Did K-pop play a role in the entertainment market’s transition to a fan-centric industry?
The symbiosis between the K-pop model and the culture organically created and fostered by K- pop fans made it possible for the K-pop industry to disrupt the music and marketing industries in many ways. Few industries are as customer-centric as K-pop is, and in few have fans played such an important role in its development and success.
Be it through leading their idols into the mainstream cultures outside Korea, or creating and popularizing fandom practices that are now absorbed by different niches, K-pop fans are acknowledged as one of the main active, proactive, and loyal audiences — an asset that is hard to get, and that is becoming more valuable.
As traditional business models in the media & entertainment industries decay, and even new technologies such as streaming have facilitated access to content and cultural assets to a point that makes it hard to monetize them whatsoever, many industries are betting on the superfans, community-building, and fan engagement strategies as a way to stay profitable and build brand loyalty in the long-run.
In the music and entertainment industries, K-pop Intellectual Property
models and strategies (such as releasing multiple versions of albums, and adding technology light devices to enhance concert experiences) are now studied and even replicated by foreign music markets. Other entertainment-neighboured industries, such as sports, are also betting on
similar kinds of content and experiences to generate and maintain fan engagement.
It is possible that K-pop benefited from a natural tendency of these industries to turn into customer-centric strategies, which now evolved to the status of “fan-centric” strategies. But it is also worth studying to what extent K-pop’s fan-centric approach may have influenced other business models around the world.
What innovations and practices now adopted by artists, labels, marketing firms, and entertainment companies were inspired by K-pop? Was K-pop a pioneer in any aspect? Is K-pop a benchmark case for other industries, and has it played any role in turning them into what they are today?
As I wrote in a LinkedIn post, there are many trends and new practices in the Western music industry that can, such as:
- Releasing different physical versions of the same album (a long-time K-pop trait that artists like Taylor Swift and Shawn Mendes have done recently too);
- Light devices (wristbands, lightsticks, etc) used in concerts (with Coldplay being the biggest case);
- Streaming parties;
- The boom of apps such as Stationhead and Heardle;
- Album release rollout calendars (or “comeback maps” as they’re called in K-pop) — even Beyoncé is doing it!
*Not all these things were invented by K-pop labels or fans, but it’s K-pop fandom that made them popular and caught the attention of big music industry players around the world.
I’ve been studying the intersection of fandom culture & marketing/business/IP strategies for some time, having started in K-pop since this is also a niche I write about (from a music critic perspective) since 2017.
I look forward to keeping up with industry movements to check the influence of K-pop in the new market panorama in which the fan is the main asset and even one of the main stakeholders.
This post is an adaptation of an abstract I submitted for a K-pop-related Conference. It was not selected for presentation, but my research continues.
I’m an attorney, writer, researcher, and a coolhunter/consultant working on the intersection of creative, Intellectual Property Law, and communication services.
If you’re interested in the impact of K-pop and K-pop fandom culture on the music industry and especially in business & Intellectual Property strategies, please consider checking out my work:
▪ Interview for the podcast Stroke of Genius by IPO Education Foundation — Episode “The BTS Effect”: https://lnkd.in/dEhXAmDm;
▪ “Branding as a Tool for Protection of Intellectual Property Rights: BTS and ARMY as a Case Study”, published in Vol. 1 of Rhizomatic Revolution Review | The R³ Journal: https://lnkd.in/dJHJdHy9;
▪ “How the boy band BTS is using IP to build its
legacy”, published in World Intellectual Property Organization — WIPO Magazine, Issue 1/2022: https://lnkd.in/dgSrmFxG;
▪“K-pop fandom & their Intellectual Property expertise”, published on KPOP ETF website: https://lnkd.in/dD7BhQYy;
If you’re interested in my consultancy and writing services, I can be reached through 3Três Consultoria e Criação (Consulting & Creative).
