After the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when people were confined to their homes, Japanese songs began to gain popularity in Korea through platforms such as YouTube and Spotify.
Furthermore, J-pop songs have practically taken over the SNS platform TikTok, leading to the belief that the value of J-pop is constantly growing.
Considering that the Korean music scene is not at all poor in terms of national songs, how did this happen?
Indeed, from historical, geographical and cultural elements, all of these contribute in some way to the popularity of J-pop in Korea.
To explain, in the 1990s, Japanese content such as anime, music, and dramas became more accessible due to the geographical proximity between the two countries. After the cultural opening of 1998, a wave of Japanese content poured into Korea.
The popularity of Japanese anime and games has also drawn attention to their OSTs, with works such as “Your Name” achieving immense popularity in Korea, significantly influencing the appeal of J-POP.
Furthermore, J-POP’s unique sensibility and style, combined with its poetic and distinctive lyrics, have resonated with Korean audiences. Japan’s strong band culture has also garnered considerable support, especially since the Korean music scene isn’t exactly band-rich.
J-POP’s unique take on sentimental and alternative rock, a genre that has yet to have any prominent artists in Korea, also plays a crucial role in its popularity.
Additionally, the city’s pop craze contributed to the rise of J-POP, intertwining various factors to create the current rise in its popularity in Korea.
All in all, J-POP fever in Korea can be boiled down to the popularization of Japanese media (namely games, anime, and manga) and the exploration of genres that Korean artists have yet to extensively engage in (such as rock, city pop, and metal).
Source: Daum
