why Kpop is never going to be mainstream in the west

well I agree with you.

I would blame kpop companies for it too

because they legit pick people/idols based on their looks and then see their skill as 2nd priority. if you have looks they will debut you in group and train you in singing, rapping or dancing but if you are not pretty, then chance of debuting is only 10% and even if an ugly idol get to debut , general public wont accept him/her

I think Korea has plenty of soloists who don't meet beauty standards and people listen to them anyway. However those soloists are completely uninteresting for western markets they are mostly indie and ballad singers. Why anyone in West would listen to them and we have our own soloists and ballad singers? And unlike Korean who are obsessed with romantic love stories, West is long past this. Except by a few aunts westerns don't want higiniezed sweet love stories about teenagers who fall into each other which seems a recurring theme on Korean songs and dramas

Talking about idols

This premise Koreans only care about looks is 100% applied to idols, you will see people on this forum say they stan their idols because of their looks and basically force themselves to like their music because they are in love with their idols, it's at the same time amusing and pathetic but alas it is what it is

The only way to stop this is when "non-visual" groups become more popular. Are you ready to stop support your fav and their dumb company ?

It's like people who call themselves feminists but who don't mind that their oppas have more privileges than female groups in the same company.

thats not the reason, if anything thats the only reason it even got a chance to become sort of relevant in the west

honestly fuck all that noise

America has made you believe they are superior and only what they like or care about matters.

People are ready to put everything that doesn't appeal to American taste down and bend the knee to their overlord

Why will Americans listen to Kpop if it is basically the same as Western music when they can listen to their western music in a language they understand? kpop being different and having those visuals, fan interactions, cool dances is what has brought it this far.

Well, yeah, I do agree with you. Tbh that thing of not caring much about appearance is one of few good things western mentality has.

But once western hegemony will be ruined kpop won't even need to be mainstream in the west cause it won't matter anymore.

Quote from qamar-atti

I would blame kpop companies for it too

because they legit pick people/idols based on their looks and then see their skill as 2nd priority. if you have looks they will debut you in group and train you in singing, rapping or dancing but if you are not pretty, then chance of debuting is only 10% and even if an ugly idol get to debut , general public wont accept him/her

I wouldn’t necessarily blame the companies. They just supply what is demanded. If the reception for more talented idols rather than looks was the priority for a lot of kpop fans, the company will switch. Because they swing where the money goes

I don’t think looks are the issue here. Because we do have talented idols who also look great. Imo I still think it’s the music. Most of the kpop tracks being pushed into the American market don’t really appeal to the gp.

Quote from huRRicane8

When you read this , be sure to comment 'sis woke up and choose violence' because I did lol

and my answer:

Because it's all about Visuals. Because kpop needs pretty faces, mostly Korea needs pretty faces and we are on it too because fans are essential to kpop. Remember when Soeyon was angry when actual good singers were left out by jury and the pretty ones made it? that's kpop for you.

Actual good singers are doomed here (ailee, hyolyn, solar etc). There is a youtube reaction video when they read some comments and Koreans are reacting to it and one comment was "why Korean comments are always about appearance, but never about talent?", they agreed with that.

Thx god in the west we don't care much about looks of singers (yet), because when Adele went viral, when Meghan trainor did, when Lizzo did I wasn't really thinking about their visuals or appearance, as if they needed to lose weight or smth, but what happened to Ailee remember? poor girl, she even cried on Television (we aren't innocent either but still). I'm disgusted by all of it actually

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I do see your point

I can agree to this, as an Orbit one of Loona's Best/ Strongest Vocalist HaSeul barely gets any lines, she is not a dancer, and isnt high in beauty standard points

I guess it all comes down to how companies treat and pick ;-;

Quote from Turnberry00

Seriously, K-Pop is growing in the states, but it will never be mainstream as defined by K-pop fans. Why?

1) America is arrogant. They didn’t invent K-pop so how great could it be.

2) Language barrier. How dare you bring your mainly Korean speaking music to America. Become fluent in English and the vast majority of you music better be in English or I have no interest.

3) Visuals

I second to all above

Plus Individualism would still be preferred over KPOP group concept, its in the American blood.

Quote from quarkie

I really need people to understand that there are hundreds of musical acts in the US right now who are not mainstream and are more than successful. I've said it before, but k-pop stans have the narrowest definition of success. You don't have to top a single US chart to find a substantial audience there.

There are 330+ million Americans in this country and we do not listen to the same thing. There are people in this country who could not identify a single song by Doja Cat or even Justin Bieber... they might vaguely recognize it from TV or a movie, but gun to their head they would have no idea. Country music for instance is a very popular genre here in the US... has it's own TV/radio stations, award shows, festivals, etc... but there are plenty of people in this country who only know Blake Shelton as "that funny redneck guy on The Voice" and couldn't name any other country singer's songs.

Everybody wants to pull out a hot take about why "oh noes kpop will never be popular so everyone should stop trying!" while ignoring the fact that even though it's an extremely niche genre in most places album and concert tickets are selling like hotcakes.

You don't need 300 million people to be streaming your music in a country to be successful.

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This... Its the reason why so many unknown artist are heading over to China as well because the market is big and you do not need the entire country to love you.. You can still earn decent money if only 0.1% of the market like your song.. I feel like kpop fans are just too obsessed with charts and company..