun! The song is catchy, even if I can’t understand it. But it’s not that good to demand that many views from Korea alone.
The only other explanation is the impressive reach of K-Pop around the world. And the reality is that it is vast. In fact, Time magazine called K-Pop “South Korea’s Greatest Export.”
I don’t have a whole lot to say about Got7 unfortunately, as there just isn’t a whole lot about them in English. They have, however, won numerous awards, including a couple their first year as a band. But I really enjoyed the song and video for this song, “Just Right.” I hope you enjoy it, too!
To hear more about the crazy world of K-Pop as it plays out in South Korea, you definitely need to listen to this podcast from RadioLab from NPR. Listening to the hosts is the best part because they are astounded when listening to the story being told!
Got7 makes a typically fun and interesting video of K-Pop music.