I want companies to take a back seat
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the only company logo I want to see is EXO Entertainment some day
Speak your truth!!!
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Only in K-pop labels hold this much importance. It's all part of the manufacturing.
I don't really care about what labels other artists I listen to are signed. I know Apple Records holds the rights on The Beatles' discography because every album I own has a green apple on it. And I know that all my J-pop faves are under Sony Music Japan. But I never thought about how it would influence their music and releases.
I don't think fans of American pop care or know that their artists are signed to Def Jam, Geffen, Columbia, etc. They may know everyone is under the big 3: Sony, Universal and Warner. But they have so many sub-labels that I doubt anyone keeps track of it.
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Only in K-pop labels hold this much importance. It's all part of the manufacturing.
I don't really care about what labels other artists I listen to are signed. I know Apple Records holds the rights on The Beatles' discography because every album I own has a green apple on it. And all my J-pop faves are under Sony Music Japan. But I never thought about how it would influence their music and releases.
I don't think fans of American pop cares or know that their artists are signed to Def Jam, Geffen, Columbia, etc. They may know everyone is under the big 3: Sony, Universal and Warner. But they have so many sub-labels that I doubt anyone keeps track of it.
There's a reason for all of this.
The agency a group comes from plays a big part in dictating what they sound like in k-pop.
Which is not true for big western labels.
But it IS true for many underground labels, and just like in k-pop, which group belongs to which label is an important feature.
In fact, even the quoted Def Jam had a very specific sound that differed from Death Row in the 90s, back when the labels were dedicated to niche music instead of just everything.
In k-pop, the company will cease to be important when the company ceases to be the main creative force behind a group.
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The agency a group comes from plays a big part in dictating what they sound like in k-pop.
Which is not true for big western labels.
That's not exactly true. Look at the shift in Kesha's style once she had more control over her sound. Look at the number of artists that have literally dozens and dozens of writers and producers on their tracks.
The flip side is that kpop companies get blamed for anything that goes wrong, because it's assumed the idols had no control (even when the idol explicitly states they picked something). And western artists get blamed for everything, even though there are a LOT of people putting them together.
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That's not exactly true. Look at the shift in Kesha's style once she had more control over her sound. Look at the number of artists that have literally dozens and dozens of writers and producers on their tracks.
Kesha never changed label. She never even got away from Dr Luke's Kemosabe imprint.
He just didn't produce her music anymore.
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they'll just add new members for whoever leaves. That's the whole point of the concept and why LSM was chasing it for so long.
That's kinda creepy ngl
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Only in K-pop labels hold this much importance. It's all part of the manufacturing.
I don't really care about what labels other artists I listen to are signed. I know Apple Records holds the rights on The Beatles' discography because every album I own has a green apple on it. And I know that all my J-pop faves are under Sony Music Japan. But I never thought about how it would influence their music and releases.
I don't think fans of American pop care or know that their artists are signed to Def Jam, Geffen, Columbia, etc. They may know everyone is under the big 3: Sony, Universal and Warner. But they have so many sub-labels that I doubt anyone keeps track of it.
The state of kpop now is more comparable to the state of music in the 50s-70s in the west. Back when Berry Gordy was running Motown, Sam Phillips had Sun Records, etc they functioned similar to kpop companies. They signed and promoted artists and you expected a certain level of expectations from their artists. As those labels grew and started being acquired and folded into larger companies until you ended up with Universal, Sony, and Warner controlling almost every major label in the west their impact diminished until the artist became the major draw regardless of who signed their checks.
We're already seeing the kpop industry move into that phase of acquirement with Kakao, Naver, and CJ trying to invest into more and more companies. I think that eventually it can end up in the same place as the West, especially if the kpop boom doesn't end up a kpop bubble and this increased attention internationally can continue to help group/artist longevity.
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That's kinda creepy ngl
Not really. That's how Japanese groups have been doing it for years. Morning Musume has been around since 1997. They are a music industry unto themselves.
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they'll just add new members for whoever leaves. That's the whole point of the concept and why LSM was chasing it for so long.
i think more than having the biggest group, their focus is to have a flexible group with lineups everyone can enjoy.
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the only company logo I want to see is EXO Entertainment some day
It's what we deserve
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Only in K-pop labels hold this much importance. It's all part of the manufacturing.
I don't really care about what labels other artists I listen to are signed. I know Apple Records holds the rights on The Beatles' discography because every album I own has a green apple on it. And I know that all my J-pop faves are under Sony Music Japan. But I never thought about how it would influence their music and releases.
I don't think fans of American pop care or know that their artists are signed to Def Jam, Geffen, Columbia, etc. They may know everyone is under the big 3: Sony, Universal and Warner. But they have so many sub-labels that I doubt anyone keeps track of it.
Hmm. While it’s true in the pop market, I think there are other music genres in the West (or at least in the US) where this is not true. Certainly within hip hop, there have been spells in its history where labels played and continue to play a significant role, either as a specific stylistic aspect from that label or because of who is running it (from Death Row to Bad Boy to Cash Money to Roc A Fella to Def Jam to Aftermath.) There were people who followed Death Row or Aftermath closely to see what was being put out or only followed or were at first interested in the artist because of the label.
I don’t know enough about country to know if it is the same there, where specific artist’s labels might have more relevance and power (certainly Blake Shelton’s attachment and promotion of certain groups during and after The Voice seems to boost them. I don’t know if they get signed to his label or not.)
As for artistic integrity and individuality, I don’t know. Even when I think about Western music, there is always a wide range of individuality - there are people writing their own music and people who don’t, but I guess I don’t put the value on writing your own music that other people do.
Whitney Houston was a phenomenal artist and did not write most of her own music. Some portions of her career were shaped by the label, notably her stunning debut album. Meanwhile, Pitbull is out there writing and producing so…there’s no guarantee of quality there.
I mean songwriting is a job for a reason.
I know I’m fence sitting here - I would like artists to have their own freedom but I also appreciate the experience and craft that professionals bring to the game, too.
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