I’ve looked at all the charts and it seems like K-pop is very, well, popular in South Korea, at least through streaming and M/V. Other types of music and non-idol pop take up half the charts, like 10cm, Younha, Lee Mujin, Lim Young Woong, Zion Park, BOL4, and The Black Skirts charting across multiple platforms (Billboard, Apple Music, Spotify, Circle, and Melon) along with a lot of Japanese pop-rock and Western pop.
But K-pop is still undeniably topping the charts domestically. Currently, IVE, (G)-Idle, Le Sserafim, StayC, BTOB, August D, NMIXX, Seventeen, Jimin, BTS, pretty much all of New Jeans’ discography, DAWN, NCT subgroups, Jisoo, Blackpink, are all charting.
So my question is: when people say “K-pop isn’t a big deal in Korea” do they just mean that most Koreans don’t participate in K-pop fandom? It makes sense that most people would hear idol music on the radio and even listen to it on their own accord, but not be invested in groups through music shows, WeVerse, Bubble, TikTok, or even YouTube. But I feel like it’s disingenuous to claim that K-pop/idol music isn’t popular or well-liked.
Aside from domestic stans, I understand why there isn’t interest in idols as celebrities in the general Korean public. But saying “Koreans don’t like/respect K-pop” is like saying “Americans don’t like/respect Hip Hop or Country or Latin Pop.” I personally like genres that are less high-charting, like pop-rock, indie pop, alt-rock, and folk revival, but millions of Americans are listening to Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Lil Durk, Lil Baby, Drake, Bad Bunny, and Peso Pluma, at this very moment, even if I’m not.
cc: https://www.reddit.com/r/kpoph…they_say_kpop_isnt_a_big/
